Page 49 of For the Record

“What do you want to say?”

“Tell that old witch to screw herself and never contact you again.” I had never heard his voice go that low before, that deep. It was like he was summoning a curse to send to the woman on the other side of the line.

“Rach?” she asked, probably assuming she’d lost signal.

I looked down to the phone, and my fingers began to shake again. “I-I can’t. It’s too mean.”

“Give me the phone, and I’ll say it, baby.” His voice turned softer, and all the willpower in me left. My phone in hand dropped to his side, and he gladly picked it up.

He unmuted the call, and I had the strong urge to leave the room to avoid the conversation.

“Nah, nah, nah.” Adam shook his head at the phone as if she were in the room with us. “You may talk to other people that way, but not my wife. Never my wife.”

“Are you the father?” She gasped, and I could picture her clutching her pearls, staring at Stephen’s phone in pure disgust.

Adam scoffed. “I’m no father any more than you are a mother. But I am Rachel’s husband, and if you’re going to speak to her like that, then you better expect the same right back from me.”

A vein in his forehead poked out, and I thought this was it. Adam was going to have a stroke and die right here. He was so full of anger.

“Listen.” Mom’s voice wavered, and I was almost jealous of how quickly he’d made that happen. “I just wanted to speak to her—”

“No. You listen. If you want a chance to speak to my wife again, then fix your attitude and accept that you abandoned her. You left a nineteen-year-old girl to take care of herself and her father entirely on her own so you could go running off with random men in California—”

“Now hold on—”

“I’m not finished,” he growled, and my insides did an entire flip. “You left an amazing man and your even more amazing daughter so you could live your own selfish life. You made your bed, now go lie in it. Next time you call my wife, it better be with an apology for everything, or you’ll never call her again.” He hung up the phone before she could answer and tossed it onto the counter.

I was still frozen in place. My feet felt like they were cemented to his kitchen floor. Adam’s hands lifted to his hair and pulled again as he groaned, muttering a couple of low curses to himself. His chest heaved in and out, his face so red and strained that I had the raging urge to take my pinkies and smooth out every crease and tensed muscle.

As if I needed another reason to fall for this man, there he was, defending me with 100 percent of himself, and yet still, I knew he’d held back so much of what he wanted to tell her.

I sniffled, not even realizing that there was a tear already sitting on the high point of my cheekbone. Adam flinched and turned to me. “Stevie, honey. I’m sorry.”

I took a step, choosing to ignore that, and walked my way to his side and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Thank you,” I mumbled into his shirt.

After a moment, his arms dropped around me, pulling me closer to him. “I told you. There’s nothing out there I wouldn’t do for you.”

I smiled to myself, because yeah, I knew that good and well.

Currently playing: Wildest Dreams by Taylor swift

***

Layla really was a beautiful bride.

My heart soared for my best friend, watching her dance in slow circles with her now husband. Her hands rested on the back of his neck. Luke bent down to her smaller height to whisper what was probably some incredibly romantic sweet nothings in her ear. Maybe something a little dirty too, considering her cheeks began turning bright red as she avoided all of our gazes.

I took a sip of my champagne before propping my arm on the table and letting out a sigh.

“They really are perfect together, aren’t they?” Calla sighed dreamily next to me, her eyes never leaving her brother and sister-in-law.

They were perfect for each other. Years and years of watching the two of them dance around each other trying not to ruin their friendship had led to this moment, and truthfully, it was all worth it. Seeing them sway in slow, rhythmic circles with love light beaming off them. It felt magical.

Adam came back from the small area where the iced drinks were, plopping in the seat next to me with his water bottle.

I had never seen suit Adam before. This was new territory for me. He’d shed his jacket. Now he wore a white button-up with the tie now loosened around his neck, black pants, and shoes that matched the rest of the groomsmen. It wasn’t that the suit was anything special. No magic stitching causing him to look so irresistible. But it was the way he wore the suit. How he adjusted the cuffs with this deep scowl on his face. The way his neck flexed when he fidgeted with his black tie, down to the way his pants clung just right to his firm thighs without being too tight.

Unfortunately for me, I had gained a little bit of weight since our last dress fitting, so my sage green bridesmaid dress caused me to feel a bit like an overstuffed sausage, spilling out of the top of the low slit neckline. I kept pulling it up to make sure I wasn’t giving an unnecessary show to all of Layla’s in-laws, but the longer the night went on, the less I could be bothered to be on boob patrol.

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