And Then It Happened: An Unexpected Romance (21 page)

Perhaps someone needed to get a hold of him, I thought as I flipped the phone over.

I wish I hadn’t.

One picture greeted me and at first I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. I swiped at them and was surprised when I didn’t need to enter a code to look at his messages. I wish he wasn’t so stupid and would have spared me the indecency.

The first picture appeared and my eyes widened in horror. It was of a beautiful woman, her legs spread as she fingered herself. Underneath the picture were the words
Thinking of you, Adrian. Wish you were here.

I nearly choked as my mind forced my fingers to scroll up, wondering if he’d had any recent communication with this person.

Sure enough there were all kinds of pictures the girl had sent him. The things she was doing in them made me blush and even though Adrian hadn’t sent her any pictures back, he had been texting her. And I couldn’t quite decide if his texts were suggestive or not.

“You snooping around on my phone?” Adrian asked as he approached me, a towel slung low on his hips. I hadn’t even heard him approach; I’d been so wrapped up in this text conversation and the scandalous pictures. No wonder he said sexting with me was lame. It had been child’s play compared to this.

“No,” I said as calmly as I could, despite my flaming face. I placed his phone on his pillow and shrugged. “Someone was texting you and I thought it may be important.”

“And was it?” he asked, walking toward me, his eyes never leaving my face.

“To you, maybe.”

Adrian picked up his phone and quickly glanced at the messages. I saw his eyes narrow slightly before they flickered up and met my gaze.

“That’s Greta,” he said, placing his phone on the bedside table.

“I saw.”

“You also saw a lot of other things,” he said, lowering himself onto the bed next to me.

“Whatever, I don’t care.”

“She was an old fling. Nothing has happened between us in months. She just sends me random pictures of herself…”

“And you reply.”

“I do.”

“When you’re with me?”

Adrian shook his head. “Never. And I stopped texting her back when this…” he said waving his hand toward me, “…started.”

The sincerity in his voice made me cringe. “So you’re not getting your kicks somewhere else?”

Adrian reached over and pulled me toward him. “No. Trust me, Jane. You take up way too much of my energy.”

My heart leapt at his comment, but I still felt vulnerable and weak. I hated myself for revealing so much of myself. So I did what I had to do to protect myself.

Don’t you say it! Don’t you…

“Whatever. I don’t care either way.”

“You don’t care?”

“Nope.”

“You don’t care if I send back provocative messages to Greta who masturbates and sends me pictures of it?”

I shrugged nonchalantly even as my chest clenched. “Nope.”

Adrian was silent for a moment. I could hear his steady breathing. “I don’t believe you,” he said, running a hand through my tangled hair. “You’ve always been a terrible liar. And you’re stubborn as fuck.”

“Yeah, well you’re a commitment-phobe who masturbates excessively.”

“Thank you.”

“It wasn’t a compliment,” I said, frustrated at his constant stream of humor when it wasn’t warranted.

“I know, but I have to lessen the tension, babe. You’re way to serious about this. It’s just some fucked up texts from a girl I used to bang. I can block her if you want.”

“Fine, if that’s what you want,” I said, pretending not to care, when in reality I was jumping up and down inside, pleading with him to cut her off.

“Yeah, I’ll do that. I’ll block her if it makes you happy. But you have to tell me it makes you happy or I won’t do it.”

I shot him a look and he smiled widely at me.

“Go screw yourself.”

“You already did that for me, but if I keep looking at your tits then I may need another round…”

I pinched his inner thigh and he yelped.

“Jesus, Janie. Really? You can’t pinch people near the penis. That’s a huge no-no.”

“I can do whatever I want and get away with it.”

Adrian ran his hand down my neck and my spine before stopping on my ass. He slowly rubbed his palms across the smooth skin there and I spread my legs slightly as he ran his hand between my thighs.

“Ready already?” he asked, feeling how wet I was.

I didn’t say anything as he slid his finger around my entrance, but I did arch my ass up to give him better access.

“Good girl, but first admit that it would make you happy, Janie. And then I will get you off.”

And because I didn’t want to wait to get fucked, I admitted it.

Chapter Fourteen

I’m going to miss having sex with you while you’re in LA.

I glanced down at my phone and a smile spread across my face. I was leaving tomorrow morning to meet Sadie downtown. I hadn’t seen Adrian since he left me earlier that morning. Things changed between us after last night. I never knew how possessive I’d feel about him. He’d made me feel things, experience things, I’d never even knew existed until now and I wanted Adrian all to myself. And living in my small bubble, where I rarely left my house and where Adrian seemed perfectly content with spending every minute with me inside, made the fantasy that he was mine seem real.

It also didn’t help my cause to maintain a safe distance when his ‘I love you’ replayed over and over again in my head. I wasn’t sure if he meant it or not, but in either case, I was starting to love him a whole lot more than I should. If I wasn’t careful, I would end up broken.

I rolled the phone between my hands before replying,
You’re going to miss ME. Admit it.

Maybe ;) You going to miss me?

