Lacey


I was sitting in the living room watching TV when I heard the front door open. It would be my brother and Adonis, I’d prepared myself. Unfortunately Adonis wasn’t some random guy that I could just ignore, he was a part of my life.

For the first day after our kiss I had heard nothing from him, but a day later he sent me a message.

We need to talk.

I had ignored him and a few hours without a response, he’d sent me another one.

We need to talk about what happened.

I didn’t respond to that message either. After that he’d tried to call me twice, but I refused to answer. I would not let him off that easily. After what he’d put me through, he could sweat it out for a few days. Besides, ignoring him for the last two days had made me feel a little better. It was a little childish, but I couldn’t help myself.

The moment he entered the room behind my brother, I felt the heat of his gaze on me. Stubbornly, I kept my eyes fixed on the TV screen in front of me, refusing to meet his. My parents were out for the night at a function for my father’s work.

“What crap is this?” Alex dropped into the seat beside me and Adonis sat into the beside him.

“Entertaining crap.” I shot back without batting an eyelid. There was no way I was going to change the channel. Alex was a pain. If I wasn’t watching something he found interesting, he referred to as rubbish and whined until I gave in and changed the channel. But this time I would not give in.

I kind of felt like I gave in all the time to keep the peace, but that would not happen anymore. Like before, I would have pretended nothing had happened between Adonis and I. I would have just acted like normal, but that would not happen anymore.

I would not be a doormat. My brother had glared at me for a few minutes before he let out a frustrated sigh and got up.

“You want something to drink?” he asked his friend.

“No, I’m good.” Adonis shook his head, and my brother stalked out the room to the kitchen.

An uncomfortable silence descended. Although I was staring at the TV, but I wasn’t seeing anything. I was so aware of the asshole who’d kissed me and then apologized it was hard to concentrate, but I ignored him.

“Harp,” he said my name so softly.

Finally, I faced him. He was looking at me with his soft blue eyes and it was hard not to get pulled in by them.

“Don’t.” I tried to remain calm even though my stomach flipped at the sight of him.

“We need to talk,” he whispered. It was obvious he was trying to keep what happened from my brother. It was the first time I thought about how Alex would react if he found out.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” I shut him down straight away. It had been two days since the party and I’d had enough time to figure out what I would say to him when the time came.

He got a determined look in his eyes, but I would not let him get his way.

“You had your chance to explain, but you walked out,” I said. He pressed his lips together. “I’m not some groupie that you can use when you feel like it.”

“That’s not-” Adonis said.

“-I don’t want to hear it.” I cut him off with a wave of my hand.

My brother’s return stopped any further conversation between us, and I kept my eyes on the TV. Alex opened a can of soda as he sat down beside me.

The doorbell rang, and my brother looked at me with a questioning look.

“You expecting someone?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Yes.” I stood up and went to the front door.

“Hey,” Aiden greeted me when I opened the door. He wore faded jeans and a black shirt. He was a good-looking guy, but it was only Adonis who made my heart race.

“Hi.” I greeted him with a smile.

“I hope I’m not too early.”

“No, it’s fine.” I stepped aside to let him inside. “I just want to let me brother know that I’m going out.”

He followed me into the living room. Alex stood up and gave Aiden the once over brother glare. He always did that when I brought a guy home. It was like I needed his permission, which I didn’t but he struggled to understand that.

I saw recognition in Adonis then anger when he saw Aiden. It was hard not to enjoy the smugness I felt at his visible reaction to seeing my friend.

This wasn’t a date, we’d decided to just stay friends. Besides, it probably wasn’t the best idea trying to jump into something with someone else when I still felt the way I did about Adonis. Somehow I had to work through those feelings first before I could hope to move on with someone else.

I introduced Aiden to my brother and Adonis. While my brother sized him up as he shook his hand, Adonis had an unreadable expression.

“I’m going out,” I told my brother. “I’ll be back later.”

Adonis was stoic, unable to make a scene in front of my brother without having to explain why.

I hurried to get my jacket, not wanting to leave Aiden with the other two for too long.

“Where are you guys going?” Alex eyed out Aiden.

