EMERY
I couldn’t stand the sight of him half an hour ago, and here I am literally eating out of his hand.
How does he do this to me?
More importantly, how do I make sure it never, ever stops?
I slide my legs open slightly, ready to give him everything… when there’s a loud, shrieking cry.
I know at once who it is. My daughter’s wail is like twenty ice-cold showers on my libido. I shove Adrik aside and crawl over him, shimmying out of the booth.
Isabella is sitting at the next table, her head tipped back while she sobs. I kneel down next to her. “Baby, honey, what’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry,” she blubbers. “I didn’t see—I don’t know—I was just—”
She is crying so hard she can barely catch her breath. All the other kids are staring at us, and a good number of the adults, too. As if the little girl in the wheelchair doesn’t get enough stares. I’m about to tell them all to fuck off and mind their own business when Adrik’s shadow falls over us.
“Carry on,” he says, somehow striking the perfect balance of threatening and casual. One wave of his hand and everyone turns away. Just like that. Freaking puppet master.
Isabella hunkers down in her chair and I grip her shoulders. “Deep breaths,” I coach her. “What’s wrong?”
She hiccups as she tries to calm down. In the end, all she can manage is one word. “Travis.”
I lean back and look around, but the fluffy beast usually crouched down by the wheels of her chair is gone. I was so worried about her I didn't even notice.
“Where’d he go?” I ask.
“I-I don’t know,” Isabella manages.
Adrik leans down next to me. “What is it?”
“Travis is gone,” I tell him.
He stands up and starts moving around the perimeter of the bar. Stefan, ruddy-faced with bloodshot eyes, joins him.
“We’ll find him,” I say, smoothing her dark hair back. “Don’t worry. He has to be around here.”
Isabella sniffles. I grab a napkin from the table to wipe her nose.
“I’m sorry,” she whimpers again. “People aren’t supposed to pet him while he’s working. That’s one of the rules. But the kids wanted to pet him, so I said it was okay and then… and then…”
She dissolves into tears again, and I pat her back. “We’ll find him, honey.”
And for a few minutes, I truly believe that. It’s a service dog lost inside of a bar. Where could he have gone?
But when Adrik and Stefan come back, their faces grim, my heart clenches.
“Where is he?”
“Not here,” Stefan slurs. “I looked everywhere.”
“You’re probably seeing double, so I’m not sure that makes me feel much better,” I snap.
Stefan opens his mouth to argue, but Adrik steps in. “He isn’t here, Emery. He must’ve slipped outside.”
Our eyes meet and I feel my entire face flush. Even after he confessed that he doesn’t care about me—at least not as much as I care about him—I was going to let Adrik touch me in the middle of a crowded bar with my daughter five feet away.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
“Is Travis here?” Isabella asks, tugging on my shirt sleeve. “Mama?”
I kneel down again and pat her knee. “He might have gotten outside, but we’ll find him.”
Fresh tears spill down Isabella’s cheeks. The other kids scatter back to their parents, worried they’re going to be in trouble.
“Breathe, princess,” Adrik tells Isabella in the kindest voice I’ve ever heard from him. “I’ll find him.”
Isabella looks up at Adrik, and I can see what she's seeing: Adrik lit from behind like a superhero, his cape waving in the wind. She adores this man. One word from him and her problems are solved.
Mine, on the other hand, are just beginning.
Jealousy rises up in me—along with a healthy dose of fear. Fear for what comes next. For the heartbreak she’ll experience if and when Adrik is no longer in our lives. And with every passing day, that possibility seems more likely.
So, before I can contemplate it too much, I stand up. “I’ll come,” I announce.
Adrik frowns. “No. Someone needs to stay here with Isabella.”
“There’s a whole bar of people here.”
“I’m here,” Stefan says, raising his hand. The movement makes him stumble slightly.
Adrik snorts. “Yeah, and you’re drunk off your fucking ass.”
Even in her worry and grief, Isabella gasps.
Adrik grimaces, then turns to me. “You stay.”
“Travis likes me better. He’ll come when I call him.”
“No, he won’t,” Adrik retorts. “Because he won’t hear you from all the way inside the bar, where you’ll be staying.”
“Someone else can watch her,” I say. “I want to go help!”
Before Adrik can say anything, Toma steps forward. The kind doctor has been sitting in the booth behind me all night, and he raises his hand with a small smile. “I’ll sit with her.”
I can tell Adrik wants to argue, but Isabella smiles at the nice man. She has had a soft spot for him since the day they met. And Adrik, for all his domineering and commanding, can’t quite bring himself to wipe the smile off of Isabella’s face.
He curls a finger at me. “Fine. Stay close.”
I kiss the top of Isabella’s head and then follow Adrik out of the bar and onto the street.
It’s late and the block is mostly empty. Bugs buzz around the yellow glow of the streetlights. Adrik should look washed out and sickly, but he looks more like a bronze statue. A perfectly sculpted specimen.
“Should we split up?” I suggest. I wanted to be the one to solve Isabella's problem, but I didn't think through that I'd have to be alone with Adrik.
“Yeah. And maybe we should call the police while we’re at it.”
"Don't say that like it was a dumb idea."
"Then don't suggest any more dumb ideas."
"We'll cover more ground if we split up," I argue.
Adrik tilts his head like he's considering it. "And I'd be rid of your stubborn ass once and for all. Tempting, but maybe we shouldn't let Isabella lose her dog and her mother in the same night." He grabs my arm hard. “Just follow me and be quiet.”
Adrik pulls me down the sidewalk for a few steps before he finally lets go. His legs are long and I have to jog to keep up with him.
“You’re walking so fast you might pass by Travis and not even know it.”
“He’s a dog in the middle of the city. We have to move fast before he gets too far away,” Adrik snaps. “I’d be going even faster if you weren’t with me.”
I swat his words away, pretending they don’t sting. “That’s right. I forgot. I’m a huge burden to you. I do nothing but make your life harder.”
“Sounds about right.”
I grit my teeth. He's making me feel like a pain in the ass on purpose. So I'll sit by and follow his orders. So I won't ask questions, won't challenge him.
“That’s not the only thing I make harder, is it?” I croon.
Adrik doesn’t slow down, but I see his shoulders tense.
“Seems to me like if you hadn’t been so desperate to get in my pants back there, we both would have been able to pay attention to Isabella and Travis and this wouldn’t have happened.”
I lob the guilt grenade at him, but I catch myself in the crosshairs. Guilt twists my stomach.
Ishould have been paying attention.
Ishould have kept my eyes on Isabella.
This is my fault more than anyone’s.
Between one step and the next, Adrik has spun around and is standing in front of me. I nearly run into him, but manage to stop just in time.
“If I’m so terrible, why is it that I’m the only one actually looking for the damned dog?”