“I’m sorry,” he blurts. “I had no idea you and my brother were friends. I should never have said any of those things to you.”
“Okay.” I can’t think of anything else to say.
“Do you forgive me?”
“No.”
“No?”
I cross my arms over my chest, mostly because I don’t have a bra on yet, but it also makes me look tough. “Why should I? You’re an ass.”
“I am. I’m totally an asshole. But that’s not Alec’s fault. Well, it kind of is because he pretty much raised me, but in this particular instance, it’s all on me.”
“Okay.”
“Now do you forgive me?”
“No.”
“No?” He sounds a little whiny, if I’m being honest. “Why not?”
I jut my leg out for sassy emphasis. “Why should I?”
Adrian is staring, and I practically see the wheels turning in his handsome head. “’Cause if you don’t, my brother is gonna kill me.”
That causes a startled laugh to escape. “Thatsounds like a personal problem.”
Adrian’s mouth turns into an O. “Cold.”
I shrug. “Why should I help you?”
“He knows what I said to you, and he’s pissed. Here.” He shoves the flowers in my face. “Take ’em. And for the love of God, call my brother.”
I take the flowers, step back, and shut the door in Adrian’s face. Why was that so satisfying? Back in the kitchen, I drop the flowers onto the counter. “Who was that?” my father asks.
“Adrian Marchesani.”
He glances up from his crossword puzzle and looks first at the flowers, then me. “You got another one of ’em after you?”
Twice in one morning, a startled laugh escapes my mouth. “No. None of ’em are after me. Adrian was groveling because he was rude to me.”
Dad sets his pen down.
Yes, he does the crossword in pen. The man has many talents. “He was rude to you?”
“Yeah. It’s fine.” Not really. His words still sting. “He wants me to call Alec.” Because I’ve been avoiding him like the plague out of fear Alec thought the same thing Adrian did—that I was a stalker… a nuisance.
“You tell Alec?”
“No.”
“You should.”
“I’m sure he already knows.” Maybe. I mean, he sent over the guy who hurt my feelings, so he must know some of it. “I’ll send him a text.”
“Good idea. He’d want to know if his brother was acting like a dick.”
I giggle at my dad’s use of the expression “like a dick.”
