“That and, unlike us,” Derrick huffed, “he’s getting sex on the regular. I’m pretty sure he burns through those pancakes as soon as he gets home to Vanessa.”
Michael wouldn’t dare answer that because he had too much respect for the woman he loved. But the slick grin on his face was all the answer Adam needed to know Derrick’s assumption was true.
“Lucky bastard,” Adam murmured before the three of them headed for the diner and stepped inside, walking toward the back to their favorite booth.
Once their server took their orders, Adam found both his friends’ eyes plastered on to him.
“What were you so giddy about in your car?” Derrick’s questionmade him pause for a moment as he considered how to answer the man.
“Just trying to figure out Janae. I called her, asked her out, and she turned me down flat.”
“And you found that funny?” Derrick’s observation made Adam smile again.
“Yeah. Something about the way she said no made me think the no wasn’t because she wasn’t into me.”
“So why do you think she said no, then?” Michael’s question hung in the air while their server brought their food and they began digging into their plates.
“I don’t rightly know. She wasn’t angry. She was actually quite pleasant on the phone. It was more like she felt she should say no, not that she wanted to.”
Michael shrugged. “I mean, she doesn’t really know you, Adam.”
Adam’s brow furrowed at Michael’s observation. “She came to my house and my parents’ cabin to help me tutor you.”
“Yeah,” Michael agreed. “But it was all about the work. She didn’t joke around, she didn’t hang out, left as soon as the work was completed. Even when your mom came in with food halfway through our sessions, she ate quietly and quickly and made sure we got right back to work. Y’all’s academic bickering in the classroom may have been legendary, but outside of class, Janae didn’t really connect with you. And if you’re honest, you didn’t really fool with her too much socially either. It doesn’t surprise me she’s not as warm as she could be toward your invite.”
Adam knew Michael was telling the truth. It should’ve been water under the bridge by now. He shouldn’t still feel left out and unseen by Janae’s refusal to connect with him back then. The reality was, however, that all of that continued to bother him now in the present.
“I say give it time,” Derrick added. “We run in the same friend circles. Hell, as close as she and Vanessa and Cree are, you’re boundto run into her often. Let her see who you are, and maybe she’ll change her mind.”
“What he said,” Michael agreed. “But do remember this. Janae doesn’t suffer fools. She has zero patience for them and will write you off quicker than you can say her name if she feels you aren’t worth her time. Don’t fuck up and end up on her bad side.”
Adam took a quick sip of his coffee and shrugged. “I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem. I only wanna reconnect, build a casual friendship. I’ve been friends with you two and Cree since forever. Now that Vanessa’s here, she and I are cool too. It’ll make the friend dynamic weird if Janae and I don’t find a way to click.”
Both Michael and Derrick looked at each other and then at Adam with wary glances as if they were questioning whether they believed him or not. A lesser man would’ve been worried. But Adam knew who he was and who he wanted. He wanted to get to know Janae, and he would let her set the pace for how slow or fast that happened. He was a patient man; he could wait.
Chapter 6
Adam counted to ten as he sat across from his father and mother in the radiology waiting area.
“I don’t understand why I have to deal with all this. I feel fine. I wanna go home.”
“Pop, for the millionth time, you have to come in periodically for the doctor to see how your leg is healing. You wanna get back to walking on your own, right?”
His father grumbled his displeasure loud enough that one of the health care workers walking by gave him an alarmed look.
“You know I do. But all this fuss ain’t necessary. They already put the cast on it, that should be enough.”
Adam let a long sigh release into the air, trying to keep control of his temper. Not that he had or ever would lose it on his dad. Adam had learned a long time ago that the best thing to do was to ignore him and find a way around his surliness.
It kept his dad from exploding and kept Adam’s blood pressure down. That was a win-win situation as far as Adam was concerned.
“We been waiting here all day and they ain’t call me yet. I’m going home.”
His father shifted in his wheelchair, leaning forward to pull upthe brake on one side. Before he could reach the other brake, Adam had both hands on the back handles and stopped his father from moving.
“Pop, what are you doing?”
“I’m going home. If it was all that important for me to get these X-rays, they wouldn’t have me up here waiting all day.”
