Sophie's POV

Three days turned into a week, which turned into two, which has now turned into a month and a half. It's been a month in a half since I've been face to face with Riley, and it's been harder than I thought it would be.

If he's not in the studio, he's at the gym, doing interviews, or who knows what else.

Conversation between the two of us has been sparce. Maybe a text message here and there. If I'm lucky, I'll get a phone call or a Facetime for a few minutes.

Guess it's better than nothing. 

I expected some distance, I just didn't expect it to be this bad. 

 Walking through the halls at the shop, I feel myself bump into someone, causing me to look up from my phone.

"Ryan" I say.

He responds, "Hey Soph."

"Been a while, how are you?" I ask, sliding my phone into the pocket of my jeans. 

"Good, I've been good. How are you?" he asks.

I shrug my shoulders, "hanging in there, just had a lot going on all at once. Missed seeing you around though" I tell him. 

"Same here Soph, race days aren't the same without you" Ryan tells me, letting out a sigh.

"This shouldn't be awkward" I say. 

Ryan lets out a laugh, "no, it shouldn't be. There's just a lot that we both need to handle. If you're happy though, that's all that matters to me. I just want you happy Soph" Ryan states. 

"I am happy. Well, as happy as one can be when they haven't had a conversation with their boyfriend in a while, but I'll be okay. I just miss my best friend, Ryan. Hanging out with just Chase and Bubba is okay, but it's not the same without you" I respond. 

"Well how about this. Let's do one of our dinner nights tomorrow night. I know things won't go back to normally right away, but it's a start. As for Riley, don't stress out about it too much. Life is busy for both of you, don't let it affect you too much" Ryan tells me. 

"I would love that and thank you Ryan" I say.

Ryan wraps his arms around me, squeezing me tight, before letting me go and walking down the hallway back towards the shop.

Already, my head feels lighter. All the problems that have been weighing on me are already going away one by one.

If only I could get ahold of Riley for more than 30 seconds.

Later that afternoon, I look away from my computer and towards the buzzing phone on my desk.

Riley: Hey beautiful, just wanted to say

that I miss you. You've been on my mind

all day today.

Sophie: Well hi stranger, I was starting

to get worried about you. You've

been on my mind too, miss you.

Riley: I'll be back soon. I'll

try to call you tonight. I love you.

Just as quick as he pops in, he's gone again leaving me stuck in my head about what's going on with him to cause this insane amount of distance between us. 

Ryan's POV

"So, what's the plan for tonight?" Chase asks, leaning back on the couch.

I look at my phone, before looking back in his direction. "Dinner should be here soon. We will eat, maybe watch a movie, who knows where the night will take us" I respond.

After running into Sophie yesterday, I could tell whatever is going on with her and Riley has been weighing on her heavy. I hated that I was part of what was wrong with her, but I'm going to do whatever I can to fix it, starting today with this dinner. 

"Dinner is here" Sophie says, walking through the front door.

Chase and Bubba both look my way, eyes wide at the voice of the fourth member of our group.

"Is that Sophie I hear?" Bubba asks, setting down his controller. 

Sophie peaks her head around the corner, a massive smile on her face as she spots all of us sitting in the living room together.

"Holy shit it is Soph!" Chase exclaims, jumping up from his seat before running in her direction.

"I didn't realize you two were on speaking terms again" Bubba says, standing up from the couch.

I look from him to Sophie and Chase, both with smiles on their faces as they talk between the two of them.

Whatever Sophie had weighing on her earlier has clearly left her head as soon as she walks through the door. She looks lighter, more relaxed than she did earlier in the day. 

"Happy you're back Soph" Chase says, grabbing the bag of food from her before heading to the dining room.

"We're all happy you're back" Bubba adds, before following Chase. Leaving Sophie and I standing in the living room together. 

"Thank you for letting me come tonight. I needed this more than you realize" Sophie says, looking down at her feet.

"I think we all needed this" I respond.

The two of us walk into the dining room to see Chase and Bubba sorting out food from a local BBQ place that we frequent. 

All throughout dinner, I keep an eye on Sophie.

She engages in some of the conversation, but for the most part she seems spaced out, like she has way too much on her mind to be fully present. 

I look over at Bubba and Chase, who I can tell are both thinking the same thing.

We all watch as Sophie looks from her plate, towards the phone sitting next to her. As soon as she reads what's on her phone, her face drops more than it already was.

"What's going on Soph?" I ask her.

Sophie sighs, turning her phone over, "it's not important" she responds.

"Soph, tell us what's going on. We can all see something is wrong, so spit it out" Chase tells her. 

"Um, Riley was supposed to come into town tomorrow and head out for the race weekend with us, but he just cancelled. Said he had some last-minute studio time that had to get booked before he could even think about leaving town" she tells us.

"How many cancelations does this make?" Chase asks.

I look between them, even more confused about what's going on. Has Riley cancelling on her often? 

"This makes the fourth time" Sophie responds, quietly.

"Jesus Soph" Chase says, letting out a breath.

I can tell he's pissed, he's the one that advocated for him the hardest with all of us, especially me. However, seeing the look on Sophie's face right now, I can tell that while I shouldn't have reacted the way I did, he's slowly breaking Sophie's heart without even realizing it.