But he hadn’t minded. He always played along, sulking, while secretly admiring his strong, sassy woman. And last night he’d been glad to see the old Sophie coming out. The one he’d fallen in love with.

Careful, Maddox. You’re leaving tonight.

What was he doing? No need to go traipsing down memory lane. He’d achieved what he hoped—settled the past with Sophie. He was free and clear to go home and finally move on. This time together had been healing for him and for Sophie too. But soon they’d go their separate ways.

He’d repeated the same mantra several times during the night, but something inside him refuted the message.

Enough with the wishful thinking.

He awakened his phone. Tiffany had texted him late last night, and he hadn’t responded. He replied now, letting her know about his flight. He should ask her about becoming exclusive when he got home. She’d been hinting around awhile, but he’d been hesitant. And if he didn’t do something soon she was going to move on.

That notion should bother him more than it actually did. He shook away thoughts of Tiffany. He should work on his speech for tomorrow night. He’d planned to write it on the plane, but he needed something to focus on now.

Back when he’d devised the SpringChute, he’d never dreamed his little invention would go beyond Extreme Adventures. But Ross entered him for an Extreme Sports Technology Award in the Innovations category, and Aiden was actually a finalist.

The awards ceremony was tomorrow night. He didn’t expect to win the ESTA; the competition was stiff. But he was honored just to be considered. It was the most prestigious award in the industry, and a lot of influential people would be present.

Aiden had never won anything before, much less something like this. He needed to get some words down on paper or risk making a fool of himself on the off chance he did win. He wanted to do Ross proud.

Aiden looked down at his phone. How long could it take to write a one-minute speech?

Aiden had been at it for twenty minutes. He wrote three different openings and deleted them all. The first was too casual, the second too formal, and the last was a lame attempt at a joke that wasn’t funny or appropriate for the audience. He needed to strike the right tone. But he’d never been a good writer.

He was so wrapped up in the speech he didn’t even realize Sophie had passed by until he heard her in the kitchen.