Page 33 of Hook, Line, and Summer

“So what do you think we should do?”

“Oh no.” She shook her head. “You’re the one who came over here and wanted to talk. I’m not spilling my guts while you just sit there and listen.”

The corner of my mouth curled up when I processed her words.

“You have guts to spill about this?”

She rolled her eyes, obviously trying to hold back a smile.

“What did you come here to say?”

I dragged my hand along Thea’s soft fur in long strokes, taking comfort in her presence. I guess there really is something to the emotional support animal thing. She’s making me feel more confident just being next to me.

“When I agreed to come back here, obviously I knew I’d see you. I figured we'd be friendly and keep things on the surface level.” I shook my head. “The problem is, there's no surface level between us, there never has been. I loved you before I even knew what that really meant. And I still love you.”

She sucked in a sharp breath as her eyes filled with tears. Sensing her mom was in distress, Thea left my side and squeezed onto the chair next to Summer.

“I’ve been thinking about this since Sunday night and I still don’t have it figured out. I don’t know how we can make it work this time, I just know that I want to try.”

Summer blinked and a tear trailed down her cheek. I held my breath as she stood and walked toward me.

“Adam, I wish everything you just said wasn’t true, but it is. Especially the part about the issues still being there.” She sat next to me and dragged her fingers through her hair. “But I don’t care about that right now.”

I ran that last sentence through my head three times trying to figure out if it means what I think it does. Just to be sure, I decided to ask. Sort of.

“Does that mean–”

Even though I didn’t really ask anything, Summer nodded. And before I could say anything else, she launched herself in my direction.

CHAPTER10

Summer

Before I could overthink it,I pressed my mouth against Adam’s and picked up where we left off Sunday night. And just like then, the kiss was both familiar and new, and I wanted more. He must have read my mind because his mouth opened over mine, taking the kiss to a whole different level.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and shifted to straddle his lap. Adam dragged his hands down my back and squeezed my ass, pulling me against his erection. I matched his low moan with one of my own and thrust against him then jumped back as Thea let out a sharp bark.

“It’s okay,” I said to her as she nudged my hand, then looked back at Adam. “We should probably take this upstairs so we can close the door.”

Backing off Adam’s lap, I stood on shaky legs. His eyes shifted between Thea and me.

“Will she be okay?”

The fact that he’s worried about Thea while sitting there with tented pants makes me love him even more.

“I think so.” He raised his brow. “We’ve never…I mean–”

I gestured, not sure how to finish that. The fact is, there hasn’t been a man in my life since I adopted Thea. Thankfully his eyes widened in understanding so I didn’t have to spell that out.

“Do you need me to do anything?”

“You go up. I’ll be there in a minute.”

I waited until he disappeared upstairs and walked into the kitchen with Thea on my heels. I opened her treat drawer and pulled out a peanut butter filled bone.

“Mommy and Adam are going to hang out upstairs.” I led her back to the living room and pointed toward her bed. “You stay here and enjoy your treat.”

She looked at me with suspicious eyes but took the bone and started working on getting the peanut butter out of the middle. I backed away, then walked up the stairs and found Adam standing outside the doorway of my room. Taking his hand, I led him inside and turned on the lamp on my bedside table.

---