“I don’t know. Vanessa hasn’t mentioned it. I assume you’d’ve gotten her number by now. If you want to know, you could just call Janae and ask her yourself. You could even invite her to be your date.”
Adam shook his head. “Janae and I weren’t really connected in school. I don’t want to push too far too fast with her. She’s got a career and a kid, I can’t just jump to the conclusion that she has room for anything else.”
It was true. Adam didn’t assume that just because he was available and interested in companionship that Janae was too. “Not to mention, she didn’t exactly seem all that enthused to see me when we ran into each other at Vanessa’s office.”
Michael shook his head, taking a sip of his coffee as if it would help him say the words he seemed to be chewing on.
“You pulled this same shit when we were in high school, always using me as a go-between for you and Janae. I’m not playing that game this time around. We’re not kids anymore, Adam. If you’re interested in the woman, let her know. She’s a straight shooter; she won’t play games with you.”
“You speak like you’ve got some insider knowledge where Janae is concerned. How can you be sure she’d even entertain me?”
Michael stared at him for a long moment before he spoke his next words.
“Considering I dated the woman for a brief time, I’d say I have a pretty good handle on Janae Sanders.”
Adam sat up straight, locking eyes with his friend, attempting to see if Michael was toying with him or not. The man’s eyes were level with Adam’s, and he didn’t so much as blink as he spoke.
“When the hell did you date Janae?”
“Why does it matter? It was a long time ago and only lasted a short while. We realized quickly that we really shouldn’t be anything more than friends.”
Adam leaned back in his chair, scrutinizing his friend. If Michael thought he was leaving this room without giving Adam the details he wanted, his friend wasn’t as good of an investigator as his badge suggested.
“Spill it. When did this go on, and how did I not know about it?Derrick couldn’t have known anything about it, because you know his big mouth can’t hold water.”
Michael donned a knowing smile. Their mutual friend wasn’t the person you told your secrets to. He wasn’t intentionally a blabbermouth. Derrick just wore his honesty on his sleeve. It was instinctual for him to tell the truth.
“No, Derrick didn’t know. We weren’t necessarily public about it. You left town to attend that summer immersion program for NYU a few days after graduation. For the last marking period of high school, you and Janae were tutoring me to get me through calculus so I could graduate. We sort of developed a closeness then. I took a bit of a liking to her. She was smart and pretty, and had this huge personality that filled up a room. But she’d always kept to herself and didn’t date much, so I wasn’t sure if the interest was mutual.”
“Obviously you got over that, though?”
Michael’s smug smile irritated Adam, and he couldn’t really say why. It wasn’t as if he had any sort of claim on Janae then or now. Not to mention, he didn’t want anything serious to distract him from his work. So why was there this ugly thing forming in his gut that felt slightly like betrayal?
“I used to catch you watching her when you thought no one was looking. That’s why I asked you point-blank if you were interested in her. You told me no.”
Something flashed in Adam’s mind at Michael’s statement. Adam and Michael were practicing drills on the court when Michael brought up the topic. Adam had been ready to answer Mike’s question with a resounding “Hell yeah” when Adam saw his father walking onto the court. With one glance, Adam allowed the yes that was burning on the tip of his tongue to dissolve into nothingness, knowing it was better to never reach for his desires than to allow his father and the man’s insistence on Adam’s total focus on the future to steal Adam’s dreams away.
“Fine.” Adam cleared his throat, trying to shrink the ball ofregret sitting at the base of his airway. “I’ll grant you that. But I didn’t know you were asking because you were interested. When did you push up?”
“After graduation, I asked to take her out as a thank-you for tutoring me.” Michael crossed his ankle over his knee, as if he were getting comfortable to tell an old favorite story.
“To be fair, she didn’t realize I was interested in her romantically. But by the end of that date, I made sure she did. I kissed her, and we were inseparable for the rest of the summer.”
Adam’s curiosity was definitely getting the better of him as Michael spoke. They were grown men. Neither of them had ever made a habit of discussing women as though they were conquests. But Adam’s need to know what went on wouldn’t be denied, even when he recognized he had no right to expect answers to these personal questions.
“Did you sleep with her?”
The words were out of Adam’s mouth before he could stop them, and by the stern look on Michael’s face, he could tell his friend wasn’t necessarily pleased.
“We both know that’s none of your business. I’m not gonna disrespect Janae or the time we spent together by providing you with all the gory details.” He tilted his head as he carefully scrutinized Adam, making him feel even worse for crossing this imaginary line. He just couldn’t help himself. He needed to know.
“I’m gonna do you a solid and tell you this. Janae and I dated, and we did what many romantically involved eighteen-year-olds do, with the exception of sex.”
Relief bled through Adam, and he released an exhausted sigh in response to Michael’s confession. “It wasn’t for my lack of interest or trying for that matter. If she would’ve allowed me, I definitely would’ve taken it to the next level. But she wouldn’t.”
“Why not?” Again, Adam knew he had no right to ask the question, but he couldn’t stop himself. He needed to know.
“Because as much as I was into her, she wasn’t into me enough to sleep with me.”
