“Adam, what happened?” Katherine demanded. He had a large bruise forming on his cheek at the edge of his right eye. She took his face between her hands. “Did your mom hit you?”
“No, I got into a fight with Reggie,” Adam admitted.
“Are you okay?” Katherine rose onto her tiptoes and turned his face so she could take a closer look at the injury.
“I’m fine but I had to get out of there,” he assured her.
Katherine hugged him and lingered a moment. She was surprised when he kissed her deeply; he usually avoided big shows of affection around her family. She could only stare at him when he released her. Clearly he was deeply troubled.
“Is everything okay?” Julia asked as she entered the kitchen. “Adam! What happened?” Julia hurried to take a closer look.
“What’s going on?” Walter followed his wife.
“Mom’s boyfriend and I had an argument,” Adam shared.
“What happened that he hit you?” Katherine demanded.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Adam shook his head and avoided her gaze.
“Alright, ladies, Adam and I are going to go have a word, if you’ll excuse us,” Walter indicated for Adam to follow him.
Katherine, her eyes dark, watched Adam leave the room.
“Your dad will get to the bottom of it, Kattie,” Julia assured her daughter.
Katherine nodded and grabbed her eggnog before following her mom back to the living room where the movie still played. Katherine was unable to follow the plot, however, for worrying about Adam. A few minutes later Walter entered the living room and reseated himself.
“Adam will be staying here for the rest of break; he’s getting his things from his car now,” Walter announced.
“What happened?” Julia asked him.
Walter shook his head; his own expression was angry.
“According to Adam, Reggie decided to give him some fatherly advice about his relationship with Kattie. In doing so he made some inappropriate comments about Kattie and Adam lost it and went off on him. Reggie threw the first punch but Adam hit back. His mom got in the middle of it and took Reggie’s side which is what prompted Adam to grab his things and leave,” Walter relayed.
“Good,” Katherine said, her anger rising.
“I expect you two to behave and respect the fact that this is my home, is that clear?” Walter addressed his daughter.
“Yes, sir,” she nodded.
“Good.”
“I’m going to go check on Adam,” Katherine stood and excused herself. She found him dropping his bags on the guest bed in the basement.
“Are you okay?” Katherine asked him.
“I will be,” he assured her. “Your dad told you, didn’t he?”
“He did,” she nodded.
“I didn’t want you upset.”
“I was already upset,” she informed him.
“Kaitlyn, why are you interested in someone from a family as screwed up as mine?” Adam demanded of her.
“This is why I hate you seeing your mom. I know that is awful but you always leave with this idea that you are somehow less of a person for your mother’s behavior, Adam. You are not your mom, you are not your dad, and you certainly aren’t Reggie,” she informed him. “You are smart, kind, very helpful and considerate…not to mention very attractive,” she smiled on the last part.
“Thank you, Kaitlyn, for believing in me when I don’t,” he pulled her close.
“We have to behave, by the way, my father decreed it since we are staying under his roof,” she teased.
“Is hugging acceptable?” he asked.
“I think so,” she smiled. “And maybe a small kiss.”
“Okay,” he chuckled. “I got a similar spiel too and he has my word, as do you.”
“Then we’re good,” she laughed. He kissed her lightly and took her hand as she led him back upstairs. The rest of their break was spent pleasantly, New Years with their friends at Shannon’s apartment.
***
Katherine wasn’t a big fan on winter weather. It was hard to mind it, however, when she was otherwise so happy. When Adam wasn’t working and they weren’t in class, she was usually with him. When she wasn’t with Adam or in class, she was with Amy. On Valentine’s Day she convinced Adam that rather than fighting crowds they should have dinner in and spent the night snuggled in his arms. If their kisses and touch became a little more heated than usual she didn’t complain. In fact when he pulled away she wanted to protest; she couldn’t find the nerve to. So she lay there the rest of the night with her breast still tingling from his touch and her body humming. She had thought when she decided to stay for the night that it might tip the scales; his will remained rock steady.
Just after Valentine’s Day, Katherine knocked on his door and waited for him to answer.
“Hi,” Adam smiled and stepped aside for her to enter.
“Hi,” she smiled back.
Adam closed the door and pulled her close.
“I tried calling you earlier to see what you were doing tonight,” Adam told her.
“I was doing some shopping with Amy,” she shared. “When we got back I decided to drop in.”
“I’m glad you did,” he assured her.
Katherine shed her jacket, sat down on the bed and crossed her legs.
“You want to get out for a while?” Adam offered.
Katherine shrugged. “I don’t care what we do so long as I get to be with you.”
“We can see if there are any good movies on,” he offered.
“Okay,” she agreed.
Adam propped his pillow up on the head board and sat down before grabbing the remote as he did. Katherine scooted to snuggle against him. She liked evenings like this.
“What’s this?” Katherine lifted a bright orange sheet of paper from the night stand. It was flyer for a talent competition, an entry form at the bottom. Adam had already filled it out. As she read on she realized that were he to win he would be leaving for a few weeks at least.
“I decided not to enter,” Adam grabbed it and tossed it back on the night stand.
