~Adrian~
Adrian stood up, with the phone to his ear.
"With whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?" he asked. I put my jacket on and crossed my arms. My eyes were still searching for any sign of danger.
I heard Adrian laugh and his tone change. Itseemed the anger made his accent even thicker than lust had.
"I do not take kindly to threats to Vince. It would be in your best interest to forget you ever knew her...you do not want to make an enemy of me." hesaid with a low growl, sounding more like an animal.
I wondered what Vince was saying to him. I worried that he would try to kill him, he had a way of getting away with everything. Even the police were in his pocket and I didn't want him to hurt Adrian.
"I warned you, remember that. If you come near Paige, you will suffer painful consequences. It's your move…make it a smart one, you spoiled brat!" he said through gritted teeth, then hung up the phone.
I stood up and walked up to Adrian. I could tell hewas still angry.
"He hurt you, I take it?" he asked with concern.
"Nothing I can't heal from," I said with a fake smile.
Look I didn't mean to get you mixed up in my mess, I meant to turn my phone off after I called Nicole. And I shouldn't have even answered that…I'm sorry," I said, looking away.
"You shouldn't worry about me, kitten, and don't apologize for the coward that thinks he owns you," he said with a stern look.
"I was planning on changing my number tomorrow."
"I need to make sure you get home safely tonight, and change your number tomorrow," he said,softening his tone and stroking my face.
"I want to protect you if you'll let me. I'll speak with my brother, together we can make sure the both of you make it home safe," he said.
I swallowed hard and nodded. I don't know why, but he made me feel safe.
"Come with me, you'll be safe in my office away from this crowd, and then I'll speak with David." He took my hand and walked with me through the crowd. I gazed all around me searching for any sign of danger. We walked past the bar and down a flight of stairs into his office. It was much more quiet here; the walls must have been soundproofedor something to drown out the noise of the club.
"Make yourself comfortable, I'll return shortly, with Nicole and David," he said and gave me a gentle kiss on the forehead. I nodded, still speechless and wondering if the phone call was simply a threat or if Vince knew where I was. It was all too much at once. The clean break I had hoped for suddenly seemed like a horrible idea. If I stayed with Vince, none of this would be happening, yet I wouldn't have met Adrian. I shook my head at the thought, and after almost no time at all, Nicole came inside.
"Paige!" she said while hugging me, as if she were worried for me. I hate that tone. But she's sincere; I can't yell at her over it.
"Where did Adrian go?" I asked, determined to see him one last time before I leave. I've had enough drama for one night but I can at least say goodbye.
"He's talking with David, making arrangements for transportation for tonight." Nicole said.
"You've got a buzz, don't you?" I asked, lifting an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Not even close," she said with laughter.
Adrian and David returned to the office while we were caught in laughter.
"Alright, ladies I'll be driving the two of you home tonight, and Adrian will follow in Nicole's truck so everyone makes it home safely," David said.
I walked up to Adrian, eager to hug him, and as if he read my mind, he wrapped his arms around me and pressed his forehead to mine.
"You will be safe with David, and I'll hold onto your phone until we get to Nicole's place, just in case that piece of shit calls back," he said softly, his tone calming me. His voice was like velvet, and I felt drawn to him like a magnet. I just had to kiss him goodbye. I looked up at him, afraid to kiss him first, and his lips melted into mine.
"Adrian, we must get them home before sunlight,"David said.
Adrian smiled at me. "This isn't over," he whispered. He walked with us to David's car and Nicole pushed the lock button on the remote and the headlights blinked on the truck parked just across the street.
"That's my baby. Be careful—that bad boy has a fast take off," she said while tossing the keys to Adrian.
"Sounds intriguing. I'll try to refrain from doing doughnuts in the parking lot," he said with laughter.
I hugged Adrian and whispered, "Thank you for being so sweet," in his ear.
He lifted my chin with his finger and whispered back, "The pleasure is all mine," then kissed me, just before walking across the street to the truck.
"I call shotgun," Nicole said while bumping her hip on mine playfully. I giggled.
"Of course," I said as we proceeded to get into the car.
"I'll get the doors," David said.
He held the door on my side in the back seat and then Nicole's door in the passenger seat and kissed her sweetly while doing so. I loved seeing her so happy. We pulled out of the parking lot and Adrian pulled out behind us, following us closely. I couldn't help but keep looking back to see him through the window. We reached Nicole's house within 10 minutes. I didn't wait for the door to be opened for me. I hopped out and headed to the truck. Adrian got out and wrapped his arms around me. I felt so safe in his embrace.
"As much as I enjoy your company, I must leave soon. I have to get some sleep, but I'd like to exchange numbers before I take off," he said.
