Pieces of You (Shattered Hearts) (8 page)

We stand just inside the door of her dorm as I get ready to leave. Her arms are wrapped around my waist and I stroke her hair as we gaze at each other in silence. The ache in my chest turns into a throbbing dread that something is going to happen with Chris while I’m gone. I trust Claire, but I don’t trust him for a second.

“I love you, Claire. I want you to know that I won’t do anything to jeopardize what we have. And I trust you, but I also want you to know that if anything does happen while I’m gone, I won’t hesitate to hop on a plane and come back here to fight for what’s mine. I can’t lose you.”

“You’re not going to lose me. You’re still my favorite olive.”

I smile for the first time in hours and I know there’s only one thing left to do.

“Knock, knock.”

She rolls her eyes. “Who’s there?”

“Sherwood.”

“Sherwood, who?”

“Sherwood like to stay, but I have to get going now.”

She shakes her head. “I love you so much.”

I wrap my arms around her waist and lift her off the ground to give her one last kiss. I trace my tongue over her top lip then take her bottom lip into my mouth and suck gently. She moans and just the sound makes me want to take her back to bed so I pull my head back before we get carried away.

“I’ll try to stop by next Friday on the way to the airport, but just in case I can’t, I want you to know that you are all I’ll be thinking about when I’m on that plane. And every day that I’m away from you will be worse than the day before. But I will come back and everything will fall into place. That’s my promise to you.” I kiss her forehead before I set her down on the floor. “You have my whole heart.”

“Are you going straight to the office now?”

“I have to make a stop in Raleigh to meet Yuri. He’s bringing my trophy. I’d ask you to come, but I won’t be able to bring you back.”

She squints her eyes as she contemplates this. “Can I come? I can take my car.”

I stare at her for a moment before I answer. “Nothing would make me happier. You’re gonna love Yuri. His jokes are even better than mine.”

“That’s not saying much,” she says as she moves to the closet and yanks some jeans and a T-shirt off the hangers.

“Hey, you love my jokes. I see how you look at me with those googly eyes every time I deliver a punch line.”

“You’re right. I love you
because
of your sad jokes, not in spite of them.”

I sneak up behind her as she slides her feet into some flip-flops and wrap my arms around her waist. “I promise I’ll text you plenty of sad jokes when I’m in Hawaii, like this one. Why did Adam accept the apple from Eve?’”

She spins around in my arms so she’s facing me. “Why?”

“Because he couldn’t eat her cherry.”

Her top lip curls up in disgust. “So terrible and now I feel bad for Adam and Eve.”

“Don’t feel bad. Adam eventually found Steve and they lived happily ever after.”

“That’s much better. Gotta have the happily ever after.”

I kiss the corner of her mouth then grab her hand to leave. I don’t say what’s on my mind. She doesn’t need to know how much I doubt that we’ll get our happily ever after.

Chapter Ten

Claire

T
HE DRIVE TO
R
ALEIGH IS
nerve wracking. Four weeks ago, I would have pulled over to the side of the road and meditated for a while to calm my nerves, but I’m trying to limit the meditation to once in the morning and once at night. I’m not a fucking monk. I need to get a grip on my life without having to check out every few minutes at the first sign of emotional turmoil. It’s not as if I think meditation is unhealthy, but it was most certainly unhealthy the way I used it to block out the world. If Adam can quit smoking pot cold turkey, I can limit my meditation fix to twice a day. I have to learn to be present, to feel the emotions instead of stuffing them down beneath a veneer of false serenity.

I pull into a parking space on Wilmington Street about a block away from the Busy Bee Cafe where Adam and I are meeting Yuri and his girlfriend. When I step out of my car—Senia’s old Ford Focus that she gave me the day I moved into the dorm—Adam is walking along the sidewalk toward me. Just watching him, the way he walks with that easy confidence that comes so natural to him, I know that the next two months are going to be hell.

We walk along the sidewalk together in silence, but I can’t help but smile as the girls who pass us in the opposite direction ogle him. From the corner of my eye, I can see him look at me then he gives my hand a gentle squeeze.

“What are you smiling about? Are you happy to be getting rid of me?”

“Just happy to have you.”

He kisses my temple as he reaches for the door at the Busy Bee. I step inside and I’m treated to the most amazing smells, like garlic fries and tacos. I instantly start salivating as the hostess asks how many are in our party.

“We’re looking for our friends,” Adam says and the hostess smiles at him. “A little guy that looks like a darker, sexier version of Keanu Reeves.”

If the girl weren’t wearing a pound of blush, I’m sure I could see her cheeks flush red. Adam doesn’t understand the effect he has on girls. It’s both adorable and infuriating.

“I think they’re in the back.” She pulls a couple of menus from the rack and nods toward the dining area. “I’ll take you there.”

She leads us to a table in the back of the dining room and Yuri’s eyes open wide with excitement at the sight of us. He and Adam engage in a quick, slap-on-the-back guy-hug then Yuri moves in to hug me. I’m surprised by this gesture and I end up giving him an awkward pat on the arm when he releases me.

“Claire, I’ve heard so much about you,” Yuri proclaims excitedly. “This is Lena, the servant of my loins.” Lena punches him in the arm and he laughs. “I mean, the goddess of my universe.”

Lena looks like a female version of Yuri. They have the same golden tanned skin that seems to glisten even in the dim restaurant lighting. They also have the same dark, almond-shaped eyes that glimmer with mischief.

Lena holds out her hand to me as I take a seat. “Nice to meet you, Claire. Don’t pay attention to him. He’s compensating, if you know what I mean.”

I try not to laugh as I shake her hand, but the what-the-fuck look on Yuri’s face kills me. The hostess rolls her eyes as she leaves our menus on the table in front of Adam and mutters something about our server then quickly leaves.