“Adam, it’s your chance to pursue your dream,” she argued, her stomach was already knotting at the prospect of him leaving.
“If I were to win or even place in the top three I would have to travel to California for as few as two or as many as eight weeks. Kaitlyn, that is practically the rest of the school year. I would be chancing my college degree for a shot at winning a record contract. It makes no sense,” Adam informed her.
“You could enter and cross that bridge when the time comes. Adam, I’ve heard your stuff; you’re good!”
“Kaitlyn, for just a moment think about this, baby, not only would I be forfeiting my college degree but if I were to win it? Kaitlyn, I would be moving to California; we would be separated again only worse.”
“I know, but, Adam, I don’t want you to look back in a few years, wonder what if, and resent me,” she informed him.
“I love you, Kaitlyn.”
“I love you too, Adam and I want to see you finish college but I know what it would mean to you to have this opportunity to pursue your music.”
“You want me to leave?” Adam asked her.
“You know I don’t but I don’t want you to regret passing this up.”
“Fine, I’ll enter; chances are it won’t come to anything,” he shrugged.
“When is it?” Katherine asked him.
“Friday night.”
“I’m supposed to meet, Mallory, my lab partner to work on our presentation on Friday night; she has to work the rest of the weekend,” Katherine frowned.
“Focus on your school work; I’ll call you or come see you as soon as it’s over. If you’re there I might back out anyway. I don’t want to leave you again, Kaitlyn.”
***
Katherine, her insides churning, glanced at the clock again. She and Mallory had been working for hours but she was having trouble focusing. Sh
e was relieved when they finally finished. She saw Mallory out before going to sit by her phone.
“Any word?” Amy asked as she entered a moment later.
“No,” Katherine sighed and shook her head.
“I can’t believe you encouraged him to go through with it, Kattie. What if he leaves?”
“I can’t think about that right now, but then again I can’t not think about it!” Katherine jumped up to pace. The phone rang and Katherine snatched it up.
“Hello,” she answered.
“Hi,” Adam responded. “I just got home.”
“How did it go?” she asked him; her eyes closed.
“I wish I’d never gone. I’m supposed to leave tomorrow, Kaitlyn,” he informed her.
“Oh,” her eyes filled with tears.
“I should have never gone.”
“I’ll be right over,” Katherine promised before hanging up and grabbing her purse.
“What happened?” Amy’s eyes were wide.
“He leaves tomorrow,” Katherine shared.
“Kattie!”
“I’m going over there, don’t freak if I’m not home any time soon.”
“What are you going to say?” Amy asked her.
“I don’t know,” Katherine shrugged and opened the door. She managed to bring her emotions in check on the walk to his apartment. She knocked on the door and waited.
“Hi,” Adam looked as tied up as she felt.
“Hi,” she returned as she entered. “Congratulations.”
“Do not congratulate me, Kaitlyn. Right about now I wish I had never heard of the damn competition!” Adam shoved a hand through his hair.
“You have a chance to do it, Adam; to make the music you love,” she reminded him.
“That’s a big risk to take for a maybe,” he sighed. “Kaitlyn, if I go I lose my job and with no job I give up my apartment, I miss several weeks of classes, and leave you again.”
“If you don’t go you’ll always wonder what might have been,” she pointed out.
“Do you think I won’t wonder the same thing if I leave you? Kaitlyn…” Adam turned and walked off; then came back. He took her face between his hands. “I love you!”
“I love you too.” She fought tears; she had promised herself she wouldn’t cry.
“I don’t know what to do; I feel like I’m being torn in two!”
“If you go and you don’t win what next?” she asked him.
“I try and salvage everything I risked for a shot at making music.”
“And if you go and win?”
“If I win the competition I lose you,” his voice was hoarse and his eyes damp.
“If you stay?” she was blinking against tears too.
“I get to stay with you and decide on a major.”
“Do you want a nine to five career?”
“Most people don’t get their dream, Kaitlyn.”
“But you have that opportunity, Adam.”
Adam wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close; Katherine clung to him. Adam kissed her, a moment later his kiss reflecting his tumultuous emotions. Katherine kissed him back, her own emotions spilling into the kiss. She broke their kiss and leaned back in his arms to remove her shirt and bra.
“Kaitlyn, what are you doing?” Adam demanded as his eyes slid over her.
“I want this night with you before you leave,” her gaze was determined. “I’ve wanted you for weeks but couldn’t find the nerve to tell you. I wish like hell I had but tonight I intend to be with you. I want this memory.”
“Kaitlyn…”
Before he could finish his thought she had yanked him back against her and was kissing him. She tugged at his shirt impatiently, leaned back long enough to yank it off of him, and then pressed herself against him. Adam’s hands slid over her bare back to press her closer. He broke the kiss and stared down at her, his eyes showing the battle he was waging with himself. Katherine stepped from his arms and slowly removed her remaining clothing before standing opposite him and watching his eyes darken as his gaze slid over her.
“You’re more beautiful than I imagined,” he informed her. His eyes slid closed and then back open as he shook his head. “If I were a better man I wouldn’t do this, Kaitlyn.”
