Adam, Enough Said (This Can't be Happening) (36 page)

Yeah right, Landyn would probably give her whatever her little heart desired.

“Ahhh, man!” She looked up at me before asking anxiously, “Can I sit in it?”

I grinned
at her. “As long as it’s okay with your mom and dad, go for it.”

And she
went for it. Layla sat in Cat and rocked the steering wheel back and forth making “Vroom, vroom,” noises until we were completely finished unloading Adam’s truck. Not that it took very long, since I didn’t have much stuff.

All my
clothes ended up in Adam’s bedroom and all my toiletries put in Adam’s bathroom, which was just plain weird. He kept saying, "They're your rooms too, Baby," but again, weird. Whatever extra knick knacks I had were put in an extra bedroom for storage.

When all was done and we sat down to relax in the family room, the Texans game was still on.
Adam rested against the arm of the couch and he wrapped an arm behind my neck.  I snuggled up against his side and rested my head on his shoulder while Layla went on and on about some Texans Defensive End that was about to break the franchise record for most sacks in a single season, “J.J. Watt” - her words exactly.

Unbelievable
how much the girl knew about football. However, now that I saw Mr. J.J. on TV, I made a mental note to find out the Texans schedule and watch every damn game from now on. Apparently, Landyn played high school football, and from what I understood, he’d been really good, even earned a scholarship for it, but for some reason he didn’t take it and joined the military instead.

By the dejected
look on Lex’s face during that topic, I made another mental note to ask Adam about their situation later.

But knowing Layla’s daddy had played football, clearly
explained why she loved it so much. And I thought it was a good thing for Landyn too, since I’d put money on them having another girl. Though it didn’t seem like he’d mind another little woman in his life to care for. The girls were all over him. Laura, the cutie, when she wasn’t into something or tearing something up, she was in her daddy’s lap pointing out every feature on his face; eyes, nose, mouth and ears. And Layla, the beautiful girl, every time something caught her interest, whether with the game or a commercial, she made sure Landyn was in on her excitement. And Lex…well, Landyn was infatuated with her.

When Lex wasn’t paying attention, he’d sneak affectionate glances at her and his
macho face would gentle instantly. When Lex spoke, he watched her with adoration. He’d sneak in kisses, whisper in her ear, and rub her belly at random times just to show her he loved her without having to say the words.

It made me want to cry. I wanted that and I wondered if I’d ever have that. Adam and I
could have had that, but we hadn't, and I wasn’t sure it was possible after everything we’d gone through. I thought on that for as long as I could, but next thing I knew, I wasn’t thinking about anything. I was out like a light.

Which was too bad since I never got to see the
way Adam was looking at me when he whispered, “My heart, Baby,” in my ear, before kissing the top of my head and squeezing me tight.

But Lex and Landyn saw it and they were both relieved to say the least.

“Wake up, Freckles,” I heard in my ear, later that night, as a hand caressed the side of my face and fingers shifted through my hair. “Come on, Baby, get up. Lex cooked dinner.”

I
blinked and, right away, I noticed my head was no longer on Adam’s shoulder. It was now resting on his chest and my body was half on top of his and half on the couch. I blinked faster to clear my vision and then I slowly lifted my head to look up into Adam's face.

“How long was I asleep?”

“I don’t know, couple hours. It’s already seven.”

My eyes widened.
I slept that long? I lifted a little more to look around the room. “Did they leave?” I asked because other than the noise from the TV, it was quiet. Too quiet.

“Yeah, they had plans for tonigh
t. Come on.” He curled up by his abs and took me with him.

“Oh
my God! I feel terrible that I fell asleep. They must think I’m so rude. Why didn’t you wake me up?”

He looked at me like the idea was asinine.
“It’s been a long couple days for you, Mia. You needed sleep. Besides, you were
out
. I moved to get comfortable, practically lifted you on top of me and you didn’t even twitch.”

And I was usually such a light sleeper.

“Sorry,” I muttered, embarrassed.

“Don’t be. You didn’t hurt their feelings and you’ll probably see them tomorrow anyway.”

He stood off the couch and I followed his lead.

“What do you mean I’ll see them tomorrow?” I asked a
s we walked down the hall and into the kitchen. I breathed in the delicious savory aroma of food and wanted to ask what Lex had cooked, but I waited for Adam to answer instead. And I waited some more.

“Okay, are you going to
explain?”

He moved around the kitchen pulling down plates, silverware
, and glasses as he spoke. “Well, I was thinking that maybe you could stay with Lex while I’m at work tomorrow. Maybe Landyn could take you two shopping or something. I don’t know. I hate the thought of you being here alone while Max is still running around.”

My first instinct was to argue with him, but
I was too tired. I sighed instead. I hopped up and onto a bar stool and then I thought about my words before opening my mouth. Truth was, I’d probably be a little scared staying at Adam’s by myself too.

“Just until Wednesday,
Baby,” Adam continued as he placed a plate of food in front of me. “A day and a half. I’ll take you to court on Wednesday morning and then I’ll be on vacation after that, and I'll be with you.”

“
I’m not worried about Max. I’m more worried about whoever’s after him coming after me. What if these guys don’t find Max? I haven’t even received a phone call from him and it’s been almost two days.”

“He’s running right now, Mia. If he’s still alive, he’ll contact you, trust me.”

I picked up my fork and shuffled my food around on my plate as I sat deep in thought.

“
Fine, I’ll go to your sister-in-law’s tomorrow.” And as soon as the words were out of my mouth, the doorbell rang.

I glanced at Adam.

He looked at me.

