Flawed Perfection

by Cassandra L. Giovanni

  I closed my eyes as I rubbed my temples.

  “This was a huge opportunity. My work is looking at cutting down costs, and wants me to do the photography and the advertising. It’d be amazing, and I’d get a raise.”

  “Alls not lost,” Adam said, and I opened my eyes to look at him. He was blushing slightly as he continued, “If you wanted Abercrombie as opposed to, you know, Cro-Magnon-Muscle-Head, I could help?”

  My jaw dropped. “You’re serious?”

  Adam gave me one of those faint-inducing sideways smiles as he nodded. “Of course, anything for you.”

  “I need to raid your closet first. I’ve got a location all set up for the shoot, and we need to get to an electronics store ASAP,” I ordered.

  Adam threw his hands up, still smiling. “Alright, Bossy Boss, lead the way!”

  I tossed the clothes out of Adam’s closet onto a pile on the bed. He sat there watching; leaned back with his button-up now half undone and his tie hanging so loose I didn’t know why he still had it on—besides the fact he knew he looked gorgeous sitting like that.

  “That should do it,” I finally said, staring at the pile of pants and shirts with my hands on my hips.

  “You sure we don’t need to go to the mall and buy half the store?” Adam teased as he got up, threw off the tie and slipped the shirt off his shoulders with back muscles rippling.

  “You don’t need to be half-naked until the photo shoot,” I said as I distracted myself by grabbing a bag off a hanger and starting to fold the clothes and put them inside. If I kept staring at him, I might melt—or worse make a move on him.

  “This isn’t like a boxer brief company, is it?” Adam asked as he slipped on a v-neck t-shirt.

  “Really?” I asked, rolling my eyes. “Don’t you think if it was for clothing or something like that they’d provide the clothes?”

  He looked up at the ceiling and moved his head side to side. “I suppose you’re right.”

  “Logic, it’s always astounding,” I joked as I headed towards the door.

  “What’s it for anyways?”

  “A high-end hair salon,” I replied as Adam took the bag from me and slung it over his shoulder.

  “Wouldn’t they want to, you know, do my hair?” he asked, his brows shadowing his eyes.

  I looked up at his head of hair, perfectly styled in its light brown, hand-run-through-once-glory. It fit him perfectly.

  “That’s the illogical part. I just need some shots of a hot guy.”

  Adam definitely had that covered.

  “Wouldn’t they want some of a girl, too?”

  I could feel the blood drain from my face and my jaw go slack.

  “Maybe…”

  Adam put his arm around my waist and lowered his lips to my ear. “Good thing we have you to model for me, huh?”

  I pushed him away as my body gave an involuntary shudder of pleasure. “You? You’re going to take pictures of me?”

  Adam pushed his lips out in a cocky gesture before narrowing his eyes at me. “I’ve taken some gorgeous pictures of you before.”

  “You have?”

  We were at his front door, but he held one finger up for me to wait a minute as he disappeared back into his bedroom. He came out with a picture frame and handed it to me.

  My breath came out in a whoosh as I looked at a photograph of me backlit by the setting sun, head in my hand as I laughed. I was stunned at the fact he had a picture of me like this, framed.

  “When…when did you take that?” I asked, looking up at him as my body flushed.

  He was standing only inches away from me, and his hand went up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. His palm stayed against my cheek as his thumb stroked my chin.

  “I’ve got more pictures of you than I can count…but this is one of my favorites. I took it at the family dinner you dragged me to for your dad’s birthday,” he explained.

  Adam’s eyes washed over my face, and the heat of his hand holding my face made me dizzy. Adam’s eyes moved to my lips, and he swallowed.

  “River,” he began.

  The door burst open; throwing me into Adam’s arms and making us tumble over the side table onto the couch.

  Adam attempted in vain to grab hold of me to keep me from crashing to the floor, but I still slipped through his arms, my head slamming against the coffee table. When I finally hit the floor all I could do was moan and sob against the fright, and the pain reverberating through my skull.

