Inked on Paper - Nicole Edwards Page 0,50

sardonically, cocking my head and raising my eyebrows. Was he serious right now?

“Yeah.”

“Do you even know what that means?” I knew he didn’t, but I figured what the hell, he wasn’t going to leave until he was ready, so I might as well amuse myself.

“You don’t know what it means?” The crease in his forehead said he didn’t think I did.

“Oh, I do,” I assured him. “I was wondering if you did.”

It wasn’t that he’d used the word improperly, it was simply that him showing up here and me being here … definitely not kismet. More like bad timing. Or the universe playing a cruel trick on me. First of all, where else would I be? Second, I certainly wouldn’t consider being in his presence my destiny. Unless, of course, fate was being a fickle bitch once again and shitting on my life as she’d done since the day Adrian had torpedoed his way into my bed.

Okay, so maybe that was an exaggeration but only a slight one—he hadn’t exactly forced his way into my bed, we’d just sort of ended up there.

Unfortunately.

As far as I was concerned, there were two things wrong with Adrian. Well, two major things. There were plenty of things wrong with him, but it would take hours for me to list them all. One was that he was a lying, cheating bastard who’d ripped the eight-month relationship we’d had to shreds with his infidelity and lies. The other… That one wasn’t so easy to explain.

See, Adrian was Gavin’s older brother. I’d grown up living across the street from Gavin and Adrian, and while I’d been best friends with Gavin—we’d been the same age, in the same grade—I’d always had a crush on his sexy, untouchable older brother, Adrian—the elusive rock star bad boy whose heated gaze and come-hither smirk made women’s clothes fall right off their bodies.

However, being the smart woman that I was, I’d known to stay away from him. First, and most importantly, I didn’t want to do anything to mess up my friendship with Gavin. While most girls had girlfriends growing up, I had always had Gavin. It was sometimes awkward and we’d been accused of liking each other since we were kids, but it had never been that way. Straight me and straight Gavin had simply been best friends, no lust, no confusing feelings, no urge to kiss one another. None of that.

Then a year and a half ago—technically seventeen and a half months—foolish me did something I wasn’t proud of, and I still remembered that day.

“How is she?”

“Good.”

It was the same question and the same answer I’d heard for the past few hours as friends came over to my apartment to check on me, bringing comfort food, wanting to tell me how sorry they were for my loss. Being that Gavin was my best friend as well as my roommate, he was fielding the interruptions, doing his best to let me grieve while still keeping his eye on me.

My father’s funeral had damn near killed me, but I’d had Gavin there to steer me through, to get me where I needed to be and then back again. But now that we were at the apartment, I really wanted to be alone.

“She up for company?”

“Not right now, no,” Gavin told the well-meaning person who’d asked.

I stared out the window, feet curled up beneath me, and fingered the tissue clutched in my hand. It was raining, which suited my mood and only added a punctuation mark to the crappy day it had been.

I had no idea how much time passed while I continued to watch the raindrops spatter on the window, but I was lost in my head when I heard my name.

“Hey, Pres?”

The couch shifted and I looked over to see Gavin sitting beside me. “I’ve gotta go to work tonight. You gonna be okay here by yourself?”

I nodded, sniffed. “Yeah. I’d like to be alone, actually.”

Gavin offered a sad but reassuring smile. “I’ve got my phone. There’s all kinds of food in the fridge. You need anything at all, just call. I’ll come running.”

I nodded again but didn’t move from my spot, not even when I heard the door open and close behind me.

I must’ve drifted off because I woke up to a deep, rumbling voice in my ear, and I opened my eyes to see Adrian standing over me.

“Hey, baby. How’re you doin’?” His tone was soft, soothing, as though he could feel my pain.

I blinked a few times,

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