"Of course, I just have to grab my bags from the truck real quick."
"May I?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling.
"Yes, sir," I answered.
"Sir, huh? I like it," he said with a grin while grabbing my bags from the passenger seat of the truck.
"Southern hospitality, I guess," I replied. We walked up to the door that Nicole and David left open. Adrian stopped at the doorway and pulled my phone from his pocket.
"I'll go ahead and put my number in here and when you get your number changed, please text me to let me know," he said while putting in his information. He handed the phone back to me and I sent a heart emoji text to him.
"There. Now you know how to get a hold of me until the number change happens," I said.
"Don't stand out there all night. Come in to make yourselves comfortable," Nicole called from the couch.
"Yes, I'll get these bags inside before I head off," he said while walking inside. Nicole was rolling a joint. "Y'all don't have to run off just yet, I'm about to light up! Hopefully it'll help everyone get some sleep tonight," she said just as she completed twisting up a joint that was thick enough to pass for an egg roll.
"I'm not sure my lungs can handle that; it's been so long," I admitted, while admiring her craftsmanship.
"I can't even finish a whole one. I typically hit it once, maybe twice, before bed but I made it fat to be more hospitable," she said while lighting it.
I had to admit, the smell was intoxicating, and I couldn't help but want it. She passed it to David sitting next to her. He did a French inhale and blew out a thick cloud of smoke.
"Impeccable," he said while passing it to me.
"Alright, I'll cave," I said, taking the joint.
Adrian sat next to me as I took in a deep drag from the joint. The smoke burned the back of my throat and I let out some obnoxious-ass coughs. I could feel my eyes watering. It was so strong. Nicole and David giggled.
"Are you alright?" Adrian asked, rubbing his hand on my back.
"I'm fine, for now. Feeling cute, might eat candy until I pass out later. I don't know," I answered jokingly.
"She's back!" Nicole said laughing.
"I told you she's the funny one," she said looking at David.
Adrian laughed and I passed him the joint. "Perhaps another time, Nicole. I don't want to fall asleep driving, and we have to get back to lock up before we can rest."
I frowned.
"Don't judge me," I said with a lip pouting like a puppy.
"I wouldn't dream of it," Adrian said with a giggle.
David rose up from his seat.
"I guess we must take our leave ladies. It was nice meeting you both and, Nicole, I'll call you tomorrow afternoon." I passed the joint back to David and Nicole rose up to meet his lips as if they were going to kiss. He blew smoke into her mouth and then kissed her. He handed her the joint back and Adrian put his hand on my leg.
"Walk me to the door and kiss me goodnight?" heasked with an eyebrow arched and a smile.
"Yes, I'll kiss you goodnight," I said while we stood up and started towards the door.
"In fact…I find it difficult to stop kissing you," I said when we made it to the door.
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in tight for a kiss. I could feel my blood boiling with arousal but I had to contain myself.
"You have no idea what you do to me," hewhispered after his lips parted mine. I really wanted to find out, but again I had to contain myself.
"Text me when you wake up?" I asked.
"Of course. I will sleep late, though. We typically do most of our business at night but I'll contact you as soon as I wake up," he said.
"Awesome. I imagine I'll sleep late too," I said. I kissed him one last time before he and David left. Nicole and I stood in the doorway and watched them pull out of the driveway and she passed me the joint and let out a sigh.
"What planet did such perfection come from?" she asked.
"Planet Sexy, or maybe they're robots, way too perfect to be human," I said while blowing out smoke. We laughed and walked back inside. Sarcasm was our thing, most of our jokes were sarcasm-based, and jokes were what the majority of our communication consisted of.
"Wanna see your new room?" Nicole asked with excitement.
"Oh let's!" I said and hooked my arm through hers. We went upstairs and found my room which was as big as Nicole's.
"You have a bathroom and huge tub with jets in here, and I went ahead and put some of our pictures up to make you feel more at home," she said with a smile. I looked at the pictures framed on the drawers and the dresser and smiled at the warm memories. All photos of us from festivals, concerts, and dorm room makeovers.
"I love it!" I said and hugged her.
"My mom told me she misses you and to let you know how happy she is that you'll be staying with me," Nicole said. Her mom pretty much bought her the house and anything else she asked for to make up for moving to France with her new husband. Nicole and her mom were close but she wanted her mom to be happy, so she told her last year at the wedding that they had her blessing as long as she got a call every day and they stuck to it.
"I love that lady, tell her I miss her too. I've missed you both," I said.
"Well now that you're here it's gonna be even better than college. Come on, let's bring your things up," she said.
