The Assistant(69)

“What did you say?” I asked.

“Um,” he frowned hard, thinking. “Oh, I said your house is small but-”

“No, no,” I cut him off, “before that.”

“Oh. I said I like you. A lot.” He repeated it casually, even punctuating it with a yawn. “Where is the bed?” he asked, looking around my living room again.

“I- Um- Uh, how about I drive you home?” I stuttered, still trying to process his words.

“No. I want to sleep with you tonight. That’s why I caaaame hereee.”

I bit my lip as something new processed in my brain. “Hold on. How did you know which apartment was mine? You’ve only been outside my building once…” I trailed off, still frowning in thought.

“I’ve come here before to try and get you to come back and work for me, but you weren’t home. I want to sleep with you in your bed now.” Adrian began unzipping his pants.

I let out a gasp – both from the fact that he was taking his pants off in front of me, and for the fact that he had come here to offer me another chance at the job which I ruined because I wasn’t home – before I shot up from my seat across from him and locking my apartment door.

Once I turned back around, Adrian had already taken off his dark jeans and was halfway done with unbuttoning his shirt. He looked down at his fumbling fingers with a frown etched onto his handsome features; the struggle to unbutton them while he was drunk was clearly evident in his expression.

I walked over to him and gently pulled his hands away from the shirt, before continuing to unbutton it for him myself and slowly pushing the shirt off his broad shoulders.

“Come on,” I said, gently leading him down the short hallway and into my bedroom, “let’s get you to bed.”

We both got beneath the covers and he instantly wrapped his familiar, muscly arms around my waist. As I turned off the lamp on the table next to me, I heard him murmur.

“I like this. And you.”

Then I felt his breathing become even as he fell fast asleep.

I wasn’t sure why he was here or why I let him in not just through my door but into my bed. But there was one thing I knew for certain – this was not going to end well in the morning.

Chapter Sixteen

There are only three things that would force my body into doing any type of physical activity: (1) if I were doing it for charity, (2) if I was trying to prove myself to someone, or – and this was the reason that had my feet pounding onto the moldy pavements of New York City at 6AM – (3) if I was trying to avoid something that is fogging up each functioning brain cell within my mind and I’m trying to get away from it.

Or him, in this case.

I was kind of hoping going for an intense run at the break of dawn would somehow clear up the fogginess in my mind while also managing to make the whole Adrian-is-in-my-apartment-snoring scenario just a figment of my imagination.

Unfortunately, once I returned home from my run and walked into my bedroom to snatch a few items of clothing for my shower, Adrian was still sprawled out on my bed, looking peaceful as his torso slowly rose up and down from his steady breathing. My gaze lingered on his shirtless torso for a little while longer before I left my room and made my way to the shower.

I peeled off my sticky attire before jumping into the warm shower and began to wash the sticky sweat off my skin. How was I supposed to act when Adrian woke up? Did he even remember what he told me last night? While I was able to recite the entire scene word for word, Adrian was intoxicated. I highly doubted he would remember his ‘please come back and work for me because I really miss you’ speech, so I decided to stay silent about it until he brought it up.


I took longer than usual in the shower, savouring the way my muscles relaxed under the hot water, and was just about to turn it off when the bathroom door opened. My eyes grew wide with shock as Adrian casually strode into the bathroom and made his way over to the toilet in the corner. I opened my mouth to scream but chocked on my shock before I snatched the towel off the rack beside the shower.

The movement caught Adrian’s eye just before he pulled down his pants and I covered myself with the towel before my face went red with embarrassment. I turned off the water and turned to glare at him.

“What the hell are you doing?!” I exclaimed, wrapping the towel tighter around my naked body.

Adrian snapped out of his shocked stare and groaned. “Don’t talk so loud,” he mumbled, before he began walking over to where my rigid figure stood. He stopped directly in front of me and smirked down at my flushed state. “Good morning,” he murmured as his eyes scanned my body hungrily.

I tried to cover my tomato face with my fiercest glare. “Get out of the bathroom.” I scowled, giving him a look of disbelief.

“No,” he replied, before going back to the toilet in the corner. He began to pull his pants down and I squeaked and turned away in shock. “Adrian! I’m in here, you know! Naked, might I add! That’s not something I want to see!” I screeched while avoiding looking at him and snatching the clothes I brought in with me, off the small shelf.

He chuckled. “I needed to use the toilet. Can’t you imagine this when we get married one day? You coming out of the shower – I would’ve joined you of course, which, by the way, I’m offended you didn’t invite me to join you in the first place.”