Chapter 15

POV: Adam

"I have to admit that it wasn't as bad as I thought." I joke.

"Hey! Don't say that." She laughs, squeezing my fingers.

We're almost at the box office, when one of the workers comes out from the corridors with a single rose in his hand, identical to the ones that were in the decoration of my restaurant.

"Miss, this rose is for you." Mia holds it delicately, broadly smiling.

"It's just like the one that was at your restaurant."

"You spent a good time talking about how you wanted to steal one."

"You remember that." She is surprised.

I remember a lot of things about her, but I doubt she's aware of that. I led her to the car, opening the door for her to get in. I start the car, trying to focus on the road, with her eyes shifting from the rose to me and vice versa. Slowly, she brings her hand to mine, and places it on her lap, specifically her thigh. I clench there, she is too tempting. I stop a little before her dormitory, but just enough to see her get there safely.

"Good night, Adam." She smiles at me.

"Good night, Mia."

She tries to move to open the door, but I gently hold her in place.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" I ask, touching her cheeks.

She brings her face to mine, sealing her lips on mine. Mia requests access, moving her tongue gently in mine. I want to kiss her for the rest of the night.

"Is it better this way?" She asks.

"Much better." I reply.

"Do you mind if we take a picture? I would like to record this night." She looks at the flower in her hand.

"Not at all, Mia."

She takes the cellphone from her back pocket, gets closer to my face, smiles and holds the rose in one hand.

"I won't forget that we have a pending date." She warns.

"See you soon, Gorge." She gets out of the car.

My eyes noticed the crumpled paper on the seat, it's probably Mia's. I pick it up and unfold it. "Waiting for your call. Luc." The phone number of the boy my daughter mentioned earlier is there. I celebrate that it's crumpled, she never called. I grab a pen from the glove compartment and cross out his number and the rest, writing mine on the back.

I start the car and drive a little, catching up to her.

"What happened?" She asks, leaning through the window.

"I think you dropped this. Call me if you need anything, no matter the time or what I'm doing."

"Sure thing, Adam." She takes the paper, steps away from the window, and continues walking while jotting down my number.

I follow her until she reaches the entrance gate. Mia looks at me one last time and waves her hands. I wave back, and she disappears from my sight. This girl is definitely a danger to me.

------ ♡ ------

As soon as I walk in, Thot jumps on my legs and then climbs onto the treat's shelf. Thot only does that when he realizes I'm relatively happy, and it's easier to get something from me. Typically, I don't give in to his requests, but today, in particular, I opened the jar and gave him one. He finishes gnawing on it and wags his tail, indicating his desire to go for a walk, even though we already did that in the morning. My body also craves a run, so I grab my headphones, put on suitable clothes, and take his leash.

As sweat drips down my forehead and Thot walks beside me, I feel all the pent-up energy in my body dissipate, while my mind wanders into the past. I was nineteen when I met Madison. She seemed like a one-night-only kind of woman, and it would have been that way if we hadn't bumped into each other again at the same bar and I ended up buying all her drinks. I was enchanted by her beauty, and we always ended up in bed whenever we crossed paths at that same place. One day, I wasn't feeling well and ended up opening about who I really was. She took my number at the end of the night, and we started meeting up more frequently. Madison told me very little about herself, but most of what she shared were fun and joyful moments. She seemed impossible to hurt. We started talking about life at a bar table or after parties. It was never a normal one-on-one date, but I loved having someone to listen to me. That's how I fell in love with her, because our bodies connected, and I felt that no matter what I told her, she would never judge me, even though her life seemed perfect. Her cold yet passionate personality confused and captivated me, to the point where I planned and gave everything of myself to please her. When I found out about Amy, I truly thought that we would finally be a family. I was completely infatuated with her.

I still remember her face, every feature, freckle, and expression. I can still picture her smiling at me, but it doesn't hurt like before. Deep down, I had gotten used to not having her around, to never touching her again. It didn't seem strange at the time, but looking back now, I don't understand how we could have been so shallow. We should have gone out for dinner, to the movies, or done normal couple things. I feel happier now than I did during those moments. Maybe I never truly loved Madison, maybe everything we experienced was a lie, but I still missed you, deep down in my heart