Finding Joy (The Joy Series)

by Jenni Moen

  “I’m sure,” I said, smiling weakly. “Have a nice weekend.”

  “You, too,” she said, starting to turn away. She took two steps and then spun back around. “Oh, it was nice to meet you, Adam.”

  “Same here,” Adam said, staring at her blankly.

  Another spin and Brittany was gone.

  “Well, that was really weird,” I said as we walked out onto the sidewalk.

  “Why?”

  “I mean, I haven’t seen her in years. Ten, to be exact. And then I’ve run into her twice in the past few months. We used to be best friends … but you know … things changed.” I didn’t want to bring up the accident. “Did you see her look at you? I think she remembers you.”

  “I didn’t notice,” he said.

  “Hmmm. Well, it just seemed weird to me. I really hope I don’t run into her again.”

  “You should avoid her,” he said quietly.

  “Why?” I asked, puzzled by his contradictory reactions to my oldest friend.

  “She just seems like a bitch. That’s all.”

  “Oh. Yeah. She always kind of was.” I reached over and squeezed his arm. I would have reached for his hand, but he was still carrying my work file. “Hey, what are we going to do tonight? Adam Day isn’t over yet.”

  “Adam Day, huh?” he asked. The smirky little smile that I loved snuck across his face and morphed into the sultry smile that I liked even more. “Why don’t we let it turn into Adam Night? I still need to check out that wax job you got last night from True Pain. I may need to do a thorough inspection to see if she missed anything.”

  “Sounds perfect to me,” I said. My heart and at least one other part started beating rapidly at the thought.

  CHAPTER 8

  Adam

  I’d managed to sneak out again this morning. Allie thought I was running back up to the school for a book. Pretty soon she was going to get suspicious. I mean, she knew that school was all but over for me at this point. And yet, I kept using at as an excuse to run off.

  There was no need to involve her in this, and I didn’t have a lot of faith in what I was doing anyway. I’d walked this road 11 times. The first 10 had been a dead end.

  Even so, I smiled at the lady in scrubs, signed the paperwork, and hoped for the best.

  Alexis

  I pranced up the gangplank in black stiletto heels and matching leather pants. The cold October air nipped at my bare arms, making me wish I’d brought a coat. However, a coat would have ruined the look, and once we got inside I would have no choice but to take it off. Then it would’ve been just one more thing to keep up with.

  Burke was in front, leading us to the party. He paused at the top of the ramp and clapped the doorman … if that’s what you called a bouncer at the entrance to a ship … on the shoulder. I bounced gently in place, trying to warm up while he greased our way in. Adam wrapped his arms around me from behind and kissed my neck just below my ear. “I told you to wear a coat,” he mumbled. “You’re freezing.”

  I snuggled back into his leather jacket and pulled it around my shoulders. “Nah, I’m perfectly warm now.”

  “You can have it,” he said.

  “No, we’re almost in. Besides, without it, you basically have no costume.”

  “And you’re going to make me wear it all night,” he muttered.

  “Well, not all night,” I said, twisting around to plant a kiss on his rough jaw.

  “Promises, promises,” he said, as we began to move again.

  Once inside, our group of eight hit the bar for a round of shots and drinks. Afterwards, we stood around a table at the edge of the dance floor and complimented each other’s costumes while passing judgment on the parade of faux celebrities going by. I’d never seen so many Marilyn Monroe’s and James Deans in one place. It didn’t seem very original, but then again neither were my and Adam costumes.

  “You make a great Sandy,” Carly said. “Too bad you couldn’t get Adam to dress up.” She winked at me.

  I waggled my black pleather clad hips at her. “Thanks. And you’re an amazing Victoria.” She was, too. Her hair was too long to be authentic so she had pulled it back in a severe ponytail. But, aside from the hair, she’d absolutely nailed the rest of Victoria Beckham’s look.

  “Burke is kind of perfect as David, too, don’t you think?” she asked.

  “Yeah. The hair and tattoos make him a perfect fit.” There weren’t a lot of costumes where you could work in sleeve tattoos as an accessory.

