Newly Exposed (32 page)

“Oh, my God, Adam.”
 

“Don’t worry, honey, we’re not old biddies; we know you youngins have overactive libidos,” my mom assured.
 

Nodding her head, Solo looked at me and said, “Well, did he at least tell you that when he jumped off the bed in shock from seeing my dads barge in, instead of shaking hands, he curtsied as if the Queen of England was standing right in front of him, and when he got up, he cut wind louder than a freaking blow horn?”

In unison, my mom and Aunt Sarah laughed so hard that I thought they were going to split their spleens.
 

Solo gave me a “Don’t mess with me look,” and crossed her arms over her chest, holding her head high from her blatant lies.
 

“She’s a liar!” I stated, knowing what she said never fucking happened. “You know that when I bow, I cut cheese. I queef when I curtsy. Jeeze, get it right, Solo,” I countered and leaned back against my chair.
 

My mom waved her hand in front of her face as she continued to laugh, and Aunt Sarah rocked back and forth in her chair, loving the easy banter that transpired between Solo and me.
 

“I hate you,” Solo mouthed to me.
 

I squeezed her thigh and said, “No, you love me.”

Her eyes fell soft from my words, and without blinking an eye, she leaned down and kissed me lightly on the lips and then whispered softly in my ear, “I do.”

As she pulled away, she winked at me, and then turned to join my mom and Aunt Sarah. My heart froze in my chest at her confession. Did she just say what I think she said? The cackling that was coming from Aunt Sarah was too distracting; I couldn’t think properly.
 

“Oh, dear, that is rich,” my mom said, as she wiped her eyes. She patted Solo’s hand and said, “You’re good for this boy, you know that?”

“I like to think so,” Solo said, as she eyed me up and down.
 

“I just find it so fitting that my son was able to find the one and only girl named after a
Star Wars
character. Oh, Solo, you should have seen the look in his eyes when he was first telling us about you. It was as if he’d struck gold, and now I see why. How could he not be enamored with you?”

“Thank you, Mrs. James. I feel the same way about him, even though he can be corny at times.”
 

“He gets that from his father. The man couldn’t speak a sentence without throwing a pun into it.” My mom’s gaze traveled out the window as she thought about my father. The room fell silent as we let her have her moment.
 

Shaking out her thoughts, my mom turned her attention back to Solo and said, “Adam looks just like him. The only thing the boy got from me are his eyes.”

“I can see that,” Solo replied. “They’re absolutely beautiful.”

“Thank you, sweetheart.” My mom turned to me and said, “Adam, grab my photo album, will you?”

Nodding, I went to the dresser in the room and opened the top drawer. I grabbed the photo album that we looked through often and handed it to my mom.
 

She pressed the top of it and said, “Would you like to see some pictures of Adam as a baby and some pictures of his dad?”

“I would love that,” Solo lit up.
 

My mom patted the bed next to her and said, “Scoot up here.”

Solo did as she was told, and I watched as she snuggled up next to my mom and looked through my family album. My heart soared watching my mom interact with Solo. They talked, laughed, and shared stories like lifelong friends. It was refreshing, and it made me crave to make Solo a part of my family, which was crazy. But sometimes, you just knew, and right now, I couldn’t be more sure about anything in my life. Solo belonged with me, forever.

“Oh, wow,” Solo said, as she looked up at me and then back down at the photo. “Adam looks just like his father.”

“Doesn’t he?” my mom smiled as she touched the picture. “Although, my Brandon was more muscular than Adam.”

“No way,” I shot out of my chair to look at the picture, making my mom laugh.
 

“Oh, honey, you’re too easy.”

“No, I just don’t like liars,” I said, sitting back down and scooting closer to look at the pictures as well, just to make sure no more lies were told. I rested my arms on Solo’s legs and leaned over. Solo’s hand went to my hair and lightly stroked the side of my head as she looked at the pictures.
 

I listened to her coo over my baby pictures and, unfortunately, laugh at my teenage years, where I was a scrawny little guy, just learning how to lift weights.
 

“Oh, these pictures are so great,” she teased, as she imitated my flexing poses. “His arms look like limp noodles.”

“Hey, watch it. I was a growing boy then. I thought I looked good.”

“Compared to what? Ramen noodles?”

Aunt Sarah snorted while my mom covered her mouth and laughed.
 

“Oh, you’re going to pay for that comment…muffin.”

“I’m not scared,” she stuck her chin up in the air.
 

“You should be. I grabbed your dads’ numbers out of your phone; I can have a photo viewing party with them anytime I want. I’m sure they will be more than accommodating to my request.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I would…”

“Now, now, now, kids. Let’s settle down; we all know nothing will beat the Elmo shirt picture.”

“Mom,” I scolded.
 

Solo looked between us all and said, “What’s the Elmo shirt picture?”

“Mom, I swear, if you value our relationship, you won’t show Solo that picture.”

“Oh, honey, you know I love you, but this is too good,” she said, as she flipped the page and pointed down at the picture.
 

Slowly, Solo covered her mouth and started laughing. I knew exactly what she was looking at. It was my mom’s favorite picture, and I had no clue why. I was caught off guard in the picture, shouting something to a friend, showing off my braces and head gear. I was wearing tight denim jeans that rode high on my waist and I was wearing a shirt with Elmo on it that was tucked into my jeans. I was the epitome of nerd, and my mom thought it was the best thing ever.
 

“Oh, my God, this is my best day,” Solo said, as she grabbed her phone out of her purse and took a picture of the picture.
 

