I hadn’t been looking forward to the night at Fire because it meant being stuck in a club, watching Adam flirt with everything that moved, but it was a big night for Braden as he was holding a special event for Fresher’s Week, and I promised him I’d be there.
As per usual he and Joss were so wrapped up in their own stuff they didn’t notice the tension between me and Adam. It was this horribly awkward tension, mixed with sexual frustration, and it had sprung up between us after our clash a little while after the eventful night at Club 39.
It had happened when I accepted a date with a guy called Jason that I met in Starbucks.
Jason was hot and seemed nice and I saw no harm in grabbing a drink with him. Except, Braden had informed Adam of my plans and Adam had spent the entire night calling me up with stupid questions. He ruined the date. It was immature and completely outrageous.
Even more so was the fact that, as Joss so bluntly pointed out, I had rudely kept answering the phone instead of switching it off. The truth was I’d been enjoying Adam’s reaction to my date. Somewhere along the line I had forgotten my vow to move on from him after the night at his apartment, and I was playing our stupid game again. I wanted a reaction from him and I got it. But after chewing him out at my parent’s Sunday lunch the next day, Adam had gone from hot to ice cold. He tried not to be alone with me and when he was alone with me he spoke to me about things you’d chat to a perfect stranger about. It had been wearing on my nerves for weeks, and that along with my worries about school and the recurring headache I couldn’t seem to get rid of, I found myself wanting to lay my frustrations at his feet.
Everyone else would get nice Ellie, sweet Ellie, the Ellie everyone knew and liked. Adam would get crabby Ellie, tired Ellie, the Ellie with the bitter, broken heart.
While Braden detained Joss after a small skirmish about her dress (my brother was such an alpha-male idiot sometimes) Adam led me up to a private booth across from the bar. I slid in one side and was surprised when Adam sat down quite close to me.
“Careful,” I warned him dryly, “I think you’re breaking your one meter distance rule with me.”
He curled his lip, unimpressed. “Don’t start. Not tonight.”
“Not any night.”
His eyes flashed. “You know why I don’t date, Ellie? So I don’t have to put up with this shit. It’s like being in a fucking relationship without the benefits.”
Hurt, I gave him the dirtiest look I could muster. “No, it’s like being in a friendship you broke.”
Having successfully spread my hurt to him, I felt awful, and feeling awful made me even angrier at him. I didn’t want to care that I hurt his feelings.
Adam was about to respond when movement drew our heads up and we saw Joss trying to escape our argument. He gave her a look that told her to plant her bottom down beside us and save him from me.
I was almost as relieved as he was when she sat down on my other side.
“Braden’s having drinks sent over,” she said, her eyes taking in all the guests. “I didn’t realize he had other friends appearing tonight. I thought it was just us and random people.”
“No,” I replied absentmindedly, my bad mood causing the rope bridge between my brain and mouth to snap. “Some of his exes as well as his previous friends-with-benefits girls love clubbing. He invited them and a few of his guy friends.”
It wasn’t until Adam snapped, “Ellie, what are you playing at?” and I turned to see him gazing pointedly at Joss that I followed his gaze and saw Joss had frozen at my careless comment.
Mortified, I hurried to assure her apologetically, “Oh crap, Joss, I didn’t mean anything. I mean, those girls don’t mean anything…”
“Let’s get drunk,” she announced overly cheerily and I felt unbelievably guilty for making her feel uncomfortable and uncertain of Braden.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Let’s just wait for Braden,” Adam insisted.