His father laughed. “Neither were your mother and I. Look what we accomplished together.”
The muscles in Adam’s jaw ticked. “I’m not having this conversation with you right now. I’ll be home in a couple of weeks. For now, I’m fine.”
“We will talk about this again, but stop posting pictures of that girl. I have people looking into her background.”
Holy hell. What was he doing?
“Dad, that’s not necessary. I’ll stop posting pictures. Please respect her privacy and call off your dogs.”
“Privacy? We don’t get privacy. If you’re spending time with her, than neither does she.” His voice was so calm, like this was an everyday matter.
Adam didn’t say anything for a long moment. “Fine. No more pictures. Anything else?”
“Come home. You’re needed. You don’t have time to check out.”
“Too bad.” Adam hung up before his dad could say anything else.
An angry silence hung in the air. Every muscle in Adam’s body was tense. Liz wanted to make him feel better, but she didn’t think trying to soothe anything with his father would help.
She plastered a smile on her face and kept her voice super light. “I want a house in those woods.”
His lips twitched. “You want a lot of houses.”
“Maybe my shop will be more successful than I think.”
“Maybe. Just make sure Tanner doesn’t donate all that money to some noble cause then,” he said sharply.
“Adam, can you not do this right now?”
“Sorry,” he spat.
She clenched her fists. She’d just wanted to make him forget about the argument with his dad, and now he was going and bringing up Tanner. Her relationship with Tanner wasn’t perfect, but no relationship was, and she resented Adam for constantly reminding her what was wrong with it.
“At least I chose Tanner, which is more than you can say about your past girlfriends. If you’d cut ties with your dad, you wouldn’t have to worry about that. But then that would mean you might have to live like a mere mortal.”
“That was uncalled for.” His voice was low and angry.
“Okay, here’s another deal then. You stop reminding me of everything that is wrong with my life, and I’ll do the same for you.”
“Shouldn’t friends look out for each other’s happiness, though?” His words came out quiet, and a bit sad.
Liz thought for a second, knowing he was right. Whether his comments about Tanner came from love or jealousy—or the deep friendship they were building—was tough to truly understand. Jenny and Liz always looked out for each other and told each other when they were making stupid decisions. Though Liz didn’t always listen to her because Jenny automatically thought any decision that involved Tanner was a stupid one.
“For now, for the sake of this friendship, I think having two topics off-limits is better than opening fresh wounds. Don’t you agree?” Liz asked.
Adam sighed loudly. “Yeah, you’re right. Deal.” He kept his eyes on the road, and the car grew silent. He reached for the radio. “I’m going to listen to music if you don’t mind.”
“I’m going to sleep. Wake me if you get tired.”
Liz tried like mad to sleep, but the car made it impossible. She always had trouble getting comfortable. Eventually, she gave up and just stared out the window. Driving in the dark wasn’t any fun since there wasn’t anything to look at. And especially since she and Adam weren’t speaking.
About forty-five minutes before they got to their campsite, they stopped and got gas. Liz stretched her legs and went inside to use the bathroom. When she came out, she found Adam chatting up the clerk.
“There’s nothing between here and the campground, and it’s another hour on the other side. So if we need any food for breakfast, we should get it now.”
“But the views along the way are worth it,” the clerk said to them both.
Liz picked up a few oranges and Cokes. “I think we have everything else. We still have a pack of bacon and eggs. That should be good for breakfast.”
They paid for their food and continued their drive. After about fifteen minutes, Adam cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that about Tanner. I was upset about my dad. I don’t even know why I answer the phone when he calls.”
“I know we said Tanner and your father were off-limits for conversation, but if you’d like to talk about him, I’m here.”
“Thanks, but let’s leave it off-limits for now. I need to think.”
“Sure.”
The car was quiet the rest of the way. With the winding roads, and Liz’s inability to sleep anyway, she opened a can of Coke and hummed along to the music Adam had chosen. She felt bad about attacking him for his past dating life, but he’d egged her on. A little taste of his own medicine wasn’t going to be the end of the world for him.
Every so often she glanced in his direction. His eyes never left the road, and he was absent of the at ease demeanor he’d had for most of the trip. He didn’t drum his fingers on the steering wheel along to the music or lean an arm against the door. Just sat ramrod straight, the only movement in his arms when he had to turn the car. She felt bad for him. While her relationship struggles were with her boyfriend, she couldn’t even fathom what it would be like to have such tension between her and her father. He was her rock. The person she trusted without question and who knew virtually everything about her hopes and dreams. If she didn’t have him, there would be a huge hole in her life.
She supposed that as she and Tanner grew their life together, he would slowly take over some of the space her father currently filled, but until then, she couldn’t imagine a life without a close relationship with her dad.
“Hey, look, there it is,” she said.
He turned left at the sign for the campground, and they drove around slowly, looking for spot thirty-two. Adam pulled into the drive, and Liz opened her door. The crashing sound of the waves against the rocks made it sound like they were directly underneath them.