"Ditto," I exclaimed as we made our way down the stairs. We brought up my stuff and I decided to unpack the bags tomorrow. I was too worn out to do it now.
"In your bathroom there are fresh towels, Epsomsalt, and everything you need in case you wannasoak before bed," Nicole said.
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea." I realizedhow sore I was from the drive.
"Ooh, I usually smoke a little in the tub right before bed so I'm gonna bring you a care package to help you relax—I'll be right back," she said.
I went ahead and pulled out some pajamas and put my phone on the charger. Nicole returned back with a joint, a Gatorade, a pack of mini muffins and a bag of hot chips.
"This should do just in case you get the munchies. I'm gonna see if I can text David before we all pass out."
"Great. I'm gonna soak and smoke—wait…do you have a lighter?" I asked. Nicole pulled one from her back pocket.
"Almost forgot," she said, slapping her forehead.
She passed it to me and said goodnight.
I thought about the texting thing and decided to plug my phone up in the bathroom just in case Adrian texted me before bed. I ran the bathwater and added some lavender Epsom salt and some honeysuckle bubble bath. I turned on my playlist from my phone and got into the tub. It was so warm and relaxing. I turned on the jets and leaned back and lit the joint. I can't remember the last time I've relaxed this much. My phone dinged and I just knew it was Adrian. I stepped out of the tub to grab the phone and slipped back in to open the text.
"Finally made it home, thought I should text you to see if you were awake." I smiled reading the text.
"I'm awake, just soaking in the bath, what are you doing?" I responded.
"It's not fair to tease me, kitten," he answered.
I giggled at the text.
"I didn't mean to tease you, baby, I promise to never tell you when I'm in the bath again," I replied.
"Don't be mean," he texted with a sad face.
"Wish you could join me," I responded, then put the phone down and ducked my head into the water. I washed my hair and checked my phone.
"I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off you," he said.
I got out of the bath and responded.
"I know the feeling, I could barely keep my hands off you tonight," I texted, then wrapped myself in a towel and teased my blonde curls. I walked to the bed with my phone in hand and slid on the t-shirt and ignored the pajama pants I initially planned to wear. I slid under the covers and checked to see what Adrian texted.
"Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?" he asked.
"I would love to. I'm gonna change my number when I wake up, I'll send you the new number after." I replied.
"Sounds excellent, I have to get some rest now. The sun is about to rise, and I can barely hold my eyes open. Goodnight my sweet vixen," Adrian texted.
I read the text and could feel my cheeks blushing.
"Goodnight mister, xoxo," I responded, and drifted into sleep.
I arose from my bed wearing a thin, long, white, silk gown but I couldn't recall putting this on before bed. I turned the doorknob to leave the room and I stepped into some sort of forest. This isn't right—I should be in the hall. Looking back at the open door to my room, knew I was dreaming. I walked back towards my door, not at all curious to see where this goes, and the door just vanished. This is a dream, definitely a dream, I kept reminding myself. In the distance, toward the woods, I heard a howl at the moon. Searching my surroundings, I felt as if I were being watched. I took off running with no direction and came to a lake and stopped. Spinning around to change direction, I crashed into Adrian. I looked up at his face and he just smiled.
"You're in my dreams now, too?" I said sarcastically, more as a statement than a question. He raised an eyebrow.
"Au contraire…
you are in my dreams, kitten," he said as he walked slow circles around me.
"No way in hell this is real," I whispered, not meaning to say that out loud.
I pinched my arm, nothing.
"What are you doing?" Adrian giggled.
"This is too weird. I gotta wake up before…"
"Before what, mon cheri?" he interrupted with that sexy, velvet-smooth accent.
He held my hands and swept himself behind me as if choreographed.
Then he held my arms above my head, and ran his fingers down my arms and slowly to my breasts. I moaned, wanting more. He pressed his cold lips on my warm neck and I could feel the heat of his mouth teasing my collarbone.
"Do you feel it? Do you feel drawn to me?" hewhispered with his lips brushing my ear.
"Yes," I answered, my voice shaking slightly.
He pressed his hungry lips against mine and I melted into his arms. He carried me to a doorway and laid me on my bed.
"But I'm not ready to wake up, I want to have you," I said with a pout.
"I will make you mine, but not here," he said softly while stroking my face.
"Rest now sweet vixen," he said. Then he kissed me gently and sweetly.
As if following a command, I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.
I awoke to the sound of a tapping on my door.
"Paige, I made coffee! Thought you would like this cute cup," Nicole said with excitement. I put the pillow over my head for a second but the smell of the hazelnut made its way to my nostrils regardless. I peeped an eye from the pillow.
"Is that vanilla hazelnut?" I asked with a sniff.
