Picking Up the Pieces (Pieces, #2)

Adam let his towel drop, giving me full access to his hard cock. I stroked his length slowly, teasingly, skimming the head with my fingers to rub around the bead of fluid that had accumulated at the tip.

In one swift motion, Adam had me in the air, moving me toward the bed and stripping my shirt off within seconds of placing me on my back. With a rough tug he removed my pants and tossed them aside. “No underwear again?” he asked. “I like this new habit of yours.”

He kissed down my stomach, blowing teasingly on the way down to his destination. I moaned in pleasure as he kissed, licked, and sucked at my opening. With each lap of his tongue, I begged for him to make me come, feeling myself get closer with every groan against my clit. His fingers invaded me gently, then harder until I thought I would explode at any moment. “Oh God, Adam . . . please.”

The sound of Adam’s phone was the only thing that prevented the release I craved. To my surprise, Adam stopped to grab his phone off the nightstand to answer it. Fuck. I imagined I felt like a guy did when a girl stopped sucking his dick right before he came. I thought briefly about finishing myself off while Adam was on the phone, but I was too distracted watching him pace the room giving monosyllabic responses to his caller.

“It’s Eva,” he said suddenly after tossing the phone on his bed. “I gotta go get her. The douchebag she went to the dance with was a jerk to her. She’s crying.” He threw on sweats and grabbed his wallet and keys from his dresser. “I’ll drop you off first.”

Wait, what? Can’t we finish what we started first? But I could never say that. “Adam, just get her first and then drop me off. The school’s closer.”

I could tell I’d caught him off guard with my comment, but I couldn’t figure out why. Until he told me.

“Uh . . . Lily." He looked at me cautiously, as though he were trying to gauge how I’d react to his next words. "I haven’t told Eva about us yet.”

Huh? Did I hear him right? “What?” My voice was strained, angry. “You told me you’d told her.”

“I will. I swear. It’s just weird. I don’t know what to say to her.” His hurried tone told me he was possibly more annoyed than I was. And I didn’t know how the fuck that was possible. “Can we talk about this later? Let’s just go.”

“Sure,” I said because I didn’t know what else to say. I certainly wasn’t about to say what I’d been thinking. Mostly because, at this point, I didn't know what to think. About anything.





Chapter 23: Lily


The past week with Adam had been strained. I kept wondering when we'd stop making everything so difficult and just let our relationship unfold without all of the bullshit. And even though we'd talked a few times, there was still an occasional awkward silence, some internal questioning of how he would interpret things I said, and a vague feeling like something was missing between us. I couldn’t identify what that “something” was, but I felt its absence frequently enough to obsess about it. Typical girl shit.

And as I stood in front of my closet, trying to figure out what to wear, I decided to let it go. Whatever Adam and I were meant to be, we’d be. Things were bound to be a little weird. I’d cheated on him with a professional athlete. That kind of shit would scar any relationship. I just hoped that the scars would fade with time.

Grabbing my Flyers jersey, I pulled it over my head. Shane and Amanda had offered us the two extra tickets they had for the game that night before Adam and I had our disagreement over his failing to tell Eva about our relationship. I hadn't seen him since and wasn't completely sure how tonight was going to go. Guess I'll find out soon enough. I was reaching for my jeans, the ones that cupped my ass perfectly, when my phone rang. I looked down at the caller ID and smiled. “Hey. Can’t make it another hour without talking to me?”

Adam exhaled a loud breath. “Hey, baby.”

My posture straightened and my brow furrowed with concern. “What’s wrong?”

“Eva’s sick. She came home from school complaining about her stomach, but I figured she was just being dramatic. Then the puking started. I can’t leave her like this. I’m sorry.”

Disappointment crept through my veins, even though I tried to stave it off. I knew I couldn’t be pissed because he was a good father who didn’t ditch his sick kid so that he could go to a hockey game with his girlfriend. But, for a shameless second, I kind of wished he was more of a scumbag. “No need to apologize, Adam. I completely understand that you need to be with Eva. No worries.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Mad that you’re a responsible father who loves his daughter? I find it simply infuriating,” I said with a laugh.

“Guess these are the downsides of dating a guy with a child.”

“Will you stop? It’s no big deal.”

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