Relentless(17)
“So hospitable,” I say as I follow him toward a dark hallway.
The hallway is short, just like our apartment downstairs, and he quickly flips the light switch as we enter his bedroom. He sets my bag down on the king-sized bed as I look around. As expected, his room is pretty enough to be a suite in a modern hotel.
“How much is this going to cost me?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Please don’t say stuff like that. There’s only so much teasing I can resist.”
It feels good to be able to joke around with him like this. It means I feel safe.
“We’d better go watch some Discovery Channel,” I suggest, and he nods. Yes, watching TV is safer than standing in his bedroom.
After twenty minutes of me silently swooning over Bear Grylls and him pointing out that Bear’s cameraman is the real hero of the show, he turns off the TV and looks at me.
“All right. It’s time to play a game,” he declares. “Question tennis. I ask you a question and you answer with a question, but it has to be relevant to what I asked. If you break the rhythm by not asking a question then you have to answer one question truthfully before the game can continue. Are you ready?”
“Leave it to you to find a game that allows you not to answer questions.”
“You are being afforded that same luxury, missy, so stop complaining. Okay, you go first.”
I pull my legs up onto the sofa and sit cross-legged as I face him. “What do you do for a living?”
“Does it really matter?”
“Does it really put you in a shitty mood?”
“Does that concern you?”
“It’s a simple question.”
“Ah-ha!” he shouts, pointing at me. “You messed up. Now you have to answer a question.”
I know what he’s going to ask, but I’m not the least bit worried because there’s no way I’m going to tell him just to comply with a stupid game.
“Go ahead.”
He smiles as he leans back against the arm of the sofa. “When did your last relationship end?”
This isn’t the question I expected, but I’ve come to realize that Adam rarely does anything I expect him to do.
I fidget with the loose threads of my cutoff shorts. “It ended almost exactly one year ago.”
“Why?”
“Nuh-uh. You got your answer. Now back to the game.”
“If you tell me why then I’ll tell you where I work.”
“That’s not an even trade.”
He leans forward. “I work for my dad. He owns a construction company in Wilmington. The company’s been in the family for more than a hundred years so it’s pretty much expected that I’m going to take over once my dad retires in a few years. I fucking hate it.”
His green eyes appear darker, harder as he stares at me and I can see that it upsets him just to talk about this. I know he’s waiting for me now, but all I can think of is how much I want to give him a hug. I want to tell him how well I know the fear of disappointing others. I want to tell him how familiar I am with the guilt that comes from making selfish decisions.
“My ex was offered his dream job and I was starting my sophomore year at UNC. He was going to be doing a lot of traveling, so I decided it would be best to break up so he could experience this new opportunity to the fullest. I didn’t want to weigh him down the way I had for more than four years.”
“Four years? So he was your first love?”
The muscles in my chest tighten at these two words. Chris was more than my first love. He was my first friend, my first family, my first heartbreak, and my deepest betrayal.
I nod as I inhale a deep breath. “I’m tired. I think I should go to bed.”
He nods solemnly. “You know where the bathroom is if you need to do any girly stuff. Feel free to pilfer my toiletries.”
I smile at his attempt to ease the tension then make my way to the bedroom to grab my makeup bag. As I pull it out of my backpack, a wave of nausea rolls through me. I sit on the bed to ride it out as sweat beads on my forehead. Hugging myself, I breathe deeply and close my eyes, trying to focus on something, anything, other than the pain of losing everything.
The creaky floor alerts me to Adam’s presence. I open my eyes to find him standing in the doorway.
“Do you need to meditate or do you need some company?”
“Can I answer that question with a question?” He nods and I draw in a shaky breath. “Can you stay with me tonight?”
He steps inside and slides onto the bed behind me. I look over my shoulder at him as he laces his fingers behind his head and lies back on the pillow.
“My hands will stay here all night or you have permission to post a video of me dancing to Justin Bieber on YouTube.”