Page 22 of No Longer Safe

I grabbed them quickly and ushered him inside. “No, they’re beautiful!” Roses weren’t even my favorite flower, but at least he tried.

“My mother said yellow was a safe color.”

She would.

I nodded, unsure of what to say. Yellow roses were for friendship. I hated the color yellow to begin with. It always clashed with my skin tone so I usually stayed as far away from the color as I could. Turquoise and green have been my favorite colors since I was a child. Did he even know that? I was sure I’d told him before. I knew Brian preferredsafecolors such as beige, tan, and brown. His suits were always navy blue and he always wore a cream shirt under his sports coat. He didn’t like black so he always wore dark brown dress shoes. How did I know all of this? I paid attention. He didn’t need to tell me.

Quickly, I turned the tap on in the sink and put the roses in fresh water.

“Who’s Alexei?” Brian asked from the living room and I felt my face flush again. “Have you always had a password on your phone?”

What the hell?

I set the glass vase in the center of my tiny, worn-out dining room table and rounded into the living room. Brian was squinting down at my phone, clicking random numbers trying tounlock it. I frowned and leaned against the doorway as I watched him struggle.

“I’ve always had a password on my phone as I’m sure you have one too.”

He startled and dropped my phone on the couch. “I didn’t mean to snoop.”

I shrugged. “It’s one of Ace’s brothers, he’s the Best Man and wants to keep in touch to plan things. Which I doubt I’ll have anything to do with. I don’t have the money or the contacts to keep up with them. I’m sure he’ll ask me my opinion on things and that’ll be it.”I’m also sure he’s going to flirt shamelessly and I’m going to have to beat him with a baseball bat.

He eyed the phone carefully as if he didn’t trust me and nodded his head. “You look like you put on a little weight, were you eating a lot while you were there?” This time he squinted at me and I felt myself shrink a little.

I blinked at his audacity. How dare he? “No.”

He stood up and made quick work of the space between us. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

How the fuck else would you mean it?

I pressed my lips into a thin line while he pulled my hands into his. “I just missed you.”

I lifted a brow.

What a funny way of showing it. He ran a hand down his face and chuckled nervously. “You always make me nervous and I always screw it up. I’m sure you were wined and dined the whole week. I’m sure some of the meals were incredible. I’m a little jealous.”

As carefully as I could manage, I removed my hands from his. “You had every opportunity to come with me.”

“It’s not that simple.”

But it was.

I let out a huff. I was hungry and tired. Those things mixed with his insensitive comments were not a good combination.

“It’s been a long day.”

Reluctantly, I went to the door and opened it for him to leave. My eyes and nose burned as I fought back a wave of emotion. I thought we would reconcile. I thought things would be good when I got home. My expectations had been entirely too high.

The man that sent me sexy texts and excitement over the last few days was not the man standing in front of me and I couldn’t figure it out. Was I dealing with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?

“I’m going to order some takeout and get ready for bed,” I said when he didn’t move from the couch.

“Can I see you tomorrow?”

Instead of biting my tongue, I let my emotions fly. “Can you keep your stupid, mean comments to yourself?”

He blinked a few times before he walked past me in a daze. I’d never talked back before. I’d never told him how I felt about his weight comments but damn it all. I’d seen what love looked like while being with Carina and Ace. I was able to actually see what I was missing and I hated it. All I wanted was for Brian to appreciate me. I thought things would be different and I guess, I thought wrong.

Chapter Sixteen

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