Page 99 of Unravel Me

I follow his stare, and when I spy the dark blue truck, the impossibly large man stepping down from it with a bouquet of peonies, my heart free-falls to my stomach. “Oh my God.”

I press myself to the window, watching as Adam pulls off his sunglasses and folds them into the collar of his T-shirt, spinning his keyring on his finger.

“Oh my God,” I murmur again, fogging the window up. I turn to Marco, folding my hands at my stomach. “How do I look? No, wait. Don’t answer that. It’s too late to change anything. Adam likes me the way I am.” I shove him aside, rushing past him. The door opens just as Marco crashes into me from behind, and I smile up at Adam as he halts, staring at the two of us staring up at him, breathless. “Adam. You’re here.” I raise my palms and gesture around me, in case he doesn’t know wherehereis. “In my work.”

He’s always waiting for me outside, the sight of his truck pulling up fifteen minutes before my shift ends making my heart flip-flop, or every Saturday morning when he and Bear join Piglet and me out front for our hike. Something about him being here, inside, it feels so personal.

I take a step toward him before stopping myself, unsure how to act. He’s just watching me, his eyes moving between me and Marco, who may or may not be hyperventilating beside me.

And then suddenly, Adam grins, crooking his finger at me. “Get over here, trouble, and gimme your mouth.”

I dash across the lobby to Adam, and he hooks one arm beneath my butt, hoisting me to him before he drops his mouth to mine.

“Couldn’t wait to see you tonight. Wanted to pop by and say hi.”

“Hiii.” Marco approaches slowly, a goofy smile on his face. He arcs his hand through the air. “I’m Marco, Rosie’s amazing, beautiful friend who she lovessomuch.”

Adam chuckles, setting me on my feet. “Yeah, that tracks with everything she’s told me about you.” He offers him his hand. “Hi, Marco. I’m Adam.”

“Mhmm.” His eyes move down Adam, then back up. “That you are, that you are. I’ve heard a lot about you, too, Adam, but not quite enough.”

“Maybe we could have dinner soon,” I suggest excitedly, looking to Adam. The sight of him, so imposing, so flawless, makes me nervous, and I find myself backtracking, twirling my hair around my finger. “Or whatever.”

His blue eyes move over me, and the corner of his mouth lifts as he pulls my finger free from my hair. “I’d love if we all had dinner, or whatever.” He holds out the bouquet of peonies to me, bright pinks, dusky yellows, and deep oranges, my favorite sunset. “These are for you.”

I lift the flowers to my nose to smell them but gasp when I see what’s waiting inside.

Tucked in the middle of the bouquet is a hot fudge sundae from Dairy Queen.

“Extra hot fudge,” Adam whispers against my temple with his arm around my waist.

It’s the silliest thing, something so small and sweet, and yet it’s bringing three little words to the tip of my tongue, ready to roll right off it. I want to say it. I never have, because I’ve never felt it. I thought I wouldn’t be sure I was in love, that I’d have to wonder, but I know now there is no wondering.

Love is, without a doubt, the most certain emotion I’ve ever felt. It’s steady and sure, constant, like the gentle ripple of the creek winding through the mountains, the quiet song from the birds in the treetops. I opened my eyes one morning and there it was, carved into the deepest parts of me, like it was always there.

Like Adam had always been a piece of me.

There’s a happiness radiating throughout me, a slight quiver in my hands as I stare at him, like my body is begging me to reach out, to take him into my arms, and God, I want to.

He sweeps his thumb across my lower lip. “Quit looking at me like that. It’s dangerous.”

“How am I looking at you?”

“Like you’d marry me right now if I promised to bring you flowers and ice cream sundaes every day for the rest of our lives.”

I completely fail at biting back my smile when I tell him, “I’d settle for weekly.”

His brows quirk, a playful challenge. “Don’t tempt me, trouble. I didn’t come prepared with a ring.”

“Wow. You two are adorable.” Marco gestures at us with circles of hands. “I almost feel like I’m interrupting a beautiful moment.”

Adam casts him an amused glance. “Almost, huh?”

“Oh, don’t mind me. Get your freak on. Ro’s already wrecked. Been limping around here all—”

“Marco!”

Adam laughs, winding an arm around my waist and tugging me into his chest when I try to decapitate my friend. “I gotta go. Don’t kill Marco before we can have dinner. But for the record, Rosie…” His lips dip to the shell of my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. “I like you a little bit wrecked.” With my chin between his fingers, he presses a lingering kiss to my lips. “See ya later, gorgeous.”

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