37. How The Grinch Stole Christmas #2
“For being you. For not making me feel pressured either way. For everything you do that makes this world a better place for kids like Connor and Lily. For kids like twelve-year-old me, who hoped one day they’d find someone who cared as much as you do.
” I take his face in my hands. “You’re a good man, Adam Lockwood. I love you.”
“You do, huh? How much?”
I arch a brow. “What do you want?”
He grins, shrugging. “Been thinking about what Carter said a few weeks ago, at your birthday.”
“He says a lot of things. In fact, he almost never stops talking.”
Adam chuckles. “About you and Connor moving in after you graduate.”
My pulse spikes. “Oh. Don’t worry about that.”
“I’m not.”
“Cool.” My head bobs. “Yeah, me neither.” I try to back up, put the teensiest amount of space between us so he can’t hear the way my heart rattles against my rib cage, but his palms press against my back, pulling me right back in until I bounce off his chest.
“Connor’s room is already made up, and you don’t have much stuff at your place with Archie. Should be a quick, painless move.”
My jaw drops, and Adam smirks, two fingers on my chin to close my mouth.
“You’re not surprised, are you? You heard Carter say I was obsessed with you, right?”
“I mean, it’s not as if I haven’t thought, you know, ‘How cool would that be, if everything was still perfect in the spring, and Adam maybe wanted us to stay forever, and —
’”
“I want you to stay forever, Rosie. I was thinking we could start the year off in our house, together.”
“The year? Like-like-like…the new year? In two weeks, that new year?”
“The very one.”
“But-but-but—” Jesus, Rosie.
“That’s so soon.”
“Respectfully, I don’t give a fuck how soon it is.
Why should I wait on something that brings me so much happiness?
” He cups my cheek, guiding my gaze to his.
“If it’s not something you’re ready for, and you feel like it’s too fast, that’s okay.
Communicate that with me, and I’ll back off.
” He dips his head, nuzzling my neck. “But if you’re on the fence and open to persuasion, I can take you to the bathroom and show you what we could do every single morning on our bathroom counter. ”
“Mmm…” I sway into him as he kisses his way up my neck. “What if I want to paint our bedroom pink?”
“Done.”
I think about his SUV, the one I’ve been driving to and from school since I got my license. “And if I hit a curb with your car? Oh, or
what if I backed into your truck with
your car? Huh? What then?”
He drops his head, pressing his quiet, rumbly laugh against my shoulder.
“Do you want to hear how the first thing I’ll ask is whether you’re okay?
And then tell you that it’s okay, they’re just cars?
Or do you want me to tell you how I’ll bend you over the hood of it later that night, when the house is quiet, and pretend I’m furious? Because I’ll do both, Rosie.”
Sounds great. Okay, Rosie, let’s level this bad boy up.
“What if I have a creepy ceramic doll collection I haven’t told you about and I want to display them for everyone to see?”
“Then I’ll build you a fucking shelf for your creepy dolls so their eyes can follow me everywhere I go in our house, so long as it’s our
house. Just move in with me, please
.”
“Geez,” I mumble, hiding my smile against his shoulder. “No need to beg. I was gonna say yes.”
“Fucking troublemaker,” he murmurs against my lips, then glances at his watch. “We’ve still got over an hour before I need to be on that plane. How many times do you think I can make you come in that bathroom before then?”
“Gross,” Carter whispers, killing the moment as he appears beside us. “Your bathroom orgasms need to wait. The DJ’s about to put our song on.”
“Our song? What—” Adam’s brows pull down, his mouth set in a grim line as the “Cha-Cha Slide” starts spilling from the speakers.
The boys gather around him, clapping their hands to the beat, and Adam tries to hang onto me like Jack tried to hang onto that door.
There’s not enough room for him on my door, though, and this Titanic is sinking, so I smile at him as I let him go.
“My brain genuinely can’t comprehend why I find this both utterly mortifying and yet such a fucking turn-on,” Olivia whispers as she pulls me to safety.
“Oh, I love it.” Cara traces the shape of her lips with her pointer finger as she watches her husband dance. “Emmett sometimes puts it on while he’s cleaning. There’s nothing like watching your man cha-cha real smooth with a Dyson in his hand.”
“I love when Garrett shakes his ass,” Jennie tells us on a sigh. “He’s such a bad dancer, and it makes him a hundred times more lovable.”
“Adam’s been teaching Connor how to do the Macarena. Connor calls it the Macaroni, so now every time Adam puts his hands on his ass and jumps, he sings, ‘ Heeey, Macaroni
!’ It’s the most attractive thing ever
, and I jumped on him as soon as Connor went down for his nap this afternoon.”
“That man was made to be a dad,” Cara says, nodding.
The song comes to an end, and the boys bow to their cheering crowd before they start ambling over.
“Who’s got first dibs on the private bathroom?
” Cara asks. “Because I—” Her eyes widen, and her face goes a volcanic shade of red as her gaze narrows on something over my shoulder.
“I must have died and gone to hell, because I know Satan’s whore didn’t really just rise from the ashes and walk the fuck in here. ”
Adam’s easy grin slips, and the blood drains from his face. He grips my hand, pulling me behind him, and I grip his suit jacket as I peek around him, at whatever is causing the commotion.
