Faded Perfection (Beautifully Flawed Book 2) by Cassandra Giovanni Page A

all these receipts and a bottle hidden in a guitar case and he smells like booze almost every morning, and he leaves me alone so much of the time;” the words slowed, and I swallowed as I admitted, “God, I feel so alone.”
    Dad was quiet on the other end, and I pulled the phone away from my ear thinking I accidentally hung up. His face was still on the screen with the seconds ticking away above. I put it back to my ear and heard him suck in a deep breath.
    “It’s been a rough year,” Dad managed to say.
    I leaned over the balcony, staring at the spot where Adam’s car was supposed to be. “What am I supposed to do?”
    “When did it start?” Dad asked, and I looked up at the darkening sky, biting my lip.
    “Since the day after Bobby died…so almost four months,” I replied, and I fought the burning pain in my throat as I thought about that.
    Everything seemed to have happened so long enough.
    “Give it some time…maybe try to have a conversation with him about it to let him know you’re concerned–but stay level headed,” Dad said, and I could hear his fingers tapping against something in the background.
    I watched as Adam’s car pulled in, and my body was stuck going from hot to cold as I wondered what he was doing that he wasn’t home. Level headed. I didn’t feel level headed anymore, and I wondered from the way he said it if I
e
ver
was about anything besides work. I knew how to talk to people at work, but that was a skill I acquired. Talking to Adam used to be easy.
    Used to
.
    My life used to be perfect, and I took that for granted. I wondered if this was punishment for that.
    “Okay,” I finally replied.
    “River?” Adam called from the entryway, and I closed my eyes as my chin dropped back.
    “Adam’s home,” I said, my voice quiet.
    “I love you, Ducks.”
    “Love you too,” I replied as I inhaled and then stepped back through the window. “In here.”
    Adam came in the bedroom, loosening his tie and his eyes were tired. I fought the urge to glance at the guitar case that hid his secret. I swallowed as the realization hit that he chose
my
guitar case. Had he wanted me to find it? My whole body rushed with tingles, and I realized I was staring at it, unblinking.
    “What were you doing on the balcony?” he asked as he began to unbutton his shirt. “And you’re still in your work clothes.”
    My head jerked up, and my eyes met his as I blinked the dryness away. “I could say the same for you?”
    Adam slipped his shirt off, his muscles rippling as he balled it and threw it into the laundry bin. “Parent teacher meetings.”
    “Ah,” I said, nodding as I bounced on the balls of my bare feet.
    “Did I forget to tell you?” he asked, his hand rubbing the back of his neck as he stared at me.
    I swallowed, my face turning red as my eyes ran over his abs. I was supposed to be mad at him, but he looked so model-like shirtless in black pin-striped slacks. “I may have forgotten–“
    “Or tuned me out,” Adam replied with a wink as he slipped the pants off and grabbed a pair of pajama pants from the dresser. “You going to get into something more comfortable?”
    This
was what made things so hard. He acted so normal when he came home. I breathed through my nose as I looked down at my loose gray sweater, long necklace, and black boot cut slacks. “Yeah.”
    “Good,” he said, sitting at the edge of the bed and leaning back on his elbows. “I get to watch just like you watched me.”
    My chest rose up to my chin as I narrowed my eyes at him. It was only half a bottle. I shook my head before I began to undress, and then I was suddenly in his arms.
    “Another thought,” he said into my ear before letting his lips caress the curve of my neck.
    Talk to him.
    But my brain wasn’t keeping up with my body, which was currently on fire as his fingers slipped under my shirt. Then my brain was thinking again, but it wasn’t about talking. The shirt slipped over my head, and Adam’s