4. Adrianna
Adrianna
"I'm not sure I am doing this right." Penelope and I decided to help Coleman's girls create vision boards for the new year. I am not sure I can see the vision in mine yet.
"I think you need to add more glitter," Paige says.
"You don't need to add glitter to everything," Payton says as she rolls her eyes at her sister.
"Glitter makes everything better, Paige. Don't let Miss Dark and Moody tell you otherwise." Penelope sets her hand on Paiges and gives it a little squeeze.
"While I normally agree with Pen, I don't think it is missing glitter.
" I look at the girls' poster boards. Theirs are full of different things they want to do this year, and mine has two things on it.
I tilt my head and look at it again. Maybe from a different angle, it will look fuller. Maybe I do need more glitter.
"You need to add more to it, Addy," Payton says as she taps the paper. Penelope leans over the table and looks at my board.
"Top seller and visit your brother. That's it?
" She pursed her lips. "You have to add more than that, Adrianna.
Is there anywhere you want to travel to?
" I point to the spot where it says visit my brother.
I think flying to North Carolina would be considered traveling.
"Anything else you want to accomplish? Maybe take up a cooking class or something?
" I give her a horrifying look. She knows I almost burnt down my apartment last year when I tried to cook her birthday dinner.
"Okay, so no cooking class." Paige laughs as her Dad walks into the room.
"Are you girls having fun?" He kisses them both on the head, which makes them scrunch their noses. "Hey, Penny." He smiles at my best friend.
"Hey, Coley." She snickers when he rolls his eyes. "Quit calling me Penny and I will quit calling you Coley."
"Fine, fine." He holds his hands up in surrender and looks over our posters. "Speaking of top seller, the paperwork came through on the Webster deal. Do you want to deliver the keys, or do you want me to do it?"
"Oh! You should put on there to go to a hockey game." Penelope slams her hand on top of my poster, making me jump.
"Why on earth would I go to a hockey game?" She has to be going crazy.
"Because Luka thought you were hot and you should get out of your comfort zone. We can go together if you want." She smiles at me and Coleman starts coughing.
"Luka Rizzoli told you that you were hot. Was he inappropriate in any way when you were showing the apartment?" Coleman's voice turns into the stern dad voice he uses for the girls.
"No, he was a gentleman, and he didn't say I was hot. Remember he asked Pen and me to go with them on Christmas Eve, and I said no."
Coleman nods as if he just now remembered the conversation. "Oh yeah, he asked for your number. I remember now."
"Luka Rizzoli asked for your number, but you didn't give it to him?" Paige couldn't hide the shocked look on her face if she tried.
"He is so hot! A great goalie, too, but so hot!" Payton fans herself, and Coleman scolds at her.
"No looking at boys." He points his finger between the girls. "Either one of you." Penelope starts laughing. "Come on, Addy. Let me get you the paperwork and the keys. You can do the handoff with Webster." Coleman starts toward his office.
"Jake Webster is hot, too." Paige snickers and Penelope high-fives her.
"Damn right, he is."
Coleman rolls his eyes and storms out of the room.
After collecting the keys and paperwork, I make my way back into the kitchen.
The girls are long gone, but Penelope is waiting for me.
I look at the girl's posters, set aside to let the glitter dry.
Looks like Payton decided black glitter was okay.
I look at Penelope's. Hers is full of different things to try, places to see, and things to do.
On there is to see a college basketball game in North Carolina; I am thankful I won't have to travel alone.
I go to grab mine and realize it is full of things.
I can tell by the handwriting that Penelope wasn't the only one to add something to my board.
Paige added that I would add 5 full outfits to my closet, Payton added that I would take 5 cooking classes, and Penelope added that I would attend 2 hockey games and go to the bar with her 5 times.
"You girls and your fives. Something going on that I should know about?" I look at Pen and she scans my poster.
"I didn't even notice." She takes out a pen, crosses out the 2 next to hockey games, and changes it to a 5. "Much better."
I grab the poster and start towards the front of the house. "Don't be mad, Addy. They just wanted to put something on there that would make you happy."
"And what about you, Pen? Why would you add hockey and bars to my list?"
"Bye, Addy. Bye, Penny." Coleman yells from down the hall.
"Bye, Coley!" Pen yells as she shuts the front door behind us.
"Because I wanted to add something that will make you grow past the perfect little person you created. You know it's okay to have fun? To step outside the lines sometimes. It's not going to kill you."
"It might," I say as I dramatically fall into her passenger seat, tossing the poster board into the back.
Please don't let him show up. Please don't let him show up.
I know that Jake said he only had a few minutes to transfer the keys and paperwork today.
Something about them going out of town for a game.
Penelope made me search through the Mustangs game schedule to pick 5 games I wanted to go to.
I didn't realize that they played so much.
Thankfully, I am able to kill 3 birds with 1 stone.
Pen and I are going to travel to North Carolina next month to watch my brother play and the Mustangs play in North Carolina in the same town he is in.
So we are going to catch a hockey game with my little brother.
He was definitely confused when Pen told him our plans but said he would do anything to hang out with us.
What he meant was that he would do anything to hang out with Pen and she knows it.
I hear the elevator ding and hold my breath, waiting to see who steps out of the elevator.
I release it when I see Jake stepping out with a big smile on his face.
