Page 92 of More Than Words

Kristine cornered me as we walked into the lobby, pulling me away from Adrian with a glare. Before she tugged me off, he pushed my fully charged phone into my hand. She hadn’t liked him before, but with his dumbass comments reappearing this week, she was firmly in the camp that he needed to be shoved into a dumpster.

“Did you hear anything?”

Shaking my head, I swiped open the screen on my phone. No new text messages waiting for me. “No, but you and Sam are going to have to wing it at this point. Get Chase to Chicago and do whatever you have to do to keep things running smoothly. I’ll make sure someone finds him today, and he’s on a plane by tonight. We’ve all got too much riding on this tour going well to screw around.”

“Fuck,” she sighed, glancing over at Adrian’s intern, Sam. “I’m sure golden boy will help me get this shitshow on the road. Spamela is disgustingly optimistic.”

“You really should stop calling him that.”

“Thanks for the input.” Her attitude clearly rivaled mine this morning. “Since we’re giving out unsolicited advice, you really should stop messing around with Dickhead.”

“Kris, that’s…”

“None of my business, I get it, but what the fuck, Is? I thought you had more self-respect than that.”

“Since when have I tolerated you talking to me like this?” I wanted to defend him from her ire, but a small part of me used to agree with her. I wasn’t sure if it still did. His behavior last night had been atrocious.

“Fine. I’ll drop it. But I’m giving him hell if anything happens while we’re on the road.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Kristine rolled her eyes before she walked away, whispering something to Chase before people started gathering their bags to head to the airport.

“You ready to go?” Adrian asked, placing his hand on the center of my back.

“Yeah, guess there isn’t anything we can do right now.”

Leaning down to whisper in my ear, he chuckled. “I can think of some things to keep your mind off it.”

“Just…don’t,” I sighed, walking away to hug Chase before they left. She may have been putting on a brave face, but I knew when my author was going through the motions, and she was just on autopilot at this point. I could empathize with that.

“Can you drop me off?” I asked, Adrian’s car slowing at the curb of my building. “I want to lie down. Alone.”

“Are you sure? I can make you breakfast and keep you company. Help you relax for once until we have to be back at work on Monday.”

His smile vanished when I shook my head, my hand reaching for the door handle as I leaned away from him. He reached across the console, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Nodding, I tried to hold back the tears that wanted to fall again. “Yeah, just need some space.”

“Are we okay?” he asked, his voice concerned.

I wanted to say, of course we were, but I needed some time away from him to think about where my life was going to go from here. He’d been so on board with the idea of having a baby, and now…

Now I didn’t know what to do.

“Yeah. I just want to sleep and pretend everything is normal right now.” He nodded, his thumb stroking my shoulder. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Is, I’d really like to stay with you right now. I don’t like seeing you upset like this. There’s stuff in my bag I can work on. I promise I won’t bother you. But I don’t want to leave you alone.”

Leaning my head against the back of his hand, I let out a shaky sigh. “I know. But I need time.”

He didn’t protest when I reached for the door again, tears spilling down my cheeks while I walked away without looking back. I knew he’d wait until I was inside, but until I figured out what I wanted, I needed to be by myself. Like I always seemed to end up.

ADRIAN

Boston

“Oh, come on,” I growled, watching my niece, Penelope, carefully lay out the cards in her hand, a shit-eating grin on her face that reminded me of Hutch’s. “You’ve gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me.”

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