Page 59 of Adoring Fletcher
I quickly turned on my heel and headed upstairs, but I was already beginning to melt down. My hands were shaking by the time I reached our bedroom and I burst in, tears burning my eyes.
“We have a problem,” I choked out.
“Fletcher?” Adam sat up, sensing that something was wrong. “What happened?”
“Aria… She was at the door!” I gestured to myself, dressed in Adam’s clothes and draped in his scent. Wearing his marks from our morning sex-capades. “I answered the door like this! She isn’t stupid, Adam! She knows, she has to know!”
Adam’s face washed as white as the bedsheets. “Fuck.”
“I’m sorry, Adam. I’m so sorry,” I babbled, tears streaming down my cheeks now, unable to hold them back as I collapsed onto the edge of the bed.
“Shh,” he whispered, squeezing my shoulder. “It’s okay. Just…” He sucked in a sharp breath, no doubt wondering just what the hell he was going to say to her. “Stay here. Let me get dressed. I’ll handle this. Just stay here. Everything will be okay.”
Why did that feel like the biggest lie in the history of the planet?
After he left the room, I buried my face in the pillows and let loose a broken sob. Adam’s spicy cedar scent wrapped itself around me like a cloak, giving me a false sense of security, but the tears just kept falling.
It was over. It was all over.
37
ADAM
My heart pulsed thunderouslyloud between my ears as I descended the staircase, slowly approaching the living room where Fletcher said Aria was waiting for me.
I found her sitting perched on the edge of the couch, her fingers fiddling with the frayed edge of Fletcher’s blanket.
“Aria?” I murmured, and she jumped to her feet, spinning around to face me. Her cheeks were rosy pink, as if she was embarrassed to have walked in on something she’d rather not see. God…
She looked at me—really looked—and I felt like a bug under the lens of a microscope. I swallowed hard, but didn’t say a word as her blue eyes studied me. Did she find me disgusting now? Despicable and a liar for leading her on? For hiding something like this behind her back?
“Did I…interrupt something?” she finally asked, her voice guarded.
Did I lie? Tell her the truth? What was the right answer? I didn’t fucking know!
“No.”
“Does your roommate often wear your clothing?” She tilted her head to one side, dark curls cupping her heart-shaped face.
“Sometimes,” I replied as calmly as I could.
“I see.” She pursed her lips, which were painted pink today, glossy with a hint of a shimmer. In fact, she looked beautiful, in a flowered blue dress that matched her eyeshadow, as if she’d dolled up just for me.
I felt like an asshole.
“And your father?—”
Something inside of me splintered, then. Without thinking about the consequences of my actions, I lurched forwards and grabbed her wrist, yanking her closer to me and shocking us both. She gasped and stared up at me, wide-eyed.
“Aria.” I sucked in a sharp breath. “My father doesn’t know. No one does.” I grit my jaw until my teeth ground together, the muscle in my jaw ticking. I stared at her, but she didn’t look away or submit like I expected.
I was the one who pulled away. I let her go, withdrawing, my expression crumpling as my arms wrapped around myself. “My entire life, it’s been about him and what he wants. WhatIwant and whatIlike doesn’t matter in his eyes. All that matters is money and reputation. He never cared who he had to fuck over to get it.”
I breathed in, slow and shaken, then let it out. “Why are you here, Aria?” I finally asked, my voice going dull. Defeated. Because she knew. Because everything was suddenly so fucked up and my wolf was shrieking, howling at the top of his lungs, snarling at me to take my mate and run.
“I… I wanted to show you the ring…” She held out her hand, but the wind had left her sails as reality set in. Her brows pinched together as the diamond glistened beneath the light. “That your father bought me.”
I dropped my gaze. “It’s stunning, Aria,” I murmured. “Only the finest for an Omega such as yourself.” I shook my head slowly and took a step back. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this. I don’t know what I can offer you besides financial security and the Sinclair name and, later, pups that I’ll sire but probably resent because they were born of necessity and not love. That’s no life for either of us.” I swallowed hard.