A stunning redhead strides toward us in sky-high stilettos and a fur jacket. It’s not until she stops before us and slips it off, showing us the glittery royal blue dress below, do I notice that she is really fucking pregnant.
A low gasp fills the room, and Cara mutters something about the spawn of Satan.
The redhead smirks at her, crossing her arms over her chest. “Charming as always, Cara.” Devastatingly beautiful and equally evil blue eyes move over me with disdain, and my stomach somersaults as Adam tucks me tighter against him.
“What do you want, Courtney?”
“Oh, that’s simple.” She tosses her fiery red locks over her shoulder. “I want you to step up and be a father to the baby you put inside me.”
ADAM
“What the fuck did you just say?”
I slam the door behind us, the cold, fresh air doing nothing to soothe the fire torching my insides. Rosie’s tucked into Olivia’s side, her gaze so lost as it moves between Courtney’s belly and me.
I feel like my goddamn head is going to explode.
“I’m pregnant,” Courtney says.
I snort. “Clearly.”
“The baby is yours, Adam. And if you’d had picked up the phone any of the hundred times I tried calling you, or showed up to the meeting you set up with me, you’d know that.”
“Absolutely fucking not. We haven’t slept together in a year and a half.”
She scoffs, rolling her eyes. “So you’re just going to pretend that night at your place didn’t happen? In July, when you had that party?”
“ What
? I didn’t touch you! I don’t even remember you being there!” My gaze flicks to Rosie, and I see the way she’s backtracking, adding up dates in her head, and I fucking panic.
“Rosie, I haven’t so much as looked
at another woman since you came into my life, I swear it.”
“This is disgusting,” Courtney spits. “I figured you regretted it when you woke up the next morning and tried to play it off like nothing happened, when you kicked me out of what used to be our
house. But I can’t believe you, Adam Lockwood, golden boy, would really act like you had nothing to do with this. You found me in nothing but your T-shirt, for fuck’s sake.”
“That doesn’t mean shit.” It’s not me who says it, but Carter. “Everyone knows you’re nothing but a conniving, vindictive old shrew. All you ever do is try to break everything good because you lost the best thing you’ll ever have. You’re lying.”
“Then what the fuck is this?” Courtney shoves her phone in his face, in Rosie’s before I yank it from her hand. “Pretty damning evidence whose bed I slept in that night.”
The photo is me, passed out in my bed. Next to me? Courtney, in nothing but my T-shirt.
I shake my head, searching my brain. Like it was that morning, it’s foggy as hell. “I had too much to drink. I did…I did those keg stands.” I look to Jaxon, pleading for answers, but he just shakes his head, his eyes sad for me, like he wishes he could help.
“I told you that morning, dude. You ran out of the pool when you saw her come in, and I never saw you again.”
I tug at my hair. “I don’t remember.”
Courtney steps forward, one hand on her belly, the other on my arm. “We can be a family again, Adam.”
I jerk away from her touch. “I have a family.”
“A real
family. You’ve been playing house with that girl for long enough, don’t you think?”
“Don’t fucking talk about her,” I growl lowly, looming over Courtney.
“This is our son. Ours
, Adam. The one you always wanted. The one we dreamed about having together.”
My stomach roils, and I place a hand over it. “A baby won’t change anything between us. And I have the son I always dreamed of having.”
“This rich, martyr stepdaddy act is getting old, Adam.” She spins to Rosie, a huff of laughter escaping her nose. “Wow, talk about getting lucky, huh? You must be thrilled that your woe is me
sweet little single mama act worked. You think you’re set for life now, huh?”
“ Enough
,” I roar, blood thundering in my ears, my heart hammering. “Don’t fucking speak to her. Don’t even look
at her. You’re so goddamn beneath her, she can’t even fucking see you.”
Rosie rushes to my side, tucking her shaking hand in mine, placing her other hand over my heaving chest. “This conversation is over,” she tells Courtney. “You shouldn’t have come here tonight.”
“Don’t you dare talk to me like that, you bitch.”
“No,” Cara growls, stepping between Rosie and Courtney. “Don’t you
dare talk to her
like that. In fact, life would be immensely better for everyone if you just. Shut
. Up.
” She swings her hip out, pinning her arms over her chest. “You should be ashamed of yourself for ruining such a special night for five minutes of fame. Like the woman told you, this conversation is over. Now get. The fuck. Out
.”
“You’re a bitch,” Courtney spits out.
“Proud of it, babe.” Cara wiggles her fingers at her as she storms down the street. “Enjoy your trip back to the fiery depths of hell.”
As luck would have it, our team bus pulls up out front at this moment, and the doors open as the rest of the team filters outside.
Coach raises his brows at me. “Everything good here?”
No
.
“All good, Coach,” Carter replies, his grip on my shoulder shaky.
“All right. Everyone on the bus. Wheels up in forty.”
“Rosie, I swear—”
She silences my frantic words with her mouth on mine, her trembling fingers pressing into my jaw as her soft lips move with purpose. When she pulls back, it’s the quiver in her chin that breaks me, the way her gaze wobbles as she stares up at me. “We’ll…we’ll figure this out, Adam. Okay?”
I climb on the bus and watch my pink-haired world slowly fade from view, and I can’t help the thoughts that claw their way in, setting up shop inside my brain.
Will we figure this out?