Page 12 of Fallen Ink

“Okay. Bye, Mace.”

He swallowed hard. “Bye, Addi.”

Then he left his best friend sitting on her bathroom counter, naked in more ways than one, as he went to pull on his shirt and shoes before walking out of her house and hoping to hell and back that he hadn’t just fucked up their relationship for good.

* * *

The next morning wasn’t awkward.

It was fucking awkward.

After he’d left Adrienne in her house without talking about what was important because God forbid they actually talk about what had just happened, he’d headed to his parent’s house to pick up Daisy. His folks hadn’t said a thing about his being late—neither had Daisy for that matter—and he supposed they all assumed it had to do with the weather. Indirectly it had, sure, but he was seriously going to Hell for the decisions he’d made that day.

He’d tossed and turned all night, unable to get the taste and feel of his best friend from his mind. He’d almost texted her countless times but had no idea what to say to her. He didn’t regret what he’d felt when he was with her, but he damn sure regretted how he’d made her feel when he left. They should have talked, should have made a thoughtful decision instead of doing something that could possibly ruin their friendship beyond repair. But they hadn’t. They’d given in to temptation, and now he’d have to find a way to make sure that she knew she was still his everything, and that things would be okay. He didn’t want her to feel used.

He was a bastard. A sick bastard.

And then things had gone from awkward to awkward as hell when he picked her up at her house that morning. She’d been waiting for him on her porch, and they hadn’t texted each other like they normally did. He’d gone all morning with just a cup of coffee while he got Daisy ready for school and hadn’t heard a word from his best friend. If he didn’t find a way to fix this soon, he honestly didn’t know how he would keep going. Adrienne was tangled in every facet of his life, and he’d always treasured that. If he lost it…hell, he wasn’t sure how he’d figure out what to do.

They’d made pleasant conversation about the weather—purposely not talking about storms or hard rain—and about what projects they had that day. They’d also talked about the fact that Carter had already been by the parking lot to take Adrienne’s car into his shop that morning before Mace had even woken up since the man worked strange hours. The two of them hadn’t said a word about what had happened between them, and he knew if he wanted to fix this, he needed to say something. But what to say without putting his foot into his mouth or getting kicked in the balls like he rightly deserved? He had no clue, but he had to say something to fix this.

Now, after a few hours of working with Shep up front doing a full back piece, and Ryan on the phone dealing with someone who needed a first-timer appointment, Addi sat in her chair, working on a sketch for her next client. Mace figured that once the other two left for the day, he could figure out what he needed to say before he and Adrienne closed. He was an adult, damn it, he could do this. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t had sex before. But it had been the first time with his best friend—hence why he was acting like a lunatic.

Ignoring the pressing need to do something about what had happened, he went to his bench and started working on his next project. It was a full back piece for a retired Master Sergeant who had gone without ink for his entire time in the service. Mace knew this was beyond important for the man and wanted to make it perfect, so he was taking his time and putting his best efforts into the work.

A hand rubbed something on his arm, and he started, looking over his shoulder before freezing.

Adrienne stood behind him, her eyes wide, and her hands in the air. “You had jam on your shirt.”

He blinked and then shifted on his stool so he faced her, even though he had to look up to see her face. “Oh, uh, it was a tough morning getting everything ready for Daisy and her lunch and all that.”

Laughter danced in her eyes before it burned away, replaced by that now-familiar awkwardness. “Well, it’s gone now.”

He cleared his throat, trying to get the memory of her touch out of his mind. She’d barely grazed his shoulder to wipe jam off it, yet his body had heated from just the thought of her so near. They had to fix this, and soon.

“Uh, can you grab a cup of coffee with me?” The unsaid “we need to talk” lingered between them.

She tilted her head, studying his face before nodding slowly. “Okay. Let me get my bag.”

She left him, and he went to get coffee orders from the others, pointedly trying not to look Shep in the eyes as he did. Might as well make this excuse to talk to Adrienne a real thing.

“We each have clients in thirty minutes, so we should get a move on. Colorado Icing, or the deli?” Colorado Icing was Thea’s bakery and had way better coffee. When he said as much, Addi smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. He had to fix this.

They didn’t have to go far before they went back inside, so he gripped her arm, stopping them both before they did. “We need to talk.”

She stuck her hands into the pockets of her jacket and rocked on her feet. “I figured.”

He had no idea what he should say to make it better, so he rambled, hoping to hell that somewhere in his random words were the right things.

“It was a one-time thing, right? Because we’re best friends, Addi. If we fuck this up, I don’t know what I’ll do. It was a mistake to do what we did without talking about it first. It was stupid. I don’t want to risk you, Addi. We’re not only starting off a new company together, but you’re also my boss, and now I’m a full-time dad, and hell, I’m not saying anything right, but we can’t risk what we have. What we have is special, and I don’t want to risk it. Because if we fuck everything up, it’s going to suck beyond anything. You’re my best friend, Adrienne. The one person, outside of my family, in my life that’s a constant. I don’t want what happened with us to end up being such a mistake that we lose what we have.”

Her eyes narrowed, and her jaw clenched before she finally spoke. “First, you call what we did a mistake again, and I’m going to have to dick-punch you. We cannot do this again, and we will never talk about it, but never, ever call me—or any woman for that matter—a mistake to her face. Are we clear, Knight?”

He ran a hand over his face. “Jesus Christ, I’m not saying anything right.” He took a deep breath before cupping her face and looking into her eyes. “I fucking loved every single moment I was with you, Addi. Every single damn second. But we should have talked beforehand and, apparently, right now, I’m not making much sense to talk afterward. I don’t know what’s coming next, nor do I know if we should even take this to…well, anything, but what I do know is that I want you in my life no matter what. I’ll do anything to keep from losing you. Anything.”

She leaned into his hold, her body relaxing as she let out a breath of her own. “I know it was just the heat of the moment and the crazy weather or whatever, but I loved it, too. And I don’t know what we should do about it other than maybe not try to do it again while acknowledging it was pretty damn amazing sex?”

An older woman glared at them as she went to her car, but he didn’t care. They were outside in the middle of a shopping area having this discussion, but it couldn’t wait.