I practically skip out of the station, those leads we were hunting down finally coming to fruition and getting a break in the case we desperately needed. Nothing can ruin my mood, not even that asshole and the leer he shoots me as I walk through the parking lot. Oh, yeah, he totally knows Tanner is fucking with him because of me, but I don’t even care. Some guys are just born assholes. I flutter my fingers at him in a wave and smile, then dial Tessa’s number as I hop into my car.
She answers after a couple rings, “Hey, girlie. What’s shakin’?”
“Not much. Just totally had a lead pan out and give us the break we need!”
“I…have no idea what that means, but you sound super excited, so I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s something awesome.”
“You are so astute.”
“I really, really am.”
“So what do you say? How’s about helping me celebrate? I feel like sushi. You want in on this party, or what?”
“I’d love to, but I…can’t.”
“What? Why? This isn’t best friend protocol.”
“I know, I’m sorry. But I sort of have this other…thing.”
“What thing? Why are you being weird? You better not be going to a party without me or you’re on BFF hiatus again.”
“No, there’s no party. We were just—” She doesn’t get to finish before Jase is in the background, hollering for her to hurry her ass up so they can get to Adam’s.
And my whole fucking world stops.
“Tessa Marie Maxwell. What the hell is he talking about? You guys headed for a last minute trip to Denver I didn’t know about?”
She blows out a breath. “Look—”
“Are you fucking kidding me? You’re starting with ‘look’?”
“What else should I start with, Paige?”
“How about the truth? How about how long Adam’s been in town for, and how long he’s staying, and why you didn’t tell me he was visiting.”
“Because he’s not visiting.”
“And then you can tell me why—what? What do you mean he’s not visiting?”
“Exactly what I said. He’s here to stay. And that’s why I didn’t tell you. I didn’t know how. Wasn’t sure how you’d take it. You’ve finally gotten your spunk back—”
“Are you seriously talking about spunk right now?”
“—and I didn’t want you to lose that. Not again.”
“I deserved to know, Tess.”
She blows out a breath. “You’re right. And I’m sorry I kept it from you for this long…”
I swallow, gripping the steering wheel. “How long’s he been back?”
There’s a lengthy pause on the other end of the line. “About a week.”
“And how long have you known?”
“Um…longer than that.”
A million thoughts run through my head, but they all come back to the fact that I’m…crushed. Hurt in a new way I didn’t think was possible, because even though Adam and I ended things, I still thought we were friends. That when he came back to town, we’d manage to be civil around one another. And now I find out that not only is he back, but he’s here for good, and he didn’t even bother to shoot me an impersonal text telling me so? It crushes.
And there’s no more denying it.
He was more than just a hook up for me. Over the course of the summer, he managed to work his way in and became the closest friend I have besides Tess.
“Text me his address,” I finally say.
“Right now?” she asks. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. You’re mad and I don’t think—”
“Text me his fucking address, Tess!” Then I take a deep breath and flick myself in the forehead. “I’m sorry. That was bitchy and I flicked myself for you. Will you please text me his address? And give us a bit before you bring in the troops. Thank you.” I hang up before she can say anything and wait for the ping of my phone.
I’m done running away from the feeling that’s been overwhelming me since Adam Reid drove me home on that cold night in December.
I’m ready to take a leap and wade through some shit if I have to.
adam’s parents’ house is in a nice neighborhood, not far from Cade’s place, the one he and Tessa grew up in. It’s an older ranch style and after meeting his mom, I assume it probably has really nice landscaping. She seems like the type to keep up on gardening and such. Probably has some of those poofy fall flowers, even. I don’t stop to look, though. Don’t stop to see anything, actually, before I’m pounding on the front door loud enough to draw the attention of the neighbors. All I can focus on is the fact I’m going to see Adam again.
When no one answers, I pound again, harder this time, and glance toward the driveway. Adam’s car is there, all right, so I know the little bastard is here, and if he thinks I’m walking away without having this little meeting, he doesn’t know me as well as I thought. And sure enough, at my next pounding, he opens the door and there he stands, looking completely fuckable in that goddamn red Henley again from that night at the pub and those worn jeans and his fuckhot glasses, and I am definitely not thinking about that right now. Definitely not.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were back?” I’m too far gone now to even try to get my voice in some semblance of normal volume, so I don’t bother cringing when my question comes out in a screech.
Adam raises his eyebrows and crosses his arms over his chest—good Lord, I’ve missed those muscles—as he leans against the door frame. “Hi, Paige. How are you?”
“Oh, don’t give me that bullshit.” I wave a hand in front of his face. “Answer the question.”
“Well,” he says, drawing out the word, “according to you, we were never in a relationship, so why would it matter if I told you?”
The urge to kick him in the shin is so heavy I have to grit my teeth to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground. Instead I shove him in the chest, hard. “We were friends, dammit. Friends tell each other that shit. Friends don’t let friends think their best friend is halfway across the country when he’s actually seven blocks away, even if we did break up. Friends don’t change something monumental about their life circumstances and not even tell the other. Friends don’t—”
“I’m your best friend, huh?”
