Ch9
Adam walked Bella to her side of the truck. She had her hair down and curled and was wearing tan wedges with a knee-length strapless sundress and a blue-jean jacket to cover her arms. She had bruises on them from her fight in Paris, but they were starting to fade. He shut the door for her and got in on his side. He made sure their seatbelts were both buckled before he started his car and drove to the nearest Olive Garden.
He opened the door to the restaurant for her. “After you.” He said with a smile as her motioned for her to go first.
“Thanks!” She said with a sweet smile. He was quite chivalrous, which was very hard to come by in her book. As they took their seat in the booth the waiter poured them each a glass of wine.
“So, why the sudden visit to Texas?” He started as he took the breadstick out of the basket and dipped it in the Alfredo sauce.
“Um, I just needed a vacation, and I missed home.” She took a breadstick for herself and ripped it in half.
“Oh come on, you live in the most beautiful city in the world, and you missed Houston?” He let out a small chuckle. “And, I may not know you very well but I do know when you’re lying.”
“Oh, really? And what’s my tell?”
“You look around for something to distract either yourself or the person you’re with. In this case, the breadstick.”
“Hm, okay, so you got a little lucky.” She said with a smirk as she leaned forward on her arms. “But if you really wanted to impress me you’d tell me why I was lying.”
He let out a soft chuckle. “Unfortunately, I’m not that good. But, seriously, why’d you come down here?”
“I uh, I had a bit of a falling out with Luke.”
“What happened?” He asked as his eyebrows furrowed.
She looked into his eyes, and felt like he was genuinely concerned. She smiled at that. He really was a good guy. “Well, remember Christmas how all that drama happened?”
“How could I forget? You were so upset. I really wanted to punch that guy in the face for making you cry like that.”
“That’s sweet, but better that you didn’t.” She let out a small giggle. “Well, anyway. He’s now engaged to her.”
“Wow, that was fast. That’s like 6 months right?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“So, what, he proposed and you ran from him?”
“Not completely. We were…talking the other day and said some words, I ended up telling him how I felt and walked away…He didn’t come after me, so I knew it was over and I came home.”
“Wow…well it’s his loss.” He gave her a weak smile as his head tilted to the side. “You’re a remarkable girl, from what your family has told me, and if he can’t see that now then you’re better off without him. You deserve someone better than that.”
She bit her lip in mild frustration. She barely knew anything about him, yet it seemed that he knew everything about her. And, this was only their second time meeting, what gave him the idea that he could talk about Luke that way? Though, she knew it was true. She did deserved someone better, someone that wouldn’t break her heart. Someone like Adam.
She smiled at him. “Thank you…So, I hardly know anything about you!” She stated with a giggle.
“Well, ask me anything you wanna know! I’m an open book!”
The rest of the evening was filled with laughter and smiles. Adam was a great guy and had a wonderful sense of humor. Bella could really see herself falling for him, but each time she internally said she liked him, Luke’s face would appear. That’s when she knew it was useless and she wouldn’t be able to let go of him.
As they walked to his car, Adam placed his hand on the small of her back as he guided her across the street.
“Aren’t you hot in the jacket? It’s like a hundred degrees out.” He joked, but was still concerned that she may suffer from a heat stroke.
“Oh, I’m fine.”
“Really, then you just have a natural shimmer?” He smirked as he mentioned the beads of sweat on her forehead.
She quickly wiped it away. “I just don’t want to take my jacket off.”
“Alright, fair enough.” He opened the car door for her again and smiled as she slid in. When they buckled up he started the car and pulled into the high way.
The drive back to her house was quiet. For once, he had nothing left to say, and she had nothing left to ask him. They had talked the whole night, laughed and joked the whole night that they forgot to save a conversation for the ride home.
Bella looked out of her window and gazed at the trees that blurred by in the night. This wasn’t a silence she was able to think in, it was a silence that shook her and made her want to scream. It agitated her that they couldn’t talk anymore. If it were her and Luke they’d be able to talk for hours and hours on end. They’d been friends their whole life and never ran out of things to talk about.
She let out an internal sigh and was thankful when Adam turned the radio on.
As they walked to the front door Adam took her hand in his.
“Well this was fun, and sorry about the awkward silence on the drive home.”
Bella laughed half-heartedly. “It’s fine, and I had fun. Dinner was amazing.”
“And the movie was great! Maybe we can do this again before you leave?”
Bella bit her lip and let out a sigh. “I’m sorry.” She said, and he instantly let her hand go. “I really had fun, and I think you’re a great guy, I really do! I even think that I could like you…but right now, I just…I need time to-“ He stopped her.
“It’s okay. I understand. You need some time to mend your heart, I totally get it.” He said with a small smile.
She smiled and leaned up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for cheering me up today.”
“It was my pleasure. And hey, if you ever need a laugh or a corny joke, give me a call.” He handed her a piece of paper with his number on it. “No matter what, call me anytime.”
“Thank you, I will. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
She kissed him on the cheek once more then walked inside. She let out a sigh and locked the door. She really had a nice night with him, but she still wasn’t able to let her walls down. She was too hurt and Luke was to blame. She pulled her phone out of her purse and saw she had 5 missed called from Nick. As she checked the messages, they all said the same thing; how Chief Newton was going to go ballistic on her if she wasn’t back tomorrow, and how her life was in jeopardy because of it. She let out a heavy sigh and dialed his number. She knew it was time to go home.
“Bella!” Nick exclaimed on the other end of the phone. “Thank God! I was beginning to get worried about you! What’s wrong?!”
“Hey Nicky, look I just needed a little vacation. I’ll be back tomorrow morning, I promise, and I’ll tell you everything then.”
“Alright, well I missed you. I haven’t seen you in a whole week. Luke’s been going crazy too. What happened between you two?”
“Nothing. I gotta go, gotta pack. I’ll see you soon.” She said quickly before she hung up. It was time to face the music.
