Ten Days of Perfect (November Blue #1)

His question sent chills through my body and froze my face. I opened my mouth to speak, but Adrian put up his hand.

“Never mind, I don’t think I want to know. I’d never say anything, Ember. I respect you . . . and your decisions.” He seemed sad. “Just be careful, OK?” His eyes darkened as he put a firm hand on my knee.

“Thanks, Adrian.”

I felt a little weird talking about this with him, especially since we hadn’t properly and soberly addressed what we’d talked about on the beach. My face paled at yet another piece of last night’s puzzle. Adrian talked a lot about his feelings for me in the past, but hadn’t suggested that they were any different in the present.

“You OK?” Adrian asked.

“I need to check on Monica,” I lied. I didn’t want to rehash his feelings for me or further discuss my budding romance with his coworker.

I quickly texted Monica:

Me: Morning. You ok? Did you hear we got the day off due to “food poisoning” courtesy of Bo?

Monica: Hey, I probably feel better than you do, Hot-Mess-Express. So grateful for food poisoning right now. I’ll come over later . . .when I decide to move.

Me: Adrian stayed here last night. NOTHING happened. Don’t call, I’ll call you. I just needed to get that out there.

Monica: You’re lucky outside noises still hurt my head this morning or I’d ignore your request to not call. Literally dying waiting for your call.

I put down my phone, took a huge breath, and returned my attention to Adrian.

“Ooooh,” Adrian said in a revelatory tone, leaning back against the couch.

“What?” I narrowed my eyebrows.

“That’s why you so easily suggested that Cavanaugh take you home last night. There’s already something going on between the two of you, isn’t there?” It was like he was working out a math problem in his head and didn’t like the answer.

I chuckled for a split second, until I blanched under my own revelation.

“Nooo,” I sounded like I was speaking to a toddler, “that’s why you insisted on taking me home.” My volume rose as I stood up in front of Adrian. “You already knew, didn’t you, Adrian, because I called him Bo in front of you and you told me you noticed a certain “look” on his face when he talked about me.” My eyes were wide with anger.

Adrian glanced to the floor before standing. His eyes finally met mine.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” My voice burned with fury.

My heart raced as I realized how misplaced my anger at Bo was last night. Not only was he truly trying to respect me, but both of us were manipulated by Adrian. Smug was a kind adjective compared to the ones going through my head at that moment. Betrayal is not something I take lightly. I stormed by Adrian, crudely opened the door and stood next to it with my arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

I couldn’t even begin to rationalize the reasons Adrian would splinter himself between me and Bo. Did he want me back? If so, why, and did I even care? Either way, I was so upset I couldn’t talk to him about it, not yet.

“Ember, come on.” That was all he could manage as he walked toward me.

“Don’t say anything about me and Bo to anyone, OK?” My tone was only a hair below a yell.

“I won’t. I’m sorry. Please be careful, Ember.” His voice sounded sincere again.

“Well, Bo hasn’t manipulated me lately, has he?” I arched one hell of an eyebrow.

“No, I guess you’re right, he hasn’t. But, you don’t know him well.”

“And you do?” I snipped.

Adrian shrugged unconvincingly, let out a sigh, and brushed my cheek softly before I turned away.

“Adrian-”

“Ember, look, I’m here until tomorrow. I want to try to get together again - just the two of us. There are still some things-”

“I’ll see you later, Adrian. I’m too angry to talk about this right now, but we will be talking about it.” I opened the door wider as I interrupted him, solidifying my stance in anger.

He turned and walked uneventfully out the door and down the stairs. When I heard his car drive away, I collapsed on the couch in tears. I had shared some sweet moments with Adrian last night only to find out he manipulated the whole situation, and for what? Adrian didn’t even make a move last night - maybe he felt guilty; he damn well better.

I called Monica and told her everything. She wanted to come over, but I needed some time alone. When I heard a knock on my door, I hung up the phone and angrily walked to answer it, preparing for round two with Master Manipulator.

I threw the door open rather ungracefully, and found Bo standing there, hands in his pockets and his head hanging slightly; he looked thoroughly tortured. I burst into tears at the sight of him, threw my arms around his neck, and sobbed heavily into his shirt.

“Ember, what happened? Are you OK?” He took a slow step into the apartment; my arms still around his neck, his arms around my body.

He gently unwrapped my arms from his neck, took my hand, and led me to my couch. When we sat, I placed my head back on his shoulder and continued to sob irrepressibly. Bo rubbed my shoulders silently, before he sat me up.