The Fifth Lesson (The Bay Boys #2) (19 page)

She lifted her head just enough to see a flash of Adam’s grin.
 
Her heart stuttered but she forced the surge of affection back into its place when it emerged from the confines of her chest.
 
She realized then how easy it would be to fall in love with him.
 
If she stopped reminding herself that this was just a temporary situation, then Christie may want to keep Adam after their lessons together ended…

They were building a friendship.
 
The last thing she wanted was to destroy it.

Clearing her throat, she asked, “So, how about you?
 
Movies or TV shows?”

His eyes twinkled and his grin became wider.
 
“TV show marathons.”

Christie pressed her lips together to suppress a pleased smile and she nudged him.
 
“We finally agree on something.”

They both fell into a mutual, comfortable silence, both agreeing that their game was over for now.
 
Christie watched the rhythmic rise and fall of Adam’s chest.
 
She’d always loved a man’s chest, even more than she loved a man’s hands.

And Adam had a
good
chest.

Lean and defined, but not bulky.
 
And she especially loved the dark, wiry hairs leading into the waistband of his jeans.
 
She had the urge to run her fingers through it, but for once, Christie didn’t want this moment to be sexual.
 
She just wanted to cuddle next to him, wrapped up in his clean scent, because it turned out that Adam was an excellent cuddler.

She realized that Snazzy, her cat, had been awfully quiet since Adam came over.
 
Usually he enjoyed lounging on her bed at night.
 
But Snazzy was really shy around strangers—it had taken him
months
to warm up to Olivia—so she figured he was probably hiding in the hall closet again.
 
He’d made a little nest back there out of her shoes and a coat he’d managed to drag off its hanger.
 
Christie couldn’t bring herself to take it apart.

“Oh,” Adam murmured, remembering something.
 
“My mom wanted to apologize for Thursday.”

“What for?” she asked, her brow furrowing.
 
Dinner had been wonderful and she’d enjoyed the tour around Adam’s childhood home.

“Well…she knows it was a bit tense when my dad joined us.
 
She was embarrassed that she didn’t handle it better and make you feel more comfortable.”
 
He paused and turned his head a little to look down at her.
 
“And I’m sorry I froze up too.
 
It was beyond awkward for you, I’m sure.”

She propped up her elbow so she could look down at him.
 
His eyes briefly found her exposed breasts, before he dragged them up to her gaze.

“It’s alright, Adam.
 
I didn’t mind.
 
Everyone has family problems.”

Christie was itching to ask him more about his family.
 
She wanted to learn more about him, what his childhood was like, more about his beautiful mother and his rakish father.
 
But he’d closed up on her last time and she didn’t want to push.

But she realized that she’d never told him about her own family.
 
How could she expect him to open up to her when she kept her own life so closed off?

Even though she was suddenly so nervous her hands shook, she admitted, “I haven’t seen my dad since I was 18.”

Adam tensed against her, his eyes meeting her own.
 
In them, she saw understanding, not judgment.
 
It gave her the strength she needed to continue.

“He turned to alcohol when I was nine.
 
He would go to his blue-collar job, come home at five o’clock on the dot, and start drinking cheap vodka with water in these little glass cups we had.
 
He’d be drunk every night by seven.
 
He’d pass out by nine.
 
And then he’d wake up, hungover, and start all over again.

“I was a little wild when I was a teenager,” she admitted.
 
“I avoided going home, so I’d stay out late with boys I had no business being around.
 
But it was always better than being at home, watching him drink so goddamn much.
 
He wasn’t anything like the dad I grew up with.
 
And it hurt to see him like that.
 
It hurt to know that I wasn’t enough to keep him away from all those bottles.
 
It made me feel worthless and helpless for a long time.”

Adam ran a hand, almost absently, through her blonde hair.
 
He stared up at her, his jaw tight, his lips pressed together in a firm line.
 
“Was he ever…abusive?”

She started to shake her head, out of habit.
 
But something about Adam comforted her.
 
And she wanted to tell him the truth, something she hadn’t told even Olivia.
 
“Just once,” she said softly.
 
“One night I came home and he was already drunk.
 
The house was a mess and there was no food in the fridge.
 
He told me to go out and get dinner.
 
He told me he was running low on beer and to pick him up a six pack, even though I wasn’t twenty-one.
 
And I don’t know what happened, but I was so fed up with everything.
 
I was sad and angry and I really did hate him in that moment.

“I saw his last vodka bottle on the table and I grabbed it and poured it down the sink.
 
And he was so
angry
.
 
I’d never seen him like that before.
 
He was a sad drunk, not a mean one.
 
But this time he was.
 
He shook me and slapped me once across the face, screaming at me.”

Unconsciously, she realized she’d been twirling one of her bracelets.
 
The same one she’d stare at before she went to sleep some nights.
 
The one she never took off.

Her mind flashed back to that night.
 
She could almost smell the scent of his breath, the stench of his sweat.
 
His wild, bloodshot eyes.
 
The way he stumbled when she pushed him away.
 
She remembered him on the floor, staring up at her in horror, a shadow of his former self.
 
And she knew.
 
She just knew she had to get away.

“Looking back,” she started again, “I don’t think he realized what he’d done.
 
He looked shocked, like he’d just seen a ghost.
 
But I was upset and I stormed out.
 
The next day, I left him.
 
I went to my aunt’s house and stayed there until college started in the fall.
 
And I haven’t talked to or seen him since.”

