Page 10 of Lost Love Found

“You have a thing with nicknames, huh?” Her body relaxes a bit, and she turns back towards the hallway. She doesn’t wait for my response. “Up the stairs, second door on the left. The lamp should be on in there, so it’ll be easy to find.” She stops walking and clears her throat, takes a deep breath. “Thank you so much for… for everything tonight, Adam. I hope my over sharing wasn’t too much. Sometimes I can be a lot. I really had a wonderful time tonight and I’m really glad… I’m really glad you walked in on my ridiculous kitchen dancing earlier.” Her playful tone is back, and she lets out a little laugh. Thank goodness.

“I had a really enjoyable time tonight, too. I like your over sharing. And there was nothing ridiculous about your dancing.” Her wide smile fades a bit and she bites her bottom lip again, sending all of my brain cells into a coma.

We say nothing else as I lead her up the stairs. When we get to her room, I let go of her elbow. She seems to know her way around now and walks over to the dresser to put her things down. “I have water bottles for you. Can I put them on the nightstand?”

“Oh, yes, please. Thank you for doing that.” I set the water down and walk back towards the door. I definitely don’t want to overstay my welcome or make her uncomfortable by being in her space.

She follows me to the door and when I turn to face her, she surprises me by wrapping her arms around my neck. “Thank you. Again.” I barely get the chance to return the hug, putting my hands on her back for only a second when she pulls away. “Goodnight, Adam.”

“Goodnight, Lainey.” The door shuts gently and slowly, and I'm left standing in the hallway alone. My head is spinning from all that has just happened, and I can't believe tonight turned out as well as it did. I silently thank Raf for insisting I come to the party, and make a mental note to show my appreciation properly later.

what’s drier than my granny’s vag?

elaina

I close the door and stand, leaning back on it for several long, long minutes. The night has been a complete whirlwind, and I’m exhausted. But my brain is having a hard time shutting off. Things keep replaying in my head. His scent, the feel of his beard, that kiss, which really should not have affected me. It was a kiss on the cheek. I kiss people on the cheek all the time. Some would even say I hug and kiss people too freely, but this felt different.

It was all sensory overload. I need to process. I need time to think and get my body to catch up with what my brain knows to be true: nothing romantic is happening here. That’s not an option. Adam is someone I could be friends with. That’s it. After Ben, I’m not even sure I want to be romantically involved with anyone. Like ever.

My bare feet glide across the familiar hardwood, and my fingers curiously explore the walls. I make my way to the bathroom, leave my pants in a heap on the floor, and shuffle my way towards the toilet. I brush my teeth without needing to turn on any lights, then slip under the blankets of the bed I know all too well, letting my mind drift until sleep comes to claim me.

* * *

Maeve is waking me up. The biatch is on my bed and she’s bouncing. Whyyyyyy?

“Good morning, Bon! How are you feeling? Can you open your eyes for your Maevey, please?” She’s so cheery and wide awake, and I bet she hasn’t even had coffee yet. I honestly don’t get how she does this. She really is the yin to my yang. I cannot do mornings and she is like this. Every. Single. Day.

I sense the curtains are closed, and the room is dim, so I try opening one eye, and to my surprise, I can see her face!

“Maeve! I can see you!” I say this loudly and immediately regret it. She’s going to think I’m suddenly a morning person when, in fact, I am NOT!

She’s smiling at me, holding a bottle of water and something in her hand. “Brilliant. Now you have to get up. Dr. Blau already moved your appointment from this morning, but I don’t think he’s willing to do it again.”

“What? What do you mean? My appointment isn’t until 11.” I’m sitting up now, taking the glass from her but not the painkiller in her hand. I don’t think I feel much pain.

“Darling, it’s 12:30! You really wore yourself out last night, I guess. I tried waking you earlier, and you were having none of it. I believe your exact words were ‘shmerghesrberhfarbergerd fuck off.’” She giggles, and I frown, closing one eye, then the other, testing my sight. When I open them both again, my eyes feel as if a hundred needles have pierced them. I accept the pill from her and swallow it down with a gulp of water. The sharp throbbing in my eyeballs tells me the painkiller is indeed much needed.

“Aaah! Eye drops, please. Oh my god, my eyeballs are drier than my granny’s vag. Fucking shit, that hurts.” I keep my eyes closed and lay back down. Maeve is on eye drops duty and I immediately think back to the one who put drops in my eyeballs last night.

“Spoken like a true lady. Oh, Bon, I love your mouth.” She opens up the drops and pries one of my eyes open, releasing about four too many drops, but I don’t even care. She does the other eye, and I immediately feel relief. “OK, love. Grab a quick shower, don’t get those eyeballs wet with water, and meet downstairs in 10. Gary and I will take you to the good doctor. And be ready to tell me about who Adam is and why he texted me saying you were safely in your room last night.” She pats me on the leg, her fingers warm and reassuring as she rises. She gives me her signature one-browed look, a silent signal of understanding between us.

Busted. I didn’t think he’d text as himself! I figured he’d just send it as me. I’ll have to give him shit about that later. Later… I don’t even know if I’ll actually ever talk to him again.

I hope so.

Oh, shut up. Go shower and stop thinking about the mystery man.

The hot spray of the shower feels invigorating against my sleepy skin, and I rush through my morning routine. I throw on a pair of black leggings and a simple white T-shirt, pulling my damp hair back into a messy bun. Dr. Blau won't mind my casual attire. I hurry downstairs, where Maeve and Gary are already waiting in the car. Maeve has her arm draped casually out the window. Her blonde hair pulled into a sleek ponytail, a cup of coffee in the cup holder. She glances at the clock on the dashboard with a frown, as if daring me to make us late. The girl is always on time, no matter what. I jump into the seat next to her, making quick work of putting my seatbelt on.

“Alright, sleepy head! Start from the beginning. Who is Adam?” That eyebrow is up on her forehead again as I tell her about Adam, being vague and simply mentioning that I ran into someone who was at the party, and he helped me out and we ended up talking for a couple of hours. I’m not lying, but I’m definitely omitting some details.

When I finish, she’s quiet, so I ask, “Where’s Charlie? I didn’t see her when I came down.”

“Pretty sure something happened with her and Raf last night. She won’t talk about it, though. She seemed annoyed when I asked about it this morning before she stormed off to go for a run.” Her tone is flat, but there’s also concern for her sister in there. Rafael is like a brother to me. He and Owen have known each other for years and now they’re business partners. Raf is definitely the people person of the duo and I’ve never met anyone who didn’t instantly like him… except Charlie. For a reason no one seems to understand, the two have never really gotten along.

“Huh. That’s… interesting.” They hardly ever speak to one another, so if something happened, they actually exchanged words. "Charlie hardly even looks at him when he’s around and when she does, she’s typically scowling. Raf just loves to get a reaction out of her.” I shrug, not thinking much of it but making a mental note to grill Raf about it at some point.

“Don’t change the subject, Elaina! What’s going to happen with this Adam individual? Are you going to text him?” She’s facing me in her seat now, but we’ve just arrived, so I get away with not answering the question.

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