Page 254 of Bound By Her

“No,” he said. “Not that.”

She eyed him. He rubbed his face.

“About today, the game,” he said, his lips pressed into a line.

A nervous hum broke out in the back of her mind. “If you’re talking about Elena, don’t worry about it.” She tried to sound casual, but there was an edge to her voice.

His eyes widened. “You know her?”

“No, dumbass, I don’t,” she snapped, rolling her eyes as she slapped his side. “You know I run a multi-million-dollar business. Right? Do you think I can’t learn the identity of one of your girlfriends?”

The laugh that broke out from Bryson had himvibrating beneath her. The extent of enthusiasm the laugh held had Adria second guessing her assessment.

Had she been wrong?

He shook his head, still laughing. “She is most definitely not my girlfriend.”

“What is she?” Adria asked.

“She’s—” he stopped, thinking. “She’s a friend.”

“A friend?” Adria parroted.

Bryson nodded. “She helped with the photos of Jonathan.”

Okay, so she was the assistance he had alluded to.

“It seems like there’s more,” Adria said, not quite feeling like he was telling her the entire story.

He nodded again. “There is more, but I can’t tell you right now without putting her in danger. Can you be okay with that?”

Adria thought about X and her mother. There were things she couldn’t tell Bryson too. But with Elena, she had been so sure.

Searching Bryson’s face, she saw nothing but sincerity. Her gut told her he was telling her the truth.

But if he was telling the truth, that meant he didn’t have someone. It meant her safety net was gone.

Adria flopped her body to the side, covering her eyes with her arm.

CHAPTER 65

NORTH CAROLINA

“What is it?” Bryson said, concerned.

He pulled at Adria’s arm, trying to remove it.

Don’t hide from me.

Adria sighed into her arm before peeking an eye out and saying, “That makes this harder.”

“What?” he asked, confused.

She pointed to the two of them. “This.”

Bryson’s gears were working double time. She was being so weird. Finally, he said, “You felt more comfortable being with me, thinking I had someone else?”

She covered her face with her other arm, shaking her body from side to side. “I don’t do things like this,” she said into her arms, “EVER.”

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