Page 79 of You're All I Need

“Then, I have to work four to close at the bar,” she adds.

I nod, not really sure what more to say.

A small sigh echoes throughout the vehicle, but I ignore that too. She goes quiet now, clearly getting the picture that I don’t want to talk. It’s not that I don’t want to talk—I do. I just don’t know what to say. Everything feels so heavy right now, and I need time to process it.

Eventually, Adrienne reaches out and turns up the radio. Classic rock plays, accompanying us the rest of the way home. Bythe time I pull into town and head for her townhouse, I feel even worse. I hate the silence that seems to have settled around us, but I don’t know what to say or how to change it. I just need time.

Alone.

When I pull into the parking lot and stop in front of her home, the tension’s so thick, you could cut it with a knife. Adrienne practically jumps out of my SUV, heading for the back to retrieve her suitcase. I climb out and meet her back there, but she’s already pulling her luggage out before I can.

“Let me,” I insist, reaching for the handle.

“No, it’s okay. I got it.”

We stare at each other for several seconds before she breaks eye contact. She looks up to her place before sliding her gaze back to me. “Thanks for the invite. I had a great time this weekend,” she says.

“Me too.” And that’s one-hundred-percent the truth. I loved every minute we spent together.

And that’s the problem.

“I’ll see you at work tomorrow,” I state, needing the reminder we work together.

She nods. “Sounds good. Have a good night, Caden.”

“You too.”

She turns, dragging her wheeled suitcase across the sidewalk and to her front door. She has no issues with the steps, easily maneuvering the big case up and inside the moment her door is open. She doesn’t turn back, doesn’t wave. She slips inside her townhouse and closes the door. The heaviness of the goodbye leaves me aching. Aching with the desire to run over there, beat on her door, and take her in my arms once more, and aching with the knowledge our time together has come to an end.

It has to.

Because I love her.

And I’ll never be able to say it.

I climb back inside my SUV and head home. Her perfume still hangs in the air, probably permeating the seats so I’ll continue to smell her for months to come. That’ll be my punishment for falling in love. Continuing to see her, continuing to catch her scent when I least expect it.

But such is life.

I’ll get over it, just like I’ll get over her.

The quicker that happens, the quicker I’ll be able to go back to the way things were. Before I realized I wasn’t as closed off and emotionally unavailable as I expected.

Before Adrienne.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Adrienne

“I need you,” I whisper into the phone the moment she answers.

“What’s wrong?” The panic is evident in Stevie’s voice.

“I just…I’m okay, but I need you for something. Can you come over?” I ask, trying to keep the tears at bay. I’m not a crier normally, but I can’t seem to fight the emotions threatening to take over.

“Yeah, of course. I’m on my way out the door now,” she declares. I can hear the slam of the front door, followed by a car door opening and the starting of her engine.

I exhale the breath I didn’t realize I was holding and close my eyes. “I’ll let you go so you can drive,” I mutter.

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