Chapter 341
ADRIAN.
I don’t remember getting into the car. I don’t remember starting the engine. All I remember is the look on her face and the chilling words she said.
It keeps playing in my head, wreaking havoc in my already depleted soul.
We had such a great day. I cleared my schedule and spent the entire day with her, so how did it end like this? How the fuck did it come to this?
I was ready to confess to her. Ready to tell her that I was utterly and irrevocably in love with her, but then she looked behind me after giving me a sweet kiss, and that look changed everything. That look shattered everything, and now here I am questioning everything because I simply can’t believe that it was a coincidence that she ended up with me.
My grip tightens around the steering wheel as I drive, my jaw clenched so hard it aches. I exhale sharply, dragging a hand through my hair before grabbing my phone.
“Gunner,” I say the moment he answers the phone.
“Adrian? What’s p>
“My place in twenty p>
I don’t wait for him to respond. I just hang up and start driving, even though my mind is a complete fucking mess.
How the hell do I come back from this? How do we come back from this?
Her baby daddy, the man who hurt her so badly, is one of my best friends and what’s even worse? She’s with me just like Noah was with Chloe.
How am I supposed to accept that? How am I supposed to see this as anything other than a perfectly executed plan, one designed for maximum damage? How am I supposed to believe this is just a coincidence?
Every memory of Sierra replays in my head, one after the other, starting from the moment she walked into my clinic and smiled. That nervous smile. That fucking smile pulled me in the second I saw it.
I couldn’t get her out of my head for days and now every moment we’ve shared loops relentlessly in my mind… Every stolen touch. Every kiss. Every date. Every smile. Every—fucking—thing.
I trusted her, but was any of it real? Or was I just too fucking blind to see what was right in front of me?
“Fuck p>
I try to reason, to think clearly, but it all loops back to that one thing: she never mentioned his name. Why? Was it because she genuinely didn’t want to talk about him or was it because she knew who I was all along and she didn’t want me getting suspicious?
By the time I get to my destination, I have so many questions swimming inside my head, it feels like I’m going crazy.
I pull into my building and step out of the car, slamming the door harder than necessary and that’s when I see a familiar black car pulling up.
Noah steps out of his car and for a second, we just stare at each other.
“When I first saw that Cadillac, I had no idea it belonged to you,” he says and that’s the only warning I get before he swings.
His fist connects with my jaw, snapping my head to the side and pain explodes through me, but I barely feel anything because the storm inside me feels way worse than this.
“You bastard,” Noah growls, swinging again.
Something inside me snaps and I unleash everything I’ve been holding back since Noah appeared on Sierra’s porch.
I hit him back, hard, putting every single frustration, fear and doubt that is swirling inside me.
We collide, fists flying, years of friendship buried under anger, betrayal, and something neither of us can control.
“You knew!” he shouts, shoving me back.
“I didn’t know shit!” I fire back, swinging again.
He tackles me, and we crash against the hood of a car, the impact rattling through both of us. Neither of us is thinking, and neither of us holds back.
We are both blinded by rage, too angry to think clearly.
“Hey! What the hell Gunner’s voice cuts through, but it barely registers.
Noah’s fist slams into my ribs and I grunt before retaliating immediately, my knuckles connecting with his face.
“Enough!” Gunner roars, but we ignore him, still going at each other like we’ve lost our fucking minds.
“ENOUGH p>
This time, he physically grabs us, dragging us apart with force.
We still try to get to each other, shoving past him, but he plants himself between us.
“Have you both lost your damn minds?!” he snaps.
Neither of us answers, because we are both breathing hard, bleeding and still ready to go at it again.
Gunner runs a hand over his face.
“Jesus Christ…” he mutters before grabbing both of us like we’re kids. “Inside. Now p>
By the time we get into my apartment, the silence is suffocating and the moment the door shuts, Noah is exploding.