Page 31 of Stuck with my Boss Daddies

“Is there anything I can do?”

I shook my head, backing away. I appreciated what she was saying, but I really did just need some space.

“I’m Lila,” she called after me. “Get my number if youdoneed anything…”

I pushed through the kitchen doors, my breath coming faster now that I wasn’t in the center of the restaurant.

The cooler air helped, but the pressure in my chest hadn’t fully lifted.

I flattened my palms against the counter, closing my eyes and willing the memories to stay buried.

The sound of the door swinging open made me tense.

“Here.” Adam’s voice again. A bottle of water appeared in my peripheral vision.

I swallowed hard before taking it, twisting the cap open just to give my hands something to do. “I’m fine.”

Adam leaned against the counter beside me, arms crossed. “You sure about that?”

I took a sip, focusing on the coolness of the water, on the way it slid down my throat. “It was just a moment. It happens sometimes.”

He didn’t say anything right away.

When I finally glanced at him, his usual teasing smirk was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a seriousness I hadn’t expected to see.

“You don’t have to tell me,” he said. “But if you ever want to, I’ll listen.”

I let out a breath, the tightness in my chest loosening just a little.

“It was a car accident,” I admitted, my voice quieter than before. “A long time ago.”

Adam didn’t press for more. He just nodded, his gaze never leaving mine. “I see.”

I hesitated, my fingers tightening around the water bottle.

Talking about it still wasn’t easy, even after all these years.

But Adam just stood there, patient, waiting, not pushing.

That steady presence made my walls crack, just a little.

“I was fourteen,” I finally said. “It was late. We were coming home from a family friend’s house. A drunk driver ran a red light.” I exhaled sharply. “Everything flipped so fast. One second, we were talking about school, and the next... I was waking up in the hospital.”

Adam stayed quiet, but I could feel the weight of his attention.

“My parents didn’t make it,” I whispered. “I did, somehow, but…” I swallowed, pushing past the lump in my throat. “It should have been all of us. Or none.”

Adam’s jaw tensed, and for a second, I thought he might say something, but he just let me talk.

That made it easier to keep going.

“I didn’t have anyone else. No grandparents, no aunts or uncles. So I went into the system.” I gave a hollow laugh. “I was lucky, I guess. I wasn’t in Willow Creek Orphanage for too long. Hayley fostered me, which is when I first came to Medford.”

The mention of her name eased the tightness in my chest even more.

I traced the ridges of the water bottle cap with my thumb.

“She was the best thing that ever happened to me. I was angry back then, at everything. At the world. At myself. She didn’t care. She was patient. Kind. She let me feel what I needed to feel without making me feel broken for it. I mean, this town is so different from Phoenix, where I grew up, but she managed to make it home.”

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