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“Something like that.”
My friend sipped her latte and shook her head. “I can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t like you.”
I laughed. “I know, right?”
“Except for Matt. And Jacob. And that guy from sys-admin, who you locked out of your computer while he was actively telnetting into your personal drive.”
“Yeah, well he was a dick, so—”
“And Marjorie, of course. Man oh man, she despised you. In fact she still talks about you sometimes. And when she does, she makes this face like—”
“Alright, already,” I cut her off with a chuckle. “I get it.”
Sophia was cool and loyal to a fault, but she also liked to tease. It was one of the more unique things about her.
“So they’re friends, then?” she asked. “Jax and Adrian?”
“We’re all friends,” I explained. “Well, sort of. We grew up together, or in Jax’s case, at least around each other. But it’s been a long time since I’ve seen either of them.”
Sophia leaned back into the hard metal bench, letting the sun kiss her face. Her sunglasses were comically big. So much so, they made her seem like a bug.
“So, do you like him?”
“Who, Adrian?” I shrugged. “Actually I love him.”
This seemed to get her attention. She leaned forward and gripped her coffee with both mittens.
“You love him?” she swore. “Really?”
“I’ve always loved him,” I told her. “There was a time in our lives when we hung out every day. We were best friends.”
“Hung out or hung out?”
“The first one,” I answered. “Sort of. Except for this one time.” I sighed and bit my lip. “It’s… complicated.”
My friend chuckled conspiratorially. “It always is.”
It was a hard thing, explaining your life to someone relatively new to it. Sophia and I had met at work, not even two years ago. We quickly bonded over being female in a male-dominated industry, but we also shared many of the same likes, dislikes and personality traits.
And just like me, Sophia had a very complicated history with men.
“So what are you going to do?” she asked.
I sighed wearily. It was a great fucking question.
“For now I don’t plan on doing anything,” I declared. “I’m nannying for both of these men, and it’s a really good gig. Plus, Adrian and I just got back in touch. There’s no way I want to lose that.”
My gaze still hadn’t left the playground, all throughout our conversation. Emma was running in circles around Brayden, who was trying desperately to catch her. Their little rubber play area was limited, though. The snow had been shoveled back only thirty feet in all directions.
“And what do you think he wants?”
Honestly, I didn’t know. Outside of wanting to finish what we’d started in his family’s pool house so many years ago, I didn’t know what Adrian expected out of this whole thing. And maybe it wasn’t a thing it all. Maybe it was a very long, very beautiful, one-shot deal. Unfinished business, finally taken care of.
“Can I see him at least?” asked Sophia. “If I’m giving advice on this guy, I’m gonna need a visual.”
I pulled out my phone. Though I didn’t have any photos of Adrian, I knew one of the photography websites he’d done some modeling for. I pulled it up, clicked his portfolio, and handed it over.
Sophia’s mouth opened so wide she could’ve swallowed a truck.
