Faded Perfection (Beautifully Flawed Book 2) by Cassandra Giovanni

managed to say.
    “I’m awake, and I’m grateful for that.”
    I shook my head as I wondered if she already forgot Bobby wasn’t going to wake up. The tears started tumbling down my face without control and Tara pulled me into her arms, now far thinner than before. She hiccuped, and I knew she was crying too. We sat like that for more minutes than I liked to remember before our combined sobs softened and we pulled away laughing.
    “He’d be so pissed; you know that?” Tara asked as she wiped her face with the back of her hand.
    “Yeah, and why is that?”
    “He’d hate to see his girls so sad,” she replied, and I had to take a deep breath to keep from falling back into tears again. S
he still knew.
    “Yeah, you’re right,” I said as I squeezed her hands in mine.
    “So, how’s Adam?”
    The hollow in my heart returned, and I looked down at our hands. “It’s been rough. He’s been drinking a lot, but yesterday he was sober–so hopefully that’s a good sign.”
    Tara bit the inside of her cheek, and her eyes flickered as she struggled with some thought. She shook her head, and it seemed to pass. She smirked as she replied, “Bobby’s going to kick his ass if he doesn’t stop.”
    My body tensed as I looked at her. Maybe she thought he was in another hospital bed. I fought back a wave of nausea. I couldn’t tell her, not without breaking down completely again.
    “He should be more concerned about me kicking his ass,” I replied instead, giving her a weak smile.
    Tara ran her fingers running over the sheets pooled around her lower body, staring at the red bag that had been pushed aside when we hugged. “Speaking of kicking asses– I’m going to kick my own if I can’t figure out how to put mascara on
–or
which one of these is mascara
.”
    I laughed, taking the cosmetic bag and opening it up. I held the black tube and a tiny mirror up.
    “Together?” I asked.
    “Together,” she replied, and the corner of her eyes wrinkled with determination.

Chapter 11
    I tightened the tie around Adam’s neck as I looked up at him. He hadn’t drank in a week, and he was going back to work. I didn’t know how he managed to sit around the apartment for so many weeks, but I figured he was probably playing music, although I hadn’t seen him play since he almost destroyed his guitar. I blinked hard as another thought rammed into my brain,
or he was so drunk it didn’t matter.
 A part of me was beginning to feel normal again, and I didn’t want to weigh it down with the thought of the fact there was still a chilled bottle of Southern Comfort in the refrigerator door. My stomach tightened as my eyes focused back on Adam. I could still feel the missing pieces of me pulling away as I walked out of our apartment past Bobby’s empty apartment, or down the hall at my work past Tara’s empty cubicle.  When I got home Adam was there with a smile on his face and that helped to make the week feel more manageable.
    “I can do this,” Adam said as he touched his forehead to mine.
    “That’s the same thing I told myself all day the day I went back to work,” I replied, leaning up on my toes and kissing him.
    His hands slipped up to cup my face.“I’m not as strong as you, River.”
    “When you come home, I’ll be here,” I replied. A shaky breath rattled passed his lips, and he nodded. “Besides your kids miss you.”
    Adam’s eyes moved passed me, focusing on nothing in particular as he nodded again. “I miss them too.”
    “See–at least you won’t be stuck in an office all by yourself with a bunch of smelly flowers,” I replied, scrunching my nose as I slipped on my high heels.
    Adam’s face paled, and his hand stuck in his newly cut hair. He asked me to cut it short on the sides and leave the top long, and his hands now disappeared in the slicked back top. “Flowers?”
    I slipped my hand into his as we walked out the door together. “I asked Principal Michaels to make sure you didn’t