“I’m asking you to, Adam; make love to me,” she turned the overhead lights off, leaving only the lamp on his night stand to cast the room in shadows. She climbed onto the bed and laid down, her eyes inviting Adam to join her.
She heard him curse under his breath before he joined her and kissed her passionately as his hands slid over her. He knew what he was doing, she mused, his every touch was intended to induce a reaction and did. He kissed, touched, and teased until the world seemed to fall out from under her.
“Kaitlyn, are you sure about this, baby, there’s no going back,” Adam asked her as he leaned over her.
Katherine made her weak limbs support her as she sat up and scooted off the bed; Adam watched her curiously. She walked over to his dresser and opened the top drawer.
“I see some things don’t change,” Katherine teased him as she claimed a box of condoms. Adam, shaking his head, smiled at her.
Katherine tore the box open and removed one before tossing the box on the night stand.
“You plan on needing more of those?” Adam teased.
“No sense in having to jump up again,” she shrugged and watched him smile again. She started to hand the condom to him; then stopped.
“Second thoughts?” he asked her.
“No, I want to see you,” she informed him. He still wore his jeans.
“Kaitlyn, if anyone had told me you would be this bold I would have laughed at them,” Adam informed her as he obliged her request. Katherine admired him a moment before climbing back onto the bed to lie down and hand him the condom.
“You are absolutely certain?” he double checked.
“Would you shut up and make love to me already?”
“Promise you won’t hate me tomorrow?”
“I’m going to hate you tonight if you don’t finish what you started,” she countered.
“Well I can’t have you hating me,” he smiled.
When Adam leaned over and shifted his weight to his arms, Katherine, her gaze meeting his, wrapped her hands around his biceps.
“Your heart is pounding,” he noted.
“It’s anticipation,” she assured him.
“I love you.”
“I love you too,” she returned.
Adam kissed her deeply; Katherine’s hands tightened on his arms and she whimpered against his mouth.
“Sorry,” he whispered against her ear; she shook her head in argument even as her body tensed. A moment later she was kissing him back and arching to meet him.
***
Adam lay facing Katherine, his hand tangled in her hair as his thumb stroked her jaw. Her clear green eyes looked fathomless as she stared at him. He found himself smiling and shaking his head.
“What?” she asked him.
“You were so bold,” he chuckled.
“I was afraid that if I hesitated at all you would turn me down,” she admitted.
“I should have. If I leave tomorrow, you’re going to end up hating me.”
“If?”
“I’m not sure I should go.”
“I won’t hate you, Adam. I don’t think I have it in me to hate you.”
“Say the word and I’ll stay, Kaitlyn,” he told her. He watched her eyes slide closed, their depths clouded when they opened.
“I can’t do that, Adam.”
“Why not?”
“Because I won’t stand between you and your dream.”
“If I thought leaving you was going to be hard before it feels nearly impossible now,” he admitted.
“The new would wear off,” she informed him.
Adam felt his anger stir. “Kaitlyn, if you think that I would tire of you, you don’t know me at all,” he countered.
“I didn
’t exactly mean it that way, Adam.”
Adam rolled over and stood to pull his pants back on and moved through the bathroom to stand on the balcony. Katherine wrapped herself in the sheet and followed.
“I don’t want to choose, Kaitlyn. I want it all.”
“Me too, Adam, but life doesn’t always work that way. I’m where I belong. I want my degree.”
“Where do I belong, Kaitlyn?” Adam pulled her into his arms and rested his head on hers.
“I don’t know; only you can decide that, Adam.”
Adam kissed her and led her back inside to the bed to make love to her again. He wanted to pause time right there and live in this moment forever, decisions and their consequences perpetually in the future.
“I’m not a nice person, Kaitlyn,” Adam told her as he held her.
“Yes, you are,” she argued.
“No, I’m not. If I were a nice man I wouldn’t be making love to you and contemplating leaving in the morning.”
“You’ll leave in the morning, Adam, you know that and I know that too; that’s why I asked you for tonight. I want this memory.”
“Kaitlyn,” Adam swallowed hard.
“I love you, Adam.”
“I love you too. Kaitlyn, if I leave here you’re going to turn around and marry some Ken doll and be lost to me forever.”
“A Ken doll?” Katherine laughed at him.
“Yeah and just to prove I’m not nice when you stand there beside your Ken doll making the perfect couple at least I’ll know I had you first.”
“Adam,” Katherine sighed.
“That’s the kind of man you deserve anyway. Some man who will work nine to five and come home to you and your two point five kids and your golden retriever in your perfect suburban neighborhood with neat green lawns and sparkling swimming pools.”
“Thank you for planning my life out all nice and neat for me,” Katherine said dryly. “However, I’m afraid that those aren’t the things I want.”
“They aren’t?” he asked in amusement.
“No. I’m not exactly sure what qualifies as a Ken doll but I can tell you that I do not want to live in the suburbs. I want to live in a historic house, some place that has been there for years and years with a lot of bedrooms I can fill with kids. And while golden retrievers are nice, what I really want is Siamese cat named Cleopatra,” she shared.
Until Next Time (The Shooting Stars Series) Page 12