29. Adam

I sifted my fingers through Tessa’s hair, savoring the soft little sigh she made in her sleep. When I woke up with her, I experienced a sense of wonderment. Maybe I had experienced love before, but I’d been so young and definitely naive.

The love I had felt for Julie had been different. Now I could understand it was immature. After I had been so hopeful that I could prove that love would make me feel better about life and about the shitty hand I felt our family had been dealt.

I never expected I’d actually find Tessa and fall in love in this way. Our two flawed selves, the jagged pieces of our hearts hinged together and healed the slivers of bitterness left over. The losses in my life had made it possible for me to love Tessa the way I did.

Tessa shifted in her sleep, her knee bumping into the side of my thigh. She moved a lot when she was sleeping, often elbowing me or curling against me softly. Sometimes it was nice, and sometimes it was jarring. I loved all of it, all of her.

I sensed her coming awake, a subtle hum of electricity, of attention and alertness.

“Did I just stab you with my knee?” Her voice was a little raspy, and she cleared her throat when I chuckled.

“I was already awake.”

She rolled closer to me. Because this was Tessa, and I was me, my cock was all, “Well, hello and good morning!”

Her warm skin was soft. I let my fingers slide through her hair to smooth my hand down her back and over the sweet curve of her bottom. I couldn’t resist giving her a little squeeze.

She rose on an elbow, tracing lazy circles on my chest.

“How long have you been awake?” Her eyes twinkled with her smile.

“Not long.”

Her palm slid down over my abdomen, and she gave my cock a bold teasing stroke. “Good morning to you.” She squeezed me as she grinned.

I couldn’t resist angling my head to the side on the pillow and pressing lazy, open-mouthed kisses along the side of her neck.

“Good morning to you as well,” I murmured between kisses as I teased my fingers between her thighs to find her hot, wet, and ready.

Her cheeks were flushed when I let my head fall back against the pillow again. “Do you think this will ever fade?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” I slid two fingers into her slippery wet core.

She bit her lip, letting out a little moan. “This, being crazy for each other.” She stroked her curled palm around my length. I was hard to the point of pain and felt a little drop of cum roll out.

“Never,” I bit out.

She dipped her head to bring her lips to mine, and we kissed lazily, a slow tangle of tongues. She shifted up, releasing her grip on my length and pressing her palm on my chest as she rose to straddle me. My cock was nestled in her slick folds when she rocked her hips slightly.

I let out a growl. Gripping her hips, I looked up at her. She was so fucking sexy—her curls a tousle around her shoulders, her skin flushed from sleep, her eyes dark with passion. She stared down at me. Her hand was still on my chest, and my heart kicked against it, recognizing her touch.

“I love you, Adam.”

My hands tightened, pressing into her skin. “I love you, sweetheart.”

She reached between us as she lifted her hips. I felt her kiss against my crown a second before she sank over me, sheathing me in her rippling channel, the very heart of her.

Maybe an hour later, after we had showered and Tessa left with Eric, I made sure her place was locked up and headed into town. I parked at the office and walked the short distance to Spill the Beans Café. I had a long day ahead because we had monthly reports coming in, so I needed a kick-start.

When I walked in, Hazel was at the counter, moving the line along at a brisk pace as she handed coffee and baked goods to the customers. Her usual smile was wide when I reached the front of the line. She looked downright giddy. “What are you so cheerful about?” I asked.

“I am so happy about you and Tessa.”

“This isn’t new gossip,” I teased lightly.

“It sort of is,” Hazel said. “It’s only been within the past few weeks that you two have actually been open. You have both been through your own challenges, and I think you deserve each other in the best possible way. Your usual?”

“Of course. Strong as you can make it.”

She began prepping my coffee, adding, “You’re going to get an extra shot of espresso. My eyes cross when I deal with numbers, and you do it all day.”

I chuckled. “I appreciate it. I’ll pay for that extra shot.”

She waved dismissively. “Without your family’s businesses in this town, things would be tight for us.”

“Well, without Spill the Beans Café, I don’t even know how Fireweed Industries would run since we relocated our headquarters back here.”

Hazel grinned at that. When she took my money a moment later, her gaze sobered. “I am happy for you and Tessa, and I know Rich is seeing someone. He seems to be giving Tessa some peace now, but men like him don’t usually change. Not when they’re his age. I might’ve given him a little chance if he was younger because boys are stupid and reckless. Sometimes life has to give them a few hard lessons. Rich isn’t young, and it was never impulsive with him. He’s just mean but also charming and handsome.” Her lips twisted to the side as anger flashed in her eyes. “Anyway, just don’t let your guard down. I don’t trust him.”

“I think I can handle it, but I appreciate your concern,” I said.

With my reply, scene upon scene, like those old slides on a projector, passed through my thoughts. My grandfather’s face mottled red as he screamed at me about a chore not done well enough, him slapping Rhys hard across the face, and the sound of my oldest brother, Jake, crying in his bedroom at night. More than anything, those old memories elicited a familiar feeling—a sense of dread, exhaustion, and an awareness that was unique to having to always be on alert in the place where you were supposed to feel safe. Home.

“I know you can handle him,” Hazel said. “Make sure to take care of Tessa and Eric.”

Hazel’s words echoed in my thoughts when I happened to see Rich at the gas station that afternoon. Rich pulled up after I was parked and already getting gas. He parked on the opposite side of the same gas pump. When I glanced over, not yet aware it was him, I simply nodded when our eyes met.

He spun his keys on his forefinger when he rounded the trash can between the sides of the gas pumps and stepped under the awning near me. “So you’re seeing Tessa.”

There was a hint of a question in his tone. “I am.”

“I just wanted to say I’m glad. You have my blessing.”

It wasn’t his words, but the look in his eyes and the feeling he gave off, as though he were giving me permission.

I held his gaze. For a moment, it felt as if a challenge rose in the air between us. I knew Rich. I knew his kind, always jostling for dominance. I also knew how to ignore and defuse assholes like him.

As much as I wanted to tell the guy to fuck right off, I didn’t. Even if he seemed to have backed off toward Tessa, they shared a son. For that reason alone, there needed to be peace. I simply nodded.

Just then, someone called Rich’s name from inside the car where he’d left the door cracked open. “Have a good one,” I said.

Moments later, I drove away. On the one hand, it was a nothing interaction. On the other hand, it rankled me that Rich felt the need to say anything.

In theory, I obviously believed two parents who weren’t together should be on good terms. That was the best thing for any child they shared. But it was different with Rich. He didn’t really give Tessa his blessing. With his words, I could feel his underlying sense of ownership of her.