Page 12 of Storm Bound
Because that wasn’t embarrassing enough already.
“Enjoying the journey?” I asked with a smirk, trying to change the subject straight away.
“Not as much as my trip to Washington,” he said and winked at me.
“Will you shut up? It’s late, and we’re all trying to rest,” someone shouted behind us, bringing our short conversation to an end.
“Sorry,” I whispered and went back to my seat when I heard someone snoring loudly.
I turned to find Adam, eyes wide open, fake snoring and smiling every time he closed his mouth, looking at me.
God, he was perfect. And I was anything but. What chances did I even have with him?
Well, he’d only be a town away for the next six months, so if I did have a chance, we could most certainly find out. I just hoped he didn’t walk away as soon as he saw me naked.
I returned my attention in front of me, and soon Adam stopped fake snoring. I looked ahead at the weather, that turned stormy as we crossed from DC to Virginia. The swooshing windshield wipers swung side to side, clearing the view for the driver, and they lulled me to sleep into lands of witches, witch hunters, and hunky doctors. A world where I was accepted just how I was, and I could fix any other problems with a flick of a hand or a quick spell.
Happily ever afters were so much easier in fantasy than in real life.
Four
Adam
Of course we’d be sitting in separate seats right after the most amazing dinner ever. Because why should I continue having something good when I could have it stop dead in its tracks and bring me straight back to reality?
There was nothing I could do about it now, so instead, I sank back in my seat, closed my eyes, and let the sound of the rainfall put me to sleep. I had a long day ahead of me tomorrow, and chances were I wasn’t going to get much rest in between arriving at Cedarwood Beach and getting to my new home.
Home.
How crazy to refer to this new place I’d only been a few times in my life as my home? After living an entire life in Grand Rapids and Chicago, a move to a small town in Virginia should scare me. And yet, it was everything I needed.
I was trapped in Chicago. Life was still. A vicious circle of being overworked and underappreciated. I was a thirty-seven-year-old man without a decent partner or a family of my own. I needed something in my life. Anything to feel like I was back on track. I had no idea if moving to Cedarwood Beach was going to do it, but I had to try something. Anything to escape my life back in Chicago.
I felt the bus come to a stop and the lights came on, so I opened my eyes to find everyone slowly rousing and getting up.
Had it been four hours already? Had I fallen asleep? It didn’t feel like I had, but maybe I did.
Whatever the case, I got up and grabbed my bag, then slowly made my way to the front of the bus, but when I got there, Charlie wasn’t in his seat.
Well, there you go. Wasn’t meant to be, I guess. Maybe it was only meant to be a tease of what my life could be like if I tried to live a little.
“There he is,” someone said to my right as I got off and turned to find Charlie waiting for me, suitcase at his feet and mine in his hands. “What? Did you think I was going to leave without saying goodbye?”
He passed me my suitcase, and I smiled.
“I don’t know what I thought,” I told him, and we walked into the station.
This was my chance. If I wanted to see him again, I had to ask him for his number now or I might never see him again.
As soon as we were under the cover of the bus station, Charlie dropped his stuff and ran at someone.
He launched at a young, tall-ish, black guy with big, strong arms who hugged him tight, lifting him in his arms.
“There goes my chance,” I mumbled to myself.
Had I misread him? I thought he was interested in me when now it seemed he was in a relationship. Maybe he was in an open relationship, in which case I needed to steer well clear from him. I’d had enough of that crap to last me a lifetime. I didn’t need that here, too.
The guy let Charlie go, and they walked together toward me.
