#bu01

Braelynn’s head felt horribly clear when she looked at Adrian after admitting that she couldn’t go home. This night was going from train-wreck to fucking atomic bomb with a quickness and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.

She couldn’t believe that she’d kissed him!

And now, here she was about to admit to this persnickety millionaire that she was so irresponsible she couldn’t even afford to keep an apartment in the slums of the city. If there was any such thing as fairness in this world -- a meteor would fall on her face right now.

Hell, an alien abduction would do.

She tried to think of something besides the truth, any excuse would do, but her brain was sluggish and the ground kept slipping. So Braelynn wasn’t surprised when she heard her voice admitting, “Got evicted.” 

She watched his eyebrow quirk, she watched his expression change from impatience to downright frustration. There were two of him, both frowning. Then three -- she focused on the frowning man in the middle.

She was right against him once again, sharing breath. Braelynn felt her heartbeat kick up. She exhaled shakily and corrected, “Kiss me.”

Only as she said it, she wasn’t sure if it was an explanation or a plea. He tensed and she was present enough to stop herself from begging. Jesus -- she was never drinking again. She usually reserved that kind of vow for the morning after, but this moment was worse than any hangover she’d ever experienced. The sheer amount of unadulterated embarrassment was almost enough to sober her. 

“You could’ve,” she whispered, feeling the hot flush spreading through her cheeks and down her neck. “You could’ve kissed me back.”

“Oh.” And the way he said it made her turn away from him, made her twist her body  and try to walk away from him. She just wasn’t stable enough, wasn’t steady enough. 

She pulled back from him and made a broken little gasp of a sound. Immediately embarrassed and regretful, her eyes narrowed as she splayed her hands against his chest. For a moment they both only looked at each other. 

And then she jerked away from him and fled. Jolted from his shock by her sudden and hasty retreat, Adrian gave chase.

His instinct was to light into her immediately -- he couldn’t help it, he was worried and that made him combative. But he’d learned from experience that it wouldn’t get him far with Braelynn. She had a stubborn streak a mile-wide, and chastisement would only make her shut down harder, faster, more completely. 

He approached her with caution, head tilted to the side to speak into her ear.

“Happy birthday.”

She reacted by lifting an arm, dancing back into him, her body very nearly pressing right against his own. “Adrian!” Her voice was high-pitched, his name dragged out in giddy amusement. 

His business had wrapped up quicker than he’d expected and he’d flown home early. He’d taken a car straight to her neighborhood fresh from the airport; he hadn’t even stopped by his penthouse to put down his bags first. Adrian’s intention had been to take her to a birthday dinner.

So he’d found the vibrant red eviction notice taped to her door, and he’d discovered on his own that the locks had been changed because his key didn’t work. She’d given him that key with the demand that he would only use it in a dire emergency; he’d told her that her privacy was paramount and left it at that. He’d kept his word. As far as Adrian was concerned, an eviction notice was an emergency. 

If she was having problems with the rent, he would have helped her. All she’d had to do was tell him and she knew that. Hell, he could have bought the apartment building and just let her live there. But Braelynn would have hated him for it. She’d made him promise six years ago not to interfere with her life.

Their families were close friends -- their fathers were old business partners -- and so they had both come from the same world of wealth and privilege. The difference was that Adrian had used his inheritance to bolster and multiply a prosperous business and Braelynn had thrown hers back at her parents.

Still, she felt like family to him. He’d watched her grow up and helped her along the way. And just because her parents had disinherited her, it didn’t mean that Adrian would stop protecting her from the wolves.

And then there was Adrian... God. If he saw her like this he’d have a literal meltdown. He was so tight-laced that she cringed just thinking about his inevitable disapproval. She could never tell him about the eviction. Never tell him about her problems. Not. Ever.

He was so... together. He would never understand how she’d gotten to this place. And she’d be too embarrassed to face him with all that silent judgment looming between them. He wouldn’t care about her birthday in the face of everything else; and besides, she doubted he’d ever partied a day in his life. He thought birthdays were an occasion for suit, tie, and a fancy restaurant. And he would just think she was even more immature if he could see her downing shots and hip-shaking in a nightclub.

Adrian’s “big brother” voice made her so angry. She immediately lost her cool and lifted a finger to jab in his direction. She meant to poke at his chest -- she had an entire speech about how he wasn’t the boss of her and everything -- but she wobbled and lost her balance. 

She overcorrected, trying to keep herself upright, and wound up falling forward, hands outstretched to protect herself. Instead of pushing herself back up, she plopped backwards to sit on her butt with an embarrassed groan. 

He should stop her. He could step back and break her hold and laugh it off and take her home. Only while he was thinking that, it was already too late. And there was her mouth.

She kissed him.