Homewrecker (BOOK 1)

26

Adora

It wasn't usual for things to get under my skin.

Not like this was.

I was pretty good at keeping my business to myself. I didn't need to tell people to feel any kind of relief, or get a weight off of my chest.

But this secret, this one wasn't easy to just hide.

Living in a flat with my two best friends was absolutely blissful, until it came down to a secret. They always managed to push it out of me.

Brenna knew something was wrong, I could tell by the way she looked at me.

But I couldn't tell her.

What would happen if I actually did? Would everyone end up finding out, and Santiago King would be no more?

Of course not, Santiago King could clear anything. Even his own conscience.

I haven't seen him since our... encounter. I knew the second I did, my stomach would do all kinds of flips and turns and I'd be driven up a wall.

"Do you think the word succulent is a sexual word?" Landon asked, making me pull myself out of my thoughts.

I pursed my lips together and looked over at Brenna, who had an answer. I could tell by the way she rapidly chewed up the last bite of her pasta.

"Well," she said, wiping the corner of her mouth, "succulent means... juicy, or full of moisture. So take it as you will."

She wiggled her eyebrows and nudged my elbow, and I plastered on a fake smile.

"Actually," I butted in, "succulence has to do with plants. A succulent plant is a water storage plant, like Bren said."

"So basically, women are succulent plants. We just hold our own juices aside from water."

"TMI," Lan groaned, "but thanks, Adds, can always count on you to outsmart me."

I forced my lips to pull themselves up into a smile and nodded. I watched Lan stand up and walk into the kitchen, and I just let out a breath.

Bren leaned over and tapped my arm. "Hey," she whispered, "what's wrong with you, love?"

I looked over at her and jutted my bottom lip out, shaking my head slowly. "Nothing, why do you ask?"

I was trying my hardest to play it off cool, alongside the fact that I had the slightest limp.

"Well, for one, you're super, like, nonexistent today? And two, you haven't gotten up from the couch."

I fake yawned. "I'm just really beat."

No lie.

She lifted an eyebrow and shrugged casually. "Okay, get some rest!"

She hopped up from the couch and grabbed her phone, shoving it in her pocket. "I will be back."

Landon shot an eyebrow up at her. "And where are you going?"

She shrugged. "Coffee shop to meet a friend."

Before we could ask any more questions, she was already out of the apartment. I let out a sigh of relief. A breath I'd been holding in since this morning, it felt like.

Landon glanced over his shoulder one last time and sighed, walking into the living room. He shot me a concerned look and I looked up at him. "What's up?"