I jerked my hand away.
“Are you okay?” he asked, scanning my body up and down, looking for any outside interference that could have caused my sudden reaction.
“I’m fine,” I assured him.
His eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn’t push me on it. We walked through the lobby, and I was relieved it was empty, Mrs. Finch was not in her normal spot sitting on the window seat, and Kenny wasn’t at his post. I didn’t get any side eyes. We stepped onto the elevator, and I pressed the fourteenth floor. The ride up was silent. I wasn’t sure if he was being quiet because he was upset about his breakup or if he was tense about the notes and tires. It was strange because part of me wanted to fall right back into the patterns of our old relationship. I wanted to dig for details and find out what was said in the message. How he was feeling. If it was actually over.
But twenty years had passed since we’d had that sort of relationship.
The elevator stopped, and when the doors opened, Adam silently followed me off and down the hallway. Nerves were bubbling inside of me as I unlocked my door and opened it. I couldn’t think about anything other than how good Adam smelt as he walked past me as I turned off my alarm.
“Was your alarm set?”
“What?” I glanced over my shoulder. “Yes, I just turned it off.”
“Was the note here?” He pointed to the island, nearly the exact spot where it was.
“Hmm, mmm.”
Having Adam in my apartment was messing with my head even more than I thought it would. Seeing the man I’d beentrying to forget, to erase from my memory, suddenly in 3D, walking around, talking, just being in my space was too much for my senses, for my heart, for my entire being. I felt like I was living in an alternate reality. I just needed to pack up my things for a few nights and get out of there.
“I’ll just be a few minutes.”
He nodded and stepped past my kitchen into my living space. I could tell he was checking the balcony for points of entry. I left him to inspect the area while I walked down the short hallway to the bedroom, stopping at the hall closet for my overnight bag. Storage in San Francisco was a luxury, so some of my things were in the hall closet, some were in the bedroom closet, and some were in containers under my bed.
My mind was racing, wondering how many days I should pack for. A week maybe. Was that too long? I’d decided to stay at Bailey’s house. I loved Birdie, but she lived in a loft apartment, and as much as I appreciated her free spirit, I couldn’t live with no walls. At Bailey’s house I would at least have my own room.
And I’ll be right next door to Adam.
I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. Twice today I thought he was actually going to kiss me. We’d been so close. And twice today I’d been very disappointed when it hadn’t happened.
Even though it was twenty years ago, I could still feel the perfection of our kiss. The way his lips felt on mine. So soft, yet firm at the same time. My entire body went up in flames.
I lifted my hand to my mouth and touched my lips as I closed my eyes.
“Do you need help?”
His deep voice sounded behind me, and I jumped, spinning around to face the man who stole my heart when I was four, then shattered it into a trillion pieces at sixteen.
He stood in the doorway of my room. The look in his eye was… intense.
“You scared the shit out of me.”
“Sorry,” he apologized.
“You don’t look very sorry.” I let out a half-laugh as I turned back around to try and finish packing, standing in front of my closet.
“Are we going to talk about it?”
“I told you guys everything.”
“I’m not talking about your stalker. I’m talking about my dad’s wedding.”
I froze. I couldn’t believe he was bringing it up. I thought if I did he’d just say he was drunk and didn’t remember anything.
“Sure.” I wasverycurious to hear what he had to say about that night. Even more curious to find out why he left without saying goodbye to me and then didn’t speak to me for twenty years. But hey, we could start with his dad’s wedding night.
As I turned back around, I was expecting him to speak, to say something, but instead he walked into my room and over to the dresser where there were four photos: one of me with my mom, one of my grandparents, one of me and my sisters when we were younger, and one of me and my sisters at the grand reopening of Bliss Bridal after the renovations.
