“You need something?” Michael asked, and Adam blinked, finally bringing his attention to Michael.
“Oh, I just picked up those two tickets for the reunion you asked me to get when I was near the school.”
Michael went to pull out his wallet, but Adam waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t insult me like that. You’re my boy; we look out for each other.”
Michael accepted the tickets Adam held out to him and pushed them quickly into his pocket.
“Did you get one for yourself?” Michael asked.
“Sure did,” Adam affirmed.
“You’re coming all the way from New York for our high school reunion?” Janae’s question seemed louder in the silent room, making her the subject of everyone’s attention.
“I don’t live in New York anymore,” Adam answered. “I moved back to Monroe Hills at the end of the summer.”
Janae turned to Michael, her eyes narrowed slits. If dirty looks could kill, Michael would’ve been in trouble.
“And you didn’t see fit to tell anyone, Michael?”
Michael shrugged before responding to Janae’s question. “Excuse me, but I’ve kinda been dealing with family drama. I didn’t have time to run down the movements of a grown man for you, Janae.”
“Derrick is going,” Cree added. “You know those three are joined at the hip. If Derrick and Michael are going, it’s a safe bet Adam would be there too.”
“Don’t blame Mike,” Adam directed his response to Janae. Those light whiskey brown eyes connected with hers and it was as if no one else was in the room. “I’ve been so busy getting settled, I haven’t had time to do much more than get in on a couple of pickup games with Mike and Derrick. I’m glad I got the chance to run into you.”
His eyes scanned Janae’s form up, down, and then up again, and Janae was shaken to her core. She knew that look, that barely restrained hunger that looked like it would snap loose at any moment. And it was directed at her.
Being desired wasn’t anything new to Janae. Contrary to popular belief, big girls are getting it too in these streets. But again, Adam Henderson had never paid much attention to her. Why the hell else would he be looking at her like she was the last slice of sweet potato pie on the Thanksgiving dinner table?
“You look good, real good.”
The usual Janae response would’ve been something along the lines of “Of course I do.” But somehow, her quick wit and smart-assed tongue just didn’t seem to work right, and all she could do was stare at him.
“Well,” Adam tore his gaze away from Janae’s to face Michael and Vanessa. “I still have a lot left to do today. Take care, everyone.” He walked toward the door and looked over his shoulder one last time. “Janae,” he called out to her again, and she realized her name had never sounded so good on anyone else’s tongue. “We should get together sometime. I left my phone in the car so I can’t text you my number. Mike’s got my contact info, though. Get it from him.”
Adam gave Janae one last burning look, as if he were pressing his signet ring into hot wax, making his unique mark across her mind. Then he opened the door and stepped out of the shop just as quickly as he’d come in.
All eyes focused on Janae as she stood completely still, staring at the door Adam had since exited. She blinked, trying to clear her vision and simultaneously break free of whatever spell his visit had woven around her.
When she had just enough control to speak again, she turned to her friends to ask, “What the hell are y’all staring at?”
What the hell indeed. She’d been in that man’s presence for a few short minutes and Janae didn’t recognize herself. Not her thoughts, not the way her skin sizzled with want, nor the way her fingertips ached with the need to gently caress Adam’s locs. She didn’t understand any of it.
Janae Tate was beautiful.Was her last name still Tate?Adam didn’t know. It didn’t matter, though. Whatever her driver’s license said, Janae would always be the prettiest girl in the room with herglowing deep brown skin and dark brown hair twisted into a neat bun at the top of her head. He had believed that since the sixth grade when he’d started noticing girls in the way that boys do.
Adam hung his dry cleaning in the back of his car, leaning against the closed door to process what had just happened in Vanessa’s accounting firm. It was supposed to be an in-and-out thing but running into Janae had changed that plan. He couldn’t deny his appreciation for how time had blessed this woman, taking her from a sassy little girl the boys avoided to a striking and plus-size goddess that any man with a lick of sense would beg to worship at her feet.
Back then, all he’d ever wanted was for her to notice him. She never did, though. Why? Because Adam was too afraid of his father to shoot his shot. His father had a plan for him back then: A D1 basketball college followed by an early draft into the NBA. That meant his father wouldn’t allow Adam to have anything that distracted him from constant practice on his high school team and at home.
“You’re grown now, Adam.” He murmured this as he slid into his driver’s seat and closed the door, hoping his tinted windows would prevent the people on the street from witnessing this one-on-one conversation with himself. “You don’t have to do what Grady says anymore.”
His therapist had repeated those words over and over to him throughout the years. Now it was time to speak them, and act like he knew those words to be true. That was a lot easier to say and think. Living like it was something altogether different. When your father had been everything from your coach to your manager, remembering that elusive detail was hard as hell.
“Adam,” he spoke sternly to himself. “When you decided to move back home you promised yourself you wouldn’t fall into familiar habits with your dad. Maybe running into Janae today was a reminder to honor what’s important to you and not worry about what your father or anyone else has to say.”
At that moment, he saw Janae get into her car and pull off, and hope and excitement grew inside him.
“Maybe the universe is also reminding you to finally pursue what you want.”
