I frown, shoving my hands into my pockets. “Yeah, well, I just use the charm to mask the fact that I’m terrified of being turned down.”
Maddy’s expression softens. “I know what you mean. If you don’t laugh, you might cry.”
“Or rage,” Adrian chuckles, eyeing me. “That’s typically how I handle it.”
“Oh, I think we’re all aware of that,” I laugh, shaking my head and extending a hand to Maddy to help her up from the lounger. “We all have our ways of coping.”
“We do,” Maddy says, her voice almost a whisper. Before any of us can say anything more, Maddy’s phone pings with a notification. She picks it up and frowns. “It’s Riley. She’s back home now and waiting for me.”
“Well, then, I guess you’d better get moving,” I tease her, giving her ass a light smack. “She might show up and see you with us.”
Maddy’s eyes widen as she bites her lower lip. “What exactly are we going to do about…this?”
I look to Adrian, whose expression suddenly becomes difficult to read. Something tells me he’s not quite ready to accept this dynamic—and it’s probably better not to push it.
“We’ll think on it,” I say quickly. “But you should know that you’re not losing your job, and none of us are holding anything against you.” I raise a brow at Adrian, waiting for him to say something to reassure her, too.
He doesn’t immediately.
“Adrian?” I press him, as Maddy wraps her arms around herself.
“Yeah,” he clears his throat and nods quickly. “Yeah, no fear of losing your job. But I do… I need to think about what the fuck just happened up here.” His tone is back to being cold, and I fight the urge to punch him in the stomach.
He’s so goddamn temperamental.
“G’night, Maddy,” I tell her, planting a kiss on the top of her head. “Get some rest.”
“Okay,” she gives me a sheepish smile, and then meets Adrian’s eyes. I wait for him to dosomethingto reassure her, but once again, he doesn’t.
Maddy’s eyes go to her feet, and she turns and disappears through the door leading to the elevator. As soon as the door shuts, I turn to Adrian.
“Really?” I snap. “You were a dick to her.”
He shakes his head, his expression falling. “I just don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.” His voice softens. “I can’t stop thinking about her—and this whole dynamic is justweird.I shouldn’t be okay with this, but I think I may be.”
“Then it looks like you have some thinking to do.”
“Yeah,” Adrian’s eyes drift out to the skyline and then flick back to mine. “I had no idea you were ever worried about rejection. I guess I never pinned you as the kind of guy who hid behind charm. You always seem to be carefree and unbothered by everything.The fucking company could go bankrupt tomorrow, and you’d just make some dumb joke about it.”
I shrug, the moment of vulnerability feeling heavy between us. “I guess sometimes we keep parts of us hidden from even the people we’re the closest to.”
Adrian nods. “I guess so.” He pauses, as we both head toward the rooftop door. “I wonder what Caleb thinks about all this. He didn’t really say much during our argument.”
I let out a breath. “He never does, but I know he’s moving into his place tomorrow.”
Adrian snorts. “We’re all going to be in the same apartment building—even Maddy.”
“Yep,” I say.And that could be a really good. Or really bad.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Chapter 25
Caleb
What am I doing? What if her roommate is home? What if she doesn’t want me to bother her?
But despite my head swimming with all these worries, I knock on the door of Maddy’s apartment. I’m super nervous, listening for the sound of movement inside.
