Page 10 of Now or Never

Adam winced as he stared at her name on the paper.

“It shouldn’t be a problem. She’s Natalie’s sister, right?”

“Yeah, it’s not that, exactly . . .”

His dad’s face fell. “Really, Adam? How? She’s lived here, what? Ten days?”

Denise snickered.

“No, it’s not . . . We didn’t . . .” he said, looking out the window and remembering her aquamarine eyes, and her unbelievable lips, and her general curvy squishy-fuckable-ness.

Tier One.

Adam shook it all off. “Just give me the damn papers,” he said, snatching them from his father’s hands and starting toward the door.

“I haven’t told Ethan, yet,” his dad said. “Thought you might like to do it.”

“I’m going to see him at the arena tonight. I’m sure he’ll be happy. You leaving tomorrow?”

Denise came and threw her arms around his neck, squeezing until he leaned into the embrace. “Yes. We’ll miss you, Adam. You know we don’t like being away from you.”

Adam rolled his eyes, though, if there were a gun to his head, he’d have to admit he liked their concern. Actually, it wouldn’t require a gun. He freely told the truth because he couldn’t tell a lie to save an orphan’s life.

“I’ll be fine. Ethan’s house will be fine. You will be fine. Everything is fine. Just go have fun. I’ll see you when you get back.”

His dad pulled him into a hug, too. Then Adam walked out the door and to his truck, wondering what it would take to get Ethan to deliver the papers to Chelsea for him, and whether he was willing to be such a coward.

Adam stepped onto the ice and skated over to where his teammates had gathered by the net. It was their first time on the ice that fall. Usually, they would transition to their rec-league hockey right after baseball ended in the summer. But after the Derek debacle, they needed another teammate, and it seemed Max had come through.

Max leaned against his hockey stick across from Jake, their goaltender, and Connor. With them was the new guy that Max had recommended to join their team. He stood a few inches shorter than Max, but then, so did the rest of them. Max had insisted that Adamnotinterview him, but after what Ethan hadgone through with Derek, he felt compelled to protect his inner circle from dickheads.

“Hey,” Adam said, joining his team and sizing up the new guy. “You must be Antonio.”

The new guy nodded. “Yeah. You must be Adam?”

Adam took his hand firmly, nodded, and narrowed his eyes at Antonio. He didn’t look like a dickhead. He looked like an Italian model with perfectly coiffed dark hair and pretty-boy eyes. “I hear you play well.”

Antonio nodded and tugged his hand away, as if he were dealing with a psychopath. “I played triple A with Max during my senior year of high school. It’s been a while since I’ve been on the ice, though.”

Adam nodded. He didn’t really care whether the guy could play. He just wanted to feel him out, make sure he was normal. “What do you do?”

“I’m a physician at Mapleton General and the clinic here in town. Hoping to start my practice soon.”

Adam smiled. “I guess it can’t hurt to have a doctor on the team.”

Antonio lifted an eyebrow and glanced at Max, who rolled his eyes.

“Just one more question before you’re in. Are you—”

“Wait,” Antonio said, cutting him off with a disbelieving grin. “Is this an interview?”

Max let out a groan as Jake and Connor snickered.

“Yes. Unfortunately, it’s necessary. Are you going to sleep with anyone’s girlfriend?”

Antonio’s dark brows shot up. “What?”

“Are you?” Adam pressed.

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