Noting her approval, Adam smiled wide and handed the vendor some cash.
“For you, sweetheart,” he said as he fastened the bracelet around her wrist. Clara tried to utter a thank you, but he silenced it with a kiss.
Her head spun as he led her back down their path, fingers linked, and his mother nowhere in sight. Clara shook her head again. She could not believe the madness her mind was putting her through. She was smarter than that.
“Hey, how about we head over to the soccer field and get one of those hot air balloon rides?” Luke suggested.
Clara bounced on the tips of her toes and shook Adam’s arm. She’d never ridden a hot air balloon before and this was an opportunity she wouldn’t dare pass up.
“All right, let’s do it,” Adam said.
Clara almost squealed. “Okay. Just let me use the bathroom first. Don’t you dare get in line without me.”
Adam chuckled as Clara skipped off to the restrooms. She let out an exasperated breath as she spotted the long line. Typical. Anxiously, she bounced as she waited. Her mind wandered to the skies as she thought about what it would feel like to be up in the clouds with Adam by her side. Heat filled her cheeks as she thought about how many times he’d brought her to cloud nine.
Clara played with the new bracelet Adam bought her. A moon. How perfect. She often thought of him as the dark, mysterious night where nothing good ever happened. Not that it stopped her from falling into his arms. Her cheeks flushed at the thought of her own cheesiness. Only Adam could turn her into a mushy romantic. She might as well be living between the pages of her favorite novels, teased and desired by her own dreamy hero who knew just how to …
“I’m telling you,” a familiar voice shrieked behind her, snapping Clara back to reality. It was a shrill voice Clara knew all too well. She rolled her eyes as Olivia continued, “It was just like last summer.”
“Yeah, but isn’t he with someone?” another girl asked. Clara dared not turn around as more women fell in line behind her. She was sure Olivia and her friend stood a few people back, but the last thing she wanted was an awkward conversation with them. Their bad first impression still left a nasty taste in Clara’s mouth.
“Please,” Olivia drawled. “That relationship is over. He can go around pretending to hang on, but we both know it won’t work. He’s going to live in Benson and be a big-time businessman. He needs someone a hell of a lot more social than some bookworm.”
The hairs on the back of Clara’s neck stood straight up. Olivia couldn’t be talking about Adam, could she? Clara told herself no, but her ears were glued to the conversation.
Olivia continued, “I mean, look at him. He’s gorgeous and a Beaumont. She’s a nobody.”
“And you’re a Pierce.”
“Exactly. He knows what’s good for him, and let me tell you, these last few weekends have been so good.”
Clara felt nauseous, and more than the oversexed tone in Olivia’s voice brought it on. She didn’t want to believe what she was hearing, but the doubts came storming back.
Was Adam cheating on her? It would explain his distant behavior lately and lack of sex life. She attributed it to him balancing school and working with his uncle, but was that really it?
Clara couldn’t breathe.
“And it’s perfect,” she heard Olivia say. “My sister lives in Benson, so I can stay with her whenever I want. It will be just like last summer.”
That was all Clara could take before she rushed out of the line, turning her face in hopes that Olivia would not see her. Tears began to form at the corner of her eyes, but she demanded they stay in their place. She wasn’t going to make a scene. Not here.
The second she saw her group of friends, Clara turned and headed the other way. She needed an escape. Somewhere she could process everything she’d heard.
It couldn’t be true.
She didn’t want to believe it, and yet all of her suspicions began to stir. The distance. The awkwardness whenever she mentioned Benson. The doubt about whether or not he had talked to his mother about them. It was all adding up and Clara didn’t like the numbers.
“Clara,” Adam called from behind her. She stopped in her tracks, closing her eyes to keep herself together. “What’s wrong?”
Her head shook forcefully as she bit down on her bottom lip. She wouldn’t break.
“Clara, look at me.”
That was all it took for Clara to lose her self-control. His eyes were filled with concern, but she saw through his lies. He had played her like a fool. Used her until he was bored.
