Page 51 of The Game

Shit.

What did I justdo?

I close my eyes and try and breathe through my nose. How did I let thathappen? Five minutes. Five minutes of rubbing off on a woman who’s probably been abused by more than one man, and I’m supposed to be herfriend. I’m helping her out. Ostensibly, I’mprotecting her.Teaching her fight moves. Not rubbing all over her like a creeper.

The man in the mirror opposite me is red-faced and has a damp patch on his dark shorts, and my whole body flashes hot, burning up my cheeks. Fuck, I need to apologize. That was out of order. How am I going to say sorry to her? How am I going to leave the room, looking like this?

A soft rap at the door behind me makes me jump.

“Adam?”

Fuck.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” My voice sounds like gravel. I clear my throat. “I’m just …”

I’m just what? What are you doing in here, exactly, Adam?My breathing is heavy in the silence.

“I’ll see you downstairs,” she says.

Jesus, is she okay?I wrestle with the door, wrenching it open just as her dark head disappears around the bend in the stairs.Fuck.But maybe this is better, and I can calm down and give her a proper apology. I count to ten, then twenty. I grab some tissues and clean myself up the best I can. When I open the door again, I peer through the gap like a thief, but Lord knows who I’m expecting to see there. As I pad down the staircase, the sound of a shower running is coming from a distant room down the corridor.

My bag is still sitting on the bed in my room where I left it. Anna Talanova is a top-five tennis player and I … I rutted on her and came in my pants like a schoolboy. Why did I decide to stay here? The friends idea has been a fraying rope for a while, but I can’t go there again. It devastated me.

I should have gone to stay with Fabian or Janus. Standing in the corridor, I chew my lip and glance down at my gym shorts, which are drying now. I should talk to Anna and explain. She must think I’m a lunatic. At the very least, somewhere else to stay might be sensible, if this gets awkward.What do you mean,if, Adam? It’s already awkward!

Sinking down on the couch, I pull my phone out of my pocket and type a quick text to Janus:

The press are hassling me at my apartment. Any chance I could crash with you for a couple of days if I need to?

In seconds, a message buzzes back:

Are you kidding? That sounds like the best news I’ve had all week! Jo’s still away, and I need saving from myself. This is awesome!

Then:

Plus, I’m stuck with some code, and another head on it would be incredible.

Okay, okay. But as I sit with the night skyline shimmering like jewels out of the window, five minutes roll past, then ten, and there’s no sign of Anna. What is she doing? Should I get washed, changed? I pace over the floor. I don’t want to miss her if she comes out. God, she must be pissed with me to not even come out and say anything. I walk down the corridor to where I thought I heard the shower going ten minutes ago. As I lift my hand to tap, her voice reaches me through the door.

“In what way am I bullying Arty Maroz? I think the video for that event is self-evident, don’t you?”

Her feet scud across the floor. I take an instinctive step back, but her words recede again.

“Adam Miller was protecting me.”

Ugh.Protecting her.Look where that ended up. Am I any better than Arty Maroz here? I got turned on from teaching her fight moves. What if everyone who coached her did something like that? Horror burns through me.

I head back to the living room and stare at the perfect gray couch and warmsidelights. Goddammit, she told me she had media interviews set up tonight. Now I’ve got Janus amped up about the fact I might come and stay with him. I groan to myself. Patience, Adam. I sink down as another ten minutes tick past, then a half hour, and there’s still no sign of her. Texts from Janus keep dropping in:

Are you coming? Your help would be invaluable.

Followed by:

I’m sending you some screenshots of what I’m stuck on.

She could be on calls for ages.The rest of the evening?I tap my fingers on my thigh. Perhaps I should go to Janus’s. It’s not the best thing to leave, and I’m being a coward, but giving us both a bit of space might help, and I’ll call her and apologize when I get there.

---