"Would you expect any less than the drink of the gods?" she replied with sarcasm.
"You know me so well!" I said, leaning up to get the cup from her hands.
The mug was cute; it had a koala bear on it. Nicole knew how much I loved them. She favored pandas; she got baked at the zoo once and just stared at the panda exhibit for an hour while sketching the mother panda with her cub. I believe if I wasn't there, she could have very well sat there all day sketching pandas.
"I called to check on your car. It should be finished by tomorrow," she said.
"Thanks. How long have you been awake?"
"Two hours, perhaps. It's nearly one p.m. now and I woke up a little after ten, I think," she said.
"I can't even remember the last time I slept this late," I said just before chugging the remainder of my coffee.
"I figured I would let you sleep as long as you wanted. I only came up now to see if you wanted to join me before I go for a run—I need the workout," Nicole said while pinching a bit of her belly as if she believed she needed to lose weight.
"You don't need the workout, but it would feel nice to run and clear my head," I said.
"Great, we can grab brunch after. I'll go get dressed," she said. I rose up and went through my bag. I decided to put clothes in the drawers while trying to fish for workout clothes. After I finished unpacking, I slid on some yoga pants and a sweatshirt. I figured if I got too hot I would lose the sweatshirt and just rock the sports bra. It was hard to tell what the weather was going to do. Most of October was warm until evening, but there were some surprising cold days here and there, so it was hard to figure out what to wear during this time of year. I brushed my hair into a ponytail and picked up my phone. I called my service provider to arrange for my new phone number. It was a thirty dollar charge but well worth it. I sighed in relief after hanging up the phone. I texted Nicole even though she was just downstairs.
"My number has finally been changed!" I giggled as I hit the send button, and tossed my phone on the bed and began to put on my running shoes.
"Hope I was first to get the digits, girl," Nicole hollered playfully in response to my text.
"Yes, bitch…Yesss..." I responded sarcastically. I giggled and slid my phone into the pocket on the thigh of my yoga pants then grabbed my earbuds and put them inside the opposite pocket in case I needed music therapy during my workout. I came down the stairs and saw Nicole pulling out twobottles of water from the fridge.
"Sorry I took so long," I sighed.
"You took no longer than I did getting ready. I was supposed to work today but I had someone cover for me so we could catch up," she said while grabbing her keys off the hook by the door.
"You didn't have to do that. I wouldn't want to get you into trouble over me, Nicole."
"Nonsense. I needed an excuse to take a break. Let's go. I'm gonna drive us to the nature trail so we don't get tired out before we even make it there," she said.
"Good point, I'm sure I wouldn't make it if we were on foot the whole way—I'm still quite tired."
"I'm sure you are. We crashed pretty late and you were talking in your sleep this morning, that's why I didn't try to wake you up sooner. I figured you needed the extra rest," Nicole said as we were walking out the door and to her truck.
"I was talking in my sleep? What was I even saying?" I asked as we climbed into the truck.
"I thought you were awake and talking on the phone at first but when I checked in, you were doing your classic grizzly bear snoring," she laughed.
"But then, I heard you mumble and say that you did not want to go back or something like that. So I told you to get some rest and I went back downstairs," she said.
I cannot believe my dreams of Adrian caused me to talk in my sleep.
"Good thing it was an R-rated dream then, I guess," I said.
"Oh no, girl, if you ever moan in your sleep, I promise I will leave you alone and let you finish," she said with a laugh.
"Thanks, Nicole. I'll do the same for your freaky ass," I said.
We pulled up at the park and the walking trail was just beautiful. It wrapped around a lake with a bridge that crossed over into the woods. The trail must have been primarily for bike riders because I saw many through the trees on the forest trail.
"This place is amazing," I said, looking around with wonder.
"That's why I love it here so much. Sometimes I come out here with a trash bag to clean up the messes that get left behind from all of the birthday parties and whatnot. Too many people have these places near them, but don't appreciate the beauty of it enough to take care of them," Nicole said while we made our way to the trail. She was inspiring that way, always putting work into taking care of people, places, and things that are important to her.
"You think you can keep up?" Nicole asked while putting her earbuds in.
"Honestly, I'll be lucky if I don't pass out. It'sbeen a while and I'm sure my cardio sucks," I answered while putting my own earbuds in.
"I'll start slow with a jog just in case."
"Cool beans!" I said as we did our little fist bump and began to jog.
The wind against my face, and my kick ass playlist was the perfect combination for a perfect workout. I felt so free, listening to my metal playlist of my favorite bands made me pick up the pace and run faster and faster. I guess I had no issues keeping up with Nicole after all, and it kind of made me feel like a badass.