AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Yikes. What a harsh take on my dating life now that I thought about it outright. It wasn’t as if I’d thought those things at the time. But also? I’d never believed I’d truly loved those guys either. Not love-love.
Closing myself off to love-love meant staving off more hurt. School and my friends had been my focus. Boyfriends came and went, never getting too serious. Thus the cruise ship DJ. I mean, everything about the DJ screamed short term fling and besides, he was hot. If you were into hair gel, tribal tattoos on a white guy, and didn’t mind getting booted from an Olive Garden for his refusal to put on a shirt that covered his nipples.
Yeah, that happened.
But that was then. Nearly a decade had passed since I’d seen Adam. We were adults now. My memory of Adam was simply that—a memory. I had no idea who Adam had turned out to be.
And strangely, I found I was curious.
Seeing Adam today, my heart woke up. And I wasn’t sure it could be coaxed back to sleep.
As much as I adored sleeping in, I inconveniently found myself wide awake at seven-oh-why-me? in the morning. I checked my phone for texts from Noah—none yet. A chance existed she could still make it up north, and I could turn around my failed girls’ trip weekend. It would at least give me a reason to get out of this bonkers arrangement crashing at Adam’s.
I paused to think on said bonkers sitch some more but my brain yelled, “Coffee!”
In the kitchen, a coffee maker helpfully offered itself front and center on the counter. Ground coffee beans in the fridge. One point for Adam for not being a total loss.
Okay, not fair, but I wasn’t the best morning person. I’d been trained to rise early for classes for the past forever, but I relished my weekend sleeping time.
While the coffee brewed, I showered and readied myself in light layers. I grabbed a couple of granola bars from my stash and a bottle of water and headed back to the kitchen.
Since I’d come all the way up here, I might as well poke around in town while waiting on Noah’s update. A little exploring would keep my mind off of other things like, oh you know, the hot guy sleeping upstairs or the friends who bailed on me.
“Mornin’.” Adam appeared, shirtless from the deck.
I jumped and water splooshed from the open bottle onto my clean shirt. The sliding screen door separated us, but not enough to block him from seeing I’d drenched myself. Or at least lightly glopped on myself.
He slid the door open and entered the kitchen, raising the temperature a notable few degrees. “I see you found the coffee.”
Coffee, yes, coffee. I zeroed in on the bean juice and filled a mug. Anything to keep my mind off of Adam’s impossibly sculpted body. I didn’t yet have my strength.
I sensed his presence hovering.
“I didn’t expect you’d be up so early,” he said.
“Me neither. How long have you been up?” I made a slow turn toward him, bracing myself, only to find he’d slipped on a white T-shirt. Whew.
“Six-thirty or so. I run before it gets hot. The humidity up here is terrible.”
“Yeah, I remember. Still running, huh?” I involuntarily made a face, tried to smooth it out with pleasant-seeming interest, and ended on a scowl.
He laughed. “Look, we get two out of three. You were granted good looks and smarts. I got athletic ability and anything beyond is debatable.”
“You’re saying I’m not athletic? I lived on my bike every summer.”
“You took A.P. classes instead of gym junior and senior year.”
“Gym wasn’t required junior and senior year at my school.” I stuck my tongue out at him.
He crossed his arms. “When we played capture the flag, you always declared yourself the sports commentator and made yourself a little news desk with a lawn chair and folding table while the rest of us ran around.”
“Who else was going to give the play by plays?” I saluted him with my mug and sipped the warm drink. “Why don’t you think you’re smart? By your logic, you get two.” And I wasn’t touching good looks this early.
“You know that’s always been your thing.”
“It’s not a competition.” It never had been. I still couldn’t believe he passed up University of Michigan, and for what? To tinker with his parents’ cast-off summer home? He deserved to be doing so much more with his life.
But his business was none of my business. He’d given me his answer about our break-up. Questioning further would only invite tomorrow’s headache.
