Crashing into him and getting swept into a kiss that had my cheeks heating because I’d never seen something so intimate between people.
When he lifted her into his arms and began walking toward the long hallway Ariana had come from, I looked away to give them the small privacy I could offer.
“Adam,” Ariana muttered helpfully. “Hollis’s boyfriend.”
“Figured something like that,” I said just as softly, a small smile teasing the corner of my mouth in response to the smirk pulling at hers.
“Should we go help yours?”
“Mine?”
Her smirk slowly broadened. “Your boyfriend.”
“Oh.” My head shook as embarrassment swirled through me, everything going still when her light brown eyes swept the length of my body.
The action so swift and natural, I wasn’t sure I saw it clearly at all.
“No,” I finally answered, clearing my throat. “No, he needs a minute to himself.”
She nodded and turned, walking into the kitchen as she asked, “How was the drive? You want a drink?”
My steps faltered, my mouth closing and opening a couple times before I stumbled over an answer when I realized I’d been watching her. Studying her body as she moved around the kitchen and pulled glasses from a cupboard. “Please—water. And the drive was fine. We did the first half last night so it wouldn’t be too much in one day.”
Another one of those slow smirks slid across her face, somehow trapping me in place and making me feel . . . uncomfortable. Right, yeah, I was going with uncomfortable.
“Where are you moving from again?”
“Ferndale.”
She slowed, her stare drifting to the side for a second before snapping to me. “It’s nice up there, right?”
“Oh my gosh, yes. Absolutely gorgeous.”
Her eyes stayed locked on me for a moment longer before focusing on the glasses she was filling. “So, why would you want to leave?”
“This is what I’ve always wanted,” I said immediately, giving her the answer I’d been giving my friends and family for weeks now. “I’ve always loved L.A., and I’ve been applying to this hospital ever since I graduated.”
“And you’ve been a nurse for four years?”
“Three,” I corrected with a gentle smile when she set both glasses on the long, granite breakfast bar. “And I actually only just transferred to L&D about a year and a half ago. Can’t imagine being anywhere else though.”
“Amazing, right?” she asked, her expression shifting to something bright and wholly different from the wry smirks. “Nothing else I’d rather do.”
Before I could respond, her excitement fell along with my heart at the sound of the front door slamming shut.
I turned just in time to see Caleb walk around the corner, weighed down with boxes. Looking at me with so much devastation and dying hope when he asked, “Where am I putting these?”
“Upstairs,” Ariana called out from behind me. “Can I get one of those for you?”
“Last chance,” Caleb whispered, ignoring Ariana. “Tell me to put these back in my truck, and we’re gone.”
“Stop,” I begged, the word nothing more than a breath.
He held my stare for another few seconds before looking toward the kitchen and asking, “Room?” His acceptance and pain shifting to quiet anger and breaking my heart a little more.
“This should be fun,” Ariana muttered as she slipped past me.
Caleb followed her toward the hall without another look in my direction, making my stomach twist uneasily.
Stifling a sigh, I trailed behind, telling myself once again that everything was going to be all right.
I’d gotten my dream job in the city I loved. I was moving into a new, incredible house. My friends and family were refusing to support me . . . and I was crushing my relationship.
Yeah . . . this was going to be a blast.
“Jenny’s doing this to get a reaction out of you.” I waved a hand to where Stevie had been ranting at me off and on for the past hour and a half. “Clearly.”
“She’s about to get a reaction out of me in the form of my fist in her face,” she snapped irritably, and I just rolled my eyes.
“How many times have you threatened bodily harm to her now?” I pretended to think even though this was a near-daily thing when it came to the girl who danced with Stevie and Hollis at a burlesque club downtown. “All because she used to date Russell . . . a guy you don’t care about,” I said dryly.
“Exactly that,” she said, pointing at me as if warning me that I was getting close to saying something I shouldn’t. Because just the mention of Stevie dating anyone might as well be a sin. “Babe, it’s you and me forever.”
“Until we’re old and fat and gray,” I said with a nod, then mumbled, “Except, you’re in love with Russell.”
She sucked in a horrified gasp. “How dare you say such vile words.”
A smirk pulled at my mouth as I went back to cleaning the dishes from lunch. “Can’t run from it forever.”
“Ari.”
I slanted a look her way at the harsh way she snapped my name, then turned to put away the skillet.
“So, where is this new roommate anyway?” she asked, voice shaky as she pulled herself back together from the near-slip in showing her true emotions. “Does she actually exist or . . .”
I gestured to the ceiling as I walked back to where I’d been drying the dishes. “I told you, they were fighting. I thought they’d be down for lunch—obviously, that didn’t happen.”
Stevie hopped onto the counter, voice dropping low with mischief as if our almost conversation about Russell and love had never happened. “Yeah, see, you said that earlier. But that room is closest to the stairs, so I walked by it to come down here, and I didn’t hear anything. Like, no screaming. No throwing things. No groaning.”
My chest pitched with a huff.
“Which clearly means you made her up.”
My brows lifted when I looked over at my best friend. “Oh, I didn’t make up anything.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth popped open. “Oh? Wait.” She grabbed a kitchen towel and threw it at me. “How dare you withhold details like this all day!”
“You’re so dramatic,” I said, all amusement and affection as I tossed the towel back. “You didn’t come down here until I started cooking.”
“Yeah.” She gave me a look like I was missing the point. “That’s essentially the entire day. And you’re still not giving me details.”
I held out the two plates in hand, a scoff breaking free. “You won’t shut up.”
“And?”
“I don’t know why I love you,” I mumbled.
“Because I’m your favorite person, now spill.”
I shrugged and took my time putting the dishes away before saying, “She’s cute.”
“That is so not it, Ariana.” She gave an excited little wiggle and leaned forward, gripping the edge of the counter. “She’s blonde, isn’t she?”
I struggled to keep my expression neutral because one look at Kinsley and my heart had gone wild in a way that was totally foreign to me. In a way that I couldn’t entertain for numerous reasons.