  “Shit!” Bobby yelled as I curled up in a ball on the floor in shock.

  Adam pulled me into his arms and rocked me back and forth, yelling at Bobby, “What the fuck is wrong with you lately?”

  “I knew I was late—I was rushing!” Bobby explained, his hunkering frame filling my view as he leaned down. “I’m sorry Riv, I really am!”

  I shook my head, feeling the warm liquid dripping from the corner of my eye and down the side of my face.

  “I—I…I think I’m bleeding,” I managed to hiccup, my head pounding.

  Adam pulled me to face him, gently touching my temple. “Come on, let’s go to the bathroom. I’ll get you cleaned up.”

  “I can help—” Bobby started to say.

  “You’ve done enough!” Adam said, leading me away and shaking his hand at his brother to stay put.

  I lifted my hand to my forehead, and Adam grabbed it.

  “No, don’t. You’ll pass out if you see the blood,” Adam reminded me as he guided me into the bathroom.

  He sat me on the toilet and grabbed a wash cloth, dampening it with warm water before touching it to my temple.

  “When did you need those pictures by?” he asked.

  I tried not to cry at the thought.

  “Yesterday really—tomorrow at the latest. I know he’s your brother, but he’s got a head like a god damned brick.”

  Adam gave me a weak grin as he grabbed a butterfly bandage from the medicine cabinet. He rubbed a small amount of antibiotic ointment on my injury before placing the bandage over it.

  He kneeled in front of me and took my face in both his hands, wiping my tears away with his thumbs.

  “Are you okay?”

  “My head is pounding like I just slammed it into a metal pole,” I replied, the pain forgotten at the sweetness of his treatment.

  “I tried to catch you, but it happened so quickly—and you’re so tiny, you just slipped right through my hands.”

  I put my hands on his wrists as his own remained cupping my face. “It’s okay.”

  “Excedrin?”

  “Please.”

  “Do you still want to do the photo shoot?”

  “I don’t really have a choice, but I’m not sure how you’re going to work in this.” I moved my head so the injury was in his full view.

  Adam used his hand to tilt my face in the opposite direction. “This side is still perfect.”

  I shook my head at him as my heartbeat calmed and picked back up at his gaze.

  “Thank you,” I finally said.

  “I’ll always take care of you, Riv,” Adam said with a wink as he stood.

  He held out his hand. “Let’s get you that medicine and go get this shoot over with.”

  When we walked out of the bathroom Bobby was sitting on the couch with head in his hands. He heard our footsteps and turned, putting his hand on the back of the couch.

  “I’m so sorry, but we can still do the shoot if you want,” Bobby said.

  “You’ve done enough,” I snapped, grabbing the bag containing Adam’s clothes.

  “Adam!” Bobby growled as he stood.

  “I offered to help when you didn’t show,” Adam explained as he opened the door for me.

  “Adam!” he repeated, his voice a lower tone.

  His eyes were threatening. He didn’t want Adam to go with me.

  “You fucked up Bobby. I’m just cleaning up your mess. She’s my best friend, too.”

  As I looked between them I sensed a sibling riv
alry I’d never felt before. Even with their parent’s obvious favoritism Adam and Bobby always had a good relationship. Adam always took it in stride, venting to me, while Bobby ignored it and bitched to me about Adam’s obsession over it. Now as they stood staring one another down, I somehow felt I was stuck in the middle of it; as if I was the reason for it.

  “Some other time, Bobby,” I said, continuing out the door in my anxiety to ease the sudden tension in the room.

  “What was that about?” I asked as we began to walk down the stairs.

  I heard something shatter above us, and I knew Bobby had thrown something.

  “He’s a bit more jealous than usual…of us. He doesn’t like the table being turned on him,” Adam said. “That and my parents invited me for dinner without him.”

  “What?” I asked in shock as he held the door for me.

  “Yeah, and I’m sure that has something to do with what you said last time…they asked me to bring my guitar.”

