Chapter 6

Over the next week, you and Peter had found out nothing about this girl. She was either very careful about what she posted, or she was genuinely not having an affair with your boyfriend. That would have made you feel better, except for the fact that Adam had been working late every single night, and had even stopped texting you about it, which he always used to do. You would now be waiting around for him to call you, waiting in Peter's apartment for him to come home, and when you eventually called him asking where he was, he would then explain that he was working and wouldn't be home anytime soon. Every night that he did it made you more and more angry, which then ended up with Peter listening to you rant about it. Peter listened, and tried to offer some neutral advice each time, but he was being overwhelmed with the desire to just shout back at you that you deserved better and should break up with Adam.

He never gave into that desire, because he knew you wouldn't do that. Not until you had proof on whether his working late was because he was trying to impress his managers, or so that he had a cover story while he was out with someone else.

Tonight, it was a Saturday night and Adam had mentioned he was going out with his friends. You had not so subtly invited yourself along, which his friends had no issue with, because you all got along pretty well. Adam seemed a bit hesitant, but once you pointed out how you hadn't seen each other all week, he agreed.

He led you into the club, with his hand holding yours, and you felt excited about the prospect of drinking, dancing, and just having a good time. The whole scheme with Peter wasn't exactly boring you, but whenever you thought a bit too deeply about the premise of the scheme, your heart ached a little for all the possible outcomes, none of which seemed too positive.

Tonight though, you were pushing that out of your mind, determined to enjoy yourself properly.

You had shots with Adam's friends, you danced with your boyfriend for a couple of songs, and with his friends for a few more. A couple of hours into the night, you ran off the bathroom quickly, and when you returned, you'd noticed through the windows that the guys were all in the smoking area.

You headed outside, relishing the cool breeze as you walked through the doors, about to bound up the guys when something they said made you freeze in your tracks.

"I just don't get why he's fucking about. She's awesome. If she was my girlfriend, I sure as hell wouldn't be looking around." Shawn said before having some of his drink.

You narrowed your eyes at their backs. Were they actually talking about you?

"You never know what it's like behind closed doors though." Mason added. "Apparently she texts him all the time."

"I think that's cos he doesn't see her." Joe countered. "From what he's said, it's been ages since he even had her over."

"Probably because he's got another girl in there, he doesn't wanna get caught." Mason chuckled, and the others let out half-hearted laughs.

You felt your stomach twisting. Your fingers were tingling, from adrenaline, or anger, you weren't really sure. If they were talking about you, this was proof that Adam was cheating on you. But none of them said yours or Adam's name. You couldn't be sure.

What you could be sure of though, was how you handled this.

You plastered a smile on your face, and finally walked up to them.

"Hey guys!" You said happily as you squeezed in between them. You ignored the panicked looks on their faces. "Anyone got a smoke?"

Joe frowned at you. "You don't smoke?"

"Fancied one." You shrugged, and he passed you one of his. You lit it and took a big inhale, clenching your jaw as it stung your throat. "So, are we looking for a partner for any one of you tonight?"

"Mason is." Shawn grinned as he clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder, while Mason glared back at him. "He's going through a bit of a dry spell lately."

"Poor Mason." You said with a mocking pout. "Give me some details, boy, girl, height? Hair colour?"

"I don't need-" Mason started to say.

"Come on, let me help! You introduced me and Adam and look how well that's going." You said, quickly glancing at the others to see some unreadable expressions taking over their faces. "You might find your one tonight, and if you don't, I'm sure Joe will make out with you to compensate."

"I'll take one for the team, sure." Joe smiled.

"Fine," Mason groaned. "Girl. Don't care about height. Don't care about looks. Just make sure she knows the difference between football and soccer."

"How does anyone mistake football for-" You frowned, but Mason widened his eyes suddenly.

"Trust me. People make the mistake."

"Gotcha." You said, a little bit unnerved by his criteria. "Give me half an hour." You smiled before spinning on your heel and setting off.

You didn't need half an hour. In 10 minutes, you'd managed to find a beautiful girl visiting from Brazil, who definitely knew the difference between football and soccer, after you'd worked out that she called it rugby and football respectively. She was also into Dungeons and Dragons podcasts, which you knew Mason was also secretly into. You quickly introduced them, and 40 minutes later, while you'd been making your own friends, you spotted Mason with her on the dancefloor, as you were waiting at the bar for another drink. You smiled happily to yourself and gave yourself a pat on the back for a job well done.

You turned back to the bartender who had now produced your cocktail, gratefully taking it from him and paying him. Before you could turn back around though, Adam had slid in beside you.

"Oh hey!" You said with a smile, but his face was anything but happy.

"Where have you been?" He asked in an angry tone.

"I've been here." You replied with a frown. "I couldn't find you for ages, so I've just been around."

"Well I'm here now. Let's go for a smoke." He said bluntly, taking your hand and pulling you to the smoking area. He always got a bit blunt when he drank, but he wasn't usually angry. It was usually more of a 'I'm smashed and will use minimal words' blunt.

He led you over to Shawn and Joe, who were sitting on some garden furniture in the corner, having what seemed like a deep conversation. A deep conversation which abruptly stopped as you and Adam approached.

Shawn caught your eye as they both moved over to make room, and you gave him a look as if to say 'What?', but he didn't make any other gestures, so you just slid in next to Adam as he lit a cigarette.

The three boys started talking about work, which you quickly tuned out of. They all worked in accounting, but Shawn and Joe worked for a different firm to Adam, so they still had lots to talk about.

As they were talking, one of your newly made friends passed by your chairs and gave you a smile and a wave as they headed inside. You waved back, then had a sip of your drink, turning around to the boys to see if you could involve yourself in their conversation yet.

What you were met with was a pair of furious eyes from your boyfriend.

"What?" You asked him.

"Who was that?" He growled.

"Daniel, I met him earlier. He does websites so we-"

"You shouldn't be talking to guys like that."

"Excuse me?"

"I hope you explained that you are my girlfriend. Did you tell him that?"

You stared at him, dumbfounded and completely shocked. You glanced at Shawn and Joe to see if they were also shocked at Adam's behaviour, and their faces said that they definitely were. You looked back at Adam, swallowing away the fuzzy feeling in your mouth.

"I didn't tell him that you were my boyfriend, because he didn't hit on me."

"Not yet, but I guarantee he will. Guys like that only want one thing. Don't be a slut."

You felt your blood boil. Adam had taken his eyes off you and was just drinking his drink, as if nothing had happened. You clenched your jaw and stood quickly, your legs and your hands shaking slightly. Shawn and Joe were staring at you with their mouths open.

"I'm going home." You announced. You were met with silence. Silence from the guys at not knowing how to react, and silence from your boyfriend because...well either because he was clearly angry for some reason, or he was too drunk to realise what he'd said. Or he just didn't care.

You stormed off either way. Straight into the club, then straight outside onto the street. You kept walking, your anger fueling your legs, not paying any particular attention to where you were going.

15 minutes later, your anger was subsiding, along with your 'alcohol jacket', and you finally felt the breeze on your arms. Although you were starting to actually feel all the drinks now. You looked around, and noticed where you were. Subconsciously, you'd walked here.

You huffed out a loud breath, and headed for the building, practically running up the stairs and knocking on the door.

You heard some clamouring on the other side for a few seconds, then the door swung open.

You gave Peter an apologetic smile.