Page 62 of Bi-Partisan

“I like you, Adrian. I care about you. Let me try to be in your life.”

He doesn’t say anything for a long moment, but then, he unfurls his arms and slides his hand into mine. “Okay.”

“Okay?” I repeat, trying and failing to tamp down my hope. “As in we’re doing this? Us? For real?”

He nods and smiles, although there’s something guarded about it. “I like you too,” he whispers. “I just don’t know how to do this.”

My face breaks into a grin as I pull him in for a kiss. “We’ll figure it out, okay?”

“Yeah,” he says, and I can’t help kissing him again.

“Do you still want breakfast?” he asks tentatively when we pull apart.

“Yes, I do.”

Chapter 20

Jamie

Song: What a Man Gotta Do – Jonas Brothers

I’m just finishing tying my tie when there’s a knock on my door.

“Yes?” I call, and within seconds, Mina’s head pops through the door.

“Do you have a minute?” she asks.

“Yeah, come on—”

She practically barges the rest of the way in, shuts the door, and levels me with a knowing look. “Spill.”

“What?”

She sighs and walks a few feet to drop into an armchair. “Something clearly happened with Adrian, so—” she gestures at me. “Spill.”

My mouth falls open a little. “How—”

“You came in later than usual, which means you either overslept or had somewhere else to be this morning. But since you texted Daniel at 6:00 a.m., I know it wasn’t the former,” she explains. “You were wearing jeans when you came in and had Daniel bring your dry cleaning to the office, so you probably weren’t at home to get dressed, which means you woke up somewhere else. You also have ‘I just got laid’ written all over your face, and I know you’d never cheat, even on a fake significant other. Therefore, something happened between you and Adrian.”

I blink for a moment. “You know, sometimes you’re a little scary.”

“And that’s why you love me,” she says with a grin. “So spill.”

“We—” I try to hide my stupid grin, but can’t. “Well, we’re not exactly fake anymore.”

“Fucking finally,” she exclaims.

“Mina,” I scold in a hushed tone. “We’re not the only ones in this office right now.”

She grimaces and glances at the door before lowering her voice. “Sorry. But seriously, tell me everything.”

“He called me yesterday evening—texted me, actually, but then I called him because for once I actually had a free evening. Anyway, he sounded upset and had clearly called to talk about whatever it was, but then he thought against it, I guess, and hung up on me. So—”

“Let me guess, you dropped everything and showed up unannounced,” she says with a smirk. “Classic Jamie.”

“I brought over my mom’s frozen lasagna and one thing led to another and he asked me to stay,” I say carefully.

“Y’all hooked up.”

---