Her rational side was too hurt to say I told you so.
Angry, she chose to start with his most innocent of lies. “Did you even tell your mom about us?”
Adam looked taken back. “Wh-what? Where is this coming from?”
Diversion, she thought. “Answer the question.”
For a moment, Adam looked just as angry, but it was washed away with something that resembled defeat. “Look. I’m going to tell her. I’ve just been busy. Between classes and traveling to Benson every weekend … I’ve been busy.”
“About that,” Clara swallowed the lump that grew in her throat. “Are you cheating on me?”
“What?” he asked as if it was the most offensive thing he’d ever heard. “Why would you even think that?”
Clara ignored the hurt look on his face. He didn’t get to play the victim. He was Adam Beaumont, notorious for one night stands and short flings. No one expected him to be faithful, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.
Finding her voice, she said, “Olivia. She said she … visited you in Benson.”
Adam’s face fell, confirming all of her suspicions. The tears she demanded stay in place began to well up in her eyes.
“So it’s true,” she said in a weak voice.
“Clara, let me explain—” Adam began to say as he stepped forward to comfort her.
She twitched in defense. “Don’t. You don’t get to touch me. You don’t get to screw some other girl and then pretend like it didn’t happen.” She felt herself breaking with every word, but she held herself together, replacing the pain with a level of pissed off she had never felt before. “I told you I wasn’t going to be one of those girls.”
“Of course you’re not,” he tried to say, but Clara was already cutting him off.
“I knew we were too different.” The pain in her throat swelled with each word. She knew better, and yet she let herself fall for him. “God, I was so stupid for thinking this was something different. Congratulations, you proved your reputation.”
Adam’s hand fell. A look of disbelief filled his face. “You think …”
But he didn’t finish his sentence, just nodded his head as anger radiated off of him. For a moment, Clara felt guilty, but her own pain was enough to keep her from rushing forward to comfort him. She didn’t do anything wrong. She wasn’t the one that cheated. She wasn’t the one who broke her heart.
She was just the silly girl who believed the best in him.
“Fine,” he finally said. His face twisted with an emotion she had never seen him wear. “This was bound to happen sooner or later. Why not now?”
His words echoed in her ears, making it harder to breath. It was a blow to her chest. Olivia was right. Adam didn’t want her anymore.
Clara was so focused on her shaking legs that she hardly heard him utter an “I’m sorry,” as he turned on his heel. She tried to stay composed, but despite the suffocating pain he had caused, watching him walk away made her realize how much she’d just lost. She couldn’t hold it any longer.
The tears fell.
Chapter Twenty-One
Never leave a fallen bro behind. That had been Luke’s motto for as long as he could remember. Even back in his playground days, when Deacon was being shoved around for not being “athletic enough,” Luke would swoop in to tell the jerks off in such an elegant manner, the losers were left with stupe
fied looks on their pudgy faces. Luke lived for that look. He wasn’t a fighter. When it came to drama, he had two options, talk his way out of it, or charm the woman in charge. He was free-spirited and preferred it that way, but when one of his men was down, the call to duty was too great to be ignored.
Slinging his backpack over his shoulder, Luke exited the lecture hall and headed straight for Adam’s home. Out of all the classes they took, Adam decided to skip the only one they had together. Not a good sign. The guy had fallen off the wagon ever since he broke things off with Clara a week and a half ago. Luke didn’t usually judged Adam’s brute behavior, but enough was enough. He was drinking too much, cursing out anyone who looked at him wrong, and starting stupid fights. Now he was skipping class one week before finals. Angela Beaumont was going to hand Adam his ass long before he received any diploma.
Flooded with troubled thoughts, Luke cut around the side of the house and entered through the screen door. He was sure he would find his mother in the kitchen. The moment he stepped foot in the room, he was attacked by a leaping maniac of a pup.