  “Wow!”

  Adam nodded as he clicked the remote for his car to unlock. It beeped, and I got in before responding.

  “Wow!” I repeated.

  “Guess who’s coming with me?”

  I shook my head, and he nodded before heading out of the parking lot.

  “It’s this weekend, so after our volleyball tournament we can go see my parents.”

  “You’re an ass!”

  “Is that any way to treat the guy who saved you?”

  “You still owe me after this—a photo shoot is nothing compared to a night with your parents.”

  “You’ll get to see me play guitar. You always enjoy that.”

  “This is true,” I agreed, squinting a bit at the streetlights but still smiling.

  “We’ll stop here,” Adam said, nodding towards the pharmacy on the corner. When I went to take my seatbelt off, he put his hand over mine. “I’ll take care of it, just stay here and rest your head. You’re going to need to be able to take those shots of my hotness.”

  I looked up at the ceiling of the car and rolled my eyes.

  “That’s more like it,” he replied with a chuckle.

  Chapter 9

  The last thing I needed was another reason to dream about Adam, but he sure had given me that at the photo shoot. I lay in my bed as I came out of the dream with the distinct awareness of how my chest was rising and falling rapidly, matching the pace of my heart. I squeezed my eyes shut as my fingers found my lips.

  I was screwed. If I kept having dreams like that there was no way I would ever come out of the la-la land Adam created for me. It didn’t help that he’d made the photo shoot so amazing—that he’d convinced me there should be couples shots, and he’d held me so gently against him with his eyes melting into me.

  God, his eyes.

  I swallowed and rolled my face into my pillow, screaming into it in frustration just as a knock came on the door.

  I rolled over in the bed, pulling the cotton sheets with me and grabbing for my glasses.

  “Coming!” I grumbled as I looked at the time—eight o’clock.

  I’d decided to sleep in because I’d get enough of a workout at the beach, and I needed my beauty sleep in order to deal with Vickie and Alec for dinner.

  “What?” I said as I yanked the door open.

  Adam stood there in a white t-shirt and black swimming trunks with an oversized cooler at his feet.

  “Forget something?” he asked as he took in my disheveled appearance.

  “I was sleeping in—what time do you get to the beach at?” I replied with a yawn, ushering him in the door.

  “How is that comfortable to sleep in?” Adam asked as he looked at my plunging v-neck tank top and booty shorts. “Don’t you get a wedgie?”

  I blinked at him several times as a embarrassed tingle crept up my spine and to my face. “I knew you’d be waking me up early, so I wanted to give you something to stare at.”

  Adam bit his lip and cocked his head. “I like that answer.”

  I threw my hands up at him as I walked towards my bedroom. “Explain to me why you’re here so early?”

  He flopped on the couch, grabbing the remote as he answered, “We’re driving to the Cape. It’s like two hours away.”

  I turned as I reached my bedroom door. “We couldn’t go to the lake?”

  Adam’s brows lowered over his alluring eyes. “Really Riv?”

  I heaved an exaggerated sigh as I went into my bedroom. “Give me thirty minutes.”

  “If you say so,” Adam called back. His tone was sarcastic, but he knew well enough that I never took that long to get ready. He never really complained, although he always teased me about getting dolled up for a “fashion show”.

  When I came back into the room twenty minutes later Adam was spread out on the couch watching music videos on the TV.

  “Wow, it’s a miracle,” Adam said as he looked down at his watch, then back up at me. “Less than thirty minutes!”

  I rolled my eyes at him and hit one of his bare feet. “Let’s get going.”

  “Way to be a bossy boss,” Adam said as he jumped off the couch and slipped his flip flops on. “It’s going to be a long ride if you’re going to be in a bad mood.”

  “I’m not in a bad mood,” I snapped back, and Adam raised his eyebrows, mocking me.

  “Not a morning person today then?”

  “Since when are you a morning person?” I asked as I nudged him in the ribs.

  “I went to bed early,” he answered, looking down at me.

