Beckett had two twin beds moved into the room, which I apologized to Finn for after he mentioned that he used to have a king.
“You kidding? This is awesome,” was Finn’s response.
Like Beckett, he’s always smiling. He’s got wild curly hair that is being held back with a pink headband at the moment. He swears the headband brings him good luck, so from what I gather, he wears it often.
He falls asleep quickly, like his battery has finally run out of juice. I, on the other hand, lie on my back and stare at the ceiling, begging sleep to come.
Finn starts humming in his sleep, random words slipping through.
Is he singing a Janet Jackson song in his sleep? Fuck.
When he dives into the chorus, I roll onto my side. “Finn?”
“All for you.”
The kid’s eyes are closed, yet the lyrics keep coming. Holy fuck. He’s dead asleep.
I launch myself out of bed with a grunt. There’s no fucking way I can sleep right now. Rather than locking myself in the bathroom we share with Adeline and risking waking her up, I head downstairs.
The light is on in the kitchen. Dammit. I really don’t want to talk to anyone right now, but it feels weird to sneak around in order to avoid someone in their own home, so I blow out a breath and head that way.
That’s when I see her. Bent over, ass up, searching the refrigerator.
Her shorts barely cover her peach of an ass. The ass she’s spent years toning on the ice and through workouts by my side.
They’re pink shorts. Hm, I never pictured Adeline wearing pink.
“Hey.” I force the word out so that I don’t scare her, but she jumps just the same.
“Fuck.” Hissing, she straightens and whirls on me. “God dammit, JJ. You scared the shit out of me.”
I smirk, though the expression is hard to hold when I take in her tiny tank top. Shit. Holding my breath, I zero in on her face rather than the boobs I had no idea existed beneath Adeline’s gear or the damn headlights poking against the thin baby pink fabric.
“Thought there was a no-cursing rule in this house,” I say. “Aren’t you supposed to say Duck.Duck…” Ah, shit, I can’t say it with a straight face.
She growls. “If you say goose, I will mutilate you.”
Coughing out a laugh, I hold up a hand. “I seriously almost did.”
Her grumpy expression vanishes and she giggles. Fucking giggles. The light and airy sound makes an unfamiliar warmth inside my chest unfurl. “It’s okay. My dad means well, but—” She shakes her head. “Yeah, that’s all. He means well.”
“Your dad’s great.”
She nods, and for a moment the two of us stand on opposite sides of the room, staring at one another. I’ve seen Adeline in workout clothes, but never anything revealing. She’s always dressed in an oversized T-shirt and leggings. Never shorts. Probably because guys like me would ogle the shit out of her like I am right now.
I run a hand over my face, my stomach sinking. This is Adeline.Stop acting fucking weird.
“Can’t sleep?” she asks.
I shake my head. “Did you know your brother sings in his sleep?”
Head tipped back, she groans. “Yeah.”
“How do you get any sleep?”
She points at a pair of headphones lying on the counter. “They cancel out noise. You should get some.”
Hand in my hair, tugging at the roots, I nod. “I’ll order them tomorrow.”