“None of your business.” I took Aiden’s hand. I didn’t miss the slight clench of Adonis’ jaw as his eyes took in the small action.

I led Aiden out of the living room and out of the house.

“Sorry about that. My brother is a little protective,” I said as Aiden opened the passenger side of his car. I got into the seat before he closed the door and busied myself with the seatbelt.

“It’s fine. I’m used to over protective brothers.” He got into the driver’s seat and put his seatbelt on. “What I’m not used to is the over protective brother’s jealous best friend.”

I shrugged. Before I would have analyzed everything to death hoping that it proved that he cared for me the way I wanted him to, but I refused to allow that to happen now.

“Has he tried to talk to you about what happened at the party?” He pulled out of my driveway.

“Yes, but I’m not interested in what he has to say.” I crossed my arms. “He had his chance, and he left like a coward.”

Aiden gave me a side glance before turning back to watch the road.

“He might have a good reason he acted the way he did,” he said.

“Whose side are you on?” I glared at him playfully. I didn’t want to think about Adonis, and I didn’t want to spend our evening talking about him either.

“I have your back and you know it,” he said.

“Good, because I don’t want to talk about him. You promised me an evening of fun and I’m holding you to it,” I said.

“How does miniature golf sound?” he asked.

“I probably should have told you I’m a deadly with a golf stick.” A smile that spread across my lips.

“Really?”

I nodded my head.

“Once I connected with my brother’s head because he was standing too close when I took a swing at the ball.” I grinned. From that moment on, my brother had always ensured he was standing a safe distance away from me when I held a golf club.

“Thanks for the warning.” He smiled.

I was already enjoying our evening; it was exactly what I needed.

**********

For the next two weeks, I saw little of Adonis. I don’t know if it was because I was keeping myself busy with work and going out, or if it was because he was avoiding me. But having Adonis out of sight did not deter me from thinking about him.

“So are you and Max still hot and heavy?” I wiggled my eyebrows at Reece.

“Something like that,” she said.

You would think that because I hung out with Aiden so much that I’d see her and Max more often, but that wasn’t the case. When Aiden and I went out, we did it on our own.

“How are things with you and Aiden?” Reece asked. I finished painting the toenail I was busy with before I looked at her.

“There’s nothing going on between us.” I shrugged, staring at my painted toenail and admiring the color.

Aiden and I were just friends who liked to spend time together. Nowadays we were inseparable. We went out to movies and we went out to eat. He even took me paint balling one weekend, and I’d returned home with minor bruises all over. It had been fun, but painful.

Even my migraines had eased off. The last one I had suffered from had been the night of the party when Adonis had kissed me and left. It was a relief, I wouldn’t have to go back to the doctor for further tests.

Reece gave me a disbelieving look.

“What?” I asked, not sure what she was trying to get at.

“You guys spend so much time together you can’t be naïve enough to think that it’s just friendship,” she said.

“It’s not possible for guys to just be friends with girls, they’re just not built that way.”

I frowned. We’d agreed upfront that we were just going to be friends, and that was our agreement. I wasn’t ready to date someone when I still had a thing for Adonis, despite all my attempts to change that. He was so intertwined with my life and no matter how hard I tried, there was no way of separating him out of it.

I bit my lip, still holding the nail polish bottle in my one hand as I contemplated what she was saying. There was no way she was right. Aiden understood how I still felt about Adonis and he knew that for anything to work between us, I would have to be over Adonis with no residual feelings.

“Aiden knows that I’m not ready for anything at the moment,” I said to her.

“His mind might know that agreement, but that doesn’t mean his heart doesn’t have a mind of its own. I’m sure he wants more,” she told me.

I shrugged.

“I see the way he looks at you, it’s the same way Adonis looks at you.”

“Well, that can’t be good.” I was a little sarcastic. Look at what Adonis had done to me.

“I’m serious, I really think he has a thing for you,” she said.

“I enjoy Aiden’s company,” I stated with a shrug. It was that simple, I couldn’t risk it for something that would not work out.

“Have you seen Gray?”

I shook my head as I surveyed my newly painted toenails. “I’ve been out a lot and I haven’t really been at home to bump into him.”

