Page 39 of Adoration: Isn't What It Seems (Love Isn't What It Seems 2)

“Old friend, baby,” I told him, glancing out the window. Callen was just a faraway shadow at this point. He was never mine and I was never his, I suddenly realized.

Oh, Lena, how will we make it without you?I thought to myself.Why does life continue to be so cruel?

“Livy, can I?” Brandon pulled on my arm again.

“Hmmm?” I asked him. “Can you what?”

“Can I sit by the window?” he asked.

“Sure.”

He climbed off my lap, unintentionally hacking my dress up my thigh. I hurriedly pulled it down, hoping Alexander didn’t notice it. If he did, he certainly didn’t let on, his expression was completely blank.

“Thanks again for driving us home,” I told Alexander.

“You look tired,” he noted softly.

I leaned against his expensive seat and closed my eyes.

“I feel like I could sleep for days,” I muttered low. “But then on the other hand, I can’t quite find sleep.”

I opened my eyes and caught his blue eyes on me. For a moment, I thought his eyes were blazing with desire. I blinked my eyes and there was nothing, only the same calm and mild disinterest.

“Livy,” Brandon got my attention again.

“Yes, baby,” I answered automatically.

“I like this car,” he beamed for the first time in days and I smiled. “Are you going to get one like this?”

Despite everything, I chuckled. “No, not like this. More on the antique side.”

He frowned and was thinking real hard about it. He hadn’t heard about the word antique before. I ruffled his hair.

“Old car,” I clarified it for him.

“Oh,” he sounded disappointed. “Why can’t we have one like this?”

“I don’t know,” I told him. “I’ll put in a complaint.”

He frowned again, trying to repeat the word complaint and understand it.

“Study the car,” I told him instead. “When we go looking for our antique,” I accented the word with the smile, “you can tell me all the things that are the same, and all the things that are different. If you hit it all, we’ll have ice cream.”

And just like that, he was focused on the new task and getting the ice cream.

I glanced back to Alexander who was watching us carefully.

“What happened to your car?” he asked.

I shrugged my shoulder. “It got towed away. I parked illegally in front of the police station the night… anyhow, it costs more to get it out than to just get another one.”

He probably knew nothing about those kinds of struggles. I saw his vehicle parked illegally and the parking patrol simply walked by it.

The car came to a stop and we were home. Well, Brandon and I were.

“Want to come with us?” Brandon asked innocently and I inwardly winced.

Please say no, please say no, please say no.

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