Chapter 26 #2
His mom reached up and patted his shoulder. “I think the coach isn’t so bad either.” She raised her eyebrows. “Wouldn’t you agree?” she asked me.
Heat burned in my face. I had seen his mom before, but we had never chatted. She was usually just picking up Danny.
“Mom.” The warning in Adam’s voice was obvious.
But his mom didn’t back off; she kept staring at me with her eyebrows raised.
“Um, yeah.” I blushed. “I’m actually quite a fan.”
She nodded in affirmation. “Good to hear. All right, better get on the roads before they ice over.” She winked at me and then gave each of the boys a side hug. “Drive safe. Love you both.”
As she left, I thought over my answer. Was that too forward? Not forward enough?
Danny looked up at me. “Since it’s Friday, Dad said I can stay up late.”
“Lucky.” I smiled at him, but my eyes kept glancing at Adam.
“Since it’s not a school night, can you stay up too?” Adam smiled a mischievous grin.
Danny’s eyes widened. “Yeah! You can stay up late with us!”
“Uh.” I cleared my throat. I mean, I didn’t have other plans.
Adam ruffled Danny’s hair. “That’s what I was thinking too, Champ.” He looked at me and raised his brows. “Want to stay up late with us?” He winked.
“Oh, um…sure.” I bit my bottom lip to keep from smiling too wide. “I can come over for a bit.”
Adam grinned. “Yes!” He fist-pumped and then gave Danny a high-five.
I chuckled and shook my head. These boys were too stinkin’ cute.
I waited with Danny as Adam closed things up and made sure the boys had their stuff. Then the three of us walked to the parking lot.
“Can I ride with Ms. Faith?” Danny asked.
Adam raised his shoulders and looked toward me.
Being his teacher, I’m guessing I better not. I squatted down near Danny. “I actually don’t know. I’d need to see if there is a policy about it. Is that okay?”
His eyebrows scrunched. “I don’t understand.”
“Okay.” I looked up as I tried to think of how to explain it. “There are rules at schools, like in our classroom.”
Danny nodded aggressively. “Like no boogers on the desk.”
Adam snorted.
“Especially that one.” I pointed in the air. “There are rules about teachers and students too.” I raised my right shoulder. “I don’t know them all. So, I will need to check if it’s a rule or not for teachers to drive students anywhere.”
He tipped his chin in thought. “Okay.” He hopped into Adam’s truck and I started my car. I began scraping the ice that had formed in the few hours since I’d driven the car here.
Adam scraped the ice off of his windshield in long strokes. He was much faster than I was and came over and finished clearing mine. He leaned against my side, touching me whenever he was close enough to do so.
“This is my new favorite way to celebrate games we win. If I knew that you coming over for an after party was on the table, I might have been way more nervous with the results.”
I rolled my eyes. “You didn’t even seem nervous at all!”
He shrugged. “Of course I was. I like to win, but more than that, I just want the boys to do their best.”
I sighed. “I knew it.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “You are too good to be true.”
He rolled his eyes and glanced back at his truck.
Seeing that Danny wasn’t watching, he snuck a quick kiss.
His lips were cold, and his breath was warm.
I desperately wanted more. I kissed him again.
Danny knocked on his window, so I took a step away.
Based on the look in Adam’s eyes, he was sorry to step away as well.
“Want me to follow you?” Adam asked.
“How about I follow you?” I stared at his eyes, not wanting to break the contact. He took a step toward me and I knew in his gaze he wanted me too. He reached out and I fell into his arms. His truck horn blared, ripping the silence and startling us both.
He groaned, “Ugh. Fine.” He turned back around and walked toward his truck. “Drive safe.”
My chest warmed and I felt like I was glowing. We loaded into our vehicles, and I followed Adam’s truck out of the parking lot.
Snow was falling, making it look like we were going faster than twenty-five as the flakes shone in the headlights.
The steering wheel was like ice. I reached and put on the gloves in the passenger seat and grabbed a blanket from the back and put it over my legs. My heater always took a while to heat up.
It took much longer to get to Adam’s. What usually took twenty minutes was closer to thirty-five. Twice my tires slid to the left. I couldn’t tell if my shaking was from the cold or the adrenaline from almost driving straight into a snowbank.
I was happy once we parked at Adam’s, and I didn’t feel like I had to focus so intently on the road.
Adam opened his front door and then stood in the doorway, holding the door open, waiting for me. Once inside, Danny rushed to take off his shoes and escaped down a hall. Adam’s hand trailed against mine. His eyes went wide, and then his hands were instantly cupping mine.
“You are freezing.” His eyebrows scrunched in thought, then his eyes widened. “Is your heater working?”
I shrugged. “Yeah?”
Adam growled. “Faith.”
I rolled my eyes. “I have gloves and a blanket in there. It was just extra cold tonight. It works, it just takes a bit.”
“Why haven’t you got it fixed?” He was obviously frustrated.
“Because it still works? I think.” I pursed my lips.
His eyes met mine, his brows lowered.
“This isn’t your job to fix.” I smiled at him, although I had no complaints as he pulled me against his chest and started warming me up by rubbing my back and arms.
Adam grumbled. “There is no way your heater is working right if you are this cold.”
“I thought about taking it in a few weeks ago,” I admitted as I warmed my nose on his chest. “But then I got nervous.” I was glad he couldn’t see my face.
“What do you mean?” He stepped back and studied me.
My brow furrowed. “I’m not sure. The thought of taking it in and talking to people, and they might ask questions, and I won’t have the answers.
” I sighed. “I’m worried I might say the wrong thing.
And it is working…kinda.” I shrugged. “I know it’s silly.
” My shoulders fell. “But it’s something that’s hard for me. ”
He pulled me back into a tight hug, shaking his head. “How about we take it in together tomorrow then?”
I loved the idea of him coming with me, but I needed to do these things by myself.
What if he came with me but didn’t say anything? Was that cheating? I figured it was better than nothing, and I really needed to fix it.
“Okay, but I want to talk to the mechanic myself. Don’t let me chicken out.” I looked up at him. “I need to practice being brave.”
Adam grinned. “Danny calls it sucking in your screams.” He raised his right shoulder. “When you’re scared to do something, but do it anyway.”
I laughed. “That’s a perfect description!”
Adam led me to the couch and we sat. “Thanks for coming to the game. It was fun seeing you there.”
“I almost yelled at a grumpy man for you tonight.” I raised my brows.
He put his arm over my shoulder and chuckled as I leaned into his chest. “Maybe you’re better at confrontation than you think.” He pressed his lips on my forehead.
Hm, maybe I was? I could stand up for people when I needed to.
Danny came running down the hall into the living room. I panicked and added space between myself and Adam and I missed his warmth instantly.
Danny sat on Adam’s other side and leaned against him, yawning. Adam placed his arm around him. His tablet was open to a video about space. Once he was focused on his video, Adam winked and gestured me over to him.
I quietly leaned onto Adam’s other side, and he placed his arm around my shoulder.
My world and heart felt full, and I didn’t want to jinx this happily ever after that might be just within reach.