Picking Up the Pieces (22 page)

“Uh . . . not sure what you’d want to do the first one for, but the second sounds like a great option.”
He leaned in to kiss me gently, cupping my chin in his hand before heading upstairs.

Why the hell did I say the medicine cabinet thing?
He probably thinks I’m some kind of a creepy voyeur hopi
ng to spy o
n his private life.
As soon as the thought crossed my mind, the irony that I
was
part of his private life sunk in. Adam had nothing to hide from me, and the thought put me at ease.

I shuffled from room to room, taking note of the home’s decor.
Modern touches adorned each room of the downstairs. Granite counters wrapped around the kitchen’s perimeter and tall cherry cabinets stretched to the ceiling. Light hickory floors complemented the beautiful cool tones of the walls: deep cream in the living room, soft blue in the foyer spanning to the upstairs hallway, crisp white with a hint of gray to pick up the specks of silver in the black countertops. But the more traditional structural elements—archways between rooms, crown molding in the living room, wainscoting in the foyer and stairway—provided a nice contrast. Adam clearly had good taste.

I heard the shower turn on upstairs as I strolled from room to room, admiring the framed artwork and photographs that decorated
his home. A picture of Eva as a baby in Adam’s arms sat on an end table in the living room. He looked like a baby himself: only twenty years old, but forced to grow up so quickly. I picked up another picture of who I assumed were Adam’s parents. Of course I had no way of knowing because I’d never met them. But seated at the head of the table in front of a huge turkey was Adam. And the age of the people on either side of him, as well as their striking resemblance, told me they were probably his mom and dad.

Without realizing it, I followed a mosaic of pictures up the stairs.
I’d always
wanted a stairway filled with photos
when I “grew up.” The problem was that I didn’t have any stairs yet. Or any pictures worthy of being hung for that matter. But Adam’s wall was full: pictures of Eva, other relatives, some photos of him playing baseball, hunting. I didn’t even know he liked to hunt. Looking at how full Adam’s life was only made me more aware of my own life’s emptiness.

As I ascended the stairs, I heard the shower shut off, and a rush of adrenaline coursed through me at the thought of Adam stepping out of the shower dripping wet with a towel around his waist.
Entering his room, I took a seat on the bed, quietly waiting for him to emerge from the steamy bathro
om, hopefully just as I’d pictured. An
d when he finally did, the real vision didn’t disappoint. His damp messy hair hung across his forehead, and as I let my gaze drift back down, my eyes stopped on the water that glistened off the soft hairs of his firm chest. I imagined catching a stray droplet with my tongue as it slid down his solid stomach.

But I didn’t dare move yet
—not until I took in the entire image standing before me. I bit my lip, silently admiring the way he gripped the towel in one hand, pulling it tightly enough to allow me a glimpse at the outline of his dick. I thought I saw it twitch as he spoke. “See something you like?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as an invitation.

As if by reflex, I rose from the bed and moved toward h
im, slipping my hands around him. His warm
damp skin smelled
of aftershave and clean body wash. “I like
everything
about you. Especially this,” I said, running my palm above the towel to feel his thick shaft get harder as I massaged it.

Adam let his towel drop, giving me full access to his hard cock.
I stroked his length slowly, teasingly, skimming the head with my fingers to rub around the bead of fluid that had accumulated at the tip.

In one swift motion, Adam had me in the air, moving me toward the bed and stripping my shirt off within seconds of placing me on my back.
With a rough tug he removed my pants and tossed them aside. “No underwear again?” he asked. “I like this new habit of yours.”

He kissed down my stomach, blowing teasingly on
the way down to his destination. I moaned in pleasure as he kissed, licked, and sucked at my opening. With each lap of his tongue, I begged for him to make me come, feeling myself get closer with every groan against my clit. His fingers invaded me gently, then harder until I thought
I would e
xplode at any moment. “Oh God, Adam . . . please.”

The sound of Adam’s phone was the only thing that prevented the release I craved.
To my surprise, Adam stopped to grab his phone off the nightstand to answer it.
Fuck.
I imagined I felt like a guy did when a girl stopped sucking his dick right before he came. I thought briefly about finishing myself off while Adam was on the phone, but I was too distracted watching him pace the room giving monosyllabic responses to his caller.

“It’s Eva,” he said suddenly after tossing the phone on his bed.
“I gotta go get her. The douchebag she went to the dance with was a jerk to her. She’s crying.” He threw on sweats and grabbed his wallet and keys from his dresser. “I’ll drop you off first.”

Wait, what?
Can’t we finish what we started first?
But I could never say that. “Adam, just get her first and then drop me off. The school’s closer.”

I could tell I’d caught him off guard with my comment, but I couldn’t figure out why.
Until he told me.

             
“Uh . . . Lily." He looked at me cautiously, as though he were trying to gauge how I’d react to his next words. "I haven’t told Eva about us yet.”

             
Huh?
Did I hear him right? “What?” My voice was strained, angry. “You told me you’d told her.”

             
“I will. I swear. It’s just weird. I don’t know what to say to her.” His hurried tone told me he was possibly more annoyed than I was. And I didn’t know how the fuck that was possible. “Can we talk about this later? Let’s just go.”

