Chapter 30 #2
“You look like a snack holding that baby, Adam. Bet you’re glad the pull and pray failed you now, huh?” Billy jokes around, being his loud self so that people within our little radius hear him and chuckle along.
“Dom, baby, let me tell you something. You should stay away from your Uncle Billy. He is nothing but trouble and will only lead you down the wrong path.” Adam is holding Dom on his lap and he’s laughing and nodding his head to everything Adam is saying.
“We bonded the other day when I babysat. You won’t be able to turn that kid against me.” He leans to Dom and whisper-yells. “At least let us get into some real trouble first, huh, bud?” Billy holds his fist out and Dominic bumps him back with his tiny little fist. “See? Bonded.”
I see Adam side eye him. Billy takes his leave, jumping to the empty seat next to my sister.
I have to check in with Adley. He seems very comfortable with her.
“Hey, maybe I can borrow him sometime, bro? That kid is a chick magnet.”
Adley elbows him hard.
I just laugh at Billy’s antics. That guy loves to rile Adam up, always has. And I’ve only seen Adam take it from him. They fight and egg each other on, of course. They’re brothers; it’s what they do. But next to Francesca, Adam watches over Billy the most.
Billy had some trouble a while back. He was a wild kid growing up, and he never outgrew that.
He partied too hard one night and found himself in jail after an accident where he was lucky to be alive.
He was charged with DWI and lost his license and his car.
The attorney fees cost him a fortune. No one knows why he got in the car that night, and Billy has kept that secret to himself.
Adam was sick with worry and took it upon himself, of course, to fix everything for Billy. Adam cleaned him up, gave him a job, courtesy of a prompt by the courts, and has been watching over him since. I think Billy learned a hard lesson, for the most part, but he’s still that wild guy.
He doesn’t seem to let things bother him too much, or at least doesn’t show it and is always the most interested in having fun; never wasting a minute.
It’s why watching him on the video the other night makes me wonder what’s a show and what isn’t.
And how he’s gone so long at fooling everyone in the family.
“How are you feeling being here, CJ?” Adam asks me.
His voice in my ear gets my pulse racing.
This man affects me like no other. We were right to tell Dom tonight.
It’s not too soon and even though I don’t know how much Dom understood, he’s getting used to having Adam around.
He sees him at the house, and he’s surrounded by family now.
He has to feel the love whether he understands a formal name for it or not.
“I’m okay, actually. I thought I would feel self-conscious about being here. I had visions of people accusing me and asking all kinds of intrusive questions. But they just seem... happy for us.”
He nods, understanding my feelings. “I felt the same. I was almost afraid to come out in public, but I can’t hide forever.” He snuggles into Dom, settling him on his lap as we hear the announcer start to introduce the teams.
As the crowd goes wild for the Christmas Comets, Adam leans over and says, “I’m glad you’re here with me.”
I turn quickly to catch his face, but he’s already on his feet cheering for Jackson and his team. The crowd is deafening, and I don’t get to answer him.
By halftime, Jackson’s team is only ahead by a touchdown. Chess is a nervous wreck, and the crowd is antsy and excited at the same time.
“I’m going to go grab some drinks. And a hot dog for Dom. Anyone else?”
Our crowd fires off some orders, and Tom stands and walks down with Adam to the concession stand.
“So, things are looking good here, huh?” Billy nudges me. “Am I getting another sister?”
I roll my eyes and nod towards my sister. “Things are looking good there, too,” I smirk as he throws his arm around my sister. Billy embodies everything it means to be a true Casanova.
“Yes, I’m loving the view,” he says with his head turned directly toward Adley. She gives him a shake of her head with a smug grin. “I’ve been waiting on your sister to write me into one of her books. I bet it’d be a bestseller.”
“She writes books, Billy, she doesn’t direct porn,” Bobby chimes in and we all laugh.
“What the fuck is she doing here?” I hear Britt exclaim suddenly.
“Who?”
“Fucking Grace.” Britt has never gotten over how Grace used to try to insert herself everywhere.
As if she heard us talking, Grace meets my eyes, and an evil smile crosses her face. She starts making her way over to me, eyes locking onto Dominic. I hold him a little closer, hating the feeling in my gut right now. Billy sits a little taller and turns his body towards me. Ah, so he saw it, too.
