Chapter 21
“ T his time, I’m sure of it,” Adam’s youngest sister loudly claimed from where we were all gathered in the large living room late that night—everyone curled up on the massive couches and plush chairs. Blankets only partially covered most of us because Adam and the rest of his siblings continued getting up to throw things at each other or do hilarious reenactments of whatever embarrassing story they were telling of each other.
And I was surprised to realize how much I was truly enjoying this time, snuggled under the softest blanket I’d ever touched, beside Adam Thatcher.
I hadn’t once thought about going back to the room to grab a book. All my worries from earlier had melted away sometime during dinner, though everyone was still sure Adam and I were a thing. And even though I clearly didn’t belong here, not one of the people in the room had made me feel that way. With every story told of their childhood, I was eagerly looped in, as if Adam’s family couldn’t wait for me to know all about their family.
It probably should’ve made me feel worse because I wasn’t the person they thought I was—the person they wanted me to be —but it didn’t. If anything, it made me long for this. It made me want more days and nights of this loud, loving, real family that was so unlike my own.
“This time,” Sam echoed Ellie disbelievingly.
Ellie took the pillow—that was probably originally Adam’s—from behind her and chucked it at Sam as she claimed, “I mean it!”
“She means it,” Adam mocked and instinctively ducked just as his mom appeared behind us, swatting for the back of his head.
How he’d heard her coming above the light music playing through the room, laughter, and arguing, I had no idea. But he just glanced over his shoulder, offering her a mischievous smirk until she relented and held a muffin box between us. One of so many currently in the kitchen because Adam and I hadn’t been the only ones to swing by the bakery...all three of his siblings had too.
I think my stomach literally threatened me at the thought of them.
Adam hadn’t been lying—his mom really did try to feed people too much.
“Oh my gosh,” I began as Adam took one, my eyebrows drawing together in apology as I glanced between him and his mom. “You’re so sweet, and such a generous host, but I might need to be rolled back to the room as it is. I might never move from this spot again if I eat another bite.”
She laughed as if the idea was as amusing as it was foreign. “I need to feed my kids,” she told me seriously, my heart wrenching at the sentiment because she’d been looking at me as she said that. She’d meant me. “Eat.”
“I—”
“She means thanks ,” Adam said for me, grabbing a second muffin and shoving it toward me as he did.
I brought one of my hands out from beneath the blanket and grabbed the muffin instinctively, my too-full stomach momentarily forgotten when my fingers brushed along Adam’s and lingered because he didn’t pull back right away.
But he eventually did. And my stomach was all too happy to remind me it was absolutely not okay with me even holding food right then.
“I can’t,” I told him, my voice dropped to a low whisper. “I seriously might die if I eat anything else tonight. I don’t know how you’re eating.”
After quite literally the best dinner of my life—of which I’d had seconds because, wow, so good , and also because his mom had appeared out of nowhere with a second plate for me—we’d had dessert. Also the best of my life.
And now there were muffins.
I felt like a hobbit. A very full hobbit.
Amusement lit Adam’s eyes as he leaned closer and intentionally took another bite, just to see how I’d react. But my full stomach was once again forgotten as I found myself fighting a genuine smile, and not for the first time this evening.
This Adam...I hadn’t met this Adam before this evening, and there was just something about him.
He’d stopped looking at me like I was the worst thing to ever happen to him, or like I was one giant puzzle he needed to figure out. He seemed to be free of the weight he’d been carrying. He was funny and affectionate with his family. And he was undoubtedly dangerous to my heart.
“Wait until the box comes back around,” he muttered, tipping his head closer still, and I knew from the way he purposefully kept from signing that these words were for me alone. “We’ll slip it back into the box when my mom isn’t looking.”
My smile faltered. “Will that hurt your mom?”
His chest pitched with a silent laugh as those eyes sought out mine. “She’ll keep feeding you until you’re sick, Bubbles. Gotta find ways around—” His muffin-free hand shot out, catching a pillow just before it smacked into his face, and I whirled around.
Embarrassed heat was already spreading into my cheeks as if Adam and I had been caught doing something we weren’t supposed to. Not the muffin talk part, but how close we’d gotten without realizing. However, all worries of what his family might’ve seen or assumed—which was ridiculous given what they all still believed—vanished when my abrupt movement caused the room to tilt and blur for a moment.
“Right?” their other sister, Dani, asked as if Adam would know what she was talking about, and I struggled to control my features when a wave of nausea finished out the momentary dizziness.
