“What?” Dad went back to his work.
Trixie bit her lip then, “Adam and I aren’t together…”
“What?!” My Dad stabbed the Turkey with gusto and frowned at the both of us.
“Excuse me?” Jolee pressed.
Blaze and Diego’s mouths dropped open.
“You don’t mean that,” Knox pushed.
All the guys looked at me.
“Guys,” I began.
“You two made this band,” Knox fought, “is it something you can work out?”
Jolee massaged her temples, “I thought I was sleeping with Trix because you were being polite.”
I gave her a flat look. “That’s even less likely.”
Diego whined, “Is it a stupid thing, amigo? Like she don’t buy the right brand of Jelly or something?”
Trix and I laughed a little, “No,” I told him.
Blaze talked with a mouth full of food, “I hear the direction of the toilet paper roll does it for most couples. I don’t know why. Everyone knows the roll faces up.”
“Down!” Knox argued.
“Are you going to be gay again?” Dad asked.
“Carl!” Mom scolded.
“I don’t mind,” Dad snapped, “but where in hell we gonna get grandchildren from then? Hmm? Ya gonna grow em’?” he asked me.
“Believe it or not, giving you guys grandkids is low on my priority pole,” I said with a smirk.
“He’s an ungrateful son,” Blaze scowled at me before turning doe eyes on my mother, “I’ll give you a whole house full when I find the right woman, Ma.”
She cupped beneath his chin, “I know you will, sweetie. And you’ll find her.”
“When he stops humping fire hydrants,” whispered Knox.
Blaze threw a bread roll at him.
“Boys.” Mom gave them the eye.
“Well, if you do go back to men,” Dad began, “don’t bring home no tennis fan. He has to like a real sport.”
I sighed, “I’ll keep that in mind too,” I shook my head at his weirdness.
“Oh,” Mom perked up, “You know what, Jill’s son Paul, just came back from Grad school. He’s handsome, and he’s smart. I also heard he has a really bright future; gonna be a lawyer.”
Chance took a drink of water and my eyes snagged on his reaction to all this. Mom bragging about education, that couldn’t be helping.
“I don’t need help finding dates, mom.”
“He’s got investments. I think I could get his number, or his Book Face.”
“Facebook, Mom.”
“That’s what I said.”
Trix was laughing her ass off.
Blaze pouted, “Does this mean, mom and dad are getting divorced?” he teased.
Trixie put her arm around him, “Yes, but don’t worry, Adam gets you guys on weekends.”
Diego winced, “Have you tasted his cooking? No gracias.”
Liam’s eyes were glued to Trix from down the table and I felt sure he was thinking what any guy falling for Trixie would think; Free game. And she is. It’s weird to imagine her as such but she’s not mine to beat men off from.
Not that it will stop me from plastering someone’s face to a wall should they hurt her.
“We aren’t breaking up the band, right?” asked Knox.
“No.” Trix and I said at the same time.
Jolie snorted, “I hate homosexuality. It takes all the hot ones. Why can’t fugly people be gay?”
My mom nodded, “Honey, I can’t agree more. I was lucky with Adam’s father. He was hot once.”
My Dad raised his brows, “Miss Jean from the hardware store says I still am.”
My mom pointed a serving spoon at him, “And she has poor eyesight and no morals.”
Mom started filling people’s plates while we all talked and I watched Chance’s expression as she snatched his plate and filled it with more than any normal man could eat. She put her hand on his shoulder multiple times and fussed over him.
He might feel strange but he likes it. She’s doing it to Liam too. She does it to all of us but I wanted her to do it to Chance. I wanted him to see what family looked like.
She even put the napkin in his lap and I smiled behind my hand at his expression.
After dinner Chance went out for a smoke and the guys decided to go walking. The girls were cleaning the kitchen and Dad and I sat watching a game.
“You happy?” He asked me.
This was actually expected. He’s done this since I was ten. He’d randomly ask and I always told him the truth.
“I’m okay.” I admitted.
“The thing with, Trix… you okay with that?”
“It was a little scary to let go of her. We’ve been through a lot but yeah. It feels right.”
He nodded and turned the game up. “Chance looks at you a lot.”
I fought a smile. “Yeah.”
“Yeah, so you gonna do something about it?”
I groaned and laid back on the sofa. “Come on, Dad.”
“I didn’t say anything yet.”
“You’re about to in three seconds.”
“All I’m saying is you shouldn’t let what happened with that Timothy kid screw up your life. Not all men suck. Jesus, never thought I’d tell my son that. My daughter maybe...”
I set a pillow over my face, “Drop it, Dad.”
“Seems like a nice enough fella. Got a lot of them tattoos but that’s what you kids like these days. Trix got em’.”
I lifted onto my forearms, “He’s my boss.”
“So? I screwed a boss once. Was a girl boss but close enough. This was long before your mother. Her name was Irene-.”
I pinched my nose, “Please, don’t keep going.”
“Throw me another reason this won’t work.”
Crossed my feet at the ankles, I said, “He’s a player. I’d be going headlong into another incident.”
