4.12 - Confide

Sofia wasn't sure how she'd ended up in such a disastrous situation, but she knew there were several things she needed to sort out—and fast. Not only for her own comfort, but everyone else involved.

"So," a confused Jordan said. "You wanted to talk. What's up?"

Sofia chewed her lip. This was a rather mortifying conversation to be having, but it needed to be done. She wasn't sure what Natalie and Jordan's relationship was, but she also wanted to clear up this 'bet' that she'd made with Natalie—and whether it would be a problem with Jordan. She doubted it, since Jordan seemed lackadaisical about Sammy and others, but that was definitely the sort of thing best talked about beforehand. Not only for the sake of her friendship with Jordan, but team cohesion. The party splitting up because of complicated interpersonal dynamics could easily happen, considering Natalie's class. Not that it seemed likely to—just that it could.

"It's about Natalie," Sofia said.

Jordan kept a neutrally polite expression. "It is?" There wasn't a hint of sarcasm, but Sofia could read it anyways. Jordan had always had a dry sort of humor.

She huffed. "Look, I know I was being kind of obvious back there. I'm sure you think I was jealous or something."

Jordan's eyebrows raised, as if she hadn't thought Sofia would address what had happened so directly. "It wasn't, then?" she asked carefully.

"Certainly not," Sofia said. "Or … not exactly." She rubbed her face with both hands. "Look, I'm still working it out myself. I can confidently assure you that I'm not in love with her or something absurd like that, or even pursuing a relationship. I might have been slightly jealous, though."

"Uh-huh," Jordan said. "And that makes sense to you?"

Sofia glared, but it was a reasonable contradiction. Why would she be jealous if she wasn't interested in Natalie? "It's childish," Sofia said, "but this was supposed to be my event. I know how egocentric that sounds. And she was being—I don't know, friendlier than usual. So when I saw her with Sammy, barely paying attention to me anymore, I got irritated. And it dragged up a few other annoyances." 

Namely, how easily Natalie had always handled women. Sofia herself had always been rather terrible at it. Half because of disinterest—of the practical sort, wanting to focus on her career—and half because she simply wasn't good at 'wooing'. It seemed Natalie had always managed it effortlessly, which bugged Sofia for reasons she couldn't entirely put her finger on. If she was completely honest with herself, Natalie's appraisal that Sofia was 'just mad that Natalie was better than her at something' might have a hint of truth, even if it was decidedly not the whole, or even the majority of the explanation. Certainly, though, her decades-long competitive streak with Natalie complicated things.

"But that's besides the point," Sofia said. "I promise I'm not trying to pursue Nat—and I certainly don't care she's hooking up with Sammy. Or you, or anyone else."

Jordan's brow furrowed. "Me and Natalie? Sorry?" There was even a hint of amusement, as if she were whimsically perplexed by Sofia's words. She was a far, far better liar than Natalie. If Sofia hadn't received confirmation from Natalie herself, and hadn't had her own major suspicions, then she might actually have thought Jordan and Natalie weren't together in any way besides friends—because Jordan's reaction was exceedingly convincing.

"She told me," Sofia said. "Or, rather, I tricked her into telling me. It was a bit manipulative. I shouldn't have."

Jordan's faked confusion disappeared, and she pursed her lips. "Well, I'm glad you recognize that. But I didn't expect it to stay a secret forever. Especially not to our roommate. I get the feeling I'm missing a lot of context. Go ahead?"

Sofia breathed in. The full explanation, then; they'd gotten sidetracked. 

She hesitated, despite having just braced herself. She forced herself to barrel forward. 

"Natalie and I hooked up. In the locker room, just now."

The absurd statement broke through Jordan's collected demeanor. Her eyes widened. "Wait. What?"

"She kind of goaded me into it," Sofia said. "Or maybe I did her. I'm not really sure. It was a mess. But that's not the part that matters."

"It's not?" Jordan asked. "Then what is?"

"That we made a bet if she could—" getting the next words out was difficult. "If she could … pleasure me fast enough, she would, um, 'own me for the week'. And she did. So. There you go."

Maybe the exact details hadn't been necessary.

Jordan gaped at her. Sofia's face burned red-hot. This was even more embarrassing than she had feared.

"I'm telling you this," Sofia said, "because first, you and her are involved, and so I wanted to make me and her immediately clear. I don't know the details of your relationship, but communication is obviously something that needs to happen, or else our team could go up in a fireball."

Jordan collected herself. "Yes. That is something that could happen. It's a mature perspective, and I agree."

"But seeing how we have a confused, hopeless moron for our third—" Sofia breathed in, then steadied herself. "I'm sorry. That was rude. I'm still kind of mad at her." And there were a lot of other emotions swirling around inside her—both confusing and inciting—other than simply anger. "But I don't think Natalie's going to handle it properly, so I wanted to talk to you."

"And what are you two? What is 'us'?"

"I don't know," Sofia said flatly. "But she made it abundantly clear that she plans to use her reward, me, to the fullest."

"So tell her that you changed your mind," Jordan said flatly. "That's a ridiculous bet you made. I'm guessing neither of you were thinking clearly. I have zero doubts Natalie would refuse to, or even be upset."

"Well. Still. I'm a woman of my word."

Jordan gave her an incredulous look. "So you want to serve your sentence."

Sofia sputtered. "Absolutely not."

"Sofia."

She knew she was being hypocritical. She'd come to Jordan under the guise of clear communication and understanding everyone's relationships as to avoid problems. Yet here she was being obviously delusional.

"Look," Sofia groaned. "I'm not sure what I think about it all either, okay? But I made a bet, and I'm seeing it through."

Jordan studied her for a long moment, then her expression softened. "Okay. That's more than fair, if you don't know how you feel yourself. You've said what you need to. And thank you for bringing me into the loop."

"Natalie would have done so too," Sofia said. "But I wanted to get to you first. She'll misconstrue things."

"On accident," Jordan said wryly, "and she actually puts a lot of value in discretion, so she wouldn't have given too many details. But yes, I think she would mix some things up." Jordan turned serious. "But this brings up an important point. There's something I have to ask, now. Or let you know."

"Okay?"

"If you're Natalie's for the week, and me and her are together for a sense of the phrase," Jordan said. "Well, then, aren't you our pet, not just hers?"

Sofia stared.

"Just a thought," Jordan said. "I'll have to talk with Natalie first, of course." She patted Sofia on the arm. "We'll get back to you on that. Is that everything, Sofia?"

Sofia continued to stare. Was Jordan being serious? She'd always had a deadpan sort of humor, and Sofia did think it was halfway a joke, but more than that, she thought Jordan was testing the water in the guise of a joke.

"Great," Jordan said. "Good talk. But we should head back now. We've been gone too long." 

She gave a mischievous smile before turning away, and Sofia couldn't help but feel she'd somehow made her situation worse, not better, by being so honest with Jordan.

Then again … maybe only worse in some ways.

In others, maybe she'd made things much, much better.

"Oh, heavens," Sofia murmured, watching Jordan's hips sway as she headed back to the group. "What have I gotten myself into?"