“Duke, down,” he bellowed as he crouched down to calm the crazy dog.
“You know what that little brat started to chew on?” his mother asked from the table. “A door. A door!”
Luke chuckled as he scratched under Duke’s wiry beard. Not so much as a single greeting, but Luke didn’t expect one. Their family was always together, so hellos and goodbyes were never needed.
“When your classes are over, you’re taking that dog to obedience classes.”
“Why me?” Luke asked. Rising from the floor, he tossed his backpack on the table and fell to the first seat.
“Because you’re the one that brought him home,” his mother replied.
“For Collin!”
“Collin’s six. He can’t go by himself, so you get to take him.”
Luke released an exaggerated sigh. Of course he would take the little guy to train the pup, but watching his mother roll her eyes was too much fun to pass up.
“Uncle Luke!” Collin shrieked as he came running around the corner.
“Hey, little man,” Luke said at the same time Anne Thompson’s tired voice pleaded, “Collin, please don’t run in this house.”
“Sorry,” Collin said before turning to Luke and telling him all about his school day. “Oh, and look what I taught Duke!” Collin picked up Duke’s ball and held it over the terrier’s head. Without missing a beat, the pouch leaped from his spot and snatched the ball from Collin’s little fingers. “Hey! Duke, no!”
Luke and Anne laughed as they watched Collin run out of the room, chasing after his dog. Duke bounced every which way as if it was the world’s greatest game.
“See what I put up with?” his mother said, still laughing.
“Oh, come on. It’s good for him.” A moment of silence passed between them as Anne continued hovering over the papers before her. One glimpse and Luke could tell the papers were Angela Beaumont’s plans and requests for another end of the year dinner party. Leaving his mother to her work, he asked, “Do you know if Adam’s home?”
Anne looked up at her son. They never talked about it, but they both knew Adam had started down a self-destructive path. “I think so. His car is in the garage, so I think he got back while I was getting Collin from school.”
Luke nodded as he rose from the table. He was almost out of the kitchen when his mother called again, “Lucius.” At the sound of his full name, he turned to face her. She only used it for two reasons, when she was serious or he was in trouble. “Don’t give up hope,” she said with a soft smile.
Luke’s face reflected hers as he left the room and headed up the stairs. Hope. Anne Thompson preached about it constantly. Hope and family. Luke had both, and even though they were not related by blood, Adam was family. Turning the handle to the bedroom door, Luke was welcomed by the sight of Adam’s bare ass.
“What the hell?” he yelled as he shielded his eyes from the scene.
A girl shrieked, pulling blankets around her to hide her exposed skin. Adam slumped to the bed, glaring at Luke with a new level of anger. “You just barge in here now?”
“When have I ever knocked?” Luke countered. Adam looked pissed, but the more Luke processed it all, the angrier he became. “And since when do you bring girls here? With my ma and nephew right downstairs?”
“It’s my house,” Adam yelled. Something in his eyes was off. It didn’t take long for Luke to figure out he had probably been drinking.
“Wrong. It’s your mother’s house, and if you don’t cut this shit out, you’re going to lose that too. You,” Luke said, turning his attention to the girl, “get dressed and get the hell out. Fun’s over.”
The girl looked from Luke to Adam. “You’re not going to let him talk that way to me, are you?”
Adam shrugged, too buzzed to care. Appalled, the girl pulled her skimpy clothes back on and made a run for the door.
“Oh,” Luke called to her, his tone laced with annoyance, “and if you run into a woman and a little boy, tell them you were just dropping off some notes for Adam to borrow.”
With a final huff, she was out the door. Luke’s attention was back on Adam, who was already out of bed and pouring a fresh drink. At least he had the drunken decency to throw on a pair of shorts.
“Put the drink down,” Luke demanded. “We need to talk.”
“About what, mom?”
“About whatever the hell has been going on lately. I usually don’t give two shits about who you hook up with, but you brought her here? And with Collin here?”