“Sure,” I said because I didn’t know what else to say.
I certainly wasn’t about to say what I’d been thinki
ng. Mostly because, at this point, I didn't know what to think. About anything.

Chapter 23: Lily

The past week with Adam had been strained. I kept wondering when we'd stop making everything so difficult and just let our relationship unfold without all of the bullshit. And even though we'd talked a few times, there was still an occasional awkward silence, some internal questioning of how he would interpret things I said, and a vague feeling like something was missing between us. I couldn’t identify what that “something” was, but I felt its absence frequently enough to obsess about it.
Typical girl shit.

             
And as I stood in front of my closet, trying to figure out what to wear, I decided to let it go. Whatever Adam and I were meant to be, we’d be. Things were bound to be a little weird. I’d cheated on him with a professional athlete. That kind of shit would scar any relationship. I just hoped that the scars would fade with time.

             
Grabbing my Flyers jersey, I pulled it over my head. Shane and Amanda had offered us the two extra tickets they had for the game that night before Adam and I had our disagreement over his failing to tell Eva about our relationship. I hadn't seen him since and wasn't completely sure how tonight was going to go.
Guess I'll find out soon enough.
I was reaching for my jeans, the ones that cupped my ass perfectly, when my phone rang. I looked down at the caller ID and smiled. “Hey. Can’t make it another hour without talking to me?”

             
Adam exhaled a loud breath. “Hey, baby.”

             
My posture straightened and my brow furrowed with concern. “What’s wrong?”

             
“Eva’s sick. She came home from school complaining about her stomach, but I figured she was just being dramatic. Then the puking started. I can’t leave her like this. I’m sorry.”

             
Disappointment crept
through my veins, even though I tried to stave it off. I knew I couldn’t be pissed because he was a good father who didn’t ditch his sick kid so that he could go to a hockey game with his girlfriend. But, for a shameless second, I kind of wished he was more of a scumbag. “No need to apologize, Adam. I completely understand that you need to be with Eva. No worries.”

             
“You’re not mad?”

             
“Mad that you’re a responsible father who loves his daughter? I find it simply infuriating,” I said with a laugh.

             
“Guess these are the downsides of dating a guy with a child.”

             
“Will you stop? It’s no big deal.”

             
He hesitated a moment before continuing. “So, what will you do with the extra ticket?”

             
The slightly detached tone of his voice made me think that he was trying to unsuccessfully mask his clear interest in my answer. I couldn’t help but feel like I was being tested. And while I may have deserved to be tested, it still pissed me off. I took some relaxing breaths before responding. “They’re Amanda’s tickets. I’ll call her and see if she has anyone else who wants to go. It may be a tough sell on a weeknight, but tomorrow’s Friday, so maybe someone won’t mind being tired for just one day.” Despite my trying to rein in my emotions, I couldn’t keep the coolness from my voice.

             
“Oh, okay. Sounds good. Listen, I better go, but have fun tonight. I’ll miss you.”

             
His sweet words thawed me enough to respond genuinely. “I’ll miss you too. Let me know if you need anything.”

             
We said our goodbyes and disconnected the call. I stared down at the phone in my hand, doubt crawling into me. When Adam and I were together, it felt so
right.
Even with the weird moments that passed between us and the sense of something lacking, I still felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. But when we were apart, I couldn't help but think about the negatives. Though, no relationship came without its issues. If we could get through last spring, we could get through this. Couldn't we?

             
“Time will tell,” I muttered to myself. I quickly scrolled through my contacts and hit Amanda’s name.

             
“No, you cannot fuck Adam on center ice. It’s totally inappropriate.”

             
I laughed loudly at Amanda’s unorthodox greeting.
This is why I love this crazy girl.
“Are you really one to judge the inappropriateness of something?”

             
“Are you?” she countered.

             
“No, probably not.”

             
“Definitely not. Now what do you want, hooker? We’re leaving in about fifteen minutes to pick you guys up.”

             
“Well, see, that’s the problem. Adam isn’t coming.”

             
“Why not? Jesus Christ, you’re not fucking one of the Flyers are you?”

             
“I truly hate you. Like from the depths of my being.” I sighed. “Eva’s sick, so he has to stay home with her.”

             
“Damn kids. They ruin everything.”

             
I shook my head at her insensitivity, but not without acknowledging that I had thought something very similar only five minutes prior.

             
“Do you know anyone else who’d want to go? It’d suck to lose money on the ticket.”

             
“I dunno. Let me call around. We’ll see you in a bit.”

             
“Okay.” I hung up and finished getting ready, hoping Amanda didn’t invite some whacko just to fuck with me.

             
Twenty minutes later, my cell phone lit up with a text:
We’re here.

             
I grabbed my clutch, locked the apartment, and made my way out to Shane’s car.

             
My reticence at who Amanda would call to join us abated as soon as I saw the figure leaning out of the back window, waving at me like a lunatic.
Kyle.

