Page 78 of Make It Without You

I turn my face into his neck. Ghosting a kiss at his pulse point and inhaling the scent that’s all Adam mixed with eucalyptus from the oils. “How I like these moments between us.”

“Me too, baby.” Adam places a kiss on my forehead. “Tell me about your friends.”

I lean my head back on his shoulder and dive into my world. “I’ve known Kamryn since I was fourteen. I actually met her through James. She’s a fashion designer. Scratch that, she’s anextremely successful fashion designer. And she just got back together with her ex, Mason Brooks.”

“Woah. She’s dating the Bengals new quarterback?”

“Mm-hmm. I take it you’re a football fan too?”

Adam links our fingers together and I feel the excitement coursing through him. “The NFL package comes in handy at the restaurant. Man, Dylan will freak when he finds out.”

“Hey, I didn’t tell you to show off.”

“I know.” His arms wrap around my middle, pulling me closer to him. “What about your other friends?”

“Sarah was roommates with Kamryn at CSU. She’s become someone very important to me in the time we’ve become friends. Sarah is feisty and blunt, but she’s also sensitive. She works in PR and always complains about the athletes who get themselves in hot water. And Jax is Kamryn’s younger sister. She runs a YouTube channel that does extremely well and helps Kam on the marketing side of her brand.”

I felt a hum low in his throat. “You’ve surrounded yourself with driven women.”

“Not only that but they’ve seen me at my lowest. When I couldn’t get out of bed they were there to get some food in my system.”

“I’m glad you have them.”

“Me too.” I kiss the top of his hand and relax into his body. The afternoon sun slowly fades beyond the tree line of the dense forest giving way to, what’s looking to be, a clear night. Adam was right when I eyed this tub like it was candy. It’s a great place to relax and decompress.

Movement rouses me from my ultra-relaxed state.

“We need to get out of the tub before we turn into raisins.”

“Okay,” I relent and scoot forward so Adam can get out of the tub first.

I watch him dry off his body of art before he turns and holds out a towel for me. Our teasing smirks are that of playfulness and mischief. When I’m standing, with water sliding down my body like a waterfall, I hold my arms out to the side and wait for the towel to envelope me. I don’t miss the heated glare as Adam dries off my body. It gives me a thrill that we’re equally affected by our baring it all to the other.

“So Dylan’sMom hasn’t tried to reach out?”

We’re lying in his bed with the TV on at a low volume. After we both dried off from the bath and got dressed, hunger struck so Adam whipped up a grilled cheese for us to share. Conversation has steadily flowed. But neither of us has felt the need to disrupt the silence when it hits.

He shakes his head. “I wish more than anything she wanted a relationship with him. Me, I could deal with her leaving. But Dylan? He’s just a kid that needs his Mom.”

“Moms are important.” I never had the classic mother-daughter bond that Kamryn and her Mom had. It’s one thing I was jealous of her for having.

“This is not me telling or even asking you to fill that role.”

“I know,” I reassure him that I never fathomed that thought to cross my mind. With as confident as we both are with our relationship progressing, that line will eventually be erased and allow me to cross over to it. “No chance she would ever pop in? Is it ever something you worried about?”

“Every day for the last six years. But I’ve given up hope that she’ll ever come back for Dylan.”

Leaning back into the mountain of pillows, I survey his face. The light from the TV dances across his features. “What happens if she does?”

It’s not that I’m even considering the option of running. I have no idea of the way they left things. Does she still love Adam? Does Adam, deep down, still love her? Has she changed her mind about having kids? Where would that leave me if the answer to all were a yes?

Adam looks over at me and adjusts himself to where his head is in my lap and his arms are wrapped around my waist. My hands automatically go to his hair. The brown strands soft to the touch as I run my fingers through his hair. His body deflating at the touch gives me an ego boost I didn’t know I needed.

“I haven’t given much thought to what would happen if she came back. She signed over her rights when she served me with divorce papers. And that was that.”

“Selfishly I’m now glad that she did. Because then we wouldn’t have met.” I murmur so low I don’t think he heard me.

“Silver linings, baby.” His response doesn’t need a retort from me.

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