I really didn’t want to be holding that muffin right then.
Just as I started worrying there was actually something wrong with me, Adam gave a hesitant laugh and leaned closer until his shoulder was pressed against mine.
It was a trivial action, but it had a huge impact on me.
Erased my worries, stole my breath, and made my heart skip as that earlier flush came rushing back. And, somehow, that small, probably unintentional touch gave me the strength to fortify my necessary persona.
“Uh...” he muttered, prompting a groan from Dani.
“Have you not been listening?” she asked.
If it bothered Adam that I leaned into his touch, selfishly craving more of that strength he’d unknowingly offered, he didn’t give any indication. He just let me rest against him as I drew in as deep of a breath as my strained lungs allowed and refocused on the conversation.
“Sorry, what?” he asked, sounding like he still wasn’t fully listening to her.
With a roll of her eyes, Dani said, “Ellie’s been saying this guy’s the one since halfway through college,” as if in confirmation.
But Adam just asked, “We’re still on that?”
“Thank you,” Ellie snapped, and I realized in that moment, in those two words, how right Adam had been earlier.
I didn’t know sign language, but thank you had been easy enough to pick up. For as effortlessly as Adam’s family signed as they spoke, it was just as fascinating to watch how their expressions and gestures changed from small to large.
Not that I’d known how much of a difference it would make to someone who couldn’t hear until Ellie had just signed thank you in that way. Her frustration and annoyance had been clear in every part of her. Almost every part of her.
I didn’t study people at all, let alone the way Adam did, and even I’d caught the little glimmer of enjoyment in her eyes as if she secretly loved having the attention on her. Even for something like this.
Something that was immediately confirmed for me when Dani accused, “Don’t act like you’re so tired of this when you’re the one who keeps bringing it up.”
Which meant, it was highly likely Adam had never just guessed that I was hiding something with my smiles, but had truly seen past them...
“ You always bring it up ,” Adam whispered to me, drawing my attention back to him.
Before the question gathering on my tongue could slip free, surprise silenced me when I realized just how close our faces were—not that his focus was on me. And even though I should’ve, I didn’t shift away as I took the moment to study him this close.
His dark hair that was so much messier than usual. The angles of his tanned face that made my fingers ache to reach out and trace the defined edges. His distracting lips that were twitching with amusement as he watched his family.
But it wasn’t until Adam uttered a soft, “ My little Ellie, the lover ,” that I realized he was translating for his dad.
Considering Adam had been graciously whispering his dad’s words to me all day, it shouldn’t have taken me so long to realize what he was doing. Then again, I’d been distracted by the worrying realization that Adam most likely could and had seen beneath my perfectly crafted facade. I’d been lost in the comfort something as simple as him leaning against me could offer. I’d been wrapped up in the memory of Adam saying he liked the real me...
He tipped his head ever so slightly to the side and informed me, “If you haven’t noticed, Ellie has a habit of thinking every guy she dates is the one .” His eyes slid my way and flared when he noticed I was right there, already looking at him.
Turning his head fully to face me, he unabashedly looked at me for what simultaneously felt like seconds and hours. When his gaze dipped to my mouth and held, I was sure my heart would give out right then and there.
But then his stare returned to mine, his brow furrowing when he asked, “You good?”
“If I said yes ?” I asked, already having a feeling I knew what his response would be.
“I’d think you were lying,” he said without hesitation.
My head slowly nodded, but I wasn’t sure if I was agreeing or just accepting what I’d already figured out: He truly could read me so well.
Not that I wasn’t okay; I was having such a great time with his family. But the wonder of what Adam might see when he looked at me was something to worry about in and of itself. And right then, I was truly worried I didn’t know how to keep from completely falling for the man beside me.
I could continue outwardly fighting it, sure. But I’d started falling for him even when he was awful to me. My heart didn’t stand a chance against this Adam.
Still, I found myself saying, “I’m good, Superman,” before sitting back and trying to get lost in the conversation again, all while Adam quietly studied me.
But then Ellie turned her attention on me just as I finished stealthily slipping the muffin back into the box, and asked, “So, how’d you two meet—for real this time,” and my stomach dropped.
A laugh tumbled past my lips that was equal parts uncomfortable and worried. “I, uh?—”
“We’ve already told you,” Adam cut in, coming to my rescue. “This isn’t what you think it is.”
“Sure, sure,” Dani said with an eye roll and shared a look with their youngest sister that said, and we still don’t believe you.