  “I know. I can’t wait to tap that ass later. I’ve always wondered what David Beckham would be like in bed. I’m betting he’s an animal.” Jillian, Krista, and I giggled.

  We were probably supposed to be dressed as actual celebrities, but Carly, Burke, Krista, and Brian were the only ones who had gotten it right.

  Krista and Brian were the funniest, in their Jersey Shore costumes. Unbelievably, she had convinced him to cut his hair, and it was spiked up in a faux hawk that looked shockingly good on him. I actually hoped that he kept the look. It fit in with his bad boy, band member image and was strangely appealing. However, the hair didn’t make the outfit. It was the padded six-pack muscle chest peeking out of the ‘Situation’ shirt that took it over the top.

  The rest of us were faux celebrities from either the movies or television. Jillian was wearing a black Catwoman suit, complete with mask and ears. I wasn’t sure how she’d done it, but she had actually gotten Ethan to dress up as Batman. I had spent a good 10 minutes laughing at his expense when I’d first seen him in the get-up. If pressed though, I would have to admit he actually looked pretty good. It fit him. But since he still referred to Adam as Batman, the Caped Crusader, and Bruce Wayne on a regular basis, the irony of it was almost more than I could bear.

  Barnacle was dressed as Captain Stubing, which was equally funny. He bore no resemblance whatsoever to the Love Boat captain and was at least a hundred pounds heavier. “I’m looking for my Julie,” he kept hollering out.

  The drinks were flowing all around, and the crowd began to get rowdier and rowdier. Something about being ‘incognito’ made one feel like they could let loose more than usual. The music was a fun mix of current hits with celebrity-inspired songs sprinkled in. I was almost positive that someone was feeding the DJ with requests to match the costumes in the crowd. When an old Elvis song was played, the dance floor had been packed with a dozen Elvises. Three different decades of Elvises had lip-synced and gyrated across the room.

  When the DJ started ‘Wannabe,’ we abandoned our little table to hit the dance floor. Even the guys joined us to make a circle around our little Posh Spice. Carly shook her hips and sang every line. I got the impression that she had studied up on the role, and her moves were impressive.

  I was used to seeing her in the audience. She was Burke’s biggest fan and rarely missed a performance. But as she swung her hips and danced around the circle, her voice rang out clear, and she hit every note. As I watched her, it occurred to me that Burke ought to make her a part of the show. I glanced over at Burke to try and get his attention, but he only had eyes for Carly. The corner of his mouth turned up, and he looked at her in shock and awe. He didn’t need me to deliver the message. He’d already gotten it.

  The DJ must’ve liked the show we were putting on, and immediately followed up ‘Wannabe’ with ‘You’re the One That I want.’ Carly danced over to Adam and me and started pulling us into the center of the circle.

  “Oh, hell, no,” Adam muttered, scrambling backwards.

  Carly put two hands on his chest and pushed him into the middle, while I danced around him singing that ‘he’d better shape up.’ Carly and I pushed and pulled him until he finally gave in. The whole group was shocked when he wrapped his arms around me and put his hands on my ass and hollered out ‘Feel your way’ in perfect time with John Travolta. I kept trying to pull away from him in an effort to properly choreograph the song, but he kept his hands all over me. He repeatedly crooned in my face that
I was the one that he wanted, and by the time the song ended, I was in a happy fit of giggles.

  Hot and sweaty, the group returned to our table. Barnacle brought over another round of drinks, and I sipped my vodka and soda while trying to catch my breath. Adam took off his leather motorcycle jacket, and I admired the way his ‘This is Not My Costume’ t-shirt pulled slightly across his shoulders.

  I was still on a 70s-musical-induced high and admiring my now mostly uncostumed Danny Zuko when a scantily clad Indian sidled up to him. Her neckline was so impossibly low that her boobs threatened to spill out at any minute. The fringed skirt just barely covered her ass. A feather in her hair and tall suede fuck-me boots finished off the look. My hackles stood up.

