After 999 Nights, He Said We Were Never Together Chapter 01

After 999 Nights, He Said We Were Never Together Chapter 01

The nine hundred and ninety-ninth time Sophie Whitfield checked into a hotel with the boy she’d grown up with, he still lost control as completely as ever.

The next morning, kiss marks covered Sophie’s body. Even the slightest movement made her lower back ache.

The air in the room still carried the heat of the night before. Ryan Blackwood’s long arm remained wrapped around her, his hand resting against her soft body as he said casually, “Dress up tomorrow. You’re coming home with me.”

Sophie lifted her head in shock, hope rushing into her voice.

“You’re finally going to… make us official?”

Ryan arched a brow and gave her a sideways glance.

“Make what official? My family arranged a formal date for me tomorrow. I want you there to keep the conversation going so she doesn’t feel awkward.”

Every word struck Sophie like thunder.

Her heart nearly stopped. Her mind went blank.

“You’re going on a date your family arranged? Then what am I?”

Ryan was already getting dressed. He looked at her lazily.

“You? You’re my favorite person to hang out with. We eat together, play games, and sometimes sleep together. That’s it.”

Cold spread through Sophie. The color slowly drained from her face, and her lips began to tremble.

The amusement on Ryan’s face faded as he leaned closer.

“Wait, Sophie Whitfield. You didn’t actually think we’ve been dating all these years, did you?”

The teasing edge in his voice cut straight through her heart.

She fought back the sting behind her nose, but her voice still came out broken.

“W-Why would I think that? I’m going to take a shower.”

Sophie scrambled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom.

The moment the door closed, the last of her strength left her. She collapsed onto the floor.

His words still echoed in her ears. She looked down at the dense trail of marks Ryan had left across her body, and tears began to fall.

They had known each other for more than twenty years. They had grown up side by side, shared the same glass of milk, and read the same comic books.

When they were eighteen, one drunken night had ended with them in bed together.

Then there had been a second time.

A third.

At night, their bodies fit together perfectly. During the day, they did everything couples did.

They held hands in crowded streets. They kissed at the New Year’s countdown and promised to stay together through the next year. They spent hours on the phone every day, keeping the spark between them alive.

Sophie had always believed they were together and simply hadn’t announced it publicly.

Now Ryan was telling her they had never been boyfriend and girlfriend at all.

The pain stole her breath. With shaking hands, she turned the shower on full blast before finally allowing herself to sob.

She didn’t know how long she stayed there. By the time she came out, her tears had run dry and she had forced her emotions back under control.

Ryan was dressed and sitting on the sofa, speaking into his phone.

“There’ll be a lot of people tomorrow, so reserve a quiet private dining room. She doesn’t like anything too heavily seasoned, so make it French. Black Forest cake. Pink and white roses. Send me photos when it’s set up so I can approve everything. And have a dozen suits ready for me to choose from. All black. That’s the only color she likes.”

At the name he mentioned, Sophie’s heart jolted.

She looked over and saw the sweet smile curving Ryan’s mouth.

Isabelle?

The woman his family had arranged for him to meet was Isabelle Monroe?

The light in Sophie’s eyes dimmed.

If it was Isabelle, then she understood why Ryan was so excited.

In high school, he had been hopelessly in love with Isabelle Monroe. He said her name dozens of times a day, always to Sophie.

But before he could confess, Isabelle moved overseas.

After that, Sophie never heard Ryan mention her again.

Once Ryan and Sophie began growing closer after that reckless night together, Sophie assumed he had finally moved on.

She had never realized that the girl he couldn’t let go of in his youth had never truly left his heart. He had simply stopped speaking her name.

The ache that had barely subsided surged again, so sharp that Sophie’s phone slipped from her hand and struck the floor.

Ryan turned at the sound, smiling.

“Done with your shower? You can check us out later. I already paid for the room.”

He picked up his jacket and headed for the door. Just before leaving, he glanced back at her with a faint, knowing smile.

“Sophie, I’ve always seen you as my closest friend. Don’t look so devastated around me again, or I might start thinking you have feelings for me.”

“I know everything about you. You can read my mind from a single look. Doesn’t a life like that sound boring? If we actually got together, it’d feel like we’d already reached the end before we even started.”

His voice faded with his footsteps, but the words stayed inside Sophie’s heart.

She sat on the cold bed.

Then she began to laugh.

She laughed until tears ran down her face.

So this was how Ryan Blackwood had seen her all these years.

She remained alone in the room until late that night before finally going downstairs to check out.

Rain poured outside, but she barely seemed to feel it as she made her way home in a daze.

When her parents, Thomas and Helen Whitfield, saw her soaked through, they rushed over with dry towels.

“It’s pouring out there,” Helen said anxiously. “Why didn’t you take a cab?”

Sophie looked at them numbly. Her eyes were empty, and her voice was hoarse.

“Dad, Mom, you’ve wanted to move to Spain because of the company’s restructuring, right? I’ve thought about it. Let’s go. Let’s leave New York and never come back.”

They had spent more than six months trying to convince her, so her sudden agreement stunned them.

“Are you sure? Did you break up with that boyfriend of yours?”

Ryan’s words flashed through Sophie’s mind. Her chest tightened, and she shook her head with a bitter smile.

“There was never a boyfriend. I made him up so you’d stop asking about my love life.”

Thomas and Helen weren’t sure whether they believed her, but they were thrilled nonetheless. They immediately began pushing forward with their Spanish residency applications and urged Sophie to start packing.

Sophie murmured her agreement, returned to her bedroom, and threw away everything connected to Ryan Blackwood.

The thick photo albums she had preserved for more than a decade.

The jewelry, dresses, and handmade figurines he had given her.

All of it went into the trash.

“Miss Whitfield, are you sure you don’t want any of these things?”

Sophie saw the regret in the housekeeper’s eyes and nodded lightly.

“I don’t want them.”

Not the gifts.

Not the love she had carried for years.

And not Ryan Blackwood.