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Ada gasped and her lips turned comedically down. “That bitch.”
It was my turn to burst out laughing. Ada grinned and then playfully slapped my arm. It took me a bit to gather myself and by the time I did, my face hurt from smiling and I’d used a different set of muscles in my stomach that felt like they’d never been used. “I’m proud of you. I think we might be rubbing off on you.”
She shook her head so hard that the whole right side of her hair sprung out of the hold she’d had it in. Her eyes widened and she stared at me in shock, her mouth slightly ajar. “Did my hair just do what I think it did?”
I rolled my lips into my mouth and nodded while trying not to laugh again. She sighed and reached up to take the left side of her hair down, shaking it all out as she went. The curls stuck out all over the place and somehow, she looked even better.
“Looks like it’s midnight and Cinderella’s carriage has turned back into a pumpkin.” She smiled ruefully at me. “Do I look okay?”
“You want me to tell you what I really think?” I gave her a look that conveyed exactly what I thought and what I wanted to do to her.
She blushed and shook her head. “I’m not sure I could handle it.”
I took her hand in mine and motioned towards the thinning crowd. “Why don’t we see if we can’t get Cinderella home?”
36
***Ada***
Thatweekendwentbyslowly. Kendall was at her mom’s but the boys were cooped up inside because of stormy weather. They somehow managed to be bored and bratty despite having a massive mansion to play in. I saw the guys during meals but I kept away from them for the rest of the time.
I’d been deep in thought about what Collin told me about Joe’s ex-wife. She’d cheated on him and when I’d heard that, I wanted to rip her hair out. I hadn’t been able to sleep that night, though, because I worried about how I’d slept with his brothers and if he thought I was just like his wife. It shouldn’t have mattered to me, but it did. I felt guilty for continuing a line of shitty behavior.
That was why I made my way to his office on Sunday night after putting Milo down. I’d already changed into my pajamas and scrubbed my face but I didn’t think I’d be able to rest until I talked to Joe. I knocked on the door quietly, unsure of myself once I was that close.
Joe opened the door and looked surprised to see me. “Ada.”
I squeezed past him and hurried over to stand by his desk. I needed to keep my distance and spit out what I needed to say. “Collin told me about what your ex-wife did to you. At first, I kept thinking about what an idiot she was and I kind of wanted to cut her hair off or something equally horrible. Then, I started thinking about it more and I don’t think I’m any better than she was. I know we’re not married and we aren’t even in a relationship but I slept with you and then I slept with Jud. I’m so sorry, Joe. This whole summer has been crazy and I don’t really know what’s going on but that’s no excuse. If I hurt you, I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t apologize.”
Joe stood with his hands on his waist, just watching me with a blank expression on his face. He looked tired and I knew he’d been working hard all day long. I wanted to smooth out his shirt and maybe feed him some cake, or something.
“I’m sure you must have your ideas about me and what kind of person I am, but I’d only slept with three men before coming here. I don’t normally find a family of hot brothers and go through them like bad Taco Bell. I’m not sure what’s happening here, in this house, but it was out of character for me to sleep with you and then sleep with someone else. I just want you to know that your ex-wife was wrong. I was wrong. But there are so many women out there who would never dream of cheating on you.” I motioned towards him. “I mean…look at you. You’re beautiful, you’ve got muscles big enough to crush someone, and you’re pretty good at the other stuff that I’m not going to talk about. Sure, your work ethic sucks for anyone around and you’re kind of a giant grump, but you’re a catch.”
Joe blinked and slowly shook his head. “Ada?”
I chewed on my lip nervously. “Yeah?”
“Can you do me a favor?”
I nodded and twisted my fingers together. “You want me to go?”
He laughed and the sound carried straight down to my core. “I want you to stop talking.”
I opened and closed my mouth a few times and then sighed. “I can do that.”
“First of all, you’re nothing like my ex-wife. She was not a very nice person and I knew that going into the marriage. Second of all, you did nothing wrong. We never made a commitment to each other.” He took a step closer. “You didn’t hurt me. You’ve made me crazy and made me want to leave my own house, but you never hurt me. Are we clear?”
I nodded jerkily as I watched him come another step closer. “Okay.”
“That line about Taco Bell was disgusting. I’m going to request that you never say that again.” Another step. “You showed your cards, Ada. You like me. No matter how much I drive you crazy and make you furious, you like me.”
I gasped. “No, I don’t. Why would you even say something like that?”
He grinned even wider. “You think I’m beautiful.”
“And? I also think Mount Everest is beautiful but I don’t want to climb it.”
“You think I’ve got muscles big enough to crush someone.”
