Page 34 of Lost Love Found

“No.”

We both answer at the same time. Elaina grabs my phone from the table and types something.

“Sandra, I just texted you my number. Please call me so we can discuss what exactly I need to do. I’m going to talk to River about this now, but please call me later, OK?” I’m stunned. My brain does not compute what is happening in front of me right now.

“Thanks, kid. You really are as great as he says. One more thing, there was a flood at your house in LA, River. Kelly called me when she couldn't get a hold of you, either. You’ll need a place to stay when you’re back in a couple of weeks while it’s being dealt with. Let me know if I can help in any way. Talk soon, kids.” And the call disconnects. A flood? What. The. Fuck?

I take a moment for my brain to catch up. “Elaina, no. I’m not asking you to do this.” I get up from the table and begin pacing. This can’t be happening.

“You’re right. You’re not. Sandra is, and she knows what’s best for you. She wants what’s best for you. And for your career.” I keep pacing the room, my hands clenching and unclenching as I shake my head. She remains seated, her fork slicing through a crisp, golden-brown piece of bacon and placing it delicately in her mouth, her expression unchanged, as if we were discussing the rainy day outside. “You took me away from two bad situations yesterday. Creepy puppy Mitch and potentially drinking far too much, which I’m sure would have ended with me flat on my ass. I got you into this. I’ll get you out.”

“No, that’s not how this works. This is not something I can ask of you. I don’t even know what Sandra wants in order to guarantee some sort of semblance of a relationship.” I’ve stopped pacing now because I really am hungry and watching Elaina eat is making me hungrier. I sit so I can eat too. Might as well figure this out on a full stomach.

“Adam, we’re friends. This is what friends do for one another, right? Pretend to be each other’s partners to get out of a sticky situation? That’s all this is. I’ll be River’s girlfriend out there to the cameras. Adam and I can still be just friends.” She smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. We can’t do this, can we? No. No, this is too crazy.

“Oh, and come stay with me when we get back to LA. I have plenty of room and it’ll make us being seen together even easier if we’re coming and going from the same place. It’s very safe. Raffy made damn sure of that before I moved in. Besides, I’m super close to the studio so your commute will be nice and short.” She picks up her coffee cup and brings it to her lips, winking at me. “Don’t argue with me. This is exactly how friendship works and you know it. You would do the same for me if the tables were turned.”

I can’t really argue that last point. “We have a lot of things to talk about. We’d better make a list.” And now she laughs a beautiful, bubbly laugh and it diffuses the situation just enough for me to relax my shoulders, which have been wound tight since Sandra broke the news of the video.

“We’ll have lots of time to talk, roomie.” She pops a last piece of bacon into her mouth and winks at me again. Maybe this will actually be OK. Maybe.

14

is this real life?

elaina

I need to get my head checked. I’m pretty sure yesterday I agreed to let Adam live with me while I pretend to be his girlfriend after he slept IN MY BED holding me all night because I was downright schnookered Friday night thanks to my nightmares. What the actual fuck is my life?

After Adam left, I talked to Sandra and I’m not sure if I feel better or worse about the whole situation. She basically told me we need to make this thing look like we’re Noah and Allie and there are The Notebook levels of romance at all times. No, that’s not basically what she said, that’s exactly what she said. I think she’s half expecting that we’ll be making out in the rain at some point.

Adam is coming over any minute so we can sort through the details of this fake romance and our future living arrangements. We spent the day apart yesterday. I think we both needed to process all the ways our relationship has changed and all the dumb things I probably said or did while shitfaced.

I hear the soft knock on the door and Frankie rushes to it, tail wagging. He knows it’s Adam and doesn’t even bark anymore. They have an annoyingly adorable bromance going on.

“Hey, beauty.” He shoots me that deadly smile, leaning on the doorway and my body parts all start remembering the ways they betrayed me Friday night. I wanted to be as covered up as possible today, so I’ve got a long cowl neck sweater on over leggings and thick wool socks. There will be no neck kisses today, no sir! No sexy vibes happening here, though Adam didn’t get the memo, proven by his low-slung jeans and blue Henley that only makes his bright blue eyes stand out even more. I can see his six-pack through his shirt and my fingers tingle as they remember what they felt like the other morning. Damn it. Traitors.

“Hi. Come in.” I’m trying too hard to just be normal, but I’m not even sure what that entails at this point. He hugs me, because that’s what we do, and I melt a little when we pull back and he tucks my hair behind my ear. “Hi.”

“You look great. Cozy. Cute.” Does he have to speak? Seriously, it’s like the man wasn’t affected at all by all the crazy things that have happened in the last 36 hours.

“Thanks. Have a seat. I made you tea.” I sit at the far end of the couch, and he again misses the memo, sitting smack in the middle so we’re close to one another. “So, did you actually make a list?”

He chuckles. “Sort of. But only because I didn’t want to leave anything out. Is that OK?” His earnestness is inconveniently endearing and so I nod, doing my best to not show my internal panic. “Let’s start with Mitch. What’s your story with that bag of limp dicks?”

I nearly spit out the tea in my mouth. “Adam! Oh my god, couldn’t you have waited until I wasn’t drinking?” We both laugh and I’m thankful he chose humor to start with because now the tension seems to be minimal, and that’s just how I like it with us. “There’s no story. We worked on a film a while back. I ran into him on set and he seemed to think we hit it off. We didn’t. He’s a nice enough guy, but I’m… I’m not interested.”

“He’s not a nice guy. But OK. Next thing. I wasn’t ignoring you, and I’m sorry I didn’t call or text after you got back from Paris. That’s on me, and I’m sorry.” He sure knows how to apologize. Of course, I’ve forgiven him before he even finished what he was saying, because that’s just what I do, but I also realize it feels nice to actually get an apology. I don’t think Ben apologized once in all the years we were together. I smile and nod at him, waiting for him to continue.

He sighs, runs his fingers through his dark hair and somehow the aftermath is better than whatever he could accomplish by actually styling it. “The scene yesterday. It’s… I’m… That shouldn’t have happened.” His eyebrows come together in a deep V, and he shakes his head. “It’s not going in the movie. I’m still so pissed off that Mitch tried to pull that off, and I’m really sorry that you were there for that.”

Though it wasn’t my favorite thing to witness, it feels so far away now after everything else that happened that night.

“It’s fine. I promise. I’ve seen plenty of sex scenes being filmed and I know that it’s all very… mechanical. It just took me by surprise. That’s all.” I smile and pat his hand, and he links our fingers together before I can pull away.

“OK. OK… Can you tell me about your nightmare?” When I look at his eyes, all I see is kindness. I know I can trust him with this, but it’s hard to relive those very vivid visions.

“Friday night it was you. The nightmare was about you. Someone took you away and threatened to hurt you, but I couldn’t get to you.” I feel my chin wobble and will my tears not to spill. “I could hear your screams…” The tears come anyway, streaming down my cheeks, and blurring my vision. My hands shake so bad that I have to grip Adam's arm for support as I tell him the rest of the dream. “I couldn’t find you. I ran, and I ran, and I tried so hard, but I couldn’t reach you, and then the screaming stopped and I knew you…you…” Before I can finish, Adam's arms are around me, pulling me onto his lap knowing how much I need the contact right now. His firm grip around my waist is comforting, his hands tracing circles up my back while his lips press against the top of my head.

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