Page 93 of Vital Blindside

She’s been looking forward to Cooper’s fall art show for weeks now, and he’s thrilled to show off to her. It’ll be good for all of us.

“Yo, Cooper! Come see the pictures I took of my new RC car!”

We all turn to see a group of boys staring at us by the water fountain. The tallest one with a backward baseball cap waves like a madman.

Cooper looks at his father and me and groans. “I don’t care about RC cars.”

Adam ruffles his hair. “Be a good sport. We’ll see you inside the gym.”

“Fine, make sure you wait to look for my table. Don’t do any sneaking around,” he mutters before dragging his feet toward the group of boys.

I stifle a laugh, watching him paint a smile on his face and say hi to his friends. He looks over at us once and sticks his tongue out before turning back and joining the conversation.

“I’m realizing you two have more in common every day,” Adam says.

“Are you trying to say that I’m not a people person?”

“Oh, baby, I know you’re not a people person.”

I roll my eyes at him. “You like it because it gives you a chance to turn on your charm to make up for my lack of conversation.”

“Precisely.” He nips at my ear and uses the hand on my back to steer me in the direction of the open gym doors.

We pass multiple sets of parents, all of whom say hi to Adam and, in turn, me. By the time we actually make it inside the gym, my cheeks are sore from all the smiling.

As we get settled against one of the walls and wait for the official start of the show, Adam turns to face me and grabs my hand, threading our fingers. “I’m proud of you, you know?”

I look at him, and as our eyes meet, butterflies erupt in my stomach. “For what?”

“Everything. Your mom, Cooper, your new job. You’ve come so far since the first time you came into my office.”

Excitement bubbles at the mention of my new job. It’s only been a couple of weeks since I took a coaching position for Willow’s U15 hockey team, but it only took a few days to realize it was the perfect position for me.

After one of her previous coaches decided to drop everything and move to Quebec with her fiancé, they had an opening that needed to be filled urgently, and Willow didn’t hesitate to bring my name up for the position. It was a bit of a shock to get a call from a woman offering me a job I never applied for, but Adam was the one who gave me the push I needed to go for it.

Now, I still train at WIT on days I don’t have practice, but I have something else to give me purpose. Something to push me.

“Now that I think about it, I’ve been really missing our therapy sessions lately,” I admit.

His lips pull into a smirk. “We can always have one when we’re done here.”

“I think that’s probably a good idea. We don’t want all our hard work to be for nothing.” A liquid heat falls between my legs as I stare up at him, my lips parted.

His eyes flare, and as much as I know that a school gym isn’t the right place to be contemplating jumping Adam’s bones, I can’t help it. He does something to me nobody before him has ever done.

“You’re going to end up getting your ass spanked as soon as I get you home and into my bed,” he rasps, squeezing my hand.

My pulse starts to race. “Haven’t I told you before not to threaten me with a good time?”

I gasp when he slips his hand between my back and the wall and inconspicuously grabs my ass, kneading it in his palm. “Remember that you brought this on yourself, sweetheart.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem,” I whisper, pushing back into his hand. He groans quietly, and I smile wickedly. “Are you sure you can contain yourself for the next couple hours? I wouldn’t want you to be . . . uncomfortable.” My eyes fall to the bulge in his jeans.

He bends down, and his lips caress my forehead. “Fuck, I love you.”

Tilting my head, I capture his lips in a quick kiss. “I love you too.”

“I love you both. I mean, look at you. In love and not afraid to show it,” I hear my mom sigh. Adam’s hand falls to his side as we both turn to greet her.

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