A Wild Ride (Jessica Brodie Diaries #3)(11)

He nodded and put his hand on mine. “So..” he said hesitantly, “do you think him attractive?”

I really didn’t want to go down this road, but he would always wonder. Every time I hugged Adam or looked at him, William would wonder. As awkward as this would be, it would put to rest a lot of problems down the road.

“Truth?”

He nodded, readying himself. “Of course I think Adam is attractive. He is a damn good-looking guy. You know that. He has a great body, he has height, he dresses nice—sometimes—and he’s a gentleman.”

William nodded his head, dispirited.

“You and him are similar up to those points. And while I think him attractive, he is more metro-sexual looking. A softer handsome. You are rugged, manly attractive. So damn hot you hurt the eyes.” I fanned myself, wanting to get him naked. “Anyway,” I went on, needing to make my point. “You and him are physically similar, and both gentleman, but if you look closer, that’s where the likenesses end. Where he might be a generic suit, you’re tailored Armani. You walk around with grace and confidence, knowing who you are and what you want. Adam kind of picks things up as he goes. He’s more chaotic, the tornado jumping from here to there. You are the hurricane, going full force until you get what you want, then dissolving away.”

His eyes were brighter, almost glowing. “I can see that,” he said softly.

“All I am trying to say is that on the surface, you two are similar. You have the same excellent qualities. It is when you get down into the depths that you two are opposites. I couldn’t imagine being with Adam. He is my best buddy to hang out with, and I trust him implicitly, but those depths are all wrong for me. I don’t want to know him like I know you. No interest in it.”

“But Dez knew me, and still wanted Adam.”

“I don’t think Dezeray knew you all that well, which would make it easy for her to want your likeness in Adam. He is so similar on the surface; just different enough to spark up the bedroom.”

“The bedroom was a little lacking...”

I shrugged. I didn’t care about sexual habits of an ex. “And now you know all.”

“Do you always think in metaphors?”

“Uh...yeah, kinda.”

William started laughing.

“Well,” I said indignantly, “it worked, didn’t it? You knew what I was talking about!”

“Just so you know...”

“I don’t want to know. You are going to talk about Lump. I don’t want to hear it.”

“Metaphor—your Adam is my Lump. Only...sexually reversed. Beautiful, but too manly. Too even keel most of the time, then too unpredictable and violent. Too all over the place.”

“I know. You two wouldn’t work. The fear was never that you two would start a relationship and have babies or something. It was that you would want to have sex with her. And follow through.”

“Your Lump is my Adam,” he said quietly.

I sighed and nodded. I knew that. I knew that this whole time. I knew he didn’t like her like he did me. I knew he would never touch her. But it was still good to hear it. It helped.

Chapter Three

We arrived at Gladis’s before logistics dawned on me. “We only brought one car! I thought we were going to bring two?”

“That was just me getting you into the car. Gladis hired a car.”

“Sneaky,” I said, making a face at him. He looked at me, his eyes clear and full of love.

It was an ordeal to get all the presents in the car, Fred in a place where he wouldn’t bother anyone, who I had been neglecting for a while so thought I would bring, and Gladis situated, since her hip was “acting up.” We were waiting patiently for Lump when an apparition in red came down the steps.

She was in a new dress, like me, with her only ornaments small gems in her ears and the perfectly suited necklace. There was something about her that I couldn’t place. It was like a weight lifted. A burden that had been dulling the shine in her eyes and weighing the bounce in her step.

She saw me standing by the car and stopped on the path. She whistled and shook her head.

“Good God, girl, you look goooood!” she said with sass. It was the old Lump back!

She turned to William. “You’re outdone Willie. You are outdone. But you are looking ever so classy yourself.”

He put his hand out to shake. “Hello. I don’t believe I have seen you since you got here from Australia.”

“Har har. I have meditated. The cosmos are aligned." Her mystical voice cleared when she said, "But seriously folks, you guys look really classy together! You look a pair. The parents will be pleased.”

“Not to hurry you,” Gladis shouted from inside the car, “but I would love to get the show on the road!”

Oops. Scolded.

“She doesn’t have anything to throw, does she?” Lump asked quietly.

William looked at her funny.

“Well?” Lump said with a smile. “She nearly got me yesterday with an ashtray.”

“Gladis tried to hit you with an ashtray?” William said seriously, stopping Lump with a hand on her arm.

“William, relax, it’s a game,” I scoffed, shaking my head to let Lump know she should ignore him.

“Throwing things at people with the intention of harm is not a game,” William persisted.