Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 66259 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66259 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
I close it fast and lean against it, wincing. “Man down.”
Dustin’s holding his balls with his hand. “How does a mop hurt?”
I frown. “Hey, let me see that.”
Adrian tosses it. “Why?”
I catch it and check it out. “Oh, I need a good mop, solid brand this one. I’ll take a screenshot later.”
“Does anybody care about my balls?” Dustin rolls onto his side.
“It was soft, you’re fine, get up, have some cheese.” I roll my eyes. “I’ll get you some ice, though, for your trouble. Hey, good thing it was attracted to your balls, you helped trap it!”
“Yes.” Dustin waves from the floor. “Let’s celebrate my ability to trap mice in my pants.”
Scarlett starts laughing behind her hand then stops when Dustin glares. “I’ll just… um, go grab you something.”
“For the love of God, put on pants!” Adrian yells. “Besides, do you realize how thin these walls are.”
“It’s the cement.” Dustin heaves from the floor like he’s seconds away from puking and attracting the mouse again. “It makes all the tragic sounds echo.”
“Tragic?” I ask.
“Lots of moaning.” Adrian shoots me a glare. “And we know you weren’t in here watching Batman.”
“That would be the weirdest bedroom game over.” I think about it a minute. “Or maybe the best?” Because Cosplay?
“Whatever.” Adrian points his finger at me. “Us. We’re talking later.”
I feel like I’m getting ready to get sent to detention or maybe just hell.
Scarlett makes her way back in the room. “Here’s some ice, Dustin—”
Adrian grabs her by the arm.
“Okay, I guess I’ll be right back.”
Dustin sits up, ice on his shorts. “I just have one question.”
“No, Dustin, she didn’t sign the form.”
“I was going to ask if you had any wine left over.”
“Oh.” I quickly grab it for him and hand it over. He stares me from his angle on the floor. “What?”
“Don’t get her pregnant, all right?”
I laugh, but inside I’m dying. Inside my heart squeezes a little and whispers bitterly, don’t worry.
I can’t.
Because I’m sterile.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Scarlett
Adrian takes a deep breath and sits outside on one of the cushy green chairs arranged around the fire pit. He turns the flame on and rubs his hands over it after throwing on a white t-shirt and staring into the fire. Why do I feel like he’s about to preach to me right now?
Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but I know all his faces. This one is a mixture of concerned and pensive and something else I haven’t seen in a long time.
Is he… jealous?
“Adrian?” I scoot my chair over. “Thinking about jumping into the fire or performing an exorcism? I didn’t bring any holy water, but I can watch.”
He hangs his head in his hands and groans, then turns to me, his hands still bracing his head, the firelight glowing across his masculine yet pretty features. His jaw is so precise it’s almost unreal. “Why him?”
I jerk back. “Why him what?”
“Why that guy?” He points behind him. “I really want to know. Because he’s going to leave you, he’s not going to stay, and you’re going to be heartbroken again, and then where does that leave me? At your house making sure you eat, making sure you go to work. You were heartbroken last time, and you never even told me why.
I look down at my hands. Why are they shaking? “Adrian, I’d just threw my entire life away, found out my entire life was shifting, including my relationship with my sister, my parents, and when I asked for a lifeline, he gave me one, and I think when you’re so desperate and someone sees it in your eyes like he’s experienced it before over and over again, something in your soul just clicks, something in both of us just clicked. He turned a horrible situation into something that had me laughing by the end of the night before crying after he kissed me and left. It didn’t help that I, um, got sent something in the mail soon after saying I’d be sued if I ever disclosed any information about our hours together.”
Adrian leans back in the chair. “You know he probably didn’t send that, don’t you?”
I sigh. “Yeah, I know that now. Clearly, Dustin’s the form guy.”
We both share a smile.
“But still.” I shrug and cross my arms, then shiver a bit.
Adrian gets up and grabs one of the red plaid blankets from the area by the outdoor couch and brings it over, wrapping it around my shoulders. “Better?”
I nod. “Mm. Yeah.”
“But still?” His jaw flexes like he’s bracing himself.
“He never came back,” I admit. “And it stung because I was so lost in that moment, I thought he’d at least text or say something, ask if I was okay, something. And then he became even more famous, and I chalked it up to a coincidence, or maybe serendipity that he was there and I was there, but now…” I look over my shoulder. “You should know, we used to know each other briefly when we were kids. I didn’t figure it out because he’d changed his name. He has a stage name, and I only knew him nine months before he left for the UK after his parents’ divorce. He promised to message me, and email and he never did, and I lost his information in a freak washing machine accident. I just assumed he’d connect with me, but he left me. Then he left me a second time, but I still have feelings for him, and even if that means I have tonight, tomorrow. Why can’t I have that?”