◈A D R I A N◈

"You should get your own show, Bones." Logan said after hearing the familiar whooshing sound from the blades of the exhaust fan. I looked up from the stacks of crumpled invoices to see Bones getting up from the floor where he was squatting down to fix the faulty machine.

As soon as the exhaust started to work, the dank air filled with fine particles began to flurry in the air in a slow dance. An oddly mesmerising sight as they twirled and swirled under the golden rays of Saturday afternoon.

The squeaking sound from the wheels of the plastic creeper pulled my attention to Logan as he rolled from under a red mustang, his face was smeared with black soot.

"Bones, the machine whisperer," he announced with his hands waving out in a half moon. "Bet you'll make much more money than that Caesar salad. Just don't forget about me when you're rich and famous, pal."

Bones, in his usual aloofness, just blinked and walked to the tap at the front of the workshop to wash his hands. Believe it or not, he seemed to be in a lighter mood without the presence of that chatty guy, Mike. He looked almost serene. Like how you would get when you finally killed that annoying mosquito buzzing near your ears in the middle of the night.

Logan shook his head at Bones' reaction and grunted when he pushed himself up from the creeper. Using the back of his hands, he wiped at his cheeks only to smear them around even more. His nose was the only part left unblemished by the soot.

He might as well be Rudolph the Red with his prominent nose.

A laugh escaped my lips unwittingly and I cleared my throat quickly to mask it under the pretence of a cough. Sharp as ever, Logan caught that and arched a brow at me. He dropped the spanner in the toolbox and strode towards me, his gaze dropping to the messy desk.

"How's the filing going on? I hope the papers aren't too heavy for your broken ribs," Logan asked, his left leg crossed over his right one as he leaned against the door frame.

"It's going swimmingly," I mumbled in annoyance, not too happy with the monotonous duty Logan had entrusted to me with. Since I was still pretty much recuperating from the periodic therapy sessions, I wasn't allowed to do even the most basic thing.

The flimsy, thin papers rustled dangerously between my fingers as I sorted them according to date. Some were yellowed with age and I didn't dare to breathe too hard for fear of rendering them into desecrated dust.

"Don't you have better things to do than holing up in my place? Boys your age would be out there chasing skirts or shooting the breeze." He dragged a nearby chair and slumped on it, the chair creaking slightly under his weight.

I gave a nonchalant shrug, "I'm not some horn dog sniffing around with a constant erection. Besides, I'm a man of words. I mean it when I said I'll do anything to repay your favour."

There was a tingle of pride bubbling up my chest. Man, I can't believe I can say something as cool as that!

A ghost of a smile played on Logan's lips before he hid it behind a small towel he used to wipe at his dirty face. "What about your girlfriend? Don't you need to bring her to dates? Girls can get real pissed when you played it cool like that."

I frowned. "Girlfriend?"

When the hell did I get myself a girlfriend without knowing it?

Logan narrowed his eyes at me almost accusingly. "Your girlfriend. The one you've been dating for three months. Ring any bell?"

Right. That one. Almost forgot about it.

"R-right. Kelly. My girlfriend," I said quickly with a nervous laugh. "Well, we...err...we're not the clingy type. Yeah. That's overrated. We don't do overrated." At this point, I was just spouting nonsensical words even I myself found it hard to understand.

"Hmm," Logan hummed, his hawk eyes still trained on me. "So romance got out of style now, huh? Guess I gotta admit I'm old-school. Chivalry is always fashionable."

"That's...well...yeah," I mumbled out.

You moron! Now he thinks you're some douchebag who play girls like it's Russian roulette, my better sense scolded. I really wanted to hit myself so bad.

Just when I thought I could redeem myself, I grumbled under my breath.

A single knock on the door drew our attention to the doorway. Bones was standing there with his satchel slung over his shoulder. "I'm leaving."

And he was out like a gust of wind.

Both of us remained in our seats, feeling stumped by the brief yet random intermission. Classic Bones. You're lucky even if he was just doing his barest minimum.

Logan sighed. "If only he could lend some of his quietness to Mike, that'll be the greatest blessing since the invention of pizza slicer."

I nodded my head. I couldn't agree more. Words leave little Mikey's mouth like a machine gun on steroids.

Someone rapped on the door again. Twice.

"Did you forget something, pal?" Logan called out, craning his neck to look behind.

"I didn't but you did forget about our little rendezvous, pal." A smiling woman spoke at the doorway, the light shining behind her shielded her features. Her mustard yellow wraparound dress danced and twirled playfully around her knees.

I squinted my eyes from the glaring rays, wondering where have I heard this familiar voice before. That soft caramel voice with a tinge of slutty undertones.

Kara.

"You totally forgot about it, didn't you?" she whined teasingly. "We're supposed to grab brunch at O'briens. I waited for hours and you didn't pick up any of my calls."

She pouted and fluttered her dark eyelashes, a subtle yet unmistakable flirty look that could send any man down his knees begging for redemption.

Logan was completely unfazed--either he was that oblivious or he was used to it and didn't spare any attention to it. Instead, he frowned and started fumbling at his pockets.

"Fuck! I must have left my phone on the countertop." He checked his wristwatch and said, "Well, we're not too late for afternoon tea if you're still up for it."

Kara's face lit up like a lightbulb. "I'm always up for a good cup of tea. Do you want me to call the Eggington's to reserve a place? They're always packed like salmon."

Logan stopped her before she could fish out her phone from a designer bag. "Nah...I've got my own table at a nice place." He slapped his hands on his knees and got up from his seat.

"You coming?" Logan asked me, much to my surprise. I thought they wanted to have this chance to reconcile and...probably get back together.

Logan looked at Kara meaningfully to ask if she was okay with it. She beamed at him but her smile was tighter this time and didn't reach her smokey eyes.

"Yeah, join us. The more, the merrier," she offered, her voice a pitch too high as if she was feigning her chirpy mood.

I smirked. Since she was so gracious about it, refusing her would be rude.

So, I smiled. "Sure. I'm starving."

✈

Author's note

Here's an announcement for you guys. Book Two is confirmed! I have decided to split the story to two parts since there's still a long way to go and a sequel will make more sense for what I have planned. I can't divulge any more information without spoilers so I hope you will continue supporting Adrian and Logan.

Now I don't know when Book One will end since I don't...exactly..plan at all. It could be after 10 or even 30 chapters knowing how unexpected my mood can be 🙇️. Gotta love my mood swings.

Anyways, thank you SO much for the 16k+ reads! I'm totally blown away! Love you guys ❤

If you enjoyed this chapter, click on the little star at the bottom and share this story to your friends. Cheers!

{Song: Favorite Liar by The Wrecks}