We straighten our clothes, and my eyes are glued to Adam’s crotch while he readjusts his dick. My mouth waters with the need to taste him. But I should not be doing that in a building full of people. I draw the line at exhibitionism.
We walk out of the room, our hands clasped together, while I shove the door prop under the edge to keep it open in case anyone wants to look around. Kian and Trent are both talking to customers, while others explore the bookshelves, picking up various romance titles. A few people are in the LGBTQIA+ section, thumbing through open books while they show their friends. A sense of pride washes over me, the feelingof accomplishment knowing that I made my dream become a reality, no matter how hard the work was to get here.
“Hi! Are you Hunter Collins?” One guy comes up to me, younger than I am if the college sweatshirt is anything to go by.
“Yes, I am,” I say, extending my hand to be polite. He grabs it in both of his, pumping it up and down vigorously.
“I’m such a big fan of your artwork! I have the rendition of Starry Night that you did, the one with all the book quotes? I’m sure you know which one, you were the one who made it.” His nervous rambling is cute.
“I do know the one, I’m so glad to hear that you enjoy my art.” I’m horrible at taking compliments, so I hope my smile conveys the right message.
“Enjoy? I’mobsessed.I’m actually in college right now, studying art.” He tells me all about himself. The classes he’s taking and how I’ve been a huge inspiration to him. I nod and acknowledge his words, content to let him do all the talking. Adam left me with a squeeze to my hand, a silent promise that he would be back. The guy shows me some of the art he’s created and the different book covers he’s come up with on his own. He’s very creative, finding patterns and details that mesh well together while operating on their own.
“Sorry, I tend to ramble when I get excited.” His face pinkens, and I shake my head quickly.
“No, that’s okay. I promise. I’m the same way.” I chuckle and look around. He seems to be by himself, or maybe his friends left him behind while he talked to me.
“Oh, my name’s Tyler, by the way.”
“Tyler, it’s so good to meet you. Are you just in town for the week or?”
“I live a few towns over, but I’ve been to your bookstore once or twice. I just never had the courage to talk to you.” His face splotches and I feel bad for him, but not in a pity way butin a way that I want to take care of him. He reminds me of myself when I was younger, before I learned the hard way that sometimes life doesn’t work out the way you want it to.
“I’m going out of town next week, but when I come back, why don’t you come by? I’d love to look at your book covers and see if we can get something worked out.” His eyes brighten, and I know that he’ll be here.
“Yeah, yeah.” He clears his throat. “I would really like that.” I get his number, and he practically skips out of the bookstore, swinging his noveltyNew Beginnings Bookstoreburlap bag. I shake my head, wondering how I got here. Adam is back in my life, and we’re slowly working on our relationship. I own a bookstore. I have friends and family who love me. I feel like the richest man in the world, taking in the people mingling and watching as Adam tries his best to talk to the group of people who are standing by my special editions. He might be grumpy sometimes, more often than not, but he’s charismatic. He has the type of energy that people flock to, and no matter how often he tries to feign indifference, he really does care. And he really cares about me. He’s going outside of his comfort zone and talking about romance books. Now, if it were true crime, he would be in his element.
A flutter of deep feelings passes through me. Love. That’s what I’m feeling now, the same emotion he evoked in me in college, it’s right here again. Burning bright and bold and refusing to be smothered.
I love Adam, I always have. We might not have had the best go at this, but knowing that even after all these years, he’s still the man I fell in love with is a balm to my soul. Nourishing and replenishing, feeding me the energy I’ve been missing for the past eight years without him.
I’m staring at him, and when his eyes lift to meet mine, a bright smile overtakes his face. I walk toward him, the magneticpull between us too strong for me to fight against. And I don’t want to fight against it. There’s no point. When I agreed to be friends, I was trying to protect myself. But there’s no need, not from Adam. He’ll always be here to catch me when I fall or make a mistake. I trust him. With my heart, body, and soul. He’s the one for me, my other half in every sense.
That’s why during the years we’d been apart, I’d never felt settled, I’ve always been chasing something bigger than me. And all it took was coming back and running into him again to show me that I don’t need to chase some pipe dream, I can have everything I want. Right here, with him.
Adam breaks away from the group, meeting me halfway. I don’t know what the look on my face is, but his lips downturn in concern. I don’t stop until I run right into him, our chests bumping against each other, and Adam grasps onto my upper arms to keep me steady.
“Hunter—” I cut him off, kissing him in front of everyone. The world falls away with his lips on mine, letting him anchor me in only the way he can.
Clapping starts around us, and I’m dragged away by the sound. Kian and Trent are clapping loudly, standing behind the cash register. When Kian sees us, his words echo across the store. “It’s about freaking time.” I flush and hide my head in the crook of Adam’s neck.
“What was that?” Adam asks when the attention dies down, and everyone continues on with their shopping. Even Kian and Trent go back to what they were doing before they interrupted my storybook moment.
“I just had an epiphany while I was watching you.” His eyebrows quirk as he stares at me.
“Care to share?” I inhale shakily, dragging my tongue to feel my kiss-swollen lips.
I don’t say the three words that want to escape, instead, I kiss his mouth again, reveling in the taste of him and knowing that I can do this whenever I want because he’smine.
48
ADAM
Ipark my car in front of the cabin. Hunter doesn’t wait for me, choosing to open the door and sprint full speed toward the decorated oak wood doors propped open wide, waiting for us to enter. I paid extra for the cleaning crew to do a rush job. It’s been sitting vacant since I bought it last year, waiting for the perfect time to come out here. I always made excuses for why I couldn’t.
But the real reason is I was waiting for Hunter to come back to me, because I knew he would enjoy being here. It reminds me of the woods we walked through behind his house to get to his favorite pond, but this one has a lake. The boat and Sea-Doos are stored away in the spare garage with anything else we could need for this week. The weather outside is warming up, summer is upon us. The months have moved by quickly, like sand falling through my fingers.
“Adam!” Hunter yells at me, waiting very impatiently on the front porch steps. I get out of my car, closing the door and leaving the bags behind, we can get them later. I have different priorities right now.
