I looked at the phone to make sure I was hearing right and saw his name. Adrian. He’d been hunting some fey from Leaves that got loose and were wreaking havoc on the people of Pittsburgh.
“No. She’s not back yet.” But if everyone was going to call or text for an update every two seconds, I was going to go crazy. Or crazier than I already was.
“How are you doing?” Adrian asked.
“Fine. I’m just at the apartment waiting for her.”
“You can’t sit there all day. You’ll go crazy.”
Shows how much he knew. “I’m already going crazy.”
“Go for a run. But with your shirt off.”
With my shirt off? That was random. “What? Why?”
“Because you might run into her. You all sweaty and no shirt? It’s hot, dude.”
“Adrian,” I said, pleading with him to stop. He had to be joking. I wasn’t going to win her over by being shirtless and sweaty.
Okay. That wasn’t entirely accurate. I knew Tessa liked my body, but this wasn’t going to be as easy as me walking around without a shirt.
I needed Tessa to love me again. And not just an everyday kind of love. It needed to be epic. The kind of love strong enough to break the fey magic embedded in her soul.
That was going to take more than attraction or lust.
“I’m serious. She’ll dig it,” Adrian said.
He was being stupid now. “I’m hanging up.”
“Okay, but just as a general practice, no shirt. Sweaty is good. And dimples, dimples, dimples.”
“You sound like a used car salesman or worse—my pimp. I’m not trying to—”
“Attraction is the first thing that will catch her eye. You’re a good-looking guy. It’s a tool that you can use. You’re not aware of your effect on her, and usually, that’s fine. But not today.” He was quiet for a second. “You have shaved, right?”
Damn it—and my dimples. “Yes. Chris told me that already. I shaved.”
“Good. Smile shirtless. She’ll be yours in no time.”
“Fine. Got it. Bye, Adrian.” I hung up and threw my phone on the couch.
I wasn’t walking around everywhere without my shirt and grinning like an idiot. People would think I was nuts.
But Adrian was right about one thing. I needed to get out of here.
I couldn’t stand here, waiting to hear her get home, jumping at every little sound in hopes that it would be her. I couldn’t count the number of times I checked the stupid peephole in the last hour.
I grabbed my keys and zipped them into the hidden inner pocket in my shorts. I found the armband for my phone and AirPods and then headed out. A few miles of running, and maybe I’d lose some of these nerves.
Because that’s what I was. Nervous. I’d never been more nervous about anything in my life. Not even facing down a chapel full of demons. That had been scary but in a very different way. Now, I wasn’t scared exactly, it was just plain old knotted-up nerves.
Which did me no good. At best, they’d make me do or say something stupid or awkward. At worst, they could make her afraid or suspicious of me.
My nerves had to die the death.
As soon as I was outside, I hit it hard. One mile turned into three, turned into five, turned into fifteen. And then I ran back. I was going to need a ton of water, a shower, and a massive meal, but by the time the building came into view, my head felt clearer than it had in days.
Tessa might not look like herself or seem like herself, but she was in there. Somewhere. I just had to find her.