Maybe ;)

Well how about we go out for drinks tonight before you leave tomorrow?

Like a date?

Well, if I’d known you’d actually go on another date with me I wouldn’t have invited my friends.

My heart sank slightly, but I had actually liked Adrian’s friends, so hanging out with them once more wasn’t the end of the world. Perhaps they would dish more dirt on Adrian.

I don’t mind that actually. I hope they tell me all your dirty little secrets.

I’m uninviting them all.

I laughed out loud, my voice echoing off my walls.

You better not or I’m not going.

It took Adrian a moment to respond but when he did, my smile widened and my heart swelled in my chest.

Fine then, Janie. Anything for you.

Holy crap. I was totally into him. There was no doubt about it.

***

“You sure you don’t want to leave,” Adrian said into my ear as I walked into Heroes, a bar in downtown Fullerton. Since I hadn’t gotten a chance to see Adrian before we left, I dressed up for him just to see his reaction.

“I’m sure,” I replied as his hand cupped my ass. I had worn a short skirt and a tank top. I felt a little slutty, but loved how Adrian kept watching me.

“Why did you have to wear something so sexy?” he whined in my ear as we approached his friends huddled around a table.

“Because I want to torture you,” I replied before waving to his friends.

“Hey, Jane,” the table said collectively, ignoring Adrian completely.

Adrian rolled his eyes before interjecting, “And hello to you guys too.”

“Oh stop pouting,” Chris said with a smile.

I nudged Adrian in the side as I smiled at his friends. In addition to August, Chris and Marcus, Daisy was there as well. She looked just as bright eyed and pretty as when I last saw her. The only difference was that August, who was slumped next to her, was avoiding all eye contact with her.

“Hi, I’m Jane,” I said, reaching across the table and shaking her hand. Daisy smiled widely at me.

“I’m Daisy. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“All good, I hope.”

“All good,” she replied before glancing down at August who looked tense. He didn’t meet her gaze and hurt flashed through Daisy’s beautiful blue eyes.

I didn’t have a chance to really analyze the whole situation because Adrian was ushering me into a chair.

“You want something to drink?” he asked, leaning down to press a kiss to my cheek.

I flushed as all eyes moved to me. Daisy was by far the worst, her mouth dropping open as she watched us.

“Holy crap,” Marcus began before Adrian silenced him with a glare, shutting him up.

“Now what do you want, babe?” Adrian asked, causing the table to grow quiet once more.

“Whatever wine they have here,” I said, breaking through the silence.

“Good,” he told me before turning toward his friends, “And act normal, please. I wouldn’t have invited you here to hang out if I knew you’d just sit there and gape.”

“Yeah, well when you bring Jane around a second time and then call her babe…well, I think we’re all a bit shocked,” Marcus said.

“Just act like humans please.”

“Always do,” August finally said, causing Daisy to frown at him.

“Not recently,” she muttered, causing August to glower at her. From what I could glean from Adrian’s random comments, things were strained between the two of them.

Finally, Adrian disappeared into the crowd, making his way toward the bar.

“So are you two official yet?” Chris asked, when Adrian was out of earshot.

I shook my head. “No, we’re really just friends.”

“You sure about that? You sure don’t act like friends. You have Adrian wrapped around your finger,” Marcus said.

“I promise, Adrian isn’t wrapped around my finger. He does whatever he wants when he wants to.”

“But not without your permission first, right?” August said bitterly and I had a feeling he was directing his comment toward Daisy and not me.

“Well, I think you two are cute,” Daisy said sweetly, glancing over at August who started texting on his phone once more. She rolled her eyes in irritation.

“Well thanks, but I’m being serious. I’m not really Adrian’s type.”

“Adrian has a type?” Marcus asked, his eyebrows rising in question.

“Yeah, empty-headed, long legs, big boobs…” Chris chimed in, gesturing toward his chest.

“Exactly. We’re just hanging out at the moment.”

“But you want it to be more, right?” Daisy asked and I glanced over at August who was still intently texting.

“I mean, I don’t know…I guess…”

“Because you hang out all the time from what Adrian tells me and I can see that he loves you…”

“He doesn’t love her,” August piped up, obviously irritated. And once again, I knew his comment wasn’t directed at me, but at his friend, Daisy.

“How do you know? You’re some kind of mutant who’s unable to love. So how would you know?”

“Oh, just perfect. Now I’m a mutant?”

“Yes,” Daisy said, folding her arms across her chest. “Yes, you are.”

August rolled his eyes to the ceiling as he scooted over a few inches.

“Real mature,” Daisy muttered.

“Well, I’ve never seen him this smitten with someone, despite your deviation from the norm,” Chris said, turning my attention from the angry couple.

“And I’m glad too,” Marcus said. “It’s about time my older brother meet someone nice and settle down.”

“Thanks,” I said. I flushed and glanced behind me toward the bar, wanting to see how much longer Adrian was going to leave me alone with his friends. And that’s when I saw Adrian leaning into a pretty brunette. He whispered something into her ear, causing the brunette to smile prettily and rest her hand on his chest. My heart sank as I forced a smile onto my face. How humiliating. I had let my guard down for just a moment and was knifed in the process.

