“Just making sure you’re not dripping your gross sweat on the floor.” I would rather trace my tongue across him and swallow down every drop I can get. It’s not the most sanitary, but the thought of him hot and sweaty does things to me.
“I would never.” His sarcastic, affronted gaze lights up his face.
“Mhm, sure you wouldn’t.”
His laugh is loud, and my own follows.
When it dies down, I stare at him, really taking him in. The short stubble on his face covers his sharp jawline. The color is just a few shades darker than the hair on his head, and has more of an auburn tone to it, catching just right in the light, he almost looks Irish. His different-colored blue eyes are framed by dark lashes that flutter every time he closes them. There are a few freckles on his forehead that he didn’t have in college, either, that must have come from his time out in the sun.
How can he still be the same guy, but so different? The Adam now versus the Adam then is the same at the core, but there’s something… changed about him.
He’s staring at me, his eyes darkening with longing and lust. The same things I’m feeling. Were we kidding ourselves when we agreed to be friends? Can I even be friends with him when the feelings that I have still run as deep as they did back then? They never went away, not completely. I covered them the best I could, but even my best efforts fell flat when it came to him. He has this way about him, a way to crumble my walls until there’s nothing left but pebbles.
“Collins?” His voice is husky, and I step closer to him, listening to the voice in my heart screaming at me that this isourAdam.
I keep my mouth shut until I’m standing close to him, our shared breaths filling the space between us.
He opens his arms when I take another step, and I fall into them. I let him hold me close and let his warmth surround me, protecting me from the unknown. He smells like expensive cologne mixed with a hint of sweat, and I inhale deeply, filling my senses with him. Adam keeps me cocooned, pressing kisses to the crown of my head while I nuzzle farther into his neck.
We stay like that, both of us enjoying the moment, while the world moves on without us. Everyone lives their day-to-day lives right outside that door, not knowing the unstoppable feelings that are being shared inside this quaint bookstore.
“I’m scared,” I finally whisper, risking the words and hoping they don’t come back to bite me in the ass.
“What can I do?” he says, his breath ghosting across my short hair. He cups the base of my neck and massages the knots while I gather my thoughts.
“I don’t know,” I finally settle on, trying to pull away from his grasp as tears burn my eyes. I’m embarrassed that I admitted I’m scared, but I can’t even tell him how he can help me. I’m playing with his emotions at this point, pushing the boundaries thatIset, and he’s too good to deny me anything.
Adam doesn’t let me go, instead, he holds me tighter. The thump of his heart pumps against mine, the synchronization beating to its own tune.
“That’s okay, Hunter. I’ll prove to you that you can trust me to protect you. I’ll take care of you from this day forward,” he vows, his words strong. And I’m helpless to do anything but believe him.
I should have known that being friends with him wouldn’t be enough for me, after everything we’ve shared. Adam is and will always be the person I can rely on to support me through the hard times.
When I heard him talking to Danielle all those years ago, I thought the worst. And it was bad, but he didn’t truly know the depth of the hurt that I was going to feel because I had never talked to him about what happened to me in high school. If I had trusted him with that information, things would have turned out differently for us.
But maybe that’s what was supposed to happen. We needed to be two teenagers in love so we could learn and grow and come back together when we were ready to fight against the world and stand up for what we believe in. And I believe in Adam, in what we have. Only time will tell, but I have a feeling this is going to be life-changing.
46
ADAM
Inever said I was a good man.
When Cheryl let it slip last night at dinner that a certain man named Matt was back in town, I watched Hunter’s face grow pale as I shoved a fat slice of meat lover’s pizza into my mouth. Even the greasy, cheesy goodness couldn’t distract me away from him.
“Wh-what?” he stammered. Hunter doesn’t stammer; he always articulates his words. Even if sometimes he doesn’t want to speak, he’ll find a way to put them into existence. This was different, though, watching the panic flood his face.
“Who’s Matt?” I asked, wondering what the fuck was going on. Hunter brushed me off, and it hurt, I’m not going to lie. He was keeping something from me, even if it was something he didn’t want to talk about. I thought we had moved past this. But when Cheryl was silenced by Hunter as well, I realized it was something way bigger than just him. And I refused to be left in the dark about anything that concerns him.
Hunter was silent on the drive back to his house, even playing his favorite songs through the stereo wouldn’t jerk him out of the funk he was in.
So instead, I took it upon myself to do a little internet sleuthing to figure out exactly what was going on withMatt.
A simple search brought up a high school superstar turned criminal. Assault. Assault. Assault. One charge after another. But no other legal documents mention jail time or time served.
For fuck’s sake, does this guy have anything better to do than get in petty fights?
I scroll through the different links, reading the random headlines, until a YouTube link pops up. I’m just nosy enough to click on it.