“I…what?”
“You said—”
“I know what I said,” I snap, more mad at myself than I am at him for exposing that weakness so early. But I’m in it now; might as well go balls to the wall. “Yeah, you’re my best friend. So what. Why don’t you get smug about it? Then you can get smug about the fact that you made me love all this shit about you. Like those stupid ass nicknames you gave me. And the way you heckle horror movies just like I do. And how you enjoy doing all the things I do. And do you know when we compete in shit you don’t even let me win? And I find it really fucking hot? Why is that, Adam? Why?”
He clears his throat, his lips pursed, and it looks a hell of a lot like he’s fighting a smile. “I’m just going to go out on a limb here and say it’s because you love me, not just all those other things.”
I glare and shove him in the chest again. “Yes, you idiot, I love you, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m really pissed at you for not telling me you were coming home.”
“Just so I’m clear, are you going to yell every time you tell me you love me, or just this time? Because I gotta tell you, it’s kind of turning me on.”
“What? I’m trying to have a heart to heart with you and you’re talking about getting turned on by my yelling? What the hell?”
He chuckles under his breath and reaches out to tug my belt loop, pulling me flush against him, and I can feel exactly how turned on he is. “Yeah, see, that’s what I mean. Why does it make me hard when you get all worked up at me and start yelling?”
“Because you’re crazy?”
“Crazy in love, snoogiewoogums.”
I roll my eyes, but inside I’m melting. “Okay, Romeo, that was a little far even for you
.”
“It’s only because I’m so far gone over you, sprinkledoodle.”
“Oh Jesus, how many more have you got in you?”
“For you? I can go all night…want me to prove it?”
I huff out a breath and stomp my foot. “Can you be serious for five seconds please?”
“Okay, I’m sorry.” But he doesn’t look contrite at all. He looks smug as hell, but I don’t even care because he’s here. He’s here.
I keep my eyes on my fingers brushing over the cotton of his shirt. “So you’re really back?”
He runs his hands up my back until they’re cupping my face and tilts it back, forcing me to look into his eyes. “Yes. I am. It wasn’t just you who learned about the things you love this summer.” His thumb makes soft passes along my neck, and between that and his words, I’m afraid I’m going to dissolve into a puddle of girl-goo. “I realized everything I picked for my life I chose for the wrong reasons. Running the shop isn’t going to be easy, and if you’re sticking it out with me, that means a lot of years are going to suck.” He doesn’t pose it as a question, but I hear it all the same.
But the prospect of that doesn’t terrify me. Doesn’t even scare me a little, because this is Adam. I’ve already lived without him, and I’m not willing to do it again.
“I’m sticking it out with you.”
The smile starts slow but soon sweeps across his face, and he leans toward me, his lips close to mine. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
“So what do we do now?”
“I have a few ideas…” he says, getting closer with each word.
“Yeah? Do any of them include clothes?”
“Can’t say as they do, no.”
“How about you start with a kiss and we’ll go from there?”
“With pleasure, sugarlump.”
He leans down to capture my lips with his, his breath mingling with mine, and it’s everything I remembered and more than I ever thought it could be. Because being kissed by Adam is one thing. Being kissed by the man I love knowing he loves me back?
That’s worth any amount of shit I have to wade through. Especially if I know he’s at the other side waiting for me.
EPILOGUE
adam
I’m being a horrible co-best man. Absolute shit. All the guests stand to watch the bride walk down the aisle, and I should be looking there, too, watching her walk toward one of my best friends. My eyes shouldn’t be focused on the blonde across from me, standing up while two of our closest friends promise each other forever. But they are.
They haven’t strayed from her, if I’m honest. Catching glimpses of her here and there, posing for pictures, not able to do anything but caress her with my eyes. She’s statuesque in her bridesmaid dress, her hair piled on her head, her bare shoulders taunting me, and this day is going to kill me.
She stayed with the girls last night, Cade, Jason, and I all relegated to the hotel to avoid the groom seeing the bride, so I didn’t get to see her before it was too late to get her alone. We were surrounded by dozens of people, too many to be able to cop a feel. To be able to slip my hand under her dress and see if her text telling me she left her panties at home was the truth or not.
Instead, I had to offer her my arm like a gentleman and walk her down the white-cloth covered aisle outside, white folding chairs set up on either side to hold the few dozen guests.
And now I’m stuck here, watching her watch the bride, a huge, beaming smile on her face, and I can’t believe she’s mine.
She’s mine.
For good and for real, she’s with me in it, one hundred percent.
Vows are spoken, rings and kisses exchanged, and then we’re all walking back the way we came, and finally her arm is in mine again.
“You didn’t even look at them,” she whispers, the reprimand clear in her tone. “You’re lucky you didn’t have to carry the ring or they’d have been fucked.”
“That’s probably why they didn’t give me the job. I had something more important to look at, love muffin.”
