Page 8 of Wait For You

I didn’t even really know the whole story of his experience in his family or how he felt about his girlfriend dying. In short, I knew a lot of details about Adam, but I didn’t know him beyond a friendly, superficial level.

“How come you never noticed me?” he asked, his gaze curious.

I stared at him, and my heart started to beat faster. I wanted to tell the truth. Before I could say anything, he swore, “Aw, hell, I shouldn’t have asked that.”

“Why? I asked you,” I pointed out.

Silence filled the space again. I was surprised to realize I didn’t start panicking. There was a sense of anticipation but not the dread and fear that I used to experience with my ex whenever there were gaps of silence.

“Because I know Rich. He’s a controlling, jealous asshole. I’m guessing you didn’t pay attention to anybody because it wasn’t safe for you to do that,” Adam said, his tone careful and level.

My eyes were wide, and cold fear drafted through me. “How well do you know him? Are you friends?” My voice was on the verge of shaking.

Adam’s reaction was swift. “Fuck, no. He was a bully when we were kids, he was an asshole in high school, and he was a fucking asshole in college. I know him because Fireweed Harbor is a small town. Like I mentioned before, he was a controlling, jealous jerk with a girl he dated. He freaked out about some guy holding the door for her in the winter once. I don’t have to know him well to get the idea. He has a reputation.” Adam studied me for several long beats while my heart pounded against my ribs. “Why do you trust me?”

I contemplated his question, trying to read my body’s reaction to him, almost reaching for slivers of doubt. “I don’t know.”

A tiny corner of my mind was afraid I would be wrong, because I hadn’t had a reason to mistrust Rich at first. Yet the way I felt with Adam was nothing like that.

Once again, silence stretched between us. “What does ‘more’ mean?” he finally asked.

I could barely breathe with the force of anticipation seizing my lungs and sending my pulse skittering. “Just that. More.”

Adam nodded, and I suddenly became aware that we’d been having this emotionally fraught conversation, and all the while, his knee was nestled between my thighs. My panties were wet, and my nipples were tight, and I had forgotten all of it.

Just as I flailed about, trying to figure out how to exit this moment gracefully, Adam said, “Just tell me when and where. It’s always on your terms.”

I knew, to my bones, that he meant that.

Chapter Six

Adam

It’s always on your terms.

My own words played through my thoughts on repeat. I’d meant what I’d said. Yet it was turning out to be more difficult than I could’ve imagined. I fucking wanted Tessa. And now, I was waiting. For her.

I was practical enough to be aware of what it meant for her to be a single mom. Maybe I didn’t know much about her life, but I suspected she was busy. Inconveniently, when I was stopping by the grocery store, the very evening after I saw her in the office, I saw her ex Rich in the grocery store. He was on the phone. He was one of the guys who talked on the phone as though he wasn’t in the middle of everywhere, just oblivious to anything going on around him. He’d been in line, and the young guy at the register had to wait while Rich bitched to someone about preferring to cancel his visit with his son, but knowing it wouldn’t look good with the court.

I wanted to clock the guy. Well, not really. I’d never laid a hand on anyone.

The following afternoon, I was deep into analyzing a budgetary plan for an expansion when my twin brother Kenan knocked on my door before peering inside.

“Hey, hey.”

I smiled out of habit and because I was almost always glad to see Kenan. We were so different, yet we knew each other so well.

“What’s up?” He strolled into my office, plunking in the chair directly across from my desk. He immediately reached for a Slinky that I kept there solely for him. Kenan was one of those fidgety people who always did something with his hands.

“Just looking at our plans for expanding the operations in Willow Brook and adding a new location down in Seattle,” I explained.

“For offices?” His brow furrowed in confusion.

“Oh no. We’re done with offices there. Another distribution location for the renewable batteries we’re producing in Willow Brook.”

Kenan nodded. “Ah, I knew this.” He flashed a grin.

“You always know everything,” I returned with a brow waggle.

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