“Did he stop trying to call and message you?”

I hadn’t seen or heard from him since I’d told him I wasn’t one of his groupies.

“Yes,” I said.

“I’m surprised he gave up that easily.” She selected a nail polish and opened it. We were both sitting on her bed painting our nails. It was Saturday, and we were having a lazy day of doing girly things.

“What makes you say that?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the answer.

She stopped what she was doing and gave me her full attention. “I’ve told you before, I see the way he looks at you when no one else is looking. I really think he feels more for you than you think.”

I shook my head, believing she was seeing something that wasn’t there.

“If he cared so much, why did he kiss me then tell me it shouldn’t have happened?” I asked, knowing full well she wouldn’t be able to answer the question.

“I don’t know. Maybe he has his reasons,” she said.

My head pounded slightly, and I touched my forehead, trying to ease the pain.

“Are you getting a headache?” she asked with concern.

“Yes, I think so,” I said. I hadn’t brought my medication with because I didn’t get them so often.

“Did you bring your medication?” she asked.

“No.”

“I can drive you to get it,” she said, and we got up off the bed, clearing up the bottles of nail polish that we’d been using.

The sooner I took the medication, the faster the migraine would ease.

By the time we made it back to my house, my head was pounding so badly. As soon as I found my medication, I opened the bottle and swallowed two capsules. “I might have to give tonight a skip.”

Reece as she stood in the doorway of my bathroom, watching anxiously. “I can stay with you?”

“No, it’s okay. I’m just going to get into bed. I’ll be fine.”

She didn’t want to leave me on my own. My parents had gone out for the evening and I did not know where my brother was. He was probably out with Adonis, which meant he wouldn’t be home until late.

Only after reassuring her a few more times, she left, and I went into the kitchen to get something to drink. I’d hoped that the migraines would go away, and I felt frustrated and scared they weren’t.

I was drinking some water out of a glass when my eyesight blurred. I set the glass down on the counter as I closed and opened my eyes, hoping my eyesight would improve, but it didn’t. Even blink a few times did nothing to focus my eyesight.

A panic, unlike anything I had ever experienced, gripped me. A sharp pain in my head made me hold my head in my hands. The pain was so bad I dropped to my knees, cradling my head in my hands before everything went black.

**********

“Harp, wake up.” The voice was familiar and comforting.

The next moment I was opening up my eyes. My eyesight was fine, and I was looking up to a concerned Adonis who was bent over me.

Disorientate, I remembered the moments before I blacked out. My hand lifted to my head.

“You okay?” Adonis asked pulling me back to the present where I was lying on the kitchen floor feeling a little light-headed.

“I don’t know what happened,” I said, trying to figure out if I’d fainted or passed out.

Adonis helped me sit up, and I felt a wave of dizziness. I clutched onto him, trying to stop the world from spinning out of control.

“Did you faint?”

It was only then I realized Alex was beside him, on a bended knee.

“I don’t know.” My head felt like a jumbled set of memories and I couldn’t put them in the right order.

“What do you remember?” Adonis studied my features.

“Weren’t you supposed to be sleeping over by Reece?” my brother asked, rubbing his brow.

“I got a migraine, so she brought me home and I took my medication,” I explained. “But then I got dizzy. I must have fainted.”

“Can you stand?”

I nodded. Adonis helped me up with an arm around my waist. Still feeling a little wobbly on my feet, I held onto him, not sure I could remain standing without his help. He picked me up, and he carried me to my room. Once he lay me in gently down onto my bed and he pulled the covers up to my chin.

“Did you bump your head?” he asked. There was concern in his familiar blue eyes, and I felt it difficult not to feel affected by his closeness.

“I don’t think so.”

My headache was still going strong, but I didn’t feel any other pain. If I had indeed bumped my head, I would have felt it over and above the intense migraine.

“I think I just need to sleep it off,” I told him, trying to ease his concern.

“Are you sure?” he asked, sounding reluctant to leave me.

“Yes, I’ll be fine.”

“If you need anything, just shout.” He stayed for a few moments before he left.