Sophie's POV

Riley lays his forehead against mine, the two of us fighting to catch our breaths. Between his breath, and the layer of sweat coating the two of us, I'm in a blissful state.

It's been nearly two weeks since Riley was at the track with me, and things have been moving in double time, to the point that he hasn't been back to his house in Nashville since he flew in after the race.

While things may feel like they're moving too fast, that's just the reality of Riley and I, nothing has ever been slow about our relationship. 

"That's one hell of a way to wake up" Riley says, placing a soft kiss to my lips before rolling off of me.

"I'll take that wake up any day of the week" I respond, letting him pull me up out of bed and towards the bathroom. 

"Well, come on and I might be able to get one more out of you before you have to head into work" Riley says, dragging me towards the shower.

An hour later, I'm pulling up to the shop, wishing I could just turn around and go back home. I don't plan on being here all day, I just have a few things I need to add to Joey's schedule for the week, and of course half of the information I need is in my desk here. 

Hearing a knock on my window, I turn my head to see Joey standing there, a goofy smile on his face.

"I didn't realize you were coming in today" Joey says, opening up my car door.

I step out of the car, before grabbing my bags from the back seat.

"It wasn't in the plans, but I need some contact information that I stupidly left in my desk. So I just decided to come here. Riley can entertain himself for a few hours" I respond. 

Joey looks at me confused, "I didn't realize that Riley was still in town" he says.

I give him a nod, opening the door to the shop.

"He hasn't left since we came back from the race two weeks ago. We've kind of just been in our own bubble since. He came to the race last weekend too, but he wanted to come under the radar, so he just stayed on the bus. I have a feeling he's going to have to leave soon though, can't just disappear forever" I respond.

Joey follows me up to my office, closing the door behind us.

"I'm happy for you Sophie, I really am. I just don't want you to get used to having him around all of the time. Eventually he's going to have to go record, and that will lead to tours and appearances and all of that. You know how it is from this side; his side is probably a whole lot worse than ours. I just don't want to see you heartbroken when he leaves" Joey says, sitting down in the chair across from me. 

"I think I'm as mentally prepared as I can be for him to leave, but I still don't want it to happen. I feel like I'm back in college always having him around, hell half of the time I forget he's actually as big as he is. It's just one of those things that I know it's coming, but I can't be ready for it" I say.

"Well, I'm always here if you need me, and so is Britt. One phone call and we can be there as quickly as you need us. You're not alone here" Joey responds, before getting up from his chair and heading out to the shop. 

Riley's POV

"Ri! I'm back" I hear coming from the front door.

I look from my packed suitcase sitting next to the couch, to the blonde who holds my heart as she walks through the entry way.

Sophie pauses, seeing the suitcase sitting on the other side of the couch, before looking at me.

"You have to leave, don't you?" Sophie asks, her voice small. I can hear the fear in her voice. 

Bubble is officially popped. 

 Opening my arms for her, Sophie sets her bag down before sliding onto my lap, laying her head against my chest. I kiss the top of her head, leaning my head against hers.

"Got a call not long after you left. They need me back in Nashville for a recording session starting tomorrow. I had no idea they were even thinking about booking this, or else I would have mentioned it before now" I respond.

Sophie nods her head, "I know you would have. I've had a feeling all day that this was going to happen soon, I just wasn't expecting it to happen today" she says.

"I know, I wasn't either. If I could push it off, I would in a heartbeat. However, they wouldn't budge on it, so I have to head back for a little while. I will do my best to get back here as quick as I can" I tell her. 

"Promise me it's all going to be okay once you leave" Sophie says, quietly.

Lifting her chin up, Sophie looks at me, vulnerability showing through her eyes. There's not a doubt in my mind that Sophie is thinking about every possible bad scenario, everything that could go wrong with me going back.

"Everything is going to be perfectly fine. I'm going to go record this song, as soon as I get done, I'm going to come right back here to you. No if's, and's or, but's about it babe. Now that you've got me hooked again, I can't imagine my life without you" I tell her. 

"Good, because losing you once was bad enough, I don't know what would happen if I was to lose you again" Sophie tells me.