He is walking toward me alone. I am thankful Luka couldn't come with him.
I don't know what I would do if I had to tell him no again.
You know you wouldn't be able to tell him no again, Adrianna.
The damn voice inside my head that has been screaming at me for the last couple of weeks makes herself known.
"Hi, Adrianna. Thanks for meeting me on such short notice and with not a lot of time.
" Jake reaches out his hand to shake mine.
Our hands almost connect when the door behind me flies open.
Luka is standing in the doorway, chest heaving.
I realize he must have run up the stairs.
I am staring at him with my hand out to Jake when Luka smiles at me and walks in between us.
My heart flips when he gets near me, and Jake laughs when he pushes his hand out of the way and takes mine instead.
"Hi, Adrianna." My heart flutters again when I hear him say my name. I don't know why my body reacts this way to him. I have had my fair share of boyfriends, and I am around rich men all the time. My body has never acted like this before. It's like I have no control over it.
"Ummm, hi." I pull my hand from his. "Why did you take the stairs?"
"Because this asshole here ran from the car to the elevator and shut me out." He punches Jake in the shoulder.
"Why?" I am so confused by what is going on.
"Because we are on a tight schedule and he didn't need to come up. He could have stayed in the car." Jake lifts a shoulder.
"Right. Okay, come inside. We will get the last of the paperwork signed and you will get your keys.
It shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes since you didn't have a lender.
" I unlock the door and push it open. The men follow me inside and over to the kitchen counter.
I spread all the paperwork out and hand Jake a pen, explaining to him where he needs to sign.
The whole time Luka stands off to the side starring at me.
"Did you have a good Christmas with your friend?" He finally speaks and the break in silence causes me to jump.
I laugh and put my hand on my chest. "Yeah, we ended up having Chinese.
We exchanged gifts on Christmas and then made vision boards with Coleman's daughters for New Year's.
" That was probably too much information, but I don't really talk to anyone outside Pen and a couple of preteen girls.
"How about you guys? Did you enjoy your holiday? "
"We had a couple days off for Christmas that we spent with my folks, but then we had a game the day after Christmas."
Jake stops his pen mid-air. "What's a vision board?" He looks from me to Luka, confused, when we both start laughing. "What the fuck? You know what a vision board is?" He points the pen at Luka.
"Yeah, Mia, Sam, CeCe, and Lacey made some the other day," Luka tells him and I get a nagging feeling on the back of my neck.
I don't know why I suddenly feel like kicking something.
I slightly shake out my body, hoping to get the feeling to go away.
"Are you cold? Do you want my jacket? Shit, Jake.
We should have turned up the heat. Then you won't be cold when we come home in a few days.
" Luka drapes his coat over my shoulders before I can tell him no and walks over to the thermostat.
"Don't put it too high. There's no point when we'll be gone for days." Jake finishes signing the papers.
"Okay, Dad." Luka laughs and hits the thermostat again. I slowly pull Luka's jacket towards my nose and inhale.
The smell is intoxicating, a mix of worn leather and the lingering warmth of skin.
There is a faint musk of his cologne, something deep, woodsy, and undeniably masculine, mingling with the subtle scent of soap.
Craving one more hit, I press it to my face one more time.
The smell wraps around me, igniting desire in the most unexpected way.
I have to pull it away before I ask to keep his jacket forever.
"What was on your vision board?" Luka walks back towards Jake and me.
"What?" I turn and look at him. I forgot what we were talking about and drop my hands away from the collar of his jacket.
He smirks at me and I know I have been caught. "What was on your vision board, Adrianna?"
"Oh, you know, the normal things. Like hitting top sales and going to visit my little brother. Coleman's girls added in for me to take cooking classes and go shopping, so I am excited about those. My friend added in some stuff also, but I am not so excited about those."
"Where does your little brother live?" Jake asks as he stacks the papers together. That should be my job. I grab the papers from him and place them in the folder. Luka shoots him a dirty look, and I wonder why. Then I remember Jake asking me a question.
"He plays basketball in North Carolina. My friend and I are going to watch him play next month."
"Oh, where at. We play in North Carolina next month." Luka smiles and I almost get lost in it.
"I know," I say without thinking, and then my eyes go wide.
"You know?" Luka smiles at me again. "I thought you didn't watch hockey. How do you know we are playing there next month?"
"Because of what my friend added to my vision board.
" I grab the keys off the counter. "Congratulations, Mr. Webster.
You are now the proud owner of this amazing apartment.
Please let us know if there is anything we can do for you in the future.
I hope you both do well with your games.
" I smile at both of them and head towards the door.
"Gattina," Luka's voice causes me to stop and turn around. He smiles at me and walks toward me. "What did your friend add to your vision board?" He takes a piece of my hair and twirls it through his fingers. He is so close to me that I am having a hard time thinking.
"She told me I have to go to five hockey games and go out with her to the bar of her choosing five times.
" I spin around and scurry out the door.
I can hear Jake laughing, and I press the elevator button as hard as I can over and over again, praying it hurries up and wishing I did enough cardio to just go down the stairs and not die.
Finally, the elevator doors open, and I step inside.
I don't know if the door close button actually works or if it is a mind game played against all of us, but I press my finger into it anyway and hold it down.
I see Luka standing in the hall outside the door.
"See you soon, Gattina." He waves and winks at me.
I am in so much trouble.