Page 80 of Random Encounter

Twenty-Eight

Adrienne

Despite my resolve to not let Sean push me out of my house, I didn’t want to go home after work. Just thinking about being alone in my apartment twisted my gut into knots. I didn’t know how to get past this feeling—I’d find a solution, and probably a new apartment, but I didn’t have that today.

Phillip said I could stay with him as long as I needed, but despite what I told Dustin, I wasn’t stubborn enough to stay caught between them. Though, Dustin came out of the office and worked in the same room as us that afternoon—promising.

When Graham called and told me Cole had a rental that had opened up, and I could stay there for a little while, I didn’t ask any questions before saying yes please.

I felt bad that everyone was going out of their way for me, because of this one thing, but I wasn’t going to turn down the help.

Cole dropped the keys off a short while later. When work was over, Phillip drove me to my place, hung out while I packed enough to stay somewhere else for a while, and walked me to my car.

“I’m still around if you need anything,” he said.

I nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind, thank you.”

“See you at work tomorrow. I’ll wait until you’re gone, to make sure you’re safe.”

I nodded again. Adrienne the bobblehead, that was me. A strong pull wanted a goodbye kiss, or at least a hand squeeze, but we didn’t have that kind of relationship. So I climbed into my car, and drove away, leaving Phillip in my rearview mirror.

The new place was near the University, in the foothills. Traffic was a little heavy, since everyone was going home for the day, but not so much that it kept me from going a decent speed.

Despite being displaced, life was pretty good. Me from a year ago would be looking at me now and wondering how someone who fucked up so badly—who made so many mistakes, not seeing what my marriage was—deserved what I had.

A job that was challenging but fantastic. I only saw things getting better.

Two gorgeous, intelligent men who wanted me. How was that even a thing? Especially since I was greedy enough to want them both. They’d need to get real cool with each other real fast though; I hated that Phillip and Dustin were fighting. I wanted them to make things right with each other. I also wanted to figure out better what I meant to them, but I wasn’t unhappy with the current conversations.

I took the messiest interstate loop ever to get from the freeway to Foothill Drive, and headed toward the address Graham gave me. There was a grocery store along the way, and I pulled into the parking lot. The fact that it was underground made me a little claustrophobic, but being surrounded by the after-work crowd made me feel safe. Paranoid—Sean wouldn’t know I decided to stop at this one store, in the entire valley, nowhere near my work or home or friends.

I made my way through the store, grabbing enough essentials for the next few days, especially coffee and milk. I threw a box of Twinkies in the cart, too. Just because.

Maybe I could invite the guys over later this week, after Harmony and Alana were back with their mom. See if I could get them to make up, make them dinner to thank them for everything. See where the night took us—how they took me. And I was looking forward to dinner with Dustin. Was it a date? It felt like a date.

I paid for everything and headed to the parking lot. As I drew within visual range of my car, I saw a familiar shape near the vehicle. My heart paused for moment. It wasn’t Sean. It couldn’t be.

It was. He hadn’t seen me yet. I could go inside. Call someone.

No. I’d been direct with Dustin and Phillip, telling them they couldn’t treat me that way, and they hadn’t even been on the same continent as Sean. He couldn’t control me through fear.

Still, when he turned, his gaze meeting mine, and he smiled, my stomach threatened to empty itself. I swallowed the nausea, forced my back straight, and pasted on a mask.

“Adrienne.” He stepped in my path when I was close enough. “I was hoping to catch you without your dick of the week hanging around.”

“Move. I’m done with your shit.” My voice didn’t shake at all, and I had no idea how I pulled that off. How did we get here? A few weeks ago, he was my annoying ex, and now there was no better term for him that stalker.

He didn’t move.

Fine. I stepped around him, opened the trunk of my car, and put away the groceries. It killed me to keep my back to him, to not know if he’d left and not hear him speak. Voices and tires on pavement echoed strangely down here, and it was disorienting.

I finished putting my groceries away, closed the trunk, and turned. Sean stood right there, pinning me in place and sending my heart into my shoes. He wouldn’t see my fear. I wasn’t backing down.

“Back the fuck up,” I said as firmly as I could, “I’m sick of your bullshit, and I’m not doing this anymore.”

“God damn it, Adrienne.” His voice was a low growl. He slammed his hand into my trunk. The clang reverberated around us, ringing in my ears and amplifying the hammering of my pulse in my ears.

I shrank away in fear; I couldn’t help it.

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