At the Right Time

Chapter Eighteen

Maxwell ~ Present

I sneak up behind her, encasing her in a bear hug.

"Max!" She whines, "Stop. You're embarrassing me."

I let her go but my laugh draws more attention to us than the hug did.

"I'm happy to see my lil' sis, so what?"

"It is nice to see you without jetlag for once." Sophie smiles and shoves my arm playfully. "I've been making all the trips. It's about time."

"And who paid for those trips?"

"Mm." She pretends to think, "I guess that'd be you."

Sophie still attends private school. This one is a combination of a university and high school. They're rare, and expensive as fuck, but I pay for it to ensure my little sister has the best and safest place possible.

At only fourteen years old, she's already started taking a few college courses and she lives here full time.

I was skeptical of a college campus tangled into a high school when I picked it. I thought maybe she was too young to be in classes with adults. However, there are great policies in place to keep her safe and she loves it.

Plus, this will help her get a degree faster. She'll waste less time in school and spend more time making her life whatever she wants it to be.

"What do you have planned for the day?"

"I was thinking lunch, a movie, maybe ice cream?"

"Ice cream!" Sophie's eyes light up like a little kid's. She's always had a killer sweet tooth.

The campus has tons to do. So much so that we could've stayed there to do all the things on our list. But I figured since she doesn't leave often, it would be better to get her into town.

I catch up on all of her classes, friends and even get a tiny bit of insight into someone she's crushing on. I decide to let that one slide, but I feel full on dad-mode at the heart palpitations it gives me.

"Okay, Max." Sophie leans forward, strands of her long blonde hair coming with her and daring to dip into the queso. "It's your turn to tell me why you're here."

"To see you." I pop a chip into my mouth, hoping she'll leave it at that.

"Not here, here. Here, as in back in Georgia."

I take a gulp of my water, using the moment to collect my thoughts.

I can't talk about my love life with my kid sister. Sophie is wiser than her age, though, and she can see right through me. There's no point in lying.

"I'm here for Rylie."

"I knew it!" She yanks her fist back. "I mean..." Her face quickly changes to serious. "How is that going for you?"

"It's fine." I chuckle at my sister, but my face falls. "Actually, that's a lie. I can't break through to her."

"Well have you even told her the whole story of what happened back then?"

"No."

"Have you done a grand gesture?"

"A grand gesture?"

"You're hopeless." She scoffs. "Everyone knows if you want to win someone over you need to do a grand gesture. Even when you're groveling." She points at me with her straw. "Especially when you're groveling."

"Oh, and you know everything?"

"I read." She rolls her eyes as if reading and knowing everything about love somehow corelate. "So, yes, Maxwell. I know how to get the happily ever after."

"Go ahead, then. Tell me."

"First of all, what's something you two used to do together?" My face must change, because Sophie hurriedly adds, "And for the love of all things holy don't tell me about your sex life."

"We snuck around for the most part." I shrug, "Sometimes she'd shoot basketball with me. We always had fun doing that."

"Okay. Here's an idea. Recreate that. Take her to shoot ball and make it like old times. Maybe turn it into a date."

"She has a boyfriend."

"You didn't tell me that!" Sophie gapes at me, but quickly dismisses her worried face with the wave of her hand. "Well, we can get her away from him easily."

"How so?"

"You know Rylie way better than he does."

"What makes you say that?"

"You know Rylie better than anyone."

Sophie shrugs at me like it's a no-brainer. She's got so much confidence in me it makes me have some in myself.

I can't believe it, but my baby sister might know more about relationships than I do. And, maybe, she's right.

I know Rylie's mind, body and soul.

Sure, there are years between us that have changed us a little, but at the core, I know she and I are both still the same.

Sophie and I head to the movies after lunch. We watch a really cheesy horror movie while sharing a popcorn that's over salted and under buttered. After the movie, I take her for ice cream and make a mental note to get my ass into the gym before I go to bed after all this junk food. If I gain fifteen pounds no team is going to want me. Not even the one I'm already on.

It's nice to see Sophie happy and healthy. She's growing up quicker than I'd like, but at the same time, it's nice having more adult-like conversations with her now.

I remember when she was only a toddler. She was incredibly tiny and I remember thinking that I would do anything in the world to protect her.

Little did I know what that would mean.

My biological father didn't start drinking until I was twelve. Sophie was still a baby in my eyes, though by that point she was walking and talking in short, babbly sentences. It was before school and she was there all the time then. Only three years old. I would make excuse after excuse for my mom to take me over there, just to check on her. I couldn't stand the thought of him hurting her.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how it's looked at, he never wanted Sophie. He could barely stand to look at her.

With my mom, they didn't work out. It was bad timing for the two of them and they were really young.

With Sophie's mom, he was in love.

Sophie looks a lot like her mom, from the pictures I've seen. As the story goes, Sophie's mom was quite a bit younger than my father and never felt the same way about settling down that he did.

She wanted to give Sophie up for adoption, but he pleaded for her to stay and raise the baby with him. She tried it for a few months, but ran off before Sophie was even one. When he paid to have her tracked down, she showed up for court saying she'd just sign over her rights.

I think he always resented Sophie for it, even though it was not her fault.

That's what drove him to drink.

Sober, my dad was a decent guy. Successful, charismatic, humorous.

Drunk, he was a nightmare.

I hug Sophie goodbye and walk her back to her dorm building. I promise her I'll come back next with Rylie, hoping it's a promise I can keep.

As I take the hour drive back home, I think about what she said. I need to remind Rylie why we're great together.

Fuck. My little sister is going to make me readromance novels if I don't pull this off. I've got to pull this off.