Page 131 of Sin City Lights

Adam put a hand on his heart.“You wound me.”

“I’ve seen your mug enough to last a lifetime, Ug. Sit on her other side.”

Adam pulled out the chair beside Jannie’s, and Eve eased into it. Curiosity finally got the best of her.“Why do you call himUg?”

She glanced at Adam, who looked about to roll his eyes as he sat down.

Jannie gave him a sidelong look.“It’s short forUgly.”

Eve was stunned silent.

Jannie noticed.“Yeah, well, it’s because he annoyed me. Rather, the girls at our elementary school annoyed me. They tried to be my friend so they could come to our house and ogle him. Gave me notes to pass on to him, little gifts… Don’t even ask about requests for sleepovers. I got so sick of hearing about him and his ugly mug,Adam this, Adam that, how gorgeous he was. I didn’t see it but whatever.”

Eve looked at Adam, whose lips were curved into a really cocky smirk, and she burst out laughing.

The other three Larssens reached the table.

“What’s so funny?” Ian asked.

Jannie pointed at him. “It was even worse with you.”

“Whoa,” Ian muttered.

“She told Eve about the time you got locked out of the hotel buck naked,” Adam deadpanned.

“Yup, and he’s beenBuckever since,” Jannie informed her.

Ian’s eyes widened. Everyone laughed except for him. Mr. Larssen guffawed the loudest.

Throughout the meal, Eve enjoyed herself tremendously, watching them talk and laugh at the same time, sometimes defaulting to Norwegian. As a little girl, she had dreamed of a family like the Larssens.She’d never even had the chance to observe one, and this was a dream come true for her.

Another dream come true, courtesy of Adam. She leaned into him, and he pushed back, a silent gesture of affection.

She turned her attention back to Jannie, who had decided to thoroughly embarrass Ian by recounting the story of him at sixteen, stranded naked outside a Mexican hotel.

“…and then, this genius decided to go skinny-dipping with some girls after all of us fell asleep,” Jannie told her.“Left his clothes on the beach, and someone stole them, including the key card in his pocket. He had to walk from the beach all the way to our bungalow. The entire resort was treated to his junk.”

Adam looked into his glass of iced tea, smirking.“Not much to see,” he muttered.

“I heard that!” Ian said.

Jannie snorted.“The water was cold.”

Mrs. Larssen cleared her throat.

“Eve, Adam tells us you’re a Gator.” She helped herself to a slice of pizza.

“Yes.”

“We must’ve gone to school around the same time,” Jannie interjected.

“I didn’t finish, though. I’ve recently been working on completing my undergraduate degree in Las Vegas. The University of Nevada has a program, and I take courses there.”

Jannie nodded excitedly.“That’s great! And your doctorate?”

“I plan to do that there too. It’s another three years.”

She glanced at Adam, and her heart kicked up a little at the pride she saw in his eyes.

---