I blamed myself. It was my fault, just like everything else was my fault. I knew Adam wanted me, and I took advantage of that because I was too needy. I was starved for a smidgeon of his attention, so when we ended up kissing, I couldn’t stop. It was as if someone had stitched my lips to his and glued my body to his. After I came, I was mortified. The fact that he came too only made me feel more guilty. Bottom line, no wonder he reacted the way he did. Still, it didn’t make it any easier when, a few days later, I came home from work and found Adam on his feet. Literally. The cast was gone.
“How?” I muttered, blinking in disbelief. “When?”
“Today,” he replied, folding his shirt.
Obviously.
“I thought they were taking it off next week,” I blurted.
“No,” he said curtly. “Today.”
When he put his shirt in a duffel bag, it felt as if someone gripped my heart and squeezed it. He was packing. He was leaving.
I looked at Milo, who looked back at me helplessly. He was lying on the carpet next to the bed and watching things unfold, looking miserable. When Adam threw his socks in the bag, Milo jumped inside.
“No!” Adam exclaimed, pulling him out of the bag. “Bad doggie.”
“Don’t go,” I said, my throat tightening. It was a miracle I could speak.
Adam lowered Milo onto the carpet before glancing at me. “Thanks for taking care of me. I owe you one.”
“Then stay.”
He smiled as if I’d said the most ridiculous thing in the world. “I can’t stay here, Jordan.”
“Why not?”
He came up to me and caressed my cheek, smiling sweetly. “Because I don’t like you anymore.”
The blow was administered with surgical precision, and it hit hard.
“You’re lying,” I said, blinking the tears out of my eyes. “You like me. You want me.”
“Hmm,” Adam hummed thoughtfully. “If you say so. In any case, thanks for the orgasm. I needed that.”
Before he could turn his back to me, I grabbed him by the arm.
“Stay, asshole,” I growled, meeting the piercing blue gaze with defiance I didn’t know I had in me. “Please.”
Adam laughed. “No fucking way. Are you insane?”
As he kept packing, I just stood there, not knowing what to do. I couldn’t physically stop him from going because he was stronger than me. I couldn’t convince him to stay. My heart kepttwisting in my chest, the dull pain disabling me from thinking clearly.
“What about work?” I said, trying to reason with him.
“We fucked, and then we stopped fucking, Jordan. It wasn’t as if we were in a relationship.”
“You’re lying. What we had was real.”
“Maybe at one point,” Adam mused. “But you fucked that up. Still, if you can’t be professional, I’ll ask for a transfer. I have been in the LD long enough. If they won’t let me leave, I’ll quit.”
Every word he said was like a punch to my stomach. It left me breathless and almost gasping for air.
“What about Milo?” I said, gulping. “He loves you more than he loves me.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is, and you know it.”
