The line went dead, and Justin put the phone back on his holder. He gave a heavy sigh as he propped his head up on his hand. Talking to Phil always gave him a migraine.
"Oh, Justin...."
Justin turned his head around to see Adelyn standing in the doorway between the kitchen and hallway. She was wearing a sleeveless cream-colored shirt and a dark brown flowing skirt that went just past her knees. Her hair was down and wavy, and Justin didn't think he'd ever seen her wear that much make up, though it still wasn't a lot.
"You clean up nice, Brady," he grinned. "What will the guys down at the station say when they see you?"
"Oh, shut up," Adelyn said as she walked over to him and planted a kiss on the side of his face. "The chief told me to dress uncoplike. This is the best I could do on short notice."
"You look great," he told her sincerely. "But where are you going to hide your gun?"
She grabbed the hem of her skirt and pulled it up a little so Justin could see the gun strapped to her leg. "It's not really easy access," she said, "but it'll have to do."
Justin snatched the hem of her skirt and pulled it back down over her knee. "Don't pull up your skirt like that in front of Colby," he told her.
"How else am I supposed to get my gun?" she wanted to know as she turned away from him and his hands slipped away from her skirt.
"I don't know." He rested his chin in the palm of his hand and sighed. "Isn't there some other way?"
Adelyn spun around, her skirt twirling as she smiled at him. "I'll do it s o fast, he won't even know what's going on," she promised. "Though, hopefully I won't have to use it at all."
Justin looked away from her and sighed again.
"Are you all right?" she asked, leaning up against the counter. "Who was that on the phone?"
"My brother, Phil... but it was nothing," he insisted as he avoided her stare. "Phil was just being Phil and it's about time I learned to accept the fact that he's not going to change"
Suddenly, he felt her fingers on his chin, and when he looked up into her eyes, his widened.
"I just got a crazy idea, Adelyn," he said.
"You? Crazy?" she teased as he pulled her so close that she stood between his knees.
"Listen," he whispered. "What would happen if we just forgot about Colby and moved to some other state? What if we ran, Adelyn?"
She pushed away from him and a serious expression washed over her face. "Justin," she said. "You really are crazy. If you think for one second you can get out of your probation deal, then you belong in a mental institution."
"Is it wrong to..." he trailed off, his eyes cast to the linoleum floor.
She grabbed his chin once more. "To what?" she demanded.
Before their eyes met, he stood up and pulled away from her. "Nothing," he said. "I knew we couldn't run, I just don't really want to see Colby again, that's all."
Adelyn watched as Justin poured himself a glass of water. "Is it?" she wanted to know.
Justin glanced at her after he took a sip. Quickly, he looked down at his watch. "I think it's time to head out," he announced. "What would the chief say if we were late?"
"Nice try, but that won't work on me this time," Adelyn told him while she sat down in his vacant seat. "Besides, it's an hour till we have to be down at the station. There's time to chat."
He downed the rest of his water and set it on the counter next to a huge pile of dirty dishes. "Do you ever wash the dishes?" he asked. "Or do you wait till they're all dirty and then just buy another set?"
Adelyn crossed her arms. "Very funny, but you're still avoiding the point."
He paused for a moment while he looked back at her. "Which would be..."
She put her head in her hands and groaned. "You're giving me a headache, Justin. Call me nuts but I can't even remember the point anymore!"
Justin felt a smile creeping to his lips, but he held it in. "Don't worry about it," he assured her.
"So, you're really up for this?" she asked, changing subjects.
"Of course I'm up to it," Justin told her, as though insulted that she could even ask that question. "I've been pretending I'm someone I'm not for so long now that it almost comes naturally."
He could tell by the look on her face that something about his last line disturbed her.
"Justin... who are you?" she wanted to know.
"I'm me," he said, his eyebrows sagging until his face held a distressed look. " And I guess it's hard to be me sometimes." He looked up at her with hope. "Haven't you ever wondered what it would be like to be someone else? Haven't you ever tried to be that person?"
She just sat there, blinking at him in confusion.
"Well, when I tried to be him," he went on, "it blew up in my face. Instead of getting what I wanted, he kept me away the one thing I really wanted... only I guess I didn't even know what that was at the time."
He saw her get up and walk towards him, and when she slipped one hand over the side of his face, and the bandaged hand around his back, he put his head down on her shoulder, wrapped his arms tightly around her frame and held her close.
"It's you," he said, squeezing his eyes tightly shut. "The moment I saw your blue eyes, I knew I wanted you. There was something about you, Adelyn... something that made me forget about this person I was trying to be... and made me want to be the man that you could love."
She pulled back slightly and rested her forehead against his. "But don't you get it, Justin? Even when no one else could see the real you, I could... and I fell in love with him. You are the man I can love. You, and no one else."
Their lips melted together in a sweet kiss, and when they parted, Justin had a smile on his face.
Chapter 26
Paying the Consequences
Justin {Fiction}
My Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email me: irishgirl982@yahoo.com