Page 107 of Once Upon a Boyband
I’m debating the merits of crawling back in bed and taking Ringo with me to grab another hour of sleep. I don’t see patients until eleven today, so I technically could. But I do have a couple of post-op patients I could check on, and Dad has been hounding me to click through a QuickBooks tutorial for small business owners for weeks, claiming he can’t fully retire until I know how to be both a vetanda business owner.
Things have been tenser than normal between my dad and me since the news of the engagement broke. We’re mostly okay. Things died down after a few days, and I’ve successfully managed to field all wedding-related comments and inquiries before any more of them reach Dad.
But I could still use the brownie points. And Iamalready awake.
I breathe out a sigh, then pick Ringo up and look into hisbig brown eyes. “You’re going to turn me into a workaholic,” I say.
In the end, I only arrive at work a little bit early because Ringo chewed through my shoelaces while I was drying my hair, and I had to stop at CVS on my way in to buy some replacements.
When I carry Ringo through the employee entrance, I find Percy and Patty and two other vet techs all standing in a line outside Dad’s office, staring at the closed door.
“Um, what’s happening here?” I ask.
Percy spins around, eyes wide, and lifts his finger to his lips to shush me. He grabs my elbow and hauls me around the corner into a treatment room. “You aren’t supposed to be here until eleven,” he whisper-yells.
“I wanted to check on my post-op patients. Where’s Dad? Is he okay? Why is everyone staring at his door?”
Percy frowns. “Because he’s in there talking to Adam. Who came to the office right now on purpose becauseyouaren’t supposed to be here yet.”
My heart climbs into my throat. Adam ishere?
Knowing he’s so close cracks something open in my chest, and it’s all I can do not to burst into Dad’s office and throw myself into his arms. I hope he’s done needing space because I really don’t think I can give him anymore.
Except,wait.There’s another important part to this equation.
“Why does he need to talk to Dad?” I ask. “What are they talking about?”
“No clue,” Percy says. “But girl, wait until you see him. This is a version of Adam I haveneverseen before.”
Dad’s office door swings open, and I hear Adam’s voice. “Yes, sir. I agree,” he says.
I step around the corner, heart pounding, and Adam turns.
We make eye contact, and I know exactly what Percy meant.
Adam looks like he just stepped off a movie set. He’s wearing black jeans, a black button-down with enough buttons undone to reveal a very pretty stretch of skin at his chest, and a gray leather jacket. The last time I saw him, his beard had mostly grown back—it's been almost three weeks since he shaved in Silver Creek—but he’s clean shaven now. Combined with hisvery solidwardrobe choices, he looks like a Deke/Adam hybrid, the two sides of him melded into an improved grownup version of who he used to be.
Incredible. Good enough to eat. Sexy as all get out.
But it’s more than that, too, and my brain finally lands on the description that fits best.
Adam looks likeastar.
Dad steps out of the office behind Adam and claps him once on the back, then he walks over to me. He puts his hands on my shoulders and gives them a quick squeeze. “I like him, Elena,” he says softly enough that only I can hear. Then he reaches for Ringo. “Now let me spend some time with my grand dog.”
Adam walks toward me, pausing a few feet away. “Maybe we can talk outside?”
I swallow and nod, my brain still trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for Adam talking to my dad. I mean, there is one very obvious reason, but we’ve only been datinga month.It’s way too soon for that. Plus, we’re kind of going through something else right now.
When I don’t move my feet, Percy, who is still standing beside me, nudges me forward until I’m close enough forAdam to take my hand. He leads me outside to a picnic table that’s sitting in the grass behind the office. When the weather’s nice, I usually take my lunch breaks out here. I sit down, but Adam stays on his feet, and I get the sense that he’s nervous about something.
“Sorry to surprise you,” he says. “I was actually going to leave here and come straight to your house.”
“You were?”
He nods. “Percy told me you start later on Fridays.”
“Yeah, I usually do. But Ringo’s been waking me up early.”
