17. Adam

“That’ll work.” Kenan was across the hallway saying something to Rhys.

I expected him to show up in my office any minute now. He wouldn’t be able to resist an opportunity to tease me.

As predicted, a moment later, he crossed the hall and knocked on the inside of my open office door with a grin. “Thanks for picking up that work truck.”

“Right on schedule,” I returned with a waggle of my brows.

“On schedule?” he prompted.

“Yeah. You showing up in my office.”

He shrugged. “Of course. Do you think I’m not gonna show up to give you a little hell?” He glanced over his shoulder before turning back. “What the hell is going on with you and Tessa?”

I looked pointedly past his shoulder to the door. He took a few steps backward and closed it before returning to plunk down in the chair across from my desk. “Well?” he prompted.

I was always honest with Kenan. “I don’t fucking know,” I said flatly.

“She’s one of McKenna’s best friends so that could get messy,” he pointed out.

I bit back a groan. “I know. Honestly, I don’t know what happened. I know her, but I don’t really know her. She was years behind us in school. The other night, I saw her at the party at McKenna’s place and almost kissed her and…”

“A few days later, you took her home and…” Kenan circled his hand in the air.

I let out a sigh as I ran my hands through my hair. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Dude, you know if you hurt her, McKenna will kick your ass.”

I rolled my eyes. “As if I don’t know that. Nobody can know. You have to keep your mouth shut about this.”

Kenan leveled me with a look. “You know I won’t say anything to anyone.”

“I know.”

He was quiet for a few beats. “Her ex is a fucking piece of work. Total asshole.”

“What do you know about him?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Well, you know Quinn does all our legal stuff.” Quinn was Kenan’s wife, and they’d been best friends for years before they came to their senses and admitted they loved each other.

“Yeah, and what does that have to do with her ex?” I asked slowly.

“Just that I’m at her office pretty often. She’s here a lot, but she works at her family’s offices too. Her cousin Colin handles all the family cases. I heard him telling Quinn that Tessa’s ex would keep her in court for years.”

Protectiveness rose swiftly inside me, tension tightening around my chest. “He’s a fucking asshole.”

“News flash: plenty of men are assholes,” Kenan pointed out.

“Remember that girl Rich dated in college?”

My brother nodded. “I do, don’t remember her name. I don’t know Rich well and don’t want to.”

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, he treated her like shit, jealous, controlling, the whole mess.” I took a slow breath.

“I haven’t thought much about it since, but I remember. She finally dumped him, and he called her all kinds of names. It was ugly,” Kenan added.

“Yeah, well, he was worse with Tessa.”

Kenan studied me. “This seems like more than just something casual for you.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t know,” I hedged. When his eyes narrowed, I lifted a hand in the air, letting it fall to my desk with a thump. “I don’t even know what the fuck is happening. Honestly, I never really noticed Tessa before. Now, I can’t not notice her, and I can’t stop thinking about her.”

“She’s a single mom. Whatever you do, be aware of what you’re walking into,” he pointed out.

“I know.”

Another silence fell between us. “Do you, though?”

Do you, though?

Kenan’s question repeated in my thoughts. I thought I knew. Growing up in a big family, we were accustomed to the push and pull of somebody always needing something.

Kenan and I were in the middle of the pack with our other set of twins. I knew what it was like to have a single mom. And holy hell, we’d paid a bitter price for our mom being overwhelmed. Our grandparents helped, which meant years of our grandfather’s verbal and emotional abuse, with our oldest brothers being subjected to the worst. We all paid the price. To this day, I wondered how he had treated our father. Our dad had been an only child, and so had our mother. That was why they’d wanted a big family.

Kenan’s comment should’ve given me pause, yet it didn’t. It was late in the evening, nothing unusual for me. I was often the last person to leave our offices. I enjoyed the quiet after-business hours.

Without letting myself dwell, I reached for my phone. Tapping the screen to life, I pulled up Tessa’s contact. My lips unconsciously curled into a smile.

Me:What are you doing tonight?

I felt like I was back in high school when Julie and I used to text. I wanted to wait and see how quickly Tessa would respond.

I forced myself to push my phone away, chuckling as I leaned back in my desk chair.

Dude, she’s a grown-ass woman and a mother.She’s not sitting around, staring at her phone screen.

I had been reduced to this, with thoughts circling in my brain while I waited in my office at night. I forced my focus back to my computer screen, where I was reviewing reports from our new renewable resources division. We were winding down fossil fuel projects and shifting to renewable energy development. As the CFO, any new projects meant I constantly checked numbers.

When my phone vibrated a few minutes later, I practically lunged for it.

Tessa:Having dinner with friends. Your sister, me, Haven, Rosie, and sometimes Fiona do this at least once a month. It’s at my house tonight. What are you doing?

Me:Working late.

I hesitated for a beat, but then I decided to put myself out there.

Me:I know we said we would keep this quiet, and I will. But I want to see you again. So how do we do that?