“What’s your problem? You’re too big for prom. It’s not like admitting to liking the guy will get you kicked off the hockey team again.”
I inhaled deeply, “He’s bad news.”
“If he’s so bad, why is he here?”
I couldn’t honestly answer that one.
“I just broke up with Trixie…”
“She seems fine. You just said that you were too. Need more of a push? We should get drunk and go to a strip club. Not the fella side, though.”
“Dad-.”
“Just throw the poor guy a lifejacket, will ya?”
Chance had shown me at dinner in Little Italy that he wasn’t treating me like the others. Now I’m not dating. What harm could come from trying?
As nighttime fell the living room got filled with people. Some were on the couch, and some were on the floor. The dog was by my dad, his new pal.
All of us were watching some thriller but from time to time I was distracted by Chance. He’d chosen to sit by me during the opening credits and now we were pressed shoulder to shoulder thanks to the size of the couch.
He tried to sprawl but our thighs ended up against each other. My blood flow started migrating south so I adjusted too. Once the movie was over a few of us departed for bed. I was one of them.
I was the first in the bed. I sat against the wall with a book. My pajama pants were checkered and I wore a white undershirt with it. I almost went shirtless but that would seem like an obvious come on.
He came in a few minutes later in gray bottoms and the famous white t-shirt.
“Nerd glasses again?” He teased.
I smiled, “They help me see, it’s more of a health thing.”
He set an alarm on his phone then got in. My bed is a queen so there’s no need to be all up in each other’s space but the gap is small. He laid back and turned the one lamp on my nightstand out.
“Really?” I said to the darkness.
“It’s sleep time.” He said lying down.
“I’m reading.”
“Not my problem.”
“I’m not done.” I enforced.
He waited until I was situated to turn it out again. “I’m a guest. Guests get what they want.”
I smiled because I know he can’t see me in the dark, “You don’t even sleep at night. It’s one in the morning. You sleep in day hours.”
“I’m extra tired tonight.” He lied.
I reached over him and turned the light back on. “Touch it again, I dare you.”
“That’s what she said,” he cracked.
I snorted to avoid laughing but then he turned the light out again and I slammed my book shut before setting it on the floor, “That’s it.” I punched him in the chest and leaned to get to the lamp but he caught my arm and turned it into a battle of strength and wills.
I jabbed him in the side, then reached again for the lamp but he pulled me back.
Between laughs, I ended up lying on top of him to get to the lamp. My eyes adjusted to the darkness and I stopped to pant and decide if the light was worth fighting this rock.
“If I can’t have the light you need to entertain me.” I bargained.
He pushed out a breath, “If I entertain you, you’ll need rehab.” He joked.
I came off him and we laid there on our backs in the quiet, catching our breath. “I guess it’s my fault you broke up with Trix?” He asked into the darkness.
I turned my head to study his profile since my eyes were adjusting. “Are you asking me if I broke up my ten-year relationship of safety and sure sex for you?”
He turned his head and grinned like a devil.
I sighed, “I’m not giving you that glory.”
His laugh made me strangely happy. “I ruined you with one blow job.”
“That was a onetime thing.”
“You don’t like blow jobs?”
“No, I mean the lack of control I had. Any other time and I would have turned you down. It was a moment of weakness.”
His cocky grin was really infuriating. “Sure.”
“I’m not kidding. I don’t jerk off in public places. I don’t do anything in public places. That was extremely weird and-.”
“Whatever, either way, it only took me one go.”
I sat up on my elbows, “That wasn’t what made me break it off. Yeah, it was a pretty skilled- I mean it was great and all but that’s not why-.” Ugh. I’m going to embarrass myself. I lay back down and stared at the ceiling through the lenses of my glasses.
He waited then spoke, “You really have trouble expressing yourself. It’s like watching a ten-car pile-up.”
I muttered to myself and we went quiet again.
“You do realize,” he started, “that you just gave Liam full authorization to pounce your girlfriend.”
“Stop it,” I warned but the smile edging across my face betrayed me.
“Did you see his face when she said it? He looked like a rabid hound.”
I laughed, “God, I know.”
“I’ll put money down that they could be screwing this very minute.” He said.
I grimaced, “No, my parents are strict about sex in the house.”
He sat up, his toned body rippling, “they have a gay son and allow people to sleep together but they have issues with sex?”
I licked my lips, “Mom would go in there with a broomstick if she heard-.”
“Don’t do that.”
I froze, “Don’t do what?”
“Lick your lips. You do it all the time, it makes me think things.”
His honesty felt good. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one with wicked thoughts. “It’s a habit, so you’ll have to deal.”
“If the blow job didn’t make you break it off with Trixie, what did?” He was all over the place. His brain is like a paintball gun aimed at a blank canvas.
I sat up beside him so we were shoulder to shoulder. The skin of his shoulder pressed against mine and I only wanted to come closer. “I don’t know when the moment was. I can’t honestly say. I just know that one minute I felt like I was a guy pretending to be Adam and then I started to feel like Adam… just… being Adam. Does that make sense?”
He nodded then shook his head, “No, actually, no. You lost me.”
