Page 16 of Accidentally Joining His Cult

You already know me so well. That was the first thing I checked. It’s before the playoffs start, no important hockey game. I’m officially booked.

Goldie

YAY! YAY! YAY!

Salem

Can’t wait to see you again.

Goldie

Goldie emphasized “Can’t wait to see you again.”

Goldie

Why does three weeks suddenly seem so far away?

Salem

Salem laughed at “Why does three weeks suddenly seem so far away?”

Before I can do morethan react to his message, my phone is snatched out of my hands.

“Who’s Goldie?” Adrian asks. He’s fast, already on the other side of my desk. Too far for me to reach to reclaim my phone.

“The guy I went out with on Saturday,” I say casually.

I’m not hiding anything. It’s not even a big deal.

The only reason that I’m so hung up on him is that I thought we were going to hook up, and it got delayed. I’m sure that once we do, I’ll get him out of my system and move on. Like always.

Not that I typically wait weeks and travel out of state for a hookup,but I’m not looking too closely at those details right now.

Adrian folds himself into one of the chairs across from my desk and hands me back my phone, not bothering to actually read anything.

The fact I’m still texting the same man is out of character enough. Plus, Adrian knows I’ll tell him whatever he wants to know.

“He must have been pretty great in bed for you to still be talking to him,” Adrian says, and I roll my eyes. “And for you to have been looking all swoony when I first walked in here,” he adds in a teasing voice.

“Swoony? Is that even a word?”

“You were definitely swoony. Big eyes, staring at your phone screen like it was your favorite thing in the world.” He sounds smug. “You didn’t even notice me come in!”

“Whatever.”

“Soooo… tell me about it!” Adrian raises his brows and circles his hand dramatically in ahurry up and spit it outmotion.

“Fiiiine…” I play along just as dramatically. “Our date was amazing.” I’m trying to suppress the stupid smile on my face, but I know I’m failing. “We were laughing the whole time. He’s so much fun to hang out with, and we never ran out of things to talk about.”

“That's nice?” he says like it’s a question. “But I asked about the sex, Beck, not his sense of humor.” Adrian looks at me with concern, like he doesn’t recognize me.

I throw my head back in frustration, rubbing my eyes with my hands as I groan. “I don’t know, okay? His boss interrupted us with an important call, and we had to cut the night short.”

“I’m sorry, Beck, that sucks.” Adrian sounds bummed for me, which I appreciate.

“And now I can’t stop thinking about him. Like, I’m worried that I’m actually losing my mind over this guy.” Adrian laughs, but I’m only half joking. “A, I just agreed to go to a weekend retreat in fuckingFloridaso that I can see him again.”

“But, youhateFlorida,” Adrian states, like I don’t already know my own opinion.

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