the corner of the room, drinking beer while I pretended not to be uncomfortable that Adrian was less than two feet away. I honestly wished I were anywhere but there. Although I enjoyed spending time with Gavin, I wouldn’t be disappointed if I never saw Adrian again.
Gavin nudged me with his shoulder. “You okay?”
No, I wasn’t, but I couldn’t tell him that, so I pasted on a smile and peered up at him. “Good. You?”
My best friend studied me momentarily and I wondered what he was thinking. We’d been at the club for nearly an hour, and I was counting down the minutes until I could politely take my leave, go back to my condo, and … do nothing. I was spending so much time worried about the fact I couldn’t come up with any inspiration to draw, I’d pretty much put my entire life on hold. Other than work, anyway. And even that was dragging since I hadn’t taken on any new clients, still trading shifts with Charlie in order to keep from having to work the busy nights. I figured before long, she would get tired of me, but for now, at least, she wasn’t saying anything.
“Where’s Gil?” Adrian asked, looking from me to Gavin, then back.
“Work,” I told him. That or he was at the condo screwing some chick. I wasn’t his keeper.
And didn’t I have a shitty attitude?
I felt the heat of Jake’s gaze on me, and I looked at him for the first time in at least twenty minutes. He was frowning.
I sighed. I did not want to be that girl. Did not want to be the one to bring the party down, but being around Adrian wasn’t easy. Mostly due to the fact that I was living a lie when it came to our breakup. Gavin still believed that I’d dumped Adrian because our relationship had stalled out. I knew that wasn’t the case and Adrian knew that wasn’t the case. Because of that, though, I had to pretend Adrian was my friend.
Only every time I looked at him, I thought about the night I’d gone over to his place to find him in bed with those bitches. He’d been drunk, they’d been stoned, but they’d all been naked, and Adrian had been buried balls deep in that chick’s ass. And though he’d definitely seen me standing there, he hadn’t stopped. Adrian’s hips had continued to thrust as he kept a firm grip on the woman’s airborne legs.
The memory made me want to puke.
Sex between Adrian and me hadn’t been phenomenal, so it wasn’t like I missed it. It had been decent, but nothing crazy wild, and no, he’d never fucked me in the ass. In fact, for the two months leading up to that night, we’d had sex maybe half a dozen times, so it was safe to say we’d been heading for a breakup anyway, but I had wanted to believe that Adrian had respected me a little more than that.
Obviously not.
“Come to the bar with me?” Jake asked, looking directly at me.
Figuring it would give me a reprieve from Adrian, I agreed.
“Something wrong?” he asked after he got the bartender’s attention and ordered two more beers.
“If I said no, would you believe me?”
Jake grinned, and the sexy slant of his mouth made me relax. “Probably not.”
The bartender handed over two beers, and Jake passed him a twenty, telling him to keep the change.
I took a drink and kept my eyes on Jake. “I don’t like him,” I admitted.
Jake’s gaze slid over to where Adrian and Gavin were standing. “Which one?”
“Adrian. We used to … uh … date.”
“Ended badly?”
“You could say that.”
“Was it serious?” Jake’s full attention was on me once again.
Just as I was about to answer, someone slammed into me from behind, sending me stumbling into Jake. He caught me with one hand while glaring at the man behind me. Rather than get into an altercation the way Gil or Gavin would have, Jake simply pulled me toward the wall, crowding me with his big body, keeping me safe.
I liked that approach. A lot. The fact that he didn’t feel the need to make a scene was a nice change of pace.
“Was it?” he repeated.
“Serious?” I shook my head. “No, but he cheated and I caught him in the act. He’s never taken responsibility for his actions, and that’s what pisses me off the most.”
Some unnamed emotion flittered across Jake’s face, but he didn’t say anything, so I didn’t, either.