We laughed before his hand came up to caress my cheek. He has callused fingers but their touch is gentle yet commanding. He turned my face so we were closer and I studied the fullness of his lips as he said, “I know the moment for me.” The cocky grin returned, “When I saw your lost, Midwestern, tough guy routine get bombed by a punk stealing your cell phone.”
“We could have gone a really long time without that coming up.”
“Mr. I Got This.” He taunted.
I tried to pull back but his grip tightened on my jaw and his face angled my way. My heart did a firework in my chest. “Adam,” he said in a husky whisper. “What’s it going to take on my part… to make you mine?”
I could hand him a receipt for my heart then and there. Problem is the trust came with a gift receipt and that’s not good enough.
“-Just got out of a relationship,” I was on autopilot, letting the words drop from my mouth without impact because I didn’t believe them, “now’s not the time to start something.”
“I don’t wait around for everybody, Adam.” He pulled my face closer, “I just don’t…” his lips pressed beside my nose and then again a little lower.
I turned into him and tried to take his lips but he pulled away.
“Stop,” I held his face and tried again but he still pulled back.
“You need to know what you want.” He took his hand from my jaw and felt down my throat, “Me…” he smiled, “or Paul, the lawyer just outta grad school-.”
We fell into laughs and I pressed my forehead into his.
We didn’t sleep much that night. Hours of talking about nothing and everything kept us awake.
In the midst of him telling me about his hopes for the club, I made the decision to try something. We were lying down again with only a sliver of bed between us.
I moved my hand to where his was. I danced my fingertips over his knuckles and he brought them up to tangle his fingers with mine.
He didn’t stop talking and we didn’t discuss what we were doing but it felt natural. With our arms upright on our elbows, we watched out hands entwine and touch.
I think I just fell harder.
Two days later I heard, “If I fall, I’ll strangle you with your shoe laces.” Chance’s bravado pretty much evaporated on ice.
I took him to a clearing where a frozen lake we used to play hockey on was. Trixie and Jolee were zooming all over and Chance and I made easy circles in the corner.
“You’re doing great,” I coached. “Just keep your eyes fixed on something ahead, your body will balance itself.”
He stood wobbling beside me, only touching my shoulder when he was sure he might fall.
“This is fucking stupid.” He declared.
“Bend your knees a little, lean forward-. Fuck!”
My advice landed Chance on his face in the ice.
“Are you okay?” I tried helping him up but he bent my hand backward in retaliation and I swore again.
“What are you bitches crying about?” Jolee asked as she flew by.
Both girls were giggling as I helped Chance to his feet. “Let’s try not to kill each other,” I suggested. “By the way, when you fall, clench your fist after. You could lose fingers… from other skaters.”
He gave me a look like I was crazy, “No, fuck this.” He tried wobbling his way toward the forest but I took his hand.
“Don’t be a baby. It should be nothing for a street smart asshole.”
He muttered.
Trix and Jolee drifted to the shore and took off their skates to walk the hiking trails and I was glad. I want alone time with Chance to see how this feels.
By
the end of the hour, he had it. Enough that he didn’t need me close. He was making easy circles and even a turn.
“Adam!” Someone yelled.
The lake was filling with a few more people but I looked past the newcomers and saw who called me.
I tensed and came to a stop. “Let’s go back.”
Chance stopped awkwardly, “What is it?”
“Nothing, you’ve got it now, just figured…”
He narrowed his eyes, “Your eye is twitching.”
Touching where I felt the tick, I shrugged, “It’s the cold. Let’s go.”
“You dragged my ass out of bed after keeping me up till the ass crack of dawn, so we could play Nutcracker on ice and now you’re done?”
I winced.
“Sounds like Adam.” Said the voice of the man I’d rather avoid. That’s putting it lightly. I’d rather have a zombie virus or be locked in a room with a killer clown than confront this guy.
Chance turned around to see where the remark came from. He sized up my ex in what I’m guessing was five seconds.
“Timothy,” I said the name like I was Batman announcing the Joker.
Chance grinned, “Ah, so you are Timothy.”
Damn it.
Timothy smiled at Chance, “Hi, so Adam told you about me then.” He put out his hand, “I’m hoping at least fifty-percent was good.”
Timothy has developed into a good-looking guy. He’s bested his high school self. He’s average height with clear blue eyes a shade darker than Chance’s. His hair is hidden under his beanie hat but he’s sporting a dusting of hair above his lip. The years were irksomely kind.
Chance looked at the hand Tim offered, then back at Timothy still grinning. Basically saying hell no.
After an awkward second Tim took the hand back. “That answers that,” Tim laughed.
“How’s Emily?” I shot at him.
“Uh, Emily and I are splitting…” he admitted.
I already knew that but I felt like poking the wound.
“That’s too bad.” I lied.
“Who’s Emily?” Chance interrupted.
“My wife,” Timothy provided, “we were together three years.”
“That was a short stint.” Chance jabbed as he took out a cigarette.
I softened the blow, “Sorry to hear that, man.”
The Significant Other (The Relationship Quo Series Book 4) Page 24