“We’ve been here five seconds and you’ve already offended the hostess. You two should be ashamed of yourselves,” Adam says as he passes me a menu. “What are you all drinking?”

Lena holds up her frosty glass. “We’re both drinking the cream ale. It’s fucking delicious.”

“Not as delicious as my homemade cream ale,” Yuri mutters before he takes a few huge gulps from his glass.

“Dude, can you show a little respect for Adam’s guest?” Lena snipes at him before she turns to me. “So what are you studying at UNC?”

“Sociology. I’m a year behind so I’m doubling up on my units this year to try to catch up.”

“Double units? What are you doing here with these losers?” Lena says with a playful smile.

“Speaking of losers,” Adam interjects. “Did you bring the trophy?”

“It’s in my trunk with all the rest of my junk,” Yuri replies.

The waitress takes our drink orders and we both get an iced tea. I don’t say anything, but I’m glad Adam isn’t drinking today. He orders some tacos and I order a bacon cheeseburger, which puts a smile on Yuri’s face.

“I like a girl who isn’t afraid to eat a juicy burger.”

“Don’t talk to my girl that way,” Adam says, and I can’t tell if he’s kidding, but Yuri’s raised eyebrows tell me he probably isn’t.

I’ve only hung out with two of Adam’s friends before and I admit I was a bit inebriated from the champagne cocktails on my twenty-first birthday. I don’t remember him making any possessive comments that night, but I’ve always known about his temper. And he did admit to me that the reason he was on probation and forced to attend anger management classes was because he beat the shit out of the guy he caught his ex-girlfriend cheating on him with six months ago.

I brush off the comment and we make it through the rest of the meal without further incidents, until Adam asks what happened with the job interview I went on Thursday afternoon.

“They called me back yesterday,” I say as I push my plate away and reach for my glass of water. I take a nice, long drink as I attempt to stall.

I can feel Adam’s gaze on the side of my head, but I really don’t want to tell him what happened when the manager at EspressOasis, the café in the campus food court, called me yesterday.

“What happened?” he persists.

I drain the last few drops of water from the glass before I answer. “They can’t work with my schedule.”

“What about weekends?”

“I told them I couldn’t work weekends.”

“Because of me?”

“It doesn’t matter. I can find something else that will allow me to work weekends now that I know you’re going to be gone.”

“Why don’t you just call them back and tell them you can work weekends now?”

“Because they already gave the weekend position to someone else.”

The silence at the table and the way Adam is looking at me with those green eyes full of regret makes me nervous. Thankfully, he doesn’t say anything else about the job—until he walks me to my car.

We walk side by side as we stroll down Wilmington Street holding hands. He pulls my hand up and lays a soft kiss on my knuckles. I smile and let out a sigh. This is it.

We reach my car and he grabs my purse out of my hand to lay it on top of the car. Then he traps me against the car with one hand on either side of my head as I lean back against the driver’s side window.

His gaze penetrates me, burns through me as he searches my eyes for something. “Do you need money?”

“What? No, I don’t need money.”

Shit.
He can smell the poor on me. The truth is I’m probably going to have to cancel my cell phone service if I don’t find a weekend job soon.

“Don’t lie to me, Claire. If you need help I want to be the one to do it.”

That’s what this is about. He doesn’t want me to have to accept help from Chris.

“Adam, I’ll be fine.” I grab the front of his shirt and pull him toward me so our lips are almost touching. “But I promise if I find myself in a bind that you will be the first person I call. You are my hero, after all.”

I kiss him hard, partially to distract him from the conversation, but mostly to imprint the sensation of my lips in his memory. I’m not stupid. I know Adam will have girls—hot girls in bikinis—chasing after him in Hawaii. Yes, it scares the shit out of me. Possibly more than Chris scares him. Just the thought of Adam with another girl makes me want to wrap my arms and legs around him and never let go, or drop everything and go with him.

I don’t want to stop kissing him, but he starts to chuckle so I finally loosen my grip on his shirt and he breaks the kiss.

“I’m not going to war. I’m going to Hawaii.”

“That’s not funny. I’m really scared.”

“Why? You don’t think I’m going to cheat on you, do you?”

“No, but it’s not you I’m worried about.” I stare at the wrinkles in the front of his T-shirt where my fingers were just clenched tightly, grasping for my lifeline. “Adam, I don’t think I’ve made it clear enough. I was drowning when I met you. I was barely breathing until you saved me. I’m afraid of what will happen to me without you here.”

The muscles in his jaw twitch as he clenches his teeth to hold back whatever emotion he’s feeling. I don’t want him to hold back. This is our last day together. I want to see everything he’s feeling.

“Talk to me,” I beg.

He blinks his eyes a few times before he wraps his arms around my shoulders. He kisses the top of my head as he squeezes me tightly. I bury my face in his chest and he finally speaks.

“I will never let anything happen to you as long as you’re mine. You know that, don’t you?”

I nod as I close my eyes and breathe in his scent and his warmth. “I know.”

“But I want you to know that if you ever feel like you need me to come back, for any reason, that I’ll hop on the next plane. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you never drown again.” He grabs my face and forces me to look him in the eye. “You put some kind of love spell on me with your wicked dance moves and now I need you like Paula Deen needs butter, or insulin, or whatever.” I laugh and he kisses the tip of my nose. “I’m going to miss the fuck out of you, but I promise this is going to be worth it. Do you believe me?”

I grab his hands to pull them away from my face and he looks disappointed. “I believe you, but I’m still scared.”

He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his wallet. He slips a wad of cash out and attempts to hand it to me.

“I don’t want that.”