Page 68 of Between Us

He just shrugs and chuckles under his breath. With a shake of my head, I take my phone off mute, interrupting whatever they’re talking about now. “I have an idea of somewhere we can stay.”

“Where?” Margo asks, excitement clear in her voice.

Glancing at Adrian one more time, he just nods in confirmation. “Uhm. My friend is going out of town this weekend and said we can use his place.”

It’s quiet on the line for one second too long, so I know the bomb is dropping before it explodes. “Yourfriend?” Margo demands, and I’m positive Adrian can hear her clearly now.

“By friend…” Meera softly prompts.

“You mean the hot guy from the grocery store?” Margo finishes.

Closing my eyes to actually avoid seeing the smug look on Adrian’s face, I don’t answer the question. “Do you want to stay there for free or not?”

“Obviously. And we will talk about it there.”

“Sounds horrible,” I chime in and finally look at Adrian. He quietly laughs, looking immensely satisfied by the fact I’ll be staying at his place, safe from being stalked by anyone but him.

After working out a few more things, like how Meera is flying in early tomorrow to celebrate Diwali with her family, we hang up. I took the evening off to spend it with them; something I’ve done more than once since we became friends. Unfortunately, Margo has a midterm she can’t miss on Friday morning, so we plan to pick her up from the airport.

Before he can say anything, I ask, “What is your problem with Airbnb?”

That makes him laugh as he stands at his full height. We're both done for the evening, and my dad’s in the back, probably going over Chispa’s overnight care.

“I’m saving you money, and possibly your life.”

“I’ll agree with the first half,” I tease and shake my head.

He reaches down to grab the tote bag I brought with me and waits for me to stand with my crutches before striding toward the door. Still smirking and shaking my head, I follow him to my car, feeling almost giddy at getting to see my friends, and the change of events for the weekend.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Blake

Usingthesparekeythat Adrian gave me yesterday, I unlock the front door for Margo, Meera, and I.

“How many times have you been here?” Margo asks, dropping her bag on the floor as soon as we walk in.

“Only once,” I admit. Not wanting to elaborate, I walk further inside and drop my bag on the bed. It’s been about a week and a half since my injury, and I’ve switched to only one crutch. It allows me more freedom, though not enough to go to the pool for another couple of weeks.

“It’s like, really clean.” Meera looks around.

Laughing, I nod and sit on the edge of the bed. Quickly, I realize that this is the first time I’ve been on Adrian’s bed, and I have to fight the urge to jump off like I’ve been burned.

“That’s a good sign,” she continues.

“A good sign?” I ask.

Margo rolls her eyes, but Meera just looks at me over her shoulder with a small smile. “I mean… obviously something is going on here, right?”

Twisting my lips to the side, I make a decision to just be honest with them. I’ve always been private about whatever happened between me and Cody, or any other boy.

But this is the moment I had told Catalina I was looking for. I want to tell them about Adrian.

As soon as I open my mouth, the doorknob turns, and all of our heads move in that direction.

Without opening it all the way, Adrian’s head gingerly pops in. “Hey, Storm Cloud.”

“Oh my God,” Meera quietly squeals, but it’s still loud enough for him to hear.

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