AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Aren’t you uncomfortable here?”
She shakes her head. “Don’t waste your money.”
He pretends not to have heard her. Facing me, he asks gently, “You’re going to be okay if I leave?”
I smile and nod.
“I’ll come with you,” Rowan says. I’m not sure if he’s running from the depressing state of the room or from his mom.
The father and son leave.
Then it’s just me and Alexa.
“He’s such a square, isn’t he?” Alexa says with a wry grin.
“Who?”
She juts her chin at Adam’s retreating back. “You know, when Rowan was growing up, I used to dream that I’d done things completely different. I imagined that Adam and I had gotten married, and then we’d had Rowan. We’d live in a little townhouse in the suburbs. I even picked out a dog for us.”
“What kind of dog?”
“A chihuahua. They’re small and loud. Like me.”
I want to laugh, but my face can’t seem to make the expression. I slide my hands in front of me and pin them together.
“I like you, Nova.”
I blink in surprise.
“You look like a woman who has her crap together. Not a lot of insecurities. Not immature. Someone who’ll treat Rowan well.”
My throat bobs.
I fidget with my hands.
“How long have you and Adam been together?” Alexa asks in a weak voice.
My head whips up.
“Come on. Do you think anyone would miss those heart eyes he throws at you? Even if you weren’t holding hands, I’d have seen it.” Her smile is sad. “I know what Adam looks like when he’s just messing around. This isn’t it.”
“We haven’t been together long,” I answer. “It’s new.”
She winces and leans back in her bed. “No, it’s not. The way Adam looks at you, that’s a mature kind of love. Unconditional. A love like that doesn’t happen at first sight. It takes years. It takes being tried by fire. It takes commitment and sacrifice.”
I say nothing.
Closing her eyes, she lets out another sigh. “I regret a lot of things now that I’m dying, but one of the biggest is that I never got to experience that.” She opens her eyes and smirks at me. “You should know how lucky you are.”
My bottom lip trembles. Why is it that I don’t feel lucky at all? Why do I feel like I took something from someone who needs it more?
CHAPTER14
THE ICE QUEEN RETURNS
ADAM
The smellof burning metal fills my nose as I adjust the kinetic battery’s memory board. I’ve got a magnifying glass in front of me. It’s the strongest on the market and yet my eyes are still blurry.
