“Should I be afraid?” I quip.
“Very,” all three of the Millers say in unison, and I burst out laughing.
“I made you something,” Phoebe says, pulling me into a homey living room cluttered with family pictures on every wall and surface. She sits cross-legged on the floor in front of a coffee table littered with glitter, string, and beads. “I didn’t know I would be meeting you today, but I was going to work on Adam until he brought you to see me.”
“I suspect you have your brother wrapped around your little finger, Phoebe,” I tease, dropping down alongside her on the carpeted floor.
She winks. “I do! Him and Sam.” She giggles. “I bet you have him wrapped around your finger too.”
“Not yet. But it’s early days.” I waggle my brows, and she giggles again. “Got any pointers for me?”
She taps a finger off her chin as she considers it. “Let me work on a list for you.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
She rummages around on the table, plucking a green, white, and yellow bracelet from the pile in the center. “I hope you like the colors. Adam told me you had beautiful strawberry-blonde hair, so I picked colors I thought would work.” She chews on her bottom lip, and it’s adorably cute.
“You made this?” My eyes are out on stilts. It’s as good as any I’d buy at a market.
She puffs out her chest. “Been making my own jewelry since I was ten. Sam helps me. Adam too, when he has time.”
“It’s beautiful,” I say, slipping it on my wrist and holding it out to inspect it. “And it fits perfectly.” I smile at the bright, beautiful girl as I slide my arm around her shoulders, giving her a soft hug. “Thank you so much. This is the nicest gift anyone has ever made for me.”
She dazzles me with a glorious smile, and it’s only the faint shadows under her eyes and her off-white pallor that remind me she’s ill. “I feel so bad I brought nothing for you. This was a spur-of-the-moment decision.” I wrack my brain to see if I have anything with me I can give her.
A light bulb goes off in my head, and I glance at her bare hands. “Would you like your nails painted?” I wiggle my fingers at her. “I have this color polish in my purse.”
She claps, bouncing around on her heels. “Yes, please! I would love that.” Leaning into me, she squeezes me tight. “I just knew I was going to love you. If you’ve managed to catch my brother’s eye, I knew you would be someone special.”
Tears sting the back of my eyes, and I’m bowled over by her effervescent enthusiasm, her openness, and her warm welcome. “I think you got that mixed up, honey.” I playfully tweak her cute button nose. “You are most definitely the special one.”
19
Adam
Istep into the shower as most of the guys have already left the locker room and gone home.
“Hey, hoss.” Carter’s voice bounces off the tiled walls. “Are you in here?”
I turn on the water, and the cold spray jolts me for a second before the hot water kicks in. “What’s up?”
“We haven’t had a chance to talk,” he says, leaning against the sinks across from me, fully dressed. He’d done his required laps and come in before me.
I decided to run several more laps than the allotted number Coach dishes out after practice. Since I dropped Emily off last night, I’ve had this pent-up energy just waiting to explode. It’s a combination of missing her already and being on edge, wondering when Wes will get his ass thrown in jail.
Kim went to the police, and everything Sam set up is in play, but I haven’t heard a damn word, and I’ve been texting Sam every minute today. He’s keeping tabs on Wes, but so far, nothing.
It’s driving me insane.
Well, not as much as wanting to get my arms around Emily.
Ever since we had sex, I want more of her. And it’s not just sex. I loved hearing her laugh and seeing her let her hair down. Don’t get me started on her hair. Having my hand wrapped around the silken strands while I had my way with her was...
Just that image and I’m hard as the tile around me. My dick pops to attention, and I seriously need to get a grip.
This girl has me in a tailspin.
What’s most surprising is how much I love that she does.
