Page 92 of The Influencer

“Want to change clothes?”

“In a minute. Can I have some water?”

“Absolutely.”

I follow him to the kitchen, where he likely spends a lot of his time. He’s basically a vegan chef on his off days, and the fancy kitchen with all the gadgets reflects that. “I want to hear everything,” he says, “but I also want to let you know we have some friends from out of town staying here, too.”

“Which friends?”

I’ve lost count of all the people Adam calls friends these days.

“Vince and the guys.”

“Ah.” There won’t be anything awkward at all about being around not only Adam and Sawyer but the dynamic throuple Vince is a part of.

“They only take up one room, though, so I’ve got plenty for you to pick from. No worries,” Adam says. “What do you think about the place?”

“It’s incredible,” I say honestly. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“The terrace was what sold me. When it stops raining—if—I’ll give you a tour. I’m growing everything.”

As a major league ball player, Adam is likely to be traded to another town any moment, at least until his first five years are finished, but I get the feeling he and Sawyer won’t sell this place if he gets relocated again. Sawyer collects properties like some people collect stamps.

Adam hands me a large aluminum water bottle with a flip top, and I take a sip, letting the icy liquid soothe a throat dry from travel and a day where I didn’t take very good care of my hydration.

“Hello, boys.”

I turn to see Sawyer entering the room from somewhere off the living area.

I get up to hug him, too. “Good to see you,” I tell him.

He gives my shoulder a squeeze as he pulls away. The older man is nearly as tall as my brother and I. He looks me in the eyes with a frown. “Must be bad if you came all the way up here in the middle of the week.”

I give him a pathetic excuse for a smile. “It was overdue,” I say.

He steps away from me and goes to the fridge to grab a bottle of Topo Chico. Adam slices a lime for him without Sawyer even asking. They function like two people sharing one brain. I’ve always found it interesting, if vaguely toxic and a little annoying. Somehow, they make it work.

“Where are the others?” Sawyer mumbles to Adam.

“Don’t ask,” Adam replies.

Sawyer looks over at me. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I mean… well, I’m here,” I say.

“How was the breakup?” he asks.

“Weird.”

Sawyer and Adam give me twin looks of confusion. In as few words as possible, I summarize what happened when I attempted to end things with Liv, but, not surprisingly, they both get hung up on the one thing.

“Wait.” Adam holds up a hand. “You slept with someone else? After the prostitute? Or was it the same person?”

I sigh. I’d forgotten I told him about that. “That’s not really the point.”

Adam shakes his head, refusing to let me off that easy. “You might not think so, but Ash, if you’re having an affair you didn’t tell me about that’s a major deal?—”

“I don’t need to hear any crap about cheating on her, all right? I get enough of that from my own guilty conscience.”

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