“I didn’t know he was here,” Adam snapped.
“Well he is, and we all agreed we would keep all that shit away from him.” Now, Luke was really pissed. Adam had broken the one rule they’d all made for themselves. The parties, the women, the drinking. They wouldn’t parade it in front of Collin. The kid had lost both of his parents. He didn’t need to see his uncles with a new woman every week.
“He met Clara,” Adam said in a tone that sounded like it was the most painful thing to say. “Do you know what he asked me yesterday? He wanted to know where she was. Said he wanted to show her the trick he taught Duke.”
Luke lowered his head, unsure what to say. There was only one other time he’d ever seen Adam this low and that was after his breakup with Vivian. But unlike Vivian, Clara was good for him.
“She hates me,” Adam said.
“Can you blame her?” For the first time, Luke wanted to hit him for messing things up with this one. “I just don’t get it. Why Olivia? Why the hell would you go back to that mess when you had Clara?”
“It just happened—”
“That shit doesn’t just happen, Adam. The flings, I get. Hell, I could care less if you plowed half of Greek Row, but you had something good going and you threw it away for the redheaded slut?”
A half smile flashed across Adam’s dazed face as he said, “That’s a good drink.”
“Not the point.” Luke rubbed his forehead. He needed Adam to snap out of it. “I hope you wrapped it up. Who knows where she’s been. Or worse, if you knocked her up, she’ll be after a ring next.”
“I … I didn’t sleep with her,” Adam said, taking another swig of his drink.
“What? Rose said you guys broke up because—”
“I could have. Hell, I almost did.” Adam looked up through pain-filled eyes. Luke waited calmly. “The first night I drove out there, Olivia showed up in practically nothing, saying how we could be discrete and no one would know. I already doubted if Clara and I would even survive long distance, so I went for it.” Adam’s gaze drifted across the room, his scowl deepening. “I’ll spare you the dirty details, but when I realized I was fucking up, I told Olivia off and kicked her out. But we didn’t have sex.”
Luke needed a moment to process it. Rose’s story was very different from Adam’s, but Luke trusted his friend. Adam would have no reason t
o lie to him. “Did you tell Clara that?”
Adam shook his head. “She already assumed the worst in me. And for good reason. Corin was right. I ruined her.”
“That’s bullsh—”
“No. You didn’t see the way she looked at me. She deserves better.”
Luke felt his friend’s pain, but the woe-is-me attitude was enough. Taking three long strides over to Adam’s chair, Luke ripped the drink from Adam’s hand and downed it in one gulp.
Adam looked up in disbelief. “What the hell?”
“I get that you’re hurting, but you’re acting like a little bitch and it’s killing my good mood. You have finals next week and if you fail because you’d rather be here screwing some random and drinking your inheritance away, then you might as well move in with Corin because your mother isn’t going to give you a third chance. You can kiss Benson goodbye along with everything else you’ve worked towards this year. Now if you don’t want to get off your lazy ass and get Clara back, that’s your choice, but I’m not going to let you fail your classes.”
Luke was breathing hard. It’d been a long time since he had to set his friend straight.
Adam sat there, taking it all in.
Luke waited for his blood pressure to lower before adding, “Now go take a shower. You stink like booze.”
Defeated, Adam rose from his chair and walked towards the bathroom. As his hand hit the door, Adam paused and said, “I was no good for her. I had to let her go. When you love someone you have to let them go.”
Luke’s heart sank as the bathroom door began to swing shut. “She’ll come back.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Clara waited patiently for the video call to connect. As much as she missed her family, she secretly hoped Harper wouldn’t pick up the call. She’d sent her sister a text the night she and Adam broke up, but she refused to talk about it. It hurt too much. If it weren’t for her promise to keep in touch at least once a week, Clara wouldn’t be making the call now.
“Hey!” Harper said. Her cheerful smile lit up Clara’s computer screen.
Tame the Beast (Ever After #1) Page 17