  “Oh, so no girls last night?” I joked, but I was really thinking about it and the dream I’d had. I shook my head as if it would rid me of either of the thoughts.

  It didn’t.

  “It’s not an every night thing, Riv.”

  I scoffed at him, and he elbowed me in response.

  “What about you? Bobby still trying?” Adam asked as he opened the door. When I looked into his face it was blank, as if he was trying to conceal some emotion he was feeling.

  I shrugged as I walked out into the warm sunlight. “When will he ever stop?”

  Adam chuckled to himself. “Still not giving in?”

  “He’s like a brother to me—and I’m not just saying that. It’s true…I just don’t see him like that,” I said as I opened the passenger door to his car and watched him close his trunk.

  Adam’s hands stayed on his trunk, and his eyes hovered there before moving up to reach mine.

  “What about me? Am I like a brother to you?”

  I tried not to react to the question, but I knew my face turned red.

  “You’re just Adam to me,” I finally answered.

  Adam’s eyes shifted back and forth over my face, and his jaw tightened before he moved to the driver’s side door.

  He looked over the roof at me.

  “Let me guess what that means—the boy next door who has a different girl every night. The player,” his voice was hard as he said the words.

  I shook my head at him. “That’s not what I think of you.”

  I slid into the car, and then he followed, jamming the key into the ignition with a bit too much force.

  “You’re one of my best friends. You keep the image of the player…but I don’t honestly feel like you’re playing anyone but yourself,” I said.

  “What do you mean by that?” Adam asked.

  His hand was on the shifter, but he didn’t put the car into gear.

  “You don’t let anyone in.”

  He looked up. “I let you in.”

  “But I’m me.”

  “You’re special.”

  His gaze bore into me and my eyes flickered to his lips. The air seemed to freeze as we leaned towards one another, and I wanted badly to kiss him. I let my eyes wander over his five o’clock shadow to his strong chin and back to my lap.

  “If you say so,” I said, eyes now averted. “Drive—you don’t want to hit beach traffic, do you?”

  By the time we reached the
beach our conversation had trailed back to normal, easy to talk about things like work, music and family.

  Adam stepped out of the car and tilted his face up to the sun.

  “I love this,” he said, and his head dropped, eyes meeting mine. “And I love that you’re finally here with me.”

  I bit my lip, containing my smile.

  “That’s only because you want to win for once,” I replied.

  Adam grunted as he lifted the cooler filled with drinks, snacks and lunch. “Damn, right, but I’ll have you know I’m already pretty diesel at this.”

  I blinked at him a few times, and his eyes widened at me.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Pretty diesel?” I repeated, unable to control the laugh that resulted from his phrasing.

  “Yes, I’m diesel!”

  “Diesel? That is not a way that I’d describe you man,” a guy with a beard in desperate need of trim said as he came up to us.

  “Mark!” Adam greeted, placing the cooler down and grabbing his hand and tapping him on the back with the other. “You know we’re going to crush you.”

  “And who is this?” Mark asked, and when I expected his eyes to trail down my body they didn’t. They stayed respectfully on my face.

  “I’m River,” I said as I took in his chunky frame and lopsided grin.

  “So this is the River,” Mark said with a nod at Adam.

  Adam’s eyes drifted off into the distance as he returned the nod.

  “Well, Joe’s going to be on my team as usual and we’ve got a few stragglers that we gathered up,” Mark explained. He seemed to know Adam was uncomfortable, but I didn’t feel he changed the subject to ease the tension. Instead, his rubbing of his hands show he was ready for the game to start.

  “You ready to go?” Adam asked as he slipped his t-shirt over his head.

  I let my eyes drift over his bare chest and slight six pack. The definition was just enough, showing he wasn’t completely obsessed with himself, but he cared enough to make every girl drool. Adam caught me staring and ran his teeth over his lower lip before raising his eyebrows.

  Two could play that game. I shimmied off my shorts and tank top and put my hands on my hips.