He swallowed, and I could see his Adam’s apple moving. “God, Lindsay,” he whispered. He reached up and moved a piece of hair off my face.
It was almost unbearable, standing this close to him, looking into his eyes, and not kissing him.
My phone rang, cutting some of the tension in the room, as the spell was broken.
Toxic by Britney Spears went trilling through the apartment, echoing from where my purse was sitting on the table by the front door. I must have dropped my purse there when he led me to his room last night.
Justin stepped back and let me walk past.
“I see you haven’t changed your ringtone, Pip,” he grinned, like nothing had happened. He started pulling a plate down from the cupboard and laying strips of cooked bacon onto it. “You better answer it.”
The last thing I wanted to do was answer my phone. In fact, whoever was calling and interrupting this moment was going to end up making it up to me from now until forever.
Meanwhile, Justin was over on the other side of the kitchen now, popping toast into the toaster and humming happily under his breath.
I headed for the hallway, then rummaged through my purse and pulled out my phone. It showed a number I didn’t recognize, and I frowned. I hardly ever got calls from phone numbers I didn’t know. The screen was showing a 617 area code, though, so I knew it had to be someone in the Boston area.
Dr. Klaxton.
I knew it was stupid, but it was the first name that popped into my head. What if he was calling to tell me he was sorry for the way he’d treated me, and he wanted to give me another chance? Maybe it was one of those weird tests that you always hear about professors giving people, like in that movie Legally Blonde.
“Hello?” I answered, trying not to sound too eager.
“Lindsay?”
“This is she.”
“I know it’s you, what the hell happened last night?”
“Who is this?” The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it.
“It’s Adam!”
Oh. Right. Adam. I hadn’t bothered to program his number into my phone when he’d given it to me, which was why I hadn’t recognized the number. Damn.
“Oh, hi, Adam,” I said. “What’s up?”
“What’s up is that I’ve been worried sick about you!” he said. “You left me sitting at the yogurt shop and just took off without even saying goodbye.”
Oh my God. I’d totally forgotten about Adam. How could I have done such a thing? Talk about a horrible, mean thing to do. But whenever Justin was around, it was like everything else faded away. Even now, I was watching him through the kitchen doorway as he served up plates of food for us.
“I’m so sorry, Adam,” I said. “I really am. It was just… something came up.”
Justin’s shoulders tensed at Adam’s name, and he turned around and frowned at me.
“Yeah, well, it wasn’t cool to just leave me hanging,” Adam said. “Not to mention I was extremely worried. I was this close to calling the police, but I ran into Rachel and she said –”
“The police? Why would you have called the police?”
“Because you took off with a thug, never to be heard from again.”
“He’s not a thug.”
Justin looked up sharply and then held his hand out. “Give me the phone.”
I shook my head. The last thing I needed was for Justin to get on the phone with Adam and start yelling at him.
“Adam,” I said. “I’m so sorry I made you worry, I really am. But I’m fine, I promise.”
“She’s fine, Adam,” Justin yelled, sounding annoyed. “Mind your own damn business.”
“What’s he saying?” Adam demanded.
“Look,” I said, ignoring his question, “I’m sorry I disappeared last night. That was wrong of me. Let me make it up to you. Maybe we can hang out later or something?” I wasn’t just trying to placate him. I did feel bad. Adam had been nothing but nice to me, and I’d just left him sitting there outside the yogurt shop. It was wrong, and I was embarrassed by my behavior.
“Okay,” Adam said, sighing. But he didn’t sound happy.
“I’ll text you later?” I asked.
“I guess.” He still sounded miffed. But then his voice softened a little bit. “Just be careful, okay?”
“I will.”
We hung up and I walked through the doorway back into the kitchen. Justin had his back to me and was sliding toast onto two plates. He picked them up and walked toward the little table in the corner.
I sat down. “Thanks,” I said as he set a plate down in front of me.
“Welcome.” He picked up his fork and angrily stabbed at his eggs.
“What’s wrong?”
“‘I’ll make it up to you’?” He was doing a shockingly good impression of my voice. “What was that about?”
“What it’s about is, I feel bad that I left him sitting alone in a yogurt shop last night without so much as an explanation.”
“I told you, I don’t want you seeing that guy anymore.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s bad news.”
I shook my head and took a sip of the orange juice he’d poured for me. “I don’t think so, Justin. He’s been nothing but nice to me.”
“Exactly.”
“Exactly what?”
“Exactly my point. Why do you think he’s been so nice to you?”