Page 172 of Unravel Me

One moment, Adam is solid and steady beside me, my hand tucked warmly inside his. The next, he’s looming over Courtney, an energy so feral it makes the hair on the back of my neck rise.

“Keep her name out of your fucking mouth,” he whispers, the words so lethal, tinged with venom, Courtney fumbles backward, her hand at her throat. “This isn’t a goddamn game anymore, Courtney. You can’t play with people’s lives like they’re yours to manipulate. I’m tired of being your fucking chess piece.”

I step forward, laying my hand gently on his back, watching his shoulders drop, his heaving chest deflating as his breath slows to steady.

Courtney watches the exchange, and I see it in her eyes, the desperation for this to work, the knowledge that it’s not, that she’s watching her so poorly thought-out plan slip between her fingers, fall to pieces at her feet. And in all her despair, she gives it one last go, throwing herself at Adam, gripping his coat in her tight fists. “Please, Adam.Please.You can’t do this to me. You can’t. This is our chance. We can be a family. Arealfamily.”

“I have a family, Courtney, and she’s standing right here! I have a family who’s chosen me day in and day out, who loves me for who I am, and you have no one. You. Have.No one. So what the fuck are you still doing here? Why are you still in Vancouver? In Canada? For fuck’s sake, Courtney,go home.”

She shakes her head frantically, tears building in her eyes. To her credit, they look genuine, but I’m almost certain they’re there because this right here was her last-ditch effort. She doesn’t care about Adam, and she most certainly doesn’t deserve him.

“You’ll never get rid of me,” she whispers. “I’m not leaving. You can’t just brush me under the rug because you’ve got a new girlfriend.”

“I’m not brushing you under the rug. I’m telling you right here, right now, that you have no place in my life. None of it belongs to you, and it never will again. That baby isn’t mine, and we both know it.”

Her glazed eyes bounce around the coffee shop, a volcanic heat climbing her neck, erupting in her cheeks.

“Here are your choices, Courtney,” Adam starts quietly. “You can prove it right now, take a test and prove that baby is mine. But when the results show I’m not the father, I’ll sue you for defamation, and all the money will go directly to the young mother’s shelter downtown. Or you can admit this baby isn’t mine. You can make a public announcement that you were lying, that Rosie had nothing to do with our relationship ending. I don’t give a fuck whether you tell them the truth about who cheated, as long as you tell the truth about Rosie. We’re gonna resolve this one way or another, but none of these involve you and me and a future together.”

He threads his fingers through mine, and together, we turn toward the door. We only make it three steps before he turns back around.

“And no offense, Courtney, but fuck you. Fuck you for using me to make you happy until you decided you didn’t need me anymore. For taking what you wanted and leaving me with nothing. For staying for everything I gave you and giving me nothing in return. You gave menothing. Not love, not happiness, and sure as hell not your respect. You took my confidence and all my self-worth, and I hurt someone I love because you made me feel like she wouldn’t be able to love me for me.Youdid that. And I fucking let you.”

He rubs his jaw, a low chuckle rumbling in his chest. “You know, oddly enough, I wouldn’t change a thing. Otherwise, I would’ve stayed in a miserable relationship, and I wouldn’t have found Rosie and Connor. I wouldn’t know real love, what it’s like to feel it, what it’s like to be loved that way, if it wasn’t for them. And I willalwayschoose them.” He points a shaking finger in her face. “Fuck you. Full offense.”

She blinks those baby blue eyes and sniffles, her mouth opening, almost as if she might actually try her luck at responding.

But I’m so proud of my man, the way he’s stuck up for himself, because it’s never easy to do. And now I want to show him exactly how it feels to have someone always on your side. So when she spits out her first word, I hold up my finger, silencing her.

“You gave up the right to your happy ending with him the moment you chose to hurt him instead of love him. Now I’m going to give him the happy ending he deserves. Every day, I’m going to choose to respect him. Every day, I’m going to choose to lift him up instead of tear him down. Every day, I’m going to choose to stand by his side. Every day, I’m going to choose to love him. Everydamnday, Courtney, I’m going tochoosehim, and he’s going to choose me back. And that’sourhappy ending.”

* * *

He hasn’t stopped looking at me since we left the coffee shop.

He was looking at me as he held the door for me, and he was looking at me when he tripped over the curb and fell against the hood of his truck. He was looking at me as he tucked me into the passenger seat, smacked his forehead off the door frame. And he was looking at me the entire drive home when he nearly ran a red.

He’s still looking at me now, even as I kick off my shoes in his front hallway, hang my coat in the closet. I feel his gaze touch my back as I stroll down the hall and into the kitchen, gabbing on about anything and everything to distract me from the fact that, between all the staring, he hasn’t spoken a single damn word to me since we walked out on Courtney.

“Are you still up for dinner and drinks for Christmas Eve at Carter and Ollie’s tomorrow? I found gingerbread Oreos at that little grocery store on the other side of town. I picked them up for Carter.” I open the fridge, bulging my eyes at nothing as the cool air brushes my cheeks, a welcome reprieve from the sear of Adam’s gaze. I grab a water bottle and close the door, guzzling half of it while I lean against the counter. “Jaxon said he’s bringing Mittens, so Connor will be psyched. Hey, did you see the weather forecast? It’s supposed to snow. Imagine that, huh? Snow.”

I drain the rest of the water, letting it sit in my cheeks for a moment as I bob my head. Then, I do what I do best, make a fool out of myself when I forget to swallow before opening my mouth. “Marco—” I sputter the water into my hands, waving my hand around like I’m not choking, my eyes watering. “Marco was measuring my room yesterday. Says it’ll make a nice yoga studio. Then Archie reminded him he hasn’t done yoga in two years, so Marco looked him dead in the eye while he ordered a new mat and five outfits from Lululemon.” I force a chuckle as I head for the garage to recycle my bottle. “Yeah, I’m really gonna miss—ah!”

Adam stops me with his hand wrapped around the back of my neck. Slowly, his fingers creep up into my hair, and he pulls my back against his chest. Soft lips touch the shell of my ear, hot, shuddered breaths rolling down my neck, pebbling my nipples beneath my top.

“Lose the fucking clothes, trouble.”

“Clothes? But—”

“Lose. The fucking.Clothes.”

I tear at my hoodie, yanking it over my head. The jeans go next, and when one pant leg gets caught around my ankle, Adam pushes me against the wall, holding me there with his hand between my shoulder blades while he ditches my pants. His palm slides slowly down my spine, and he flicks the clasp on my bra, guiding the straps down my arms. Thumbs hook in my panties, and the torturous speed he drags them over my hips, down my legs, has me trembling.

His chest presses against my back as he palms one breast, his other hand pushing between my legs. I sigh as he strokes me, and he hums as I soak his fingers.

“What did you say back there? At the coffee shop?”

I close my eyes, trying to remember the words that left that stunned look on Courtney’s face while he plunges two fingers inside me. “That I choose you. Every day.”

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