  Caribbean Barbie. Would we ever get away from her?

  “I would’ve never believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes,” she said, running a hand down his arm. “You’ve never been one to enjoy being the center of attention … always better one on one.”

  Adam pulled his arm away from her and tried to put some distance between him and the Pocahottie. “Hey, Carissa,” he said. The annoyance in his voice came through loud and clear.

  “Clear out, Carissa,” Burke said. “This is a private party.”

  Her eyes swept the group, pausing a little too long on Brian before finally landing on Burke. She gave him a scathing look. “I have a ticket to this party, too, Burke. I thought, from the looks of things, that Adam might need some rescuing,” she said with a wicked grin in my direction.

  “I’m in good hands, Carissa,” Adam said. “You should go back to your party.”

  Carissa blinked at him for a few seconds and then tried a different approach. “Okay, well, really I just wanted to ask about the contract. Are we still going to meet up next week?”

  “Yes, we are,” I said. “I’m working on it now.”

  Carissa swung her gaze from Adam to me. “It doesn’t look like you’re working on it. It looks like you’re making a fool of yourself and Adam on the dance floor,” she said in a saccharin sweet voice.

  I’d had enough. I stepped toward her so that our chests were just inches away from each other. “Take your sleazy, Pocahontas ass somewhere else. He doesn’t want you any more. I don’t think he could make it any clearer if he tattooed it across his chest.”

  Based on the stunned look on her face, I wasn’t sure she had received the message yet. I narrowed my eyes at her. “He’s mine. You had your chance, and you fucked it up. You can buy his apartment if you still want to, but it’s not going to get you any closer to him. It just makes you look like the crazy, desperate bitch that you are.”

  I clenched my fists at my side and ignored my pounding heart. I had never bowed up to anyone before, but I think I’d done all right. Apparently, Carissa did, too, because she spun on her sueded heel and stalked away.

  Carly jumped up and down on her red patent stilettos and hollered after her, “If you need some ice for that burn, Carissa, the bar’s back that way.”

  Stifled giggles erupted around the table, but a booming laugh from Burke quickly drowned them out. “Damn, Allie, I didn’t know you had it in you. Now I know why he calls you ‘Allie Cat’. You’re menacing when you want to be.”

  I smiled weakly at him. The adrenaline that had been pumping through my body was gone. Adam’s face was a blank mask, and I was a tiny bit worried that he was angry with me. Without saying a word, he grabbed my hand and pulled me away from our friends. With enough force to rip my arm out of its socket, he yanked me through the mass of bodies in the crowd.

  Barnacle’s voice boomed after us. “If a girl had just busted balls like that for me, Adam, I’d have to take a moment, too.”

  We passed Carissa, where she had rejoined her friends. Adam didn’t so much as glance at her, but she caught my eye and smirked at me like I was in trouble.

  Near where we’d come in, there was a set of stairs that led to a lower level on the ship. I couldn’t keep up with him on the stairs in my Sandy heels and stumbled a little when he didn’t break his pace. Whirling around, he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. He practically ran down the remaining steps. A few people mingled around here and there, and I heard a few giggles as we passed. But since my view was of Adam’s back, I had no faces to go with the voices.

  Adam strode down a dark hall and then abruptly righted me on to my feet. He pushed a tiny door open and ducked inside. I paused to read the sign above the door.

  When I hadn’t followed right away, he reached out and grabbed me, pulling me in behind him. “Jesus, Allie, get in here.” The door slammed shut behind me, and I heard the click of a lock. Adam picked me up and set me on the tiny sink, and I promptly fell in. The faucet pushed into my back, but one look around confirmed that real estate was going to be hard to come by in ‘The Head.’

  “I’m sorry, Adam,” I stammered. “I don’t know what came over me. She just pissed me off. I mean, she had her hands all over you again. I swear I just about …”

  His lips crashed into mine, cutting me off. All at once, his hands were in my hair, on my face … gripping my hips. I didn’t know how one man could have a handle on so many body parts at once. “Don’t apologize,” he muttered against my lips. “That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  Oh … Oh! He wasn’t mad at me. At all. I slid a hand into the back pocket of his jeans and gave him a squeeze about the same time that he slid his tongue into my mouth. I nipped on his bottom lip and slid my hands back around and started tugging on his shirt. “Get. It. Off,” I panted.