“You keep giving us the co-workers story,” Sam’s wife chimed in, “but how do you expect anyone who’s been around you for more than five minutes to believe that?”
Heat flamed in my cheeks as I thought of the way we’d just been leaning into each other and the way I’d just gotten trapped in Adam’s stare...something that had happened all too often throughout the evening.
“Exactly,” Ellie continued for them, then made a face. “Why even keep telling that story? It’s weird.”
“Because it’s the truth,” Adam said unwaveringly.
Ellie’s eyes rolled, and she dramatically flopped over onto Dani, who laughed. “He’s hopeless,” their youngest sister muttered, signing lazily.
Their dad signed something, and for the first time, Adam didn’t translate it for me. But he did visibly still just before everyone else muttered their agreements.
“This isn’t a joke,” Adam ground out, the seriousness of his words clearly displayed in the forcefulness of his hand gestures.
“Of course it isn’t,” his mom began. “We know what this means to you, just as you know what this means to us. We just want to share in the joy of your relationship.”
“Mom,” he said on an exhausted sigh before scrubbing a hand over his face. “We’re not in a relationship.”
She scoffed and waved him off, then looked around. “Someone smack him.”
Sam had launched a pillow before their mom ever finished with the lackluster order, as if he’d already been prepared to, and Adam was a fraction of a second too slow that time. He grabbed the pillow just as I freed my hands to try to block it—right as it smashed into my face.
“Sorry,” Adam said quickly as he chucked it back in his brother’s direction. “I’m sorry.” But from the depth of his apology, I knew he was apologizing for more than a couch pillow hitting me in the face. Not that it had been his job to stop it, and not that it had really hurt.
“You shouldn’t have brought me,” I said on a breath, even though I was sure at least half of his family could still hear me.
Indecision warred in his eyes before he said, “I didn’t have a choice.”
“You did,” I said firmly but just as softly. “Leaving me at a dump of a motel would’ve been better than what this is gonna do to your family. Leaving me home would’ve been better.”
His shoulders sagged just slightly, and I knew from the look he gave me that he was going to argue why he couldn’t. But before he could say anything, his dad made a noise to get our attention.
And even though Adam once again remained silent, I knew his dad was talking about me.
The following silence felt heavy and suffocating as everyone looked at Adam and me, seemingly waiting for an explanation.
“Why aren’t you telling me what he’s saying?” I asked under my breath. When Adam didn’t respond, I risked a glance his way and found him studying me. “Adam, what’d he say?”
After long seconds, he released a heavy sigh and glanced around the room before reluctantly telling me, “ I know real when I see it .” He cleared his throat, looking more uncomfortable than I’d ever seen him when he added, “ Something that special deserves more than to be turned into a joke .”
My heart raced even as I tried controlling it—tried telling it this wasn’t real, no matter what his family might think, no matter what my traitorous heart might want. Adam and I were co-workers at best , as he’d said earlier.
But then copper eyes locked onto mine as he finished translating, “ You risk losing her by treating her like she doesn’t mean anything—joke or not ,” and I once again couldn’t help but wonder if some part of Adam wanted this to be real too.
“So, stop being the world’s lamest boyfriend,” one of the girls said irritably, seconds before Adam reached out to grab whatever was thrown that time.
The edges of a soft blanket gently curled around my arms before Adam let it fall to the floor. His uneasy stare darted between the members of his family before falling to the small space between us, and I knew in the guilt that marred his features that I was an idiot for considering Adam would ever be battling the same war as me.
Of course he didn’t want this to be real. I’d been forced onto him like an unwanted babysitting job. Nothing more.
I needed to remember that.
“You should’ve left me in Texas,” I whispered to him before twisting away, simultaneously untangling myself from the blanket and getting off the couch. And for some reason I couldn’t understand, I was unable to meet any of their stares when I stood.
“Adam isn’t the world’s lamest boyfriend—well, I don’t know,” I told them with a laugh that sounded sad, even to me. “You’d have to ask someone he’s actually dated. But everything we’ve told you today has been true. I really am just his co-worker, and barely that. I only started there two weeks ago.” Pressing a hand to my chest, I tried looking at Adam’s mom and felt like a coward that I still couldn’t lift my stare fully. “I know what him bringing me here means—I know. He told me. And I’m so sorry to do this to your family—I’m sorry to get your hopes up—but this really isn’t what y’all think it is.”
I started backing away when the silence in the room became unbearable and told them, “You have a beautiful family. Thank y’all for being such wonderful hosts.”