Page 131 of The Otherworld

No, I tell myself, pushing away the pang of regret. Papa told me to leave.

I did everything I possibly could to gain his blessing. I did everything I could to prove myself to him. But still, he refused to give me what I longed for.

I shouldn’t pity him.

I don’t.

Today, Adam will help me find my family—help me answer questions I’ve been asking Papa all my life. And once I’ve found those answers, I will return home to the lighthouse.

* * *

I find Adam in the garage, crawling under his truck, doing some mechanical thing. As I approach the open barn doors, all I can see are his legs sticking out from underneath the truck—jeans smudged with dirt and black grease. Sounds of clinking metal echo through the engine.

“Are you hiding from me?” I question the legs, half in jest.

Adam gives a quiet, husky laugh. “No. I’m trying to replace this starter…”

“Will it take long? I was hoping we could continue our search today. I spent a lot of time thinking about it last night. These ‘public records’ you talked about—can you find other people with the same last name?”

Adam grunts, dropping something on the concrete floor. “Technically.”

“Because I was thinking, even if my grandparents aren’t around anymore, there might be others who are related to my mother.”

Adam slides out from under the truck and sits upright to look at me. There’s a black smudge on his forehead, and something about it is extremely attractive. “Orca… I don’t want to raise your hopes just to dash them. It’s very possible there’s no one left.”

“I know that. But there’s a chance.” I manage a little smile for him. “And either way, I assure you, my hopes won’t be dashed. Besides, it gives me the perfect excuse to be with you.”

Adam falls silent, looking down at the wrench in his grease-smudged hands.

“So, when can we go look through the records?”

He rubs his forehead, avoiding my eyes. “I, uh… I don’t know. I can’t go anywhere until I get this new starter installed.” And with that, he dives back under his truck.

I cast a furtive glance at the house before getting down on my knees. Lying on my back, I slide under the vehicle with Adam, shimmying up beside him. My dress will be covered in dust, but I don’t care.

“Show me how it works.”

Adam gives me a little quizzical smirk. “You never cease to surprise me, Orca Monroe.” He turns back to the task he’s been working on, his hands caught up in the truck’s undercarriage. “This is the starter right here. I just finished disconnecting these wires, which go to the battery and the ignition. So when you turn the key, the battery supplies power to the solenoid, which makes this motor spin, and that’s what turns the crankshaft—”

I kiss him, interrupting the explanation. It feels like forever since the last time we did this, and I can tell he’s missed it as much as I have. When our lips touch, he relaxes into me, shifting onto his side to cup my face with one hand. I could lose myself in the infinity of this moment—his spicy skin, the sandpapery edge of his jaw, the tender push and pull of every kiss.

“You don’t even care how it works, do you?” Adam whispers against my lips.

“No, no, I do… You’re just…” I trace one finger down the edge of his jaw. “Your lips are very distracting.”

“So are yours,” he murmurs, drawing me into another soft, languid kiss.

I lean into him, my hands gripping his T-shirt as his lips move over mine. I can’t get close enough, even here in the narrow crush of space. Adam’s hand curls around my hip, drawing me closer until my leg slides over his waist. We could be in a gold-plated palace or sprawled on a dirty garage floor—it would make no difference to how I feel in his arms.

That’s when I hear Jack’s voice calling my name from across the driveway. “Orca? You out here?”

I break away from Adam’s kiss and look into his face, finding his eyes wide with alarm. “Quick,” he urges, shooing me away.

I roll out from under the truck and stand up, brushing the dust off my blue cotton dress. Just in time, too. Jack strides up to the open barn doors as I swivel to give him an unruffled smile.

“Jack, good morning. Were you… looking for me?”

My heart is still racing, warm blood coursing through my whole body. I smooth a hand over my hair, trying my best to look as though I haven’t been kissing his brother under the pickup truck just moments ago.

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