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Adrien’s brows furrowed, the amusement leaving his face. His cheek was healed completely, but that mark on his left brow was probably going to scar.
I hoped Josh’s whole face would scar.
“Have you not been eating, Ria?”
I shifted on my feet. “Defineeating.”
“What did you have for dinner?” he asked.
“Alba brought Indian takeout with her when she came to spill the beans.”
He cocked his head. “Did you actually have any before storming out?”
“I had some naan.”
“Breakfast? Lunch?”
“I woke up late,” I said.
His jaw ticked. “And I driveyouinsane.I’mthe infuriating one.”
“Yes,” I agreed. Finally! We were on the same page about something.
His hair tickled my cheek when he hung his head, sighing like I’d put the weight of the world on his chest. “All right, let’s go.”
“Where?” I asked as he threaded our fingers together and began guiding me out of his office. “I’m not done yelling at you about your involvement in my deteriorating levels of sanity.”
“You can yell at me in the car while I force-feed you fries.”
“Oh,” I said. And then, “All right.”
It wasn’t the worst idea he’d ever had.
* * *
I yelled at Adrien in his car as he force-fed me the fries I’d been promised, with a side of steak tartare, and the most incredible roasted scallops I’d ever had. I yelled at him some more when we got to the top of that one hill with the breathtaking view of the city, where he wouldn’t let go of my hand no matter how much I didn’t complain.
Until, eventually, I didn’t have anything more to yell at him about. No matter how hard I tried to think up new excuses.
Which meant the night was over, and I needed to get out of his car. Now.
We’d been sitting in front of my apartment building for sixteen silent minutes, watching the dashboard clock tick its way past midnight. Adrien was still holding my hand, his thumb still brushing gentle strokes over my skin. But his grip was kept just loose enough for me to slide out of it without resistance. He made no indication that he wanted me out of his car, but he’d unlocked the doors as soon as we’d parked.
The ball was in my court, but I was too scared to do what I wanted with it.
“I should go now,” I eventually muttered, making zero moves to follow through with the declaration.
“If that’s what you want,” Adrien responded.
I chewed my bottom lip. “What do you want?” I tried.
He caught my gaze. “To spend more time with you. A chance to make things right, earn your forgiveness, your trust.”
Just like that. He said it so easily, no hesitation, no fear. He just… told me exactly what he wanted.
I glanced down at our joint hands. “Are you going to leave me alone after this?”
Translation:If I walk away, is this the last time I’m ever going to see you?
