Reckless Abandon (November Blue, #2)(52)

“I don’t know.” I shrug and force myself to meet his eyes.

“Look, baby, I’m sorry for freaking out. I love you, November. I want you. All day, everyday. Mine. I want to see you when I wake

up in the morning and kiss you before I go to bed at night. I want to live with you—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa...whoa.” My adrenaline chooses “flight” as I put my hands up and walk back to the living room.”

“Uh-uh, Ember, you’re not walking away from me. We’re going to talk about this.” Adrian grasps my shoulders and spins me

around.

“Who says they love you and they want to live with you all in the same breath?” I huff.

Someone who’s scared...that’s who.

“Don’t you love me?” He drops his arms and takes a step back.

“Adrian ...” My eyes reach for the ceiling.

Then...he pulls the rug out ...

“I know something happened with Cavanaugh.”

What?

“What?” Flames whip against my cheeks. If he was bluffing, I just gave it a way.

“The night of the concert ...” Adrian breaks his defensive stance and walks to my couch, taking a seat.

My eyes scan back and forth across the coffee table, as if it holds the answer to how he could possibly know about Bo kissing me.

Monica would never out me—especially not to Adrian. The only possibility is Ainsley, but I don’t think Adrian even knows who she

is. Seeing the confusion on my face, Adrian continues.

“No one said anything to me...it was you.” He bites his bottom lip and I sit next to him. He grabs my hand. “When you called to

tell me you were coming, I knew something was wrong. When you came in and we had sex...you’ve never been like that before, Ember.

It was crazy—it felt desperate.”

I swallow, my mouth suddenly dry.

You have to say something.

When my voice returns, I recant the entire story to Adrian. I tell him about singing in the studio, my fight with Bo, and his kiss.

Adrian listens patiently, never breaking eye contact, studying my expression. I don’t lie; I tell Adrian I was furious when Bo

kissed me. The conversation takes on a different tone when I tell him I went to the Cavanaugh residence to make nice.

“Why the hell did you go there after he treated you like that?” Adrian leans back, digging his fingertips into the tops of his

thighs.

I try my best to explain that I needed to try for the sake of work, for the sake of Rae. I steady my inflection when I share

details about finding Ainsley there, trying to deflect my emotion from that part of the story.

“It hurt you to see her there, didn’t it?” Adrian rubs his eyes.

“It did. But not because of Bo. Ainsley’s a whack-job. It was disappointing on a friend level.” I sit back and reach for Adrian

’s hand, but he pulls it away and stands, heading for the door.

“I love you, November. I’ve loved you since we first met and I’ve loved you ever since—”

“Oh that’s f*cking bullshit, Adrian, and you know it. When you’re that in love with someone, you don’t disappear into scores of

women for years before resurfacing.” His attempt at a guilt trip is starting to piss me off.

“Isn’t that what you’re doing?” Adrian holds out his arms like he’s in a courtroom. “Disappearing into me, despite being in

love with him?”

“I’m not using you, Adrian. Man, you’re on a roll. First, you walk into my apartment and accuse me of cheating on you, now you’

re accusing me of using you. Anything else you’d like to tear into me about today, or will you be on your merry way?” I

defensively wrap my arms around my stomach.

Adrian takes his hand off the knob and walks toward me. “Look, Ember. I know that you were in love with him. I also know that he

broke your trust. What I need from you is to know that you’re with me, one hundred percent. Here. And Here.” He points to my head

and my chest, over my heart.

Instinctively I lunge forward and smash my lips into his, wrapping my arms around his neck and holding on tightly. Adrian’s hands

press into my sides as he returns my kiss. I can’t find the words to explain to Adrian that I care about him; those words still

seem assigned to someone else. People are in love with more than one person all the time—right? This is just one of those times. I

need to continue on with Adrian, while begging Bo to fade to black in the memory of my heart. When we pull apart, Adrian smiles

foolishly.

“I’ve got some things I have to get done in town before the party tonight. I’ll see you there, OK?”

“Absolutely.” I kiss his neck once before backing away.

Adrian leaves, but stops the door from closing behind him and peeks his head back in.

“I do love you, Blue.” He grins again and quickly shuts the door before I can respond, which I’m grateful for.





Chapter Twenty-Three



“It looks great out here, Ember, you did an awesome job!” Marley, one of the summer bartenders, admires the twinkle lights and

flowers adorning Finnegan’s back deck.