“Stay here,” he ordered as he took off out of the kitchen. I waited,
heard the front door open and a few seconds later I heard a voice shout, “Are you holding her hostage?”

At that
voice, I took off running. Adam would kill Eric before I even had a chance to talk to him.

Adam’s rigid back was to me and
I heard his voice, but not his words. I couldn’t see Eric’s face, but he sounded nervous and his voice shook when he said, “I had to. She was broken and hurting. I couldn’t let her come back to you. You would have hurt her again.”

I skidded to a halt.

“You fuckin’ lied to her!” Adam roared and my body jerked. “She wanted to come back, and I fuckin’ needed her back, but you made sure that never happened, didn’t you?”

“
You didn’t see her--” Eric started.

“
I tried! She wouldn’t talk to me, she wouldn’t see me, the only way I found out how she was doing was through my mom, who
died
watching
me
die a thousand deaths every fuckin' day I didn’t have Mia. Mia was the only one I wanted, but you didn't let me have her. I don’t have to explain shit to you and I’m not going to, but I will tell you, now that she’s back, I’m fuckin’ thrilled I didn’t put that bullet through my head like I wanted to, but now I sure as fuck want to put it through yours!”

I heard Eric
’s sharp intake of breath, and I was scared for him.

I walked up behind Adam and placed
one hand on his back, and my other one wrapped around his bicep. He looked down at me, looking far from happy.

“Tell him you’re okay
,” Adam snapped. “Tell him whatever you have to, to get him out of here, but I don’t think he deserves shit. And he’s not welcome in our house.”

I
blinked a few times at his harshness. He turned, my hands fell to my sides and he stormed off. I didn’t face Eric right away.

“
Thank God you’re okay,” he muttered, before asking, “You are okay, right? I’ve been calling you and calling you, but it goes straight to voicemail.”

I
frowned and shook my head before looking at him. I kept forgetting about my damn phone.

“
I have the ringer off and I’ve been a little busy,” I answered honestly. “I’ve been arrested; somehow I’m back with Adam. Max is into drugs. I’ve been attacked. My apartment has been wrecked and I just found out my best friend lied to me. So I’m very far from being okay.”

I watched as he visibly
flinched and his face grew pained. “What are you talking about with Max? It’s only been like two days.”

“
I’ll tell you more about it later, but we both know a lot can happen in one night, let alone two days.” He flinched again, but what I said hadn’t been meant to hurt him. I took a deep breath. “Eric, there’s too much to tell you right now and Adam’s pissed, rightfully so, and so am I. I understand why you lied to me, but it also made things worse.”

“I just wanted to protect you,” he responded in a small voice and his eyes were sad. “I didn’t want to see you hurting anymore.”

“I know that, Eric. It’s the only reason I don’t hate you. You’re my best friend and I know you were only trying to protect me, but it still hurts. Coming back to Adam should have been my choice, not yours.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“I forgive you, but I don't like you right now.”

He nodded
and we stared at each other for a minute before he asked, “What does this mean?”

“I really don’t know. I’ll talk to him.” I glanced behind me
, even though I knew Adam wouldn’t be there. “He’ll come around, I’m sure. He’s just mad right now.”

“Damn fuckin’ straight I’m mad!”
I heard Adam holler and it sounded like he was back in the kitchen. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cringe.

I locked eyes with Eric and his eyes were huge. “Is he gonna kick my ass?”

“Probably!” Adam shouted again and I bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing.

Eric sighed. “I don’t like this
, Mia.”

This time Adam’s voice was right behind me and I turned. “You don’t have to like it. None of this is
really any of your business, but since you’re her best friend, I’ll tell you: I love her. I’ve loved her since the day I met her. Whatever you think you know is wrong. We’re back together now and you can either accept that or you can find another best friend.”

Eric and I gasped at the same time.

“I see you don’t like that idea, so I suggest you get on board,” Adam continued growling.

“
Can Eric please come inside so we’re not standing in the doorway?” I asked and after a minute of glaring at Eric, he glanced down at me and studied me carefully. I looked him in the eye and pleaded, “Please, Baby.”

His body relaxed
and he looked at me like I'd just found the answer to world peace. His beautiful light green eyes glowed and his face gentled. He touched his thumb to my bottom lip and he didn’t hesitate nodding. He bent and kissed me softly.

But when he glanced back to Eric, he growled. “
Only because she asked nicely.”

Then he turned and walked back to the kitchen. I turned to Eric
, who was watching Adam’s back as he walked away.

“I
still don’t like him, but I must admit, I kinda missed the growling,” Eric said wistfully and I rolled my eyes.

We’d just finished eating the dinner Lex cooked; chicken, mashed potatoes and broccoli. When I’d asked Adam why Lex cooked when she knew she wouldn’t stay to eat, he explained that she loved to cook and any chance to do it, she did.

It made me feel guilty
.

“Adam, you know Mia still doesn’t cook,” Eric shared and I glared at him.
“You sure you still wanna stay married to her?”

“
Shut up, Eric. I cook, as long as whatever I’m cooking comes with directions.”

“Yeah,
precise directions. If the timing is off by a few seconds, you burn it.”

I gasped.

“Doesn’t really matter since I can cook pretty damn well for the both of us,” Adam retorted and I had to keep myself from sticking out my tongue and chanting, "Na na nana na..."

I
nstead I added, “He even wears an apron.”

Eric shook his head and muttered, “Good to know your kids will survive.”

I stiffened and the temperature in the room dropped to twenty below arctic.

“
Shit,” Eric hissed. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. You know I didn’t mean anything by it.” I knew he didn’t, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less.