She rolls her eyes, but her fingers tighten on my arm. “You’re starting early. We’ve got a long way to go until we can sneak off to the hotel room.”
“Who said anything about needing a hotel room?” I lean down and whisper in her ear. “Meet me in the downstairs bathroom in fifteen.”
She doesn’t say anything, her lip caught between her teeth, attention focused straight ahead. And then she gives the subtlest nod, and I want to fist pump, but I restrain myself.
The next fourteen minutes are the longest of my life. I manage to sneak off after twelve, going to the bathroom and locking myself inside, praying Paige will be able to get away, as well.
When sixteen minutes comes and goes, and then seventeen and eighteen as well, I start to think she couldn’t sneak off, but then the doorknob rattles, and I whip open the door to see her standing there.
“Didn’t think you were coming.”
“I have five minutes, tops. Told the girls I lost an earring in my car. Think you can get it done in that time, big boy?”
“You know I can get you there in three,” I say, already unzipping my pants and rolling a condom down my shaft. “Climb up, hot pants.”
She breathes out a laugh, but she does as I tell her, gripping her bouquet as she wraps her arms around my neck. I slip my hands under her dress, groaning when I palm the bare skin of her ass. “Jesus, you’ve been walking around all day with your pussy bare out there?”
“Uh huh. Knew you’d want to do this. Thought I’d save us a step.”
“Always prepared.” I grip her in my hands, hauling her up against me.
She laughs as she wraps her legs around me, and then groans when I slide through her wetness.
“You been thinking about this, Paige? Been thinking about me fucking you? Because you’re wet as hell.”
“Stop with the chit-chat. You’ve got three minutes.”
“You’ll get off, don’t worry.” With that, I place myself at her entrance and slowly sink into her until we’re pressed together as close as we can get.
She exhales against my lips, her eyes open and focused on me. No more secrets. No hidden emotions. Nothing between us now. This new relationship between us is almost a year old. A year of ups and downs. Of fights and misunderstandings and more make-up sex than I can count. But through it all, we’ve stuck it out.
I reach between us and thumb her clit as her forehead presses against mine, my name a whispered plea against her lips, and I never want to be anywhere else. Wrapped up in the arms of a girl I never knew I wanted but now could never see my life without.
As she comes around me, pulling me along with her while she whispers her love for me, I realize I spent my life looking for her in the wrong places. I spent my life looking for something only she can give me.
Forever.
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Other Titles By Brighton Walsh
Caged in Winter
Tessa Ever After
Captive
Exposed
My Strongest Weakness
Plus One
Season of Second Chances
* * *
Keep reading for an excerpt of the book that started the Reluctant Hearts series, Caged in Winter.
CAGED IN WINTER EXCERPT
ONE
winter
Seventy-six days.
The number repeats as a mantra in my mind, echoing like a drumbeat with every hurried step I take.
Seventy. Six.
Seventy. Six.
Stale air and dim lighting greet me as I tear down the hallway of my apartment building, jamming my key into the lock of my door and rushing inside. If I don’t get my ass in gear, I’m going to be late. If I’m late, I could get fired.
I can’t get fired.
I toss my bag on the floor, already stripping off my sweater and
searching for the minuscule articles of clothing my employer considers a uniform. I find them piled in the corner of my tiny studio apartment. Like tossing them to the side and burying them among a hundred other things would somehow make them disappear. I hate this nightly routine. I hate walking out knowing what awaits me. Knowing what kind of front I’ll be putting on. Knowing it’s my only choice.
Still, it beats living on the streets, and I’m about fifty bucks from having my ass kicked to the curb.
As fast as I arrived, I’m out of there, grabbing a banana on the way. It’s not much as far as dinners go, but it’s all I’ve got. I inhale it as I head across campus, a hoodie and a pair of yoga pants thankfully covering the parts of me I don’t want to show every horny college guy I pass. Not that being in the pub is any better. But at least there it’s expected, and I feel somewhat protected while surrounded by other people. They can look their fill, but don’t touch.
Usually.
When I’m working, I paint a lifeless smile on my face. Laugh. Flirt. Engage. It took me a day to figure out that smiling got me bigger tips. Took me a week to figure out that flirting got me even more.
My head’s down as I book it two blocks from the outskirts of the opposite side of campus. Having to stay behind at my last class, I missed the bus I usually take to get to work, but I don’t mind walking. It’s warming up, the first traces of spring in every newly budded tree, in every sprouted flower. New beginnings, some would say. The season of love and light. The opposite of winter, when everything is harsh.
Dark. Cold. Hollow.
Fitting, really, my mother would name me that. It’s like she already hated me, even then.
I’m only two minutes late, but to Randy, my boss, two minutes might as well be twenty. I keep my head down as I blow into the pub, trying not to draw attention to myself. I head into the back, clocking in and peeling off my armor before stuffing my hoodie and pants into my locker. I tug on the hem of my barely there shorts and crop top. Like all that adjusting will magically add three inches of material.
Paige in Progress (Reluctant Hearts #3) Page 25
