Page 165 of Unravel Me

With my cheek on his chest, I breathe in the comfort, the security, the way he loves me so completely, without conditions. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being you. For not making me feel pressured either way. For everything you do that makes this world a better place for kids like Connor and Lily. For kids like twelve-year-old me, who hoped one day they’d find someone who cared as much as you do.” I take his face in my hands. “You’re a good man, Adam Lockwood. I love you.”

“You do, huh? How much?”

I arch a brow. “What do you want?”

He grins, shrugging. “Been thinking about what Carter said a few weeks ago, at your birthday.”

“He says a lot of things. In fact, he almost never stops talking.”

Adam chuckles. “About you and Connor moving in after you graduate.”

My pulse spikes. “Oh. Don’t worry about that.”

“I’m not.”

“Cool.” My head bobs. “Yeah, me neither.” I try to back up, put the teensiest amount of space between us so he can’t hear the way my heart rattles against my rib cage, but his palms press against my back, pulling me right back in until I bounce off his chest.

“Connor’s room is already made up, and you don’t have much stuff at your place with Archie. Should be a quick, painless move.”

My jaw drops, and Adam smirks, two fingers on my chin to close my mouth.

“You’re not surprised, are you? You heard Carter say I was obsessed with you, right?”

“I mean, it’s not as if I haven’t thought, you know, ‘How cool would that be, if everything was still perfect in the spring, and Adam maybe wanted us to stay forever, and—’”

“I want you to stay forever, Rosie. I was thinking we could start the year off in our house, together.”

“The year? Like-like-like…the new year? In two weeks, that new year?”

“The very one.”

“But-but-but—”Jesus, Rosie.“That’s so soon.”

“Respectfully, I don’t give a fuck how soon it is. Why should I wait on something that brings me so much happiness?” He cups my cheek, guiding my gaze to his. “If it’s not something you’re ready for, and you feel like it’s too fast, that’s okay. Communicate that with me, and I’ll back off.” He dips his head, nuzzling my neck. “But if you’re on the fence and open to persuasion, I can take you to the bathroom and show you what we could do every single morning on our bathroom counter.”

“Mmm…” I sway into him as he kisses his way up my neck. “What if I want to paint our bedroom pink?”

“Done.”

I think about his SUV, the one I’ve been driving to and from school since I got my license. “And if I hit a curb with your car? Oh,orwhat if I backed into your truckwithyour car? Huh? What then?”

He drops his head, pressing his quiet, rumbly laugh against my shoulder. “Do you want to hear how the first thing I’ll ask is whether you’re okay? And then tell you that it’s okay, they’re just cars? Or do you want me to tell you how I’ll bend you over the hood of it later that night, when the house is quiet, and pretend I’m furious? Because I’ll do both, Rosie.”

Sounds great. Okay, Rosie, let’s level this bad boy up.

“What if I have a creepy ceramic doll collection I haven’t told you about and I want to display them for everyone to see?”

“Then I’ll build you a fucking shelf for your creepy dolls so their eyes can follow me everywhere I go in our house, so long as it’sourhouse. Just move in with me,please.”

“Geez,” I mumble, hiding my smile against his shoulder. “No need to beg. I was gonna say yes.”

“Fucking troublemaker,” he murmurs against my lips, then glances at his watch. “We’ve still got over an hour before I need to be on that plane. How many times do you think I can make you come in that bathroom before then?”

“Gross,” Carter whispers, killing the moment as he appears beside us. “Your bathroom orgasms need to wait. The DJ’s about to put our song on.”

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