Page 33 of (Un)Spoken

Adam came to my side, lacing my pinkie finger with his. “Is that so hard to believe? Pretty sure you almost killed me, trouble.”

“I don’t understand.” I shook my head. “I wanted to keep going, so why did you stop?”

He sighed, shifting around to sit on the edge of the couch. “I’m sure you’ve heard about my reputation, read articles about my dating life.”

“Maybe a couple,” I laughed. “They called you the Heartbreak Prince?”

“Such a stupid fucking nickname.” He cringed. “I’ve been trying to work through some things. I don’t want to be that guy anymore, and especially not with you.” He reached out and ran his thumb along my jaw. “I want to do right by you.”

I shook my head, still not fully comprehending thewords coming out of his mouth. “But that was before you saw all this.” I motioned around the room. “This is my life. It’s not glamorous. Emilia is the center of my world, and she can be a lot to handle. It’s messy and loud, and often, glitter covers every surface. But as long as she’s happy and loved, that’s all I can ever ask for.” I reached out and placed my hand on top of his. “That moment was amazing, but that was all it was: a moment. This isn’t what you want, Adam. It’s too complicated.”

“I don’t mind complicated,” he said. “Is this about Emilia’s dad?”

“Cam?” I chuckled. “No, not at all. We’ve been over for a long time, but we’re still close friends. This is about you and what you deserve. I don’t want you saddled with me and all my baggage.”

His blue eyes narrowed, standing so he hovered over me. His hand shifted to the nape of my neck, shifting me so our chests were touching. “Listen here, trouble. I’ve fought hard for everything in my life, and you are no exception. I don’t know why you have it in your pretty little head that your life is too complicated for me, but that’s nonsense. I want you and everything that comes with you. I’m not asking for forever, Tor, just a chance to see what this could be.” He lowered his face so his lips were only a breath from mine. With the slightest shift, I’d get to taste him again, get to melt in his embrace. “Take that chance with me?”

I wanted so badly to say yes, to dive in with him despite my insecurities, but there was still too much unknown, too many factors that could change how he felt about me. Sure, he had spent an hour playing with Emilia, but would he still want to stick around when she was crawling into bed at four in the morning or vomiting all over the living room? Besides, my life was here, and it was a far cry from his world. Itwouldn’t even make sense to try, not when it was destined to fail.

But when I looked into his gaze, all I could see was a good man staring at me, asking me for a chance. And as much as I didn’t know Adam Rice, the movie star, this Adam, the one who had been there for me all week, who had given me the best kiss of my life—he was the kind of man who was worth the risk.

“Okay,” I exhaled.

Adam’s face lit up. “Yeah?”

I couldn’t help but grin at the excitement on his face. “Okay, let’s see where this goes. I still don’t know how it’ll all work out in the long run,” my eyes met his, “but I want to try to see what could be between us.”

He smiled then softly pressed his lips to mine. It was barely a kiss, more a promise of more, but it was enough to light my entire body in flames, enough to make my thigh clench in need. “Good,” he whispered as he pulled back. “Because I’m not going anywhere.”

NINETEEN

Dinner was a tense, awkward affair. Despite Emilia’s lighthearted questions and Cam trying to steer all the conversations to safe topics, they inevitably turned to painful parts of our past. Emilia was very curious about her new uncle, demanding to know why he’d never been to any of her birthday parties. Every question out of her little mouth seemed to put my brother more on edge, but he answered all of them. After he promised to make up for it, she seemed satisfied, moving her chair over to sit closer to him. Once she was settled, we eventually stumbled onto a safe topic: Cam’s baseball career.

“Yeah, I’m just on one of the farm teams right now,” Cam said between bites of chicken casserole. “I’m hoping to make it up to the majors in the next year or two. New York or Boston would be my ideal choice, but everyone wants to play for those major brands.” He shrugged, leaning back to muss up Emilia’s hair. “So we’ll see.”

Cole’s eyes darted to me. “And you’re going with him?”

“Oh…” I said, almost choking on my bite of food. “We haven’t really talked about that yet. I guess we were waiting tosee what happens before making any major decisions.” I looked down at my daughter, staring at her empty plate. “Why don’t you go play, baby?”

She didn’t wait another second, taking her plate to the sink before running into the living room.

Cam smiled at Cole once she was out of earshot. “Obviously, I want Emilia around all the time, but during the season, my life is chaos, and there’s a lot of times I’m not home for weeks. So, if the time comes and Vic wants to settle somewhere else, I’ll follow her lead. She’s already given up a lot for me, and I wouldn’t want her to sacrifice anything else. She’ll always have a home here too.”

Apparently, his answer appeased my brother, because he nodded along with Cam’s words, but Adam kept staring as if he was measuring up his competition. I wanted to laugh at the thought. Cam and I were family, but I wasn’t in love with him—I hadn’t been for a long time. And as much as I appreciated his parents giving me this cabin so we could all be close, with Adam sitting here, it felt a little off—a little too close for comfort.

Cole leaned back in his chair. “When’s your next travel stretch?”

“Actually, next week,” Cam answered. “We’re heading off to Arkansas for a couple weeks, and then we’ll be traveling around Texas. Why?”

My brother shifted, looking at me. “I'm throwing this out there, but I’m not looking for an answer right now. Since Cam’s going to be traveling and I can’t really leave Alex alone during our busy season, what if you and Emilia come back with us for a while?”

“What?” I asked, almost dropping my fork.

“I want to spend more time with you, Tor. A couple ofdays wasn’t enough.” He smiled down at Emilia. “I want to get to know my niece better too.”

My mouth hung open, staring at the three men watching me expectantly. But Emilia answered first, having overheard his question from the other room. She gave my brother a scrutinizing stare. “What kind of things would we do?”

Cole looked at me as he stumbled over his words. “All kinds of things,” Adam jumped in, not missing a beat. “Do you like apple picking?”

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