“This is going to be gorgeous in the morning,” Adam said, pulling out the tent.
“It will be.”
After they got the tent set up, Liz pumped up the air mattress while Adam dug out the sleeping bags. He tossed his inside the tent. “Where did you put yours? I can’t find it.”
“It should be with yours. Did you see it when we put them back?”
“I assumed you grabbed it.”
“I was busy with the tent. You were supposed to get the sleeping bags.”
He rubbed his eyes. “Where was it?”
“Behind the chairs.”
“I don’t remember seeing it.”
“It has to be there.” She scrambled out of the tent and threw open the hatch of the car. She moved around the chairs and the cooler, but her sleeping bag was nowhere to be found.
Adam joined her. She sat on the bumper and put her head in her hands. “I guess I’ll just bundle up.”
He put his arm around her. “Don’t be stupid. It’s freezing out here. You can have my sleeping bag. Nona will keep me warm anyway. That dog is like a portable heating blanket.” He laughed quietly.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Okay, thanks.” Liz felt really bad, but they’d pick up another sleeping bag tomorrow somewhere.
They finished setting everything up, and then it was time to climb inside. It was really late, and Liz was sure she’d pass out as soon as her head hit the pillow.
She let Adam climb in first and claim his spot on the air mattress. He called Nona to his side, and she obediently curled up next to him. He looked quite adorable, like a marshmallow, with all the layers of clothing he was wearing. Liz couldn’t help but laugh since Adam had anything but a marshmallow build. It’s not like she’d spent much time touching him—which was on purpose—but the few times she had, she felt chiseled muscle. And the couple times they’d swam, she’d seen that physique first hand.
It was easily the coldest night they’d had since the trip started. Maybe Nona gave off enough heat, but Liz doubted it. Her nose, one of the few things not in the sleeping bag, was cold. She shivered at the thought of not having the sleeping bag at all.
But she couldn’t offer to share with Adam. That went against all sorts of dating rules, first of which was never share a bed with another man. Which, if she was being honest, they’d been doing since the start of the trip due to Adam’s purchase of the largest air mattress known to man. But, they had kept their distance on said air mattress, which was enough to justify that it was okay—in Liz’s mind.
To offer Adam half of the sleeping bag, even if they did unzip it and turn it into a large blanket, felt wrong.
Liz resigned herself to not feeling bad for Adam. If he got cold enough, he’d move to the car. She was so exhausted that another thought didn’t pass her conscious mind before she drifted off to sleep.
Shifting from the other side of the mattress woke Liz up. The sun wasn’t up yet, and her first thought was how warm she was. She rolled over to see how Adam was doing and found she couldn’t make the full turn. Nona was plastered against her back, snuggled into the warmth of the sleeping bag. Which meant Adam had lost his portable heating blanket.
Liz twisted her head to see if he was still in the tent and was shocked to find he was. Curled into the smallest ball his large self could manage. Guilt shot through her, and without thinking through it too much, she unzipped the sleeping bag.
“Move over, girl,” Liz whispered to Nona, who begrudgingly stood and let Liz lay the other end of the sleeping bag over Adam. Then the pup quickly snuggled underneath it.
This configuration was colder for Liz than hogging the whole sleeping bag to herself, but it was significantly warmer than lying on the mattress without a sleeping bag at all. It wasn’t quite long enough to stretch the length of the king mattress, so Liz slid more toward the middle, letting Nona have the outer edge.
“You didn’t have to do that. I was just turning into a numb icicle.”
Liz jumped at Adam’s voice.
“That’s what I was afraid of,” she whispered.
“Well, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
The air under the blanket between Adam and Liz quickly heated up so that Liz no longer felt a difference between the sleeping bag by herself and sharing it with Adam and his dog. She wasn’t certain if it was only collective body heat that was doing the trick, or the current of attraction that was almost palpable in the tiny tent.
Liz tried desperately not to acknowledge it and force herself back to sleep, but suddenly everything about Adam’s presence felt magnified ten-fold. His slow and steady breathing, every shift on the mattress. Not even Liz’s nose was cold anymore.
She had spent several nights sharing a bed with Tanner. Obviously, the most action that had occurred between them was snuggling and talking into the early morning hours, which had been wonderful. They had a lot to talk about, and Liz loved how passionate he was about his volunteer work. He listened to her dreams as well, and asked about her plans for her shop. Just thinking about those nights brought a smile to her face.
The smile slowly fell as she realized they hadn’t spent a night together like that in a while. How long had it been?
She couldn’t even recall.
But that would change when he got back from Honduras. They would talk into the early morning hours, and after they were married, do much more than just talk. She was excited for that future—to spend that kind of time with the man she’d fallen in love with.
That was probably why she struggled so much on this trip. She hadn’t spent that kind of time recently with the man she’d fallen in love with. And everything about the time she’d been spending with Adam reminded her of why she fell in love with Tanner.
Was it possible to be that in love with two men?
And if the answer was yes, how did she choose which one’s heart to break?
