Darren and Donna were up at the bar getting more drinks.
Adam and I were alone on the couch.
He caressed my hip soothingly, obviously trying to get me to relax. “So,” he spoke into my ear again, reinforcing the feeling that we were in our own little bubble inside the bar.
“Are you going to tell me why you’re being a bitch to me?”
“Stop calling me that,” I snapped, turning my head so our noses were almost touching. I stared into his dark eyes and lost my breath so badly I had to look away.
“Stop acting like one. ”
“I’m annoyed,” I explained. “I get to be annoyed. ”
“Would you fill me in?”
I turned to him again, and this time I don’t think I managed to mask my hurt and confusion over his actions because his own expression softened with concern. “Why did you threaten Nicholas with physical violence when he came to you for advice about asking me out?”
Understanding dawned in his eyes and he sighed heavily. “He’s not good enough for you. ”
“That’s not up to you to decide. ”
His fingers dug into my hip as they curled in reflex to my response. “It’s up to me to protect you. ”
I closed my eyes, his words hurting me. “I’m not yours to protect. ”
Adam’s body grew solid next to mine and we sat in awful silence for a moment.
The silence was broken when his arm loosened its hold around my waist. I was just turning my head to look at him questioningly when I felt the touch of his fingers against my upper back. Slowly, torturously he skimmed them down my spine and I flushed feeling my nipples harden visibly against the fabric covering my chest. “You sure about that,” he murmured hoarsely in my ear.
My eyes widened as I stared into his, a flurry of confusion and questions rioting in my head, none of which I had time to voice before Donna and Darren took a seat next to us with our drinks. Adam’s arm came back around, his hand resting gently on my hip, and I sat there in stunned silence wondering what the hell he’d meant by that.
Chapter 7
Adam winced as he looked over at me. “I really did send you some pretty mixed signals. ”
I snorted. “You think?”
He smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry, Els. You pissed me off. I was trying to make a point that you were mine. It wasn’t fair. ”
I shrugged. “You were torn. I forgive you. Especially since it makes a really good story. ”
He laughed as I reached for the diary again, flipping through the pages to find the next entry.
“That night at Club 39 wasn’t nearly as bad as the night at Fire. ”
Adam groaned. “Damn, I don’t know if I want to read this from your point of view. ”
“I get quite detailed. ”
He quirked an eyebrow at me. “Detailed?”
I nodded, blushing.
He saw the blush and grinned, pulling the diary out of my hand. “Baby, that’s hot. ”
Sunday, September 16th I’m done. It’s over. I don’t care what history lies between me and Adam… it’s finally over… I hadn’t been looking forward to the night at Fire because it meant being stuck in a club, watching Adam flirt with everything that moved, but it was a big night for Braden as he was holding a special event for Fresher’s Week, and I promised him I’d be there.
As per usual he and Joss were so wrapped up in their own stuff they didn’t notice the tension between me and Adam. It was this horribly awkward tension, mixed with sexual frustration, and it had sprung up between us after our clash a little while after the eventful night at Club 39.
It had happened when I accepted a date with a guy called Jason that I met in Starbucks.
Jason was hot and seemed nice and I saw no harm in grabbing a drink with him. Except, Braden had informed Adam of my plans and Adam had spent the entire night calling me up with stupid questions. He ruined the date. It was immature and completely outrageous.
Even more so was the fact that, as Joss so bluntly pointed out, I had rudely kept answering the phone instead of switching it off. The truth was I’d been enjoying Adam’s reaction to my date. Somewhere along the line I had forgotten my vow to move on from him after the night at his apartment, and I was playing our stupid game again. I wanted a reaction from him and I got it. But after chewing him out at my parent’s Sunday lunch the next day, Adam had gone from hot to ice cold. He tried not to be alone with me and when he was alone with me he spoke to me about things you’d chat to a perfect stranger about. It had been wearing on my nerves for weeks, and that along with my worries about school and the recurring headache I couldn’t seem to get rid of, I found myself wanting to lay my frustrations at his feet.