He didn’t wait around, didn’t say another word, just clicked off, and even as I was relieved at not having to dawdle over the line, wondering how to say bye to him, something inside me hurt.
On the one hand, I had everything I’d been working toward. More, in fact.
On the other, it meant nothing when he could cut me off like that.
“What is it?” Lori asked, breaking into my thoughts. “Is Robert okay?”
I shot her a look. “It wasn’t Robert.”
“I know. It was Adam.”
My eyes flashed. “How did you know that?”
“Your voice always changes when you talk to him.” She tipped her head to the side. “What is it with you and him anyway? You’ve got something going on between you two. I know you always deny it, but a picture is worth a thousand words, Thea.” She arched a brow. “I’m not blind.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I rasped, my heart hurting as much as my head.
“I’m here if you ever change your mind.”
My smile was tight, even if my gratitude was real. “Nike wants to sign me up,” I told her instead, using that as bait.
It worked.
Her eyes flashed with dollar signs. “Holy fuck, Thea. That’s epic news.”
I bit my lip.
She was right.
It was epic.
I’d be dancing around this vending machine nook if Robert had been the one to tell me, but Adam had. Even though I had goals, even though the money was important to me and I had a future to think of, Adam was a part of my past that would always taint the future.
This included.
ADAM
When I didn’t see Theodosia the morning after our conversation about her culture, I knew something was wrong.
Worse still, I knew there was nothing I could do about it.
I didn’t know where she lived, I didn’t have her cell phone number because she didn’t have one.
I knew nothing about her.
Nothing.
And she was anything but nothing to me.
I’d gone ahead with training, thinking she might be running late and that she’d dive in while I was working out, only she hadn’t.
In fact, she wasn’t at the pool.
Period.
As I drank some shitty coffee, sitting at the same table we’d been sitting at together for the last few days, stupid thoughts began to churn inside my mind.
Had Cain turned her against me?
Had he somehow done something to her?
He hated me, I knew that. Was that enough to hurt someone I cared about?
I’d gone to crazy levels to convince him my life was carrying on as normal. One big round of school and training. But I hadn’t really shown him that I cared about Theodosia, had I? Aside from staring at her, and fuck, I was a guy, we stared. I’d made sure to stare at women at school when I was around him. When we’d hung out at the mall yesterday with Liam, a friend from the swim team, I’d pretended to pant after this woman who was a total MILF. Anything to put him off the scent.
It wasn’t the first time I’d done something weird in the name of working out. I’d even trained for a half-marathon last year, which had taken me out early in the morning and had me running to school rather than riding in with Linden, the family driver. So when I’d told Cain I was thinking of entering a triathlon, which was why I was riding my bike more, he didn’t seem to question that.
So...he couldn’t have done anything to hurt Theodosia, could he?
He didn’t know about her, dammit. But she was the girl who hadn’t been charmed. That meant something to psychos like my brother.
Slurping down the last of my cooling coffee, I accepted that she wasn’t going to come, and instead of leaving for school, I headed down to the front desk.
The same person who’d yawned at me from behind the bulletproof glass the other day when I’d purchased my pass was there. Knowing he’d seen me and Theodosia together, I hoped he’d give me some kind of answer.
“Hey,” I muttered, feeling uneasy because this was a lost cause—but I just had to try.
“Hello,” the guy replied warily, eying me like I was going to stick a gun in his face so I could steal the takings.
Ignoring that, and stemming my irritation, I asked, “I was wondering if you knew why Theodosia didn’t stop by today?”
“Why would I know?” the attendant countered, frowning at me as he picked up a handkerchief