Adam remained quiet, processing all that she’d told him.
 
Finally, he said quietly, “I’m sorry, Christie.
 
No one should have to go through that.
 
Ever.
 
I can’t even imagine what it must’ve been like.”

He continued to stroke her, knowing she liked being touched.
 
It comforted her, to the point where she told him, “He’s coming on Tuesday.
 
To my aunt’s house.
 
I’m going for dinner, to see him for the first time.”

She actually hadn’t made up her mind about it, but hearing the words fall from her lips, she knew she would go.
 
At least to find some closure.
 
And if he was truly trying to make amends, and if he was sober, then Christie would be open to trying to rebuild a relationship.
 
But first, she just wanted to see how dinner went.

Adam studied her and she met his gaze silently.
 
So many emotions swirled in those golden eyes.
 
Sympathy, pride, affection, and another emotion she recognized that made her pulse flutter in wonder.
 
Suddenly, he lifted up from the bed and captured her lips in a soft, thorough kiss that left her breathless.
 
It was so sweet and wonderful that it brought tears to her eyes.
 
Never had she ever felt so cherished.

“You’re beautiful, Christie,” he whispered against her skin.
 
“You know that, right?
 
So
beautiful.”

Her breath hitched at the emotion she sensed in his voice, her heart pounding in her chest like a caged bird.
 
She wondered what would happen if she set it free.

“I do now,” she replied softly.
 
If Adam kept looking at her the way he was, she’d be utterly
convinced
she was the most beautiful woman on the planet.

That was when she knew that Adam had the ability to break her.
 
She’d been searching for a path that always eluded her.
 
A path that would lead her to her best self.
 
And she’d found it in him.
 
He built her up, strengthened her.

She wondered if he had the ability to destroy her as well.

SIXTEEN

Adam’s eyes snapped open, taking in his surroundings in a state of drowsy confusion.
 
The room was blurry, since his glasses rested on the nightstand, but it only took a brief moment for his mind to play catch up with the events of last night.

He thrust his arm towards the nightstand, careful not to jostle Christie, who was tucked warmly into his side.
 
Reaching for his glasses, he wondered what had woken him.
 
But once he put them on, he discovered the source.

A fluffy grey and white cat sat at the edge of the bed.
 
And it looked at him with an expression of wariness and distrust.
 
“Meow,” it yowled angrily.

Adam wasn’t a cat person.
 
Not that he’d ever had one, but he tended to avoid them, due to an embarrassing scratching incident with a stray when he’d been six.

Ignoring the cat, he looked around for a clock, since his phone was tucked inside the pocket of his jeans.
 
Which he’d taken off last night before they’d fallen asleep.
 
Christie hadn’t exactly asked him to stay, but she certainly made no move to let him up from the bed.
 
And she’d been the one to unbutton his jeans, prompting him to take them off before she slid them both underneath her covers.

Adam wondered if she’d just wanted to see him naked, especially since she knew he wasn’t wearing boxers underneath.
 
He’d only been momentarily uncomfortable as she’d looked her fill.
 
His cock had been in a state of perpetual arousal last night, so it had responded to her rapt gaze.
 
But she’d made no move to touch him, like he thought she would.

They fell asleep shortly after, exhaustion washing over them.

His eyes landed on an alarm clock on Christie’s side of the bed.
 
Breathing a sigh of relief, he saw it was only seven in the morning.
 
He had time.
 
He feared he’d be late for work and he’d never been late before.

But he still had to get going.
 
At this time, there would be traffic on the way back to his house and he still had to drive into the city for work.

Glancing down at Christie, he realized his arm was numb, since she was currently using it as her own personal pillow.
 
He grinned, his eyes roaming over her relaxed expression.
 
Her cheeks were flushed an enticing pink, her skin dewy and glowing.
 
Now that he thought about it, it
was
rather warm underneath the covers, due to their combined body heat.

“Meow,” came another angry cry.
 
Adam’s eyes snapped to the cat at the same time Christie groaned into his chest.

“Snazzy, no,” she scolded, although her drowsy voice didn’t carry far.
 
That, or ‘Snazzy’ simply ignored her.
 
He started meowing incessantly and Christie let out a muffled, “Ugh!”

Adam watched the interaction between the pet and its owner with mild amusement.
 
He wondered if this was a normal occurrence.
 
He also wondered whether Christie preferred waking up to an alarm clock or a cat every morning.

Adam would pick an alarm clock any day.

When Snazzy didn’t stop meowing, Christie shot up from her position, her hair beautifully wild, and glared at the cat at the end of her bed.
 
Adam did a double take when he noticed Christie’s breasts and back were deliciously exposed as the sheet had pooled down to her waist.

Snazzy gave one last little meow of defeat and jumped off the bed, trotting out the door into the living room.
 
Christie had apparently won their little showdown.

She sighed, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands before looking over her shoulder at him.

“Hi,” she murmured softly.

His lips quirked.
 
“Hi.”

“Sorry if he woke you.
 
Have you been up long?” she asked, shifting her knees to her chest and resting her cheek on them.

“No.
 
Not at all.”
 
She smiled, taking in their state of undress.
 
Her eyes traveled down to his erection, since it was rather obvious through the sheets.
 
He groaned in both embarrassment and amusement.
 
“You’re relentless, you know that?”

“Of course,” she replied easily.
 
Cocking a brow, she said smugly, “You do realize I took your oral sex virginity last night, right?”