Adam woke the next morning and grinned when he saw Snow’s face inches from his own. She blinked her eyes open and smiled.
“Morning,” he said.
“Morning,” she mumbled, stretching her arms out wide. “It’s freezing.”
Adam really wanted to pull her close and fix that problem, but they were just friends.
Friends could take pictures though. He pulled his phone out. “Smile,” he said.
“No, no pictures,” she reached for the phone, but he held it out of reach.
“Please. I promise I won’t post it.” He would use it just to remember some of the happiest moments of his life. Like waking up as close to this wonderful woman as would ever be possible.
She dropped her hand. “Fine.” She smiled wide, and he snapped the picture.
Adam was actually quite hot now, thanks to the multiple layers of clothing and the warm sleeping bag. “Thanks for sharing the blanket last night. It appears my portable heating blanket isn’t particularly loyal if she knows it’s more comfortable elsewhere.”
Snow laughed. “It appears so.” She looked over her shoulder, and Adam raised up on his arm to see Nona still sound asleep.
He pulled out his phone then and scrolled through his Instagram feed. Nothing new. He had a number of emails that he decided to quickly read, most of which didn’t sour his mood too much. There was a note here and there from his father suggesting he stop this “charade” and get back to his responsibilities. He ignored that and shot off a few quick answers to other business, essentially showing his father he hadn’t completely abandoned the real world.
But he had no desire to get back in the mix of things anytime soon.
He glanced over his phone to find Snow staring up at the ceiling, a very content look on her face. It really was easy being around her.
Finished with all the necessities, Adam suggested, “We should go check out that view. What do you think?”
She turned her head, and those blue eyes smiled. “Great idea.”
He unzipped the tent and climbed out. Spinning around, he asked, “You coming?”
“Give me a second.”
Adam stood. They were isolated out here, only one or two other tents. When he turned around, his breath got caught in his throat. They were high on a cliff, and the waves crashed below. The sunset would be gorgeous, and he was a little sad they missed it the day before. Huge trees rose up around them.
They’d seen some pretty places, but this one was by the far the best. He dug out the wood from the back of the car and started a fire. He’d gotten good at this.
He could stay here for a whole week and not think twice about it. He knew Liz had some grand plan for the day, and they’d sleep somewhere else tonight, but he didn’t want to leave.
This trip would be over in a little under two weeks. Maybe after he put her on a plane in Vancouver, he’d come back here and figure out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. Because right now, there was only one thing he wanted, and she was practically engaged to another man.
Maybe she was just a wakeup call. She’d certainly made him completely reconsider where his life was going. He could survive without his father’s business and his money. It wouldn’t be easy, but he had become quite good at what his father did, and there was no doubt in his mind he could do it without his guidance. Or perhaps he’d investigate going into a completely different line of work all together. He didn’t know what that would be exactly, he was proud of himself for considering something different. Prior to this trip, it was like he had a one-track mind, and the track was already laid before him. Now he could see all the potential tracks, and while some might be bumpy or have unexpected turns, few would lead him to a cliff.
And if they did, he’d either jump and see what was at the bottom or turn around and backtrack a bit
.
He’d never lacked for anything, so he didn’t know what it was like to want something you couldn’t have. But now he’d had a taste, and it was as if he’d been stumbling around in a fog his whole life.
Snow came out a few minutes later.
“You want to grab the kettle so we can make some coffee?”
She stretched. “Yeah.” She took in the view over the cliff and the trees behind her. She met his eyes. “I did good. This is beautiful.”
He smiled and laughed. “You did good.”
After setting the kettle on the grill over the flame, Liz stared out over the ocean again.
“We’ve got a short drive today. Only about an hour if we drive straight through, so we can hang out here for a bit, but I’d like to get there before dark this time.”
“And we need to pick up another sleeping bag,” Adam pointed out, though it practically pained him to do so. The world had never felt as right as it had that morning waking up next to Snow.
Which was exactly why they needed another sleeping bag.
“Yes, another sleeping bag for sure.” Snow said the words with such conviction that it hurt Adam a bit. “Why don’t we eat, shower, and pack up. Then we can explore the park and leave whenever we’re ready.”
“Sounds good.”
After they cleaned up, they hiked down to the water and checked out a few sea caves and climbed on the rocks. It seemed almost surreal to Adam. To think he would never have had an experience like this if it wasn’t for the random encounter with Snow on that San Diego beach.
Snow’s phone trilled, and she pulled it out of her pocket. “It’s Tanner,” she said with a smile.
The smile seemed genuine, and Adam berated himself for being sad about it. She was practically engaged to the guy. If she wasn’t happy, there would be something very wrong.
But as he listened to her talk to Tanner about their view, with the rocks and the ocean and the sea birds calling overhead, he couldn’t bring himself to be happy for Snow.
Perhaps he wasn’t good enough for the girl who had stolen his heart.
Chapter 17
Roadtrips and Romance (Omega Mu Alpha Brothers Book 5) Page 11