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But twelve days after her promotion, that respect was back to zero.
She powered through during the day, as did I. We didn’t acknowledge the dating rumors and spoke to each other as we normally would at the office.
Still, eyes followed us. Followed her. She overheard remarks. And on Monday, I overheard one too.
It came from Josh.
He was in one of the agent’s offices down the hall. I couldn’t see which one, but he was doing his usual thing and hanging around and talking shit.
But this time, it was louder than usual.
For everyone to hear.
“Hey, I’m all about using what you’ve got. I’m just mad I wasn’t the one who got to boss her around.”
I looked up to see the heads in The Pit staring into the office where Josh was.
Then turning to stare down the hall at her.
“Adam.”
AJ was pushing me back into my office before I knew what I was doing, and though I could feel her eyes burning on me, her nails practically digging into my chest, I glared down the hall, waiting to make eye contact with Josh.
And when he finally strolled out of the office and looked our way, his eyebrows waggled. “Whoa. Showtime,” he grinned as AJ hissed at me.
“Look at me, Adam.”
I held my fiery stare on Josh for two more seconds, hoping he understood my wordless promise to beat his ass into the ground. Then I tore my eyes off him and looked at her, expecting to see fury.
But instead, I saw her eyes pleading with me. And when I blinked once more, I realized I’d crossed the line. Forced her to put her hands on my chest at the office and stop me from kicking Josh’s ass on her behalf.
It had all happened in a matter of seconds, and on paper, I could very well be just a friend defending a friend. Even if this was months ago, I would’ve done the same.
But that wasn’t how it looked. And it shouldn’t matter what anyone else thinks, right? I remembered AJ’s words the night she told me about what happened to her in college. But you know how it is in this town. This industry. It shouldn’t matter.
But it does.
We had been quiet in the past few weeks at home. When we spoke, we spoke in quiet voices. Even when we managed to laugh or joke around, it was as if we didn’t have the energy to get past a certain volume.
Probably because we both knew what was going on.
There was an unspoken hunch going on between us, and it became inevitable after the Josh MacMillan incident at the office.
I was pissed at him. Engelman. Everyone. She was too.
And I knew she was a little pissed at me, though she said it was irrational.
“I know everything you did was with the best intentions,” she said, squeezing my hand as we lay in bed at night.
We still kissed. Still had sex. Still fell asleep in each other’s arms.
But on a random Friday night, I felt something different. The way we’d felt a gradual shift in the air at Engelman over the course of the week following her promotion, I felt a shift in AJ. It was just that it happened all in one day, and I was unsettled by the fact that she denied anything was different.
I knew she was lying to me. I felt it as we walked around each other in the house, as we made dinner and as I followed her into the shower that night.
The fog of the hot shower only thickened the tension as she glanced over her shoulder, saying nothing as she saw me peel my shirt over my head, push my sweats down and get in after her. She faced forward again, staying silent even as my arm circled her waist, bending her over just enough for me to enter her.
There were no words spoken. It was only panting, angry breaths that grew hotter and harsher as I fucked her like I wasn’t going to get to again.
