Page 4 of My Almost Ex

“What?” Adam screeched and his voice turned high right at the end.

Cam patted him on the shoulder. “One day he won’t sound like a frog anymore.”

I think the reason people envied the Greenes was their big family. To an outsider, they all appeared to be close. Cameron Baker had been pulled into them, being Fisher’s best friend. Having only a three-year-old brother, I would love to have siblings who had your back.

“Now stop playing games, let’s go.” He pointed at Cora. “You can be my partner.”

“This is hardly fair. You’re taller than me,” Adam complained.

“True.” Cam looked around. “Turner, get your ass over here.”

Cora groaned. “I am not getting on Toby Turner’s shoulders.”

“Oh, come on,” Cam implored.

Toby swam over. We’d made peace after the depantsing incident, and he and Adam actually became friends afterward.

We convinced Cora to get on Toby’s shoulders, and once she was up in the water, Adam sank down into the water and I straddled his head with my legs hanging over his chest. His hands grabbed my shins and my body slowly emerged out of the water. I put my hands on his head and was surprised by how silky it was in my fingers.

“Okay, girls, on the count of three, you each have to try to get the other one to fall off. Boys, stay strong.” Cam leaned along the edge of the pool, Fisher and Xavier on either side of him, watching. “One. Two. Three.”

Adam and Toby walked toward one another, and Cora and I ended up laughing more than fighting, which aggravated the boys. My body wiggled, and Adam’s hands on my bare skin were doing all sorts of things to my hormones. I was so preoccupied with his touch that Cora pushed me and I fell back, unable to keep my balance. As my body sank to the bottom, Adam’s hands landed on my hips, guiding me back up. We both emerged from the water, staring at one another.

“I’m sorry,” I said softly.

He shook out his hair. “Don’t worry about it. You’re okay?”

I nodded a few times. Our bodies were only inches apart and his hands were still on my hips. His gaze fell to my lips and it was as though the entire party disappeared and it was only us. I slid my tongue along my bottom lip because I read that your lips shouldn’t be dry when you kiss a boy. He was so gorgeous, I lost all train of thought.

“Cake!” Mrs. Greene yelled, and everyone scrambled to get out of the pool.

Adam smiled and swam away, his hands falling off my body in a lingering way that suggested he didn’t want to let me go.

That was when I knew Adam Greene and I were destined to be together. I even wrote it in my journal that night.

Before we reach the doors of the inn, I stop, closing my eyes to make sure the memory is still there. I envision a younger Adam in his swim trunks, smiling at me. Yeah, it’s still there.

“I had journals,” I say.

“What, sweetie?” Mom opens the door.

She’s been great the past three months, helping me try to remember. She didn’t want to come back to Sunrise Bay though. Said that whatever made me leave a year ago was still here, and not knowing what it was, she thought returning could make things worse. But I pushed the issue until she worried I’d come by myself.

“I used to write in journals,” I say again.

“You did?”

I nod. “You never had any at home?”

“You packed up your room when you…” She heads toward the reception desk where a young man I don’t recognize stands, her words trailing off like she wasn’t speaking.

Once we’ve secured a room for the night and we’re inside, I sit on the bed. “Mom.”

She’s busy taking off her coat and getting out of her shoes, checking her phone as if I didn’t say her name. I’m just realizing that she never told me about Adam or even the fact that I was married. How could she keep that from me?

“Mom,” I say again.

“What, sweetie? I never saw any journals.” She’s talking to her phone.

---