“Hello, Casanova family.” She throws her hair over her shoulder, “Hey, Bobby.” Her voice sing-songs, then sneers at Britt. “Britt.”
“Whore.”
“Oh, Chelsea. Now it all makes sense.” She ignores Britts comment but locks eyes with me.
“Do you think a baby will keep him home this time?” She raises a brow and nods toward Dom.
I’m fuming right now but I can’t even answer her.
She’s lucky I’m holding Dominic. Otherwise, I would do something I might regret.
Francesca cuts in, “Grace, come on. Not here, this is a big night for Jackson. Not to mention the fact I don’t like your tone in front of my nephew.”
Go Chess! Her sweet and sour comment is one of the traits I love most about her. She can come across sweet as pie but always gets an underlying dig in when needed. This time, she’s sealing the fact that Dom is Adam’s.
Grace rolls her eyes at Chess. “Tell Adam I said hi and thank him for the drink the other night. I didn’t get a chance to properly express my thanks.” She gives me a wink, then turns and skips down the stands.
My stomach clenches and my fear must read on my face. “Don’t even go there right now, Chelsea,” Billy speaks lowly into my ear. “We were all at Moose’s and she walked in trying to cause trouble. Adam shot her right down.”
I don’t even get a chance to think about it, but my heart is beating rapidly, and it feels like my breath was stolen from my chest. This is the exact feeling I felt every time I’d see her, every time I’d wait for her to make a comment about Adam and her being together.
Whether it was true or not, she’d leave constant reminders that she had him first, that he would go to her when he couldn’t get what he wanted from me. It was her constant innuendos that pushed me over the edge and helped in my decision to run from here.
One thing Grace is good at? Placing doubt in my mind and leaving it there when she drifts off. Like a tsunami builds a growing wave, she blows hot air then waits for it to wash over and consume me.
“Britt, is this still about her pulling shit in high school?” I have to ask, to take the spotlight off me. I know it’s a shit thing to do to my friend, but I can’t handle the sympathetic ‘poor Chelsea’ looks I’m getting right now.
“Oh, it’s more than that. Let me tell you about that bitch,” Britt says in true dramatic Britt fashion.
“She thought she could come in and take my man right from under me. She’s always had a thing for the Casanova boys in high school, and when none of them would pay attention, she started picking off their friends.
She’s a psycho and no one wants to see it but me. ”
“Oh, we saw it,” Bobby says but then tries to quiet Britt as he notices Adam walking up the stands. Good luck, no one silences Britt.
“The minute you left, she conveniently shows up and latches onto Adam. She played the whole quiet and reserved, not caring if Adam worked days straight, understanding girlfriend,” she uses finger quotes, “but that’s her game.”
I look at Adam, I know he hears his name and he’s watching Britt go red in the face.
“Bri—”
“And if you ask me, she was stalking Adam before you even left. I was there that night, CJ, I remember what she said to you. I’m sure it wasn’t the first time she cornered you with—”
“What night? What did she say to you?” Adam demands.
Dominic jumps in my lap, Adam’s booming voice startling him. The crowd is starting to fill in the seats again and this is really not the place I want to have this conversation. I never wanted to have this conversation.
Tom passes out drinks, but Adam is still standing over me, his height imposing as I stay sitting on the bleachers. “What did she say to you?” he repeats.
“Adam.” I tug on his arm, and he sits down next to me. “Not here, please. I don’t want to ruin tonight for Chess and Jackson.”
I’m looking at him with pleading eyes. He gives me a return look with narrowed ones.
He takes a breath. “If she said something that affected you… us…” he scrubs his hand over his mouth, “I need to know, Chelsea. You can’t keep secrets like this from me.
” I shake my head. But he knows. He sees it on my face.
Grace was always a sore spot in our relationship.
I faded away as a kid, lost who I was becoming as a pre-teen, teenager and then adult.
My number one flaw was that I tried to control situations so I could give myself the reassurance I wasn’t getting at that moment in time.
I tried to control what was said and who was around.
I had convinced myself I wasn’t wanted—it’s what I was taught as a child anyway—and that Adam would leave eventually, just like all the other men in my life did.
I let it fester and eat at me until I finally let it ruin what we had.
So much to the point that I stole time from Adam.
“This conversation isn’t over,” he says, then grabs Dom from me and stands again to watch the team take the field for the second half.