Being in the same room with this woman, who is about to give birth to Noel’s child, twists my stomach into a huge knot. I take a deep breath and prepare myself for her to lash out.
She looks me up and down with blazing eyes. “Is this her?”
My heart leaps into my throat as the guilt of what I’d just done with Noel washes over me. I open my mouth to tell her I’m sorry, but no words come out. The shock of seeing her has me flabbergasted.
“Sophie, stop.” Mike touches her arm.
Her face snaps towards him. “Don’t you dare take her side!”
I swallow hard as Mike removes his hand and them throws them up in frustration. “You know what? I’m sick of this shit.”
Her eyes narrow. “Shut up! Don’t you say another word.”
I glance between Mike and Sophie. Their exchange puzzles me. Mike has never gotten this personal with me, so why would he talk to her that way?
“What’s going on out here?” Noel growls as he creeps up behind me.
I jump at the sound of his voice.
His eyes flit down to my bag. “You going somewhere?”
I bite my lip and shrug, not really wanting to have this argument in front of the mother of his soon-to-be-born child.
Sophie clears her throat and Noel turns toward her.
Her face goes from disdain into an angelic smile in less than a second. “Hey, baby.”
My stomach turns, and tears threaten to spill from my eyes. That sweet term of endearment might as well be a knife straight into my heart.
She takes a couple steps towards him but halts instantly when he holds up a hand to stop her. “What are you doing here?”
She pokes her lip out. “I missed you.”
Mike grunts beside her. “You’re unbelievable!”
Her head whips toward him. “I said, shut up, Mike.”
“No. I’m tired of this bullshit.”
Noel crosses his arms over his chest, and furrows his brow. He’s clearly confused about the tension between Mike and Sophie, too.
He steps closer. “Mike…? What the hell is going on, man?”
Mike sits down on the loveseat and frowns at me before he places his elbows on his knees. His tattooed arms strain as he drops his head into his hands and rubs the back of his buzzed head. “I fucked up.”
I place a hand on Noel’s forearm. The tension in the air tells me things are about to get ugly very fast.
Mike sighs. “Tell her, Soph. Tell them what we did.”
Sophie snaps her head toward Mike. “Butt out, and learn to mind your own business.”
He glares up at Sophie. “You don’t think this is my fucking business? Either you tell them, or I will.”
Her eyes widen. “I don’t think I—”
“Damn it, Soph!” Mike shouts. “I can’t live with this shit anymore. I can’t stand lying to all of them. We’re hurting people.”
Laughter outside cuts through the silence on the bus—the rest of the guys are back from the club. Trip and Tyke make their way onto the bus with Riff in tow. The twins stop dead in their tracks. The tension in the small space is clear.
Riff clenches his jaw when he spots Sophie. Instantly, I feel for him because I know exactly how he feels after seeing the two of them together myself.
Trip clears his throat. “Should we leave? Looks serious in here.”
Noel shakes his head as he glares at Mike and Sophie. “No. Stay. You’re just in time to hear some secret Sophie’s been keeping.”
Trip pulls himself up on the counter, and Tyke leans next to him. Trip watches us like we are an entertaining movie—minus the popcorn—while Tyke pulls his lips into a tight line.
Riff flexes his jaw muscle and steps into Sophie’s view. “How many more secrets can she possibly have?”
She doesn’t even bother to acknowledge Riff as he stands beside Tyke.
Mike frowns at me, and my heart jumps into my throat. Whatever these two are hiding, it’s bad, really bad. The agony is clear on Mike’s face.
Sophie locks her gaze on me. I squeeze Noel’s arm as I wait on her to speak.
She sighs. “The baby doesn’t belong to Noel.”
Noel’s body tenses under my fingertips as he yells, “WHAT?” at the exact same time Riff does.
Mike stands beside Sophie and threads his fingers through hers. “It’s mine.”
Noel’s hands fly into his hair, and he grabs handfuls of it in his fingers. He paces back and forth with his eyes closed.
He whips his head towards Riff, and a look of what seems like understanding passes between them.
“Told you I never fucked your girl,” he says to Riff. “I would never do that shit to you!”
Riff’s face twists in anger, and his nostrils flair. “You fucking slut!” he shouts before he storms off the bus.
A wave of nausea rolls through me. “Are you sure?”
Sophie nods. “I never slept with Noel.”
I rub my forehead. Why the hell would she tell a lie like this? Why would Mike allow another man to claim his child? My heart shatters into a million pieces for Noel. His struggle to be a better man, the inner-war with himself, was all for a lie. There wasn’t even a possibility that he was the father of her baby.
“How could you do this to me? You put me through pure fucking hell! Mike, man…” Noel growls in frustration. “I thought we were friends.”
Mike doesn’t answer, just drops his head again.