Page 59 of (Un)Spoken

“Not a chance.” Adam winked as he walked past me. “I want to get this over with so I can kiss you anytime, anywhere.”

I chewed on my lower lip. “About that…” I sighed as I stepped out of the bathroom into his bedroom. Sitting on his bed, all I wanted was to crawl back inside and ignore the rest of the world for a little longer. Adam stepped forward, watching me with an uneasy frown on his face. I exhaled slowly. “With Emilia, I want to wait a little bit longer, let her get to know you a little bit more as my friend before I explain that you’re my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” Adam smirked. “Is that what I am?”

“Oh!” I said, dropping my gaze down to my hands and twisting my fingers together. Insecurity filled my lungs as I stared at them, hoping I didn’t shatter our newfound bond by speaking out of turn. “I just thought… Well, you said I was yours?—"

“Hey, hey,” Adam said as he dropped to his knees in front of me. He pulled my hands apart, holding them tightly in his. “I was just kidding. I’d love to be your boyfriend, at least for now.”

“For now?”

Adam leaned forward and kissed me, consuming me with one touch of his lips. “I want a lot more than that, trouble. But a boyfriend is a good start.”

My cheeks reddened as he gave me one last kiss beforeheading into the bathroom. I grabbed my phone from his nightstand, cursing that I’d forgotten my charger in my haste to come over last night. I looked around his home, finally finding a charger in the kitchen. As I plugged in my phone, I started to pick up my clothes, frowning as I looked at them. There was no way I could show up at Cole’s house wearing the same outfit as yesterday. I wanted to talk to Cole, not give him a heart attack.

“Hey,” I called to Adam as he walked into the room. “Do you mind if I borrow some clothes to head over to my place? I’ve got to change before we pick up Emilia.”

“Course,” Adam said as he grabbed something from his drawers and passed it to me. I pulled his shirt over my head, and he watched me with a reverent look.

“What?” I asked, toying with the hem.

“Nothing,” he chuckled. “Just really enjoying the look of you in my clothes. It might be my second favorite, after nothing at all. In fact, you should just wear them all the time…” He ducked as I chucked a pair of socks at his head. “No? Not feeling it?”

“Not going to happen,” I chuckled as I walked over to him, lifting onto my toes to kiss him deeply. “But the naked part, I could definitely agree to.” I toyed with his hem. “Maybe tonight?”

“You inviting me over, trouble?”

“Maybe.” I shrugged. “Probably should see how today goes first, make sure Cole doesn’t try to drive me out of town when he finds out what we’ve done.”

I tried to keep my tone light, but my real insecurities came barreling through. As much as I tried to say my brother’s opinion wouldn’t matter, it was everything to me. We were just getting back onto solid ground, and I didn’t want to destroy our tentative foundation.

As if he could pick up on my growing anxieties, Adam pulled me into his arms. “You don’t have anything to worry about, trouble. I’ll be with you every step of the way. He’s not going to be mad at you. Me, that might be a different story.” He kissed the top of my head. “But he’s not going to try and tear us apart. Even if he does, anywhere you go, I’m going with you.”

I shook my head. “Don’t say that, Adam.”

As I tried to pull away, he held my arms, keeping me close. “I mean it, Tori.”

I studied his expression, not wanting to believe the swell of hope in my chest. This moment, this man, was everything I wanted and more. But I couldn’t focus on it, not when we still had a huge hurdle to overcome.

“Thank you,” I whispered, placing my hand over his heart. “For last night, for the past month, just for…” I looked up into his adoring eyes. “For being you.”

“Anything for you, trouble.” He kissed me one last time before taking my hand and leading me toward the front door. After he pulled me outside, he took my hand and kissed my knuckles. “We’ll get through this. Together.”

And as much as I believed him, my stomach dropped at the sound of a grumble coming from the bottom of the steps. When I pulled away from Adam, I met my brother’s stormy expression, his eyes narrowing at where our hands were intertwined.

Cole’s face turned downright lethal as he looked between Adam and me. “Why the fuck are you holding my sister’s hand?”

THIRTY-FIVE

Cole’s eyes blazed with promises of bloodshed as he stared at his little sister’s hand clenched in mine, but no matter how hard he stared, I wasn’t letting go. After last night, when we promised each other we belonged together, there was no way I’d walk away from her right now. He’d have to pry my cold, dead hand from Victoria if he wanted to separate us.

“Cole…” Victoria stumbled. “I, uh…” Her dark eyes glanced up at me, unsure how to even start. I just smiled back at her, trying to give her the confidence I wanted to feel. Because even though I knew we’d get through this okay, I couldn’t say the same about my relationship with Cole. From the look he was shooting in my direction, I was lucky to be still breathing. It was hard not to feel like I’d been punched in the chest, with my best friend looking at me with such vitriol in his eyes.

I hadn’t seen that look since he was drinking, hating when we tried to get him to kick the habit. In the past few years, I forgot how fucking terrifying it was to have Cole look at you like that. Even though I was a big dude, Colestill had a couple of inches on me, and I knew the power his punch could pack. I’d have no chance if his fist decided to destroy my face.

“This is where you were?” he snapped at Victoria. “I’ve been fucking worried sick!”

“Don’t talk to her like that,” I practically growled, pushing her behind me.

---