             
Kyle and Amanda were fuck buddies before she started dating Shane and Kyle started dating Shane’s co-worker Kate. Though, to my knowledge, the specifics of Kyle and Amanda’s relationship were not common knowledge to their current significant others.

             
The door to Shane’s Mustang flew open as Kyle yelled, “Ah, my princess has finally arrived. And she’s wearing a Flyers jersey. Be still my heart.”

             
“You’re such an asshole,” I giggled and drew him into a hug.

             
“What’s up, Lily?” Shane greeted.

             
“Hey, Shane,” I replied warmly before turning back to Kyle. “Thanks for filling in tonight. I was worried I was going to be the odd man out.”

             
“Yeah, Amanda called and said your boyfriend had stood you up and you needed a big dick to cheer you up.”

             
“He’s got the big dick part down. And I’m not talking about his penis size,” Amanda quickly retorted.

             
I saw the exact moment when she realized what she said. Her head snapped toward Kyle who raised his eyebrows at her. They both looked stealthily toward Shane, and then back to each other.
Nope, Shane definitely doesn't know about the sexcapades that went on between Amanda and Kyle.

             
Shane either didn’t register the comment or chose to ignore it.

             
I spoke, hoping to move us past the deafening silence. “Yup, I’ve been stood up in favor of a puking teenager. I must have really lost my appeal. I need to step up my game.”

             
“You have no game,” Amanda said.

             
“And you do?”

             
“Of course. How do you think I wrangled this sexy beast over here?” She roughly patted Shane’s thigh to emphasize her words.

             
“By shoving your tits in my face,” Shane countered.

             
“Bullshit!” Amanda yelled. “I never did that. I had you at hello.”

             
“Had me agitated and contemplating homicide maybe.”

             
“You don’t value your life at all, do you?” Amanda threatened.

             
“Clearly not. Look at what I subject myself to.” Shane waved a hand in Amanda’s direction. When she didn’t reply, he quickly looked over and saw her menacing glare before swinging his eyes back to the road. When, after a full minute, she still hadn’t replied, Shane chanced another glance at her. Her eyes were still boring into his head as though she were trying to incinerate him with them. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

             
“I’m trying to figure out if you look better in blue or gray.”

             
“What? Why does that matter?”

             
“So I know which suit to dress you in for your funeral.”

             
“Oh,” Shane said, relaxing. “Definitely gray.”

             
“Blue it is,” she replied as she slinked back into her seat.

             
“Just don’t fuck up my face. I’d like to have an open casket.” Shane was obviously trying to keep her talking in an effort to gauge whether or not she was really mad or just messing around. I couldn’t blame him. Amanda could be a difficult person to read.

             
“I can’t make any promises.” Amanda tried to keep her voice serious, but I could hear the smile behind it.

             
Shane reached across the center console and grabbed Amanda’s hand, pulling it back toward him so he could comfortably hold it.

             
“Lily?” Kyle asked sweetly.

             
“Yeah?” I replied.

             
“Would you hold my hand all the way to the stadium? I want to be totally lame like Amanda and Shane.”

             
I burst out laughing as Amanda hissed out a “Fuck you” and Shane shook his head.

I finally managed to suck in enough air to reply.
“I dunno. Won’t that mean we’re going steady?”

             
“Absolutely. I’ll even give you my letterman’s jacket to sweeten the deal.”

             
“Groovy,” I released breathily.

             
“Alright, assholes,” Amanda humorlessly interjected. “Unless you want to walk the rest of the way to the stadium, knock it the hell off.”

             
“She’s so snippy,” I whispered loudly enough for Amanda to hear.

             
“I know. She must have gotten caught necking at the drive-in,” Kyle added.

             
“Enough!” Amanda yelled, which caused Kyle and me to completely lose it in the backseat.

             
The rest of the drive passed with Kyle and me
teasing Amanda and Shane, and Amanda pretending it pissed her off. It was the lightest I’d felt in weeks.

***

Kyle and I were quite a pair. After skipping hand-in-hand into the stadium behind Amanda and Shane, begging “mom and dad” to buy us dinner, and asking them to take us to the bathroom, we made our way to our seats. When Shane led us onto the escalator, Amanda must have noticed the mischievous gleam in my eyes because she immediately warned, “If you start doing something stupid like running back down this escalator, I swear I will tell your principal about your deviant behavior in his school last year.”

             
My eyes narrowed on her.
This traitorous slut did not just say that in front of Shane and Kyle.

             
She propped her hand on her hip and threw me a smug look that said, “Oh yes, I did.”

             
It took Kyle about five seconds to process Amanda’s words, but I knew the second it finally clicked. He immediately whipped toward me, his mouth agape. “Please tell me that’s true.”

             
“I can neither confirm nor deny,” I said coolly as I crossed my arms over my chest.

             
“Holy shit! In a school? Where there are children?”

             
I winced at his words. Despite obviously knowing that there were children in my school, I hadn’t really
thought
about them being there. That may seem ridiculous, considering they provided the background chatter to one of my more illicit sexual encounters in the backstage of the auditorium, but I hadn’t felt as dirty and creepy about it then as I did now.
Well, too late to do anything about it.

             
Kyle took my silence as tacit agreement.