The Carrero Heart - Beginning (Friends to Lovers)

Arrick’s POV

~ Sophie calls Arrick ~

“I’m fucking doing it!” I snap, throwing down my phone and pull the papers over to me to sign with a tad more aggression than is warranted. Almost stabbing my pen in the damn contract as I dot the I in my name and toss the pen down when I’m done, aware of the eyes on me around the dark wood table of the conference room, but I don’t give a shit. I feel shitty and pissed off and this is the last thing I want to be doing right now.

Some crappy minor brief on one of our low tier businesses who want funds for a re-brand; spending all day stuck at Carrero tower at my father’s request when I want to be smashing a boxing bag into next week to expel this feeling. I don’t actually care if they fold right now, they make less than a hundred grand a quarter anyway and it’s barely worth the time I have spent here today.

“You are not too old to get a spanking.” My dad warns across the walnut conference table, a hint of humor in his cool look and I glare at him equally coolly. Like father like son. We have a good relationship and he has never spanked me in my life, but I wouldn’t put it past him today. He’s growing tired of my attitude lately; my moods of the last few days have had more than a passing glare from him. I know I’m acting like an asshole but it’s hard to be chipper when your life is falling to shit and just fucking sucks on every fucking bullshit level.

“What’s with you?” Adam, the current head of our legal department throws me a friendly smile and I t give him the finger in response. Luckily, we are friends beyond work, and he takes it with a grin and a shake of the head, knowing fine well I have been having personal problems. My father tuts and again throws me the warning glare, this time lacking humor; he doesn’t do overly friendly with the staff, ever. Something his sons clearly never got the memo on, seeing as Adam and I have went on many a night out, and Jake married his PA.

Over familiar is something we are good at, so he can go blame our mother, we get it from her.

“Sophs and he had a lover’s tiff, and she’s in lock down while Arry is in the chill zone. Or is that the friend zone? I get confused which.” Jake laughs, to my left, and I swear I have the urge to throat punch him in this moment. Sitting in his chair like a laid-back dick with a giant grin. Cocky fucker.

My personal business isn’t exactly what I want a table of six men to be discussing right now, even if he just hit the nail on the head. Only three of the men sitting here are even close enough to know who Sophie is, the other two are just suits for the legal brief and look confused as shit. I hate people talking about my business. Especially not about her.

Sophie won’t even take my calls, no matter how many times I try. Texts, messages, nothing. She has closed me out and it’s been days since I got any sort of response from her. It’s driving me crazy, not knowing how she is, how she feels, what’s going on with us. I’ve felt constantly uptight, sick with worry over how she is and in an eternally shitty mood over the fact we have never gone days without talking.

never closed down on each other or just ended shit. Pissed at her, yet at the same time, I’m desperate to talk to her. To hear that gentle sweet voice that

couple of weeks. Sometimes he is a pain in the ass to have as a brother, often forgetting he is meant to be

confide in, but not about her. He’s too close to Sophie, he sees her as a daughter and this would be awkward to talk about, not to mention probably a rage trigger for him. He never sees Sophie doing any wrong, and this would all come

feel. Sophie is an all or nothing kind of thing. I couldn’t just date her and see how it went. Couldn’t just blindly feel through it and figure it out as I went. There is a

broke up with said girlfriend, because I literally have not been able to touch her since I kissed my best friend in a moment of craziness. It felt like I

always the men’s fault. Have I taught you nothing?” My father smiles softly and Jake nods with a huge patronizing grin. I want to bury my head in my hands and groan until they all go away and stop looking at me. I don’t do well under family scrutiny when my head is already bursting with all it’s trying to

in company, despite them not seeming to give an utter shit about the fact. Jake shrugs and

still has his eyes on me, dissecting me

heart by rejecting her, yet kissed

me to the brink of insanity, and I wish I had never done this to myself. Opened that can of worms and let a million crazy feelings leach out from the recess of my mind, where I didn’t even know they had been lying dormant all this time. It’s no longer a clear-cut case of ‘don’t feel that way about her’, it’s

she always does. She has no idea how calm she makes me, how still she makes my head when I get like this and has been my sea of peace I always ran

and right now, my scales are fucked, and all the balance has fallen off one end. Sophie is the wild one, she’s the little live wire and the bundle of hard work... but she’s the one

to you.” Adam is on his feet, pulling all the papers towards him from the center and I send mine sliding towards him too, the pages fluttering as it travels the expanse of desk. The two men in suits get up with him to move, everyone exiting to go as my eyes follow them. Dragging my head back

them leave too, my father still watching me, and I have my eyes on the desk now, but I can see him from the corner of my eye. Staring at my cell and wondering how long before she stops blanking me, stops punishing me and killing me slowly. I left desperate messages

kinds of desperate and acting like some sad stalker who can’t get the hint that he has been cut off, high and dry. I won’t accept it, even if that does make me that sad desperate cling on. I already have plans to fly, or drive back there, if I haven’t heard from her by the end of the week. I’ll go walk into her bedroom and refuse to let her out until we talk about this shit. Until she helps me get my head back

her go-to guy, the way she’s my go-to girl. I hate this, it’s ripping my