“Hey,” I snapped, as I took her phone out of her hands and quickly deleted the picture. “Nice try.”

“Oh, come on, I have to show that to the guys.”

“If you ever want to see me naked again, you will keep that picture as a memory and your memory alone, that’s it.”

“Adam…” Solo turned red again.
 

I grinned like a fool, while my mom patted Solo on the shoulder.
 

“Honey, we know you’re fornicating,” my mom assured again.

“But he doesn’t have to talk about it, especially in front of his mom,” Solo replied, clenching her teeth and staring daggers at me.

“Yeah, I do, when it’s that good,” I added with a wink.

“Jesus,” Solo muttered, as she shook her head at me.
 

“Oh, honestly, Adam. Can’t you see you’re torturing the girl?”

“She likes it.”

“We’ll see about that later, Mr. James,” Solo threatened.
 

“I’m not scared of a little old muffin,” I said, grabbing the photo album from my mom. Memory time was over.
 

“You will be when this muffin goes stale on you.”

“Oh, good one,” Aunt Sarah said, as she held out her fist to Solo.
 

Gladly, Solo fist bumped my Aunt Sarah, which freaked me out. I didn’t think my Aunt Sarah even knew what a high five was, let alone a fist bump.
 

I pointed to all three women, who were giggling, and said, “I see what’s going on here…you only wanted me to bring Solo here so you could gang up on me even more. How is that fair?”

“It’s not,” my mom told me. “But it doesn’t matter if it’s fair or not, because it’s time you realized that the women in your life will always be right.”

I tossed the album in the dresser drawer and sat down next to Solo, placing my arms on her legs and leaning forward. Her hand went to my head again, stroking the short strands near my ear.
 

“Damn, outnumbered. I can see dad laughing at me now.”

“He is,” mom confirmed and patted my arm.
 

A long yawn escaped my mom’s mouth before she covered up and apologized. I could tell she was getting tired, and the excitement of meeting Solo took a toll on her, so I decided to end our visit.
 

I stood up and grabbed Solo’s hand. “Looks like you need a nap, Mom, and don’t argue with me,” I added, before she could convince us to stay. “I don’t want you wearing yourself out.”

She nodded and then turned to Solo, who was still sitting next to her. She held out her arms and said, “Come here, honey.”

Solo wrapped her arms around my mom’s frail body and she gave her a deep hug.

When my mom pulled away, she gripped Solo’s face with her hands and said, “You take care of my little boy, okay? You’re just so perfect for him; make sure he treats you that way,” my mom winked at me and I rolled my eyes.
 

“He already does, Mrs. James,” Solo replied, and then gave my mom one last hug before getting off of the hospital bed. “I’ve had a great time; it was such a pleasure meeting you.”

“It was, dear. Please come by again, you were the highlight of my day.”

“We will,” Solo said, as she gripped my hand and looked up at me with a grin.
 

We said our goodbyes to Aunt Sarah and then walked out of my mom’s room and out of the hospital in silence.
 

Once we reached my car, I walked Solo over to her side and opened her door for her. Before she got in the car, I pressed her up against the passenger side and kissed her lightly, while holding her chin with my finger and thumb.
 

“We need to talk about something,” I said, working my lips up to her ear.
 

“What’s that?” she breathed heavily, as I worked magic with my lips. My hand ran down to her hip and pressed her against the car, while trying to stay away from lifting her dress up and feeling her skin.
 

“Back in the hospital, you said you hated me…that needs to be addressed.”

“You know I don’t hate you,” she said, as her fingers played with my belt loops.
 

I pulled my lips away from her soft skin and looked her in the eyes. “Then tell me how you feel about me,” I asked, on pins and needles, hoping her little confession wasn’t only an in-the-moment type of thing.

“You tell me first,” she said shyly, as her fingers glided up my shirt, sending a tingling sensation through my body from her touch.
 

I nodded and ran my hand up to her cheek, where I cupped it. “After watching you interact with my mom and Aunt Sarah, and how much they love you, and how much you fit in to our little family, it all confirmed the fact that the moment I first saw you in the casting office, I knew I was going to end up falling in love with you.”

Her eyes softened at my confession as her fingers slipped into the waistband of my briefs, barely coming in contact with my skin. I sucked in a deep breath at her touch and the way she looked at me, it was almost all too much.
 

Taking a deep breath, I said, “I love you, Solo.”

She pulled me in close so our noses were touching, and she said, “Damn, Adam, how could I not be in love with you? You make it impossible.”

Laughing under my breath, I kissed her nose and said, “Then I’m doing my job.”

I kissed her lips, melted into the softness of her body, and held the woman that captured my heart while expressing to her how much she mattered to me, how much she affected me. Her kisses tore me apart from the inside out, leaving me breathless and begging for more.
 

“Do you have any plans tonight?”

“No,” she shook her head as she looked up at me through her eyelashes.
 

“Good, you’re all mine. Get ready to be naked, muffin.”

“Only if you do that cannoli thing again.”

“Ahh, you liked that, did ya?” I asked, while nudging her and wiggling my eyebrows.

“God, you’re annoying,” she said, as she pushed me away and got in the car.
 

I laughed to myself as I went around the car and got in. Little did she know, I would do any damn thing to her that she wanted. I was at her mercy.
 

Chapter Twenty Five

Solo

I developed a routine of waking up wrapped in Adam’s arms, having sex in the shower, going to work, daydreaming about Adam all day, going home to find Adam waiting for me, and then spending the rest of the night with him. That routine has been on repeat for the past two weeks, with the occasional visit from Adam at work because he had a photo shoot with Zia.