Page 53 of Storm Bound
“And that’s bad because…” Adam hummed.
“It isn’t. I just want to do something more for you. Something that takes care of your emotionalandmental needs, too,” I said, but as soon as I said it, I got it. “How about I show you around town. Now that the storm is over, I can take you to all my favorite places.”
Adam’s eyes twinkled, and my insides rumbled with fuzzy feelings again.
“That sounds perfect,” he said, and I kissed him.
Someone cleared their throat and I jumped, pulling away from Adam and turning to the archway.
“Sorry to interrupt your… PDA, but your next appointment is here, and they’re being… ‘persistent,’” Ava said, air-quoting the last word, which by this point was the keyword for rude and grumpy.
“I’ll be right there,” Adam said and took his plate and glass to the sink, then went back to the front after giving me a quick kiss on the forehead.
I read and reread the information on the tickets as if I expected them to turn to scratch cards or something completely useless, but they didn’t. They were still the same tickets he’d given me.
I couldn’t believe he knew me so well already. That he could read me like an open book. And that he’d accepted me so fully without a blink.
Things were looking up for Master Charlie. They were looking up indeed.
Sixteen
Adam
That Friday, I put on my nice dark navy blue sweater, my light blue jeans, and my brown leather shoes and waited for Charlie by the door.
The sun was already down and there was a chill in the air, but nothing like the cold, stinking winters of Chicago.
Since Ava confronted us, I’d felt freer than ever before, even if the thought of being the gossip on someone else’s lips terrified me. To the town’s credit, there hadn’t been any malignant chatter—not in front of me, anyway—but we’d had a fair share of women act all funny and suspicious around us at the practice. So in a way, I was anxious about seeing Charlie’s town and meeting his friends and family.
At the same time, it was an exciting time. I’d never met anyone’s family before. I’d been an ass or a cuddle for the night, if that, and not much else. It had been a long time since I’d had any sort of social life, and what better place to come out of my shell than a small town. It was less crowded, less intimidating, and more welcoming. Right?
A black BMW pulled up on my front yard, and the beams blinded me. I got up from the chair on my porch and walked to the side, trying to clear my vision. When I did, I saw Charlie behind the wheel.
“Hello, handsome. I had to borrow my dad’s car because my grandma has poker night with her girlfriends, and she needed hers,” he said.
I smiled and opened the passenger door to get inside.
“I can’t wait to meet her. She sounds…”
“Weird? Yeah, she is.”
“Adventurous. Poker, yoga, cooking…”
“Don’t forget coffee fortune-telling,” he added, reversing the car.
“Oh, I didn’t know that. Maybe she can tell my fortune one day,” I said.
Charlie glanced at me and smiled.
“Baby boy, you don’t need your fortune told when you have me,” he said.
His words reached my chest and scattered all kinds of butterflies through my body. If he kept saying things like that, then falling for him would be inevitable.
The radio played some popping tunes at a low volume, and we drove through the quaint little streets of his small town. The sky was a deep violet that painted everything in purple hues.
That all changed when we reached the seashore. Or Main Street as it was also known by.
There were streetlights at equal lengths along the street and a galore of restaurants and bars heaving with life from locals.