  He grabbed it from the neck and yanked it off over his head. “You next.”

  My costume was a little harder to manage than his t-shirt. But, two zippers later and it was a wadded up mess lying somewhere around his feet. Butt naked, I sat on the vanity in the tiny Head while the party went on above. “You still have your jeans on,” I whispered.

  “Do something about that, why don’t ya?” he mumbled, as his lips trailed down my neck and across my chest.

  I ripped the zipper down and slipped a hand into his jeans. I looked for the waistband of his boxers, but he wasn’t wearing any. I rubbed my hand against his hard stomach instead. “No boxers again,” I mumbled, while licking a trail from his ear to his collarbone.

  “What can I say? You’re rubbing off on me.” He tugged his jeans down.

  “You can rub off on me,” I said, wrapping a hand around him and tugged up and down. He throbbed under my light grip.

  He pulled my hips forward, and my back slammed into the faucet again. “Ouch,” I whispered. He looked at me questioningly. “The faucet.”

  He nodded and responded by picking me up and turning us completely around so that my back was now against the wall opposite the sink. He supported my ass with both of his hands. The room was so small that my feet hit the wall edge of the sink, providing leverage enough to make me think that great things were about could happen.

  Adam eased his way into me, and I hissed at him. “Harder.” In answer, he pounded repeatedly into me. Pressing my feet into the sink counter, I met him thrust for thrust.

  “You’re so fucking hot, Allie,” he groaned as he pumped into me again and again. I could feel him throbbing inside of me. “You’re not there yet, are you?” No, but he was close.

  “Put me down,” I whispered. He set me down, and I turned sideways. I bent over with my arms against the wall adjoining the one that my back had just been up against. I looked over my shoulder at him. “Like this,” I begged.

  He pushed up against my backside and slammed into me again, running the palms of his hands up and down my back. “For the love of God and all that is holy, I almost can’t handle you tonight.”

  Gripping my hips, he pushed in until I was completely filled and then pulled out to the point where I could just almost feel his absence. In and out he went. Harder and harder with each thrust. It was exactly what I needed. He wrapped a hand around the front of me and slid it between my le
gs.

  And that was all it took. One more thrust and Adam was right there with me. I rested my cheek on my forearms against the wall and panted happily while trying to gather up the pieces of my splintered psyche.

  He pulled me up and leaned me against the sink again. He found a paper towel and reached around behind me to wet it in the sink. As he cleaned me up, I smiled happily at him.

  “What the hell was that,” he said. His voice was as satiated as I felt. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I like it.”

  “I don’t know,” I said, shrugging. “I guess I wanted to mark you. Or I wanted you to mark me. Something like that. Somebody needed to get marked.” I looked down at his hand, which continued to wipe away any evidence of what had just happened. I had the sudden urge to stop him. “She can’t have you. You need to know that I’ll fight her before I’ll let that happen.”

  He chuckled softly. “That won’t be necessary. I promise, Allie. I don’t want anything to do with her.”

  “I think I believe that,” I said.

  He threw the paper towel in the trash, pulled up his jeans, and wiped his hands on the front of them before gripping my face between his hands. He looked into my eyes, and I couldn’t have looked away if I’d tried. “Don’t think you believe it. Know it. I’m all yours.”

  “Okay,” I said sheepishly.

  “Okay.” A smug smile spread across his face. “Besides, I don’t think we have to worry about her anymore. I can’t imagine that she wants to buy the apartment now.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said again.

  “I couldn’t care less. I just thought it would be an easy way to get rid of it. But I’m done talking about her. I’m not going to talk about her after having mind-blowing sex with you.”

  “It was mind blowing, wasn’t it?” I asked, arching my eyebrows at him.

  “You know it was,” he growled.