Avoiding Intimacy (Avoiding #2.5)(39)

As she stood there, mulling over where she thought Alexa’s spare key might be, the door swung open. Chyna’s empty stomach plummeted, and she tried to hold back the rising bile. The day had been too long, the night too exhausting, the plane ride too burdensome, and the time change too weakening for her to have to deal with this right now.

At least to her credit, Adam looked just as shocked as she did.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded. Her voice came out angrier than she had intended. She was pretty sure it was ninety-five percent exhaustion speaking. The other five percent was blatant curiosity, considering the fact that he had continued to pop into her head yesterday after Alexa had brought him up.

“What are you doing here?” he asked right back. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Milan?”

“Long story. What are you doing here?” she repeated, eyeing him carefully.

He still looked the same. A month and a half hadn’t changed him, except he had maybe lost a little weight. It didn’t look bad on him. Damn those hazel eyes . They were more on the side of gold today than green, and she liked those days. What was she even thinking ? She was clearly not in the right state of mind to be around him.

“I brought Lexi coffee,” he said, holding up a bright white-and-orange coffee cup with big orange lettering that read Jittery Joe ’ s.

“Where the hell is that from?” she asked because she had never seen it before.

“Uh…NYU off 45th,”

he said hesitantly.

“You went all the way to 45 th to get Lexi coffee?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Hold up with the third degree. Her coffee machine broke. Jittery Joe’s is from Georgia. I just thought it would be nice.”

He shrugged and put on that goofy grin she had always loved.

No! No. No. She did not even think that word. She swallowed, unsure as to what the hell she was even doing at the moment.

“Who’s at the door?” Chyna heard Alexa call from inside.

Adam turned around and called back.

“Chyna.”

“What the f**k? Are you f**king serious?” Lexi yelled, jogging to the doorway. When she saw Chyna, she threw her arms around her best friend like it had been centuries since she had seen her.

“What the f**k are you doing home, chica?”

“Just wanted to surprise you,” Chyna said, plastering on the smile Alexa was used to seeing.

“Well, come in! Oh my God, it is so good to see you.” She turned back around after pulling Chyna into the apartment.

“Thanks for the coffee, Adam. See you around,” she said, smiling at him sweetly before all but slamming the door in his face. “I am so sorry about that.” She waved her hand at the door.

“It’s fine,” Chyna told her, taking a seat on the uncomfortable, lumpy sofa.

“So…what the f**k are you doing here?” Lexi asked, grabbing her coffee and sitting down next to her friend.

“Time for a change,” she said with a shrug, trying to remain lively.

“Yeah, but Milan!” Lexi’s eyes went wide with the last word.

“Yeah…Milan,” Chyna responded.

“You can’t even pretend to be happy around me right now, and you’re two weeks early! Spill!” Lexi commanded.

Chyna kicked off her shoes and pulled her knees up to her chest. “So…remember that fashion designer I mentioned?”

“Yeah,” Lexi said slowly. “The fling?”

“Yeah, that one.”

“What about him?”

“Well, I gave him up and came home, just like you told me to,” Chyna told her.

“So, what’s the problem?” Lexi asked, putting an arm around her shoulder.

“Nothing,” she said, brushing it off. “I guess I was just in over my head. Time to come home.”

Lexi looked at her like she didn’t believe her, like she wanted to ask a million questions. Chyna seriously did not want to answer them. She didn’t even want to think about how she had left. She had felt so strong when she had walked out of that apartment, choosing to leave him and actually making that move. Now, she just felt drained, and she didn’t want to contemplate what that could mean, wondering if she had made the right choice.

“Actually, chica, can I borrow your cell? Mine managed to die on the drive over,” Chyna said with a shrug.

“Of course,” Lexi said, threading a piece of hair behind her ear. She stood and walked over to the counter. “You sure you don’t want to talk some first? You look like you might kill whoever you’re about to call.”

Chyna took the phone when Lexi handed it to her with a smile. “I’ll make it through.”

“So…uh…who are you calling?” Lexi asked nosily.

Chyna sighed, hating what she was about to do almost as much as leaving this morning. “My mom.”

CHAPTER 8

APRIL THREE MONTHS EARLIER

Frederick smiled at Chyna, like a kid in a candy store. He was practically bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. “Can you f**king believe this, hooker?” he whispered into her hair.

She shook her head. She was too anxious and excited to see this shit going down. “I’ve been waiting for this for far too long.”

“And, to think we made the unveiling,”