Page 106 of Now or Never

Chelsea squeezed her eyes shut. “Why are you mindfucking me like this?”

Adam’s attention snagged on a pair of sparkly gold earrings dangling from her ears. He looked more carefully at her and saw that she’d dressed up more so than usual. She’d styled her blond hair beautifully around her face and had makeup on her eyes.

“Are you going somewhere?”

“I told you, I’ve moved on.”

As if on cue, car tires began crunching in the gravel behind him. He spun around to see a grey SUV coming up the driveway and stopping next to his truck.

He turned back to Chelsea. “Are you going out with someone?”

Chelsea nodded.

“Who?”

Just then, the car door opened and Scott Tanner stepped out, holding a fucking bouquet, his step faltering as they made eye contact.

“Adam?”

Fucking hell.

“Hey, Scott,” he said with an awkward wave. What the fuck did you say to the guy bringing your dream girl flowers? Especially when you knew he was a good guy. He had a daughter, too, if Adam remembered correctly. Probably around Ben’s age.

Chelsea was better off with Scott.

Adam stopped his self-loathing train of thought and shook it off, hearing his therapist in his ear. Heknewno one could love Chelsea as much as him. There wasn’t anyone who would treat her better.

“What’s going on?” Scott asked.

“Adam’s just leaving,” Chelsea said, stepping onto the porch and pulling the door closed behind her. “I’m ready to go.”

“Actually,” Adam said, turning to Scott and bracing himself for the awkward bomb he was about to detonate. “I’m here to shoot my shot with Chelsea. I’m in love with her.”

Scott’s thick brows rose. “You?”

Adam gave a half laugh. “I know, right?” he said, trying to ease the tension. His reputation was known far and wide.

“I love her, more than anything. I respect you, Scott. I like you a lot. But I’m not going to back down.”

Chelsea brushed past Adam, walked down the stairs. “Not gonna happen, Adam. If you thought you were going to come here, say some nice things, and I was going to forget everything that happened, you were mistaken.”

Adam shook his head. “I know it’s going to take time. I just came by to bring Ben his birthday presents and let you know that I’m going to be trying to get you back.”

“There is noback, Adam. We never were . . . anywhere. Just go.”

Adam nodded, trying not to let the heartbreak show on his face. It probably was, though. He knew he was shit at hiding emotion. And the sadness and regret was bubbling up in his throat. If he could feel it this much, then it was definitely showing.

“We weresomewhere,Chelsea.And I loved it. And I want it back.” He blinked hard, cleared his throat, worried he’d end up crying as he had when Max’s dog died. “I’m gonna go. But I’mnotgiving up on this.”

He walked to her, and when she stared at him, paralyzed, and he felt sure she wasn’t going to slap him or recoil, he leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I love you, good night.”

He turned to Scott, shrugged, and said, “Sorry,” then climbed into his truck, and drove off, leaving them standing in the driveway together.

He felt like an asshole. A horribly depressed asshole. He desperately wanted to take her on a date. He couldn’t help thinking about the irony of the situation compared to the baseball diamonds when he’d first asked her out. If he hadn’t run away, what would’ve happened? If he had known then what he knew now, how much different would things be?

What a fucking mess.

He tried to ignore the dread that imagining Chelsea sitting across from Scott brought up. She’d smile with her dimples and laugh at his jokes. Her face was irresistible when she was happy. Scott would try to make her smile the entire night.

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