Stoking the Fire (Salus Security #1) - Teodora Kostova Page 0,11
our friendship, mostly because Adri is the kind of guy who doesn’t allow anyone to get too close. Not even me, and I can confidently say I’m his closest friend.
He sighs dramatically. “All right. Fine.” He catches the attention of the waiter and flags him.
The guy raises a finger to indicate he’ll be right over. The Disaster Café is busy even though it’s a Thursday afternoon. They make the most amazing vegan burgers in the city, and their fries are sprinkled with some sort of magic—or dark sorcery—that makes you incapable of enjoying any other fries once you’ve tasted them.
“Where have you been?” I ask when Adri places his order. “I haven’t seen you in ages.”
He lifts a shoulder, his expressive hazel eyes shying away from my inquiring gaze. “Busy with work.”
“At The News Wave? I didn’t realize your job at a local newspaper kept you so busy.”
“I may have scored a gig on the side.”
“Oh?”
He nods but doesn’t hurry to elaborate.
“Why does this sound like you’re dealing drugs? Or stripping?”
“It’s not that lucrative.” His eyes eventually make their way back to mine, but his walls are up now. And there’s no way to barrel through them, no matter how hard I try.
“All right. You tell me when you’re ready. But I need you to promise me you’re safe.” He eyes me, but nods. It’ll have to do for now.
His food arrives, and we tuck into our burgers. Mine is mostly cold by now, but I didn’t want to start before him. Adri finishes half of his food before he leans back, patting his belly.
“I can’t,” he says with a moan.
“Eat. You’re too skinny.”
“Okay, Mom,” he says with an eyeroll, but takes a couple of fries to nibble on. “How are your exams going?”
I groan, leaving the rest of my burger on the plate, and wiping my hands. “As well as expected. I didn’t have the energy—or desire—to study as much as I should have, and it shows.”
“That’s what too much fucking will do to you,” he says nonchalantly.
I can’t help but grin. Every time someone mentions Alec, or anything to do with Alec, I feel the grin creeping to my face, and I’m helpless to stop it.
“True.”
“Ugh,” Adri scoffs, but I can see he’s trying really hard not to smile. His face sobers when he speaks again. “Do you have to retake any classes if you fail the exam?”
I pick at the burger bun. “Probably.”
“That doesn’t bother you?”
I look up to meet his eyes. As much as he’s trying to wipe his expression clean, I know him too well. I can see the judgment there.
Adri's two years older than me, and I watched him graduate with honors. He’s always been an overachiever, and people like me who lack ambition present a huge mystery to him. He just doesn’t get it.
“Not really.”
He glares at me.
I sigh and lean back in the booth. “My father assumes I’ll join the company the day I graduate. He’s been pressuring me to take a more active role this year.” I pick at my napkin, not meeting Adri's eyes. I’m afraid of the judgment I’ll see in them. “I’m not ready. I don’t know if that’s what I want to do, and having the rest of my life mapped out like that, without even asking me, is soul-crushing.”
Adri covers my hand with his. Surprised, I look up, and see fire burning into those hazel eyes I love so much. “Then you tell him to fuck off,” he says as if it’s the easiest thing in the world to do.
A startled bubble of laughter bursts out of me. “I don’t think anyone’s ever told Dennis Van Dorf to fuck off.”
“Then you’ll be the first.”
I study him, looking for any sign he’s only telling me this to make me feel better, but I only find sincerity.
“I didn’t expect you to say that to me.”
His eyebrows knit together. “Why not?”
“Because you’re so driven. You knock down any obstacles in your way without a second of hesitation. And here I am angsting because I get given opportunities most people can only dream of.”
“I’ll never say that.” He leans away from me, folding his arms. “That’s your own insecurities talking.”
Adri's honesty is one of his best and one of his worst qualities.
His words feel like a punch to the gut because they ring true.
“Why don’t you just talk to your dad?”
“Have you met my dad?”
“Listen,” he leans closer again, his gaze softer. “You’ll figure it out. Okay?”