Turning around slowly I said to no one in particular, “See, we’re just friends…like I said.”

Daisy was scowling, her hands bunched up into fists as her eyes met mine. “Why are guys such assholes?”

This caused August’s eyes to shoot up, his jaw ticking as he watched her, his phone forgotten.

“You know, they string us along and get pissed when we decide that we no longer want the drama. Right, Jane?” she asked.

My eyes widened at her venomous speech. Daisy seemed incredibly sweet from what Adrian had told me, but at the moment she looked like she was going to spew fire.

“I don’t….”

“Daisy, just keep your shit opinions to yourself,” August said lowly, his hand grasping her arm. Daisy, pulled away from his grip, her eyes shooting venom.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” she said, standing up so abruptly that the chair toppled to the floor behind her.

We all watched her leave. August seemed upset, but got onto his phone once more as Marcus nudged him in the ribs.

“You going to do anything about that, man?” Marcus asked him.

August shrugged, causing Marcus to sigh heavily. “Then, hey, she’s fair game.”

August’s eyes shot up once more and Marcus stood up abruptly. He headed toward the bathroom while August watched, his cheeks flushed from anger.

“You really going to let that happen?” Chris asked and August shrugged.

“Daisy can have whoever she wants. I have other shit to deal with at the moment. I’m out.” August pushed away from the table, leaving me and Chris staring at each other awkwardly.

I glanced at the bar once more, seeing Adrian and the brunette leaning into one another, talking so intimately.

“Sorry about all the drama. I guess that’s what happens when friends start sleeping together,” Chris said, taking a sip of his drink.

“Yeah, I guess the lesson is never sleep with someone who claims to be your friend,” I said, fiddling with my purse.

“Look, Adrian really likes you. I can tell,” Chris interjected, pushing his black-framed glasses up his nose.

“Yeah, so much, right?” I said dryly, gesturing toward the bar with my thumb. I was humiliated and angry. I just wanted to go home and cry.

Chris’ gaze followed mine and he shook his head. The two of us watched Adrian pull the brunette into a hug and I felt a little sick to my stomach.

“Man, my friends have issues,” Chris muttered.

I shrugged like I could care less even though I was itching to get out of the bar. I had dressed up for nothing. What had I sought to prove? Obviously I wasn’t able to keep Adrian’s interest.

You suck. Lame Jane. Lame Jane.

“Well, I think I’m going to go to the bathroom. Will you excuse me?” I asked, standing up and heading toward the back exit. Chris let me go with a knowing nod.

I stumbled outside as quickly as I could, the cold air cooling my
heated skin. Well, the night was a total bust. It was supposed to be fun, and turned out to be an Adrian flirt fest. What a waste. What a total waste of my effort, my time…

My heart.

“Janie,” Adrian called out from behind me. I didn’t turn around.

Go to hell, Adrian!

“Jane,” Adrian said, jogging up beside me and grabbing my hand. “Where are you going?”

I didn’t meet his gaze as I shrugged. “Leaving you with your new conquest. I guess this means that our arrangement is over?”

Adrian’s eyes darkened as his hand tightened around my wrist. “The hell it does. Let me explain.”

“What is there to say? You saw someone better. Now our time together comes to an end,” I said, surprised that my voice hadn’t broken yet. I was somehow managing to keep my composure when inside I was breaking.

“The fuck I have. That was Lila. A friend. I was talking about you, Jane. I was telling her about us.”

“There is no us.”

“Jesus, yes there is!”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m tired anyway,” I said, feigning a yawn.

“Is this you hinting that you want me to take you home so we can ‘sleep’?”

I rolled my eyes at his insinuation. “No and actually I think it’s best if we take a little break…a few days to cool down…you know?”

“No, I don’t know,” he said, looking confused and a little hurt.

Good. You should feel hurt. You hurt me, Adrian. You really did.

“I just think things are getting a little intense and I need time to think,” I said, not wanting to admit that I was jealous of Lila and Greta and every other girl he’d been with, not to mention I was scared that I cared as much as I did.

“You need time to think? You want us to cool it for a few days?”

“Yes.”

“So no more sex?”

“No sex.”

He sighed heavily. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“Can we at least sext?”

I shook my head. “I just need a few days.”

“I’ll give you until you come back, but then all bets are off. Deal?”

“Deal,” I replied, tired of everything. Tired of this game we were playing, tired of not knowing where I stood with him.

Then just ask, you crazy person!

But I couldn’t. Because I was still scared, a coward, a loser deep down.

If I never admitted I loved him out loud, then it would hurt less in the end.

Yeah, keep telling yourself that.

I ignored my sarcastic inner voice and let Adrian drive me home. I had really been looking forward to the evening and was disappointed at its untimely end.

“You text me if you change your mind,” Adrian said, walking me up to my front door.

“Okay,” I said as he pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth. I leaned into his lips, relishing how he smelled, how he felt against me before he pulled away.