Page 16 of Now or Never

Chelsea turned toward the table with a first aid kit in hand, rolling her beautiful eyes. Then she sat in the opposite chair, her knees resting in the open space between his thighs. She shoved the artwork aside, set down the kit, and flipped it open.

There on the top sat the dreaded brown bottle of alcohol. It was the same bottle his mother had used on him when he was a child. He looked up at Ben, who kept one worried eye on the bottle as if, at any moment, it might come after him.

Smart kid.

That shit stung like a bitch.

“My mom used to tell me all the flavours of Kool-Aid were the same,” Adam said, trying to get the worried look off Ben’s brow.

“What’s Kool-Aid?”

Adam’s jaw dropped. “You didnotjust ask that.”

Ben’s giggle sounded like the tinkling of ice pellets on a window during an ice storm. “Yes, I did.”

Chelsea gave an indulgent smile that revealed straight teeth and deep dimples. That, mixed with her thick, shoulder-length,curly blond hair that was glowing from the afternoon sun, made her look like an apparition.

That was until she tipped the brown bottle onto a cotton ball.

“He’s very literal,” she said, traces of the smile still etched on her features. “Cross your leg over.”

Adam slumped his shoulders but did what she said. She held out the soaked cotton ball for him, but he ignored her offering. “How does your kid not know what Kool-Aid is?”

“Too sugary,” Chelsea said as she pushed the cotton ball at him, again, no-nonsense. “Take this. It’s better if you do it to yourself.”

He tried to stop the smirk that took over his face.

He really did.

“I think we both know that’s not true.”

He knew the exact moment she registered his joke, because her creamy skin took on a slight pinkish tint, and her eyelids dropped over the blue of her eyes.

Shy Chelsea was too fucking gorgeous to take.

He reached for the cotton ball, but he was too late. She leaned forward and stabbed it into his cut.

The sting that followed was vicious.

“Fu—”

“No swearing,” she said, cutting him off.

“Shi—”

“That’s also a swear word!”

He blinked hard and glanced at Ben, who was staring fascinated at the cotton ball turning red.

Take your mind off it.

He jerked his gaze up, and it landed on the camera on Ben’s head. “You learning to ride your bike?” he asked through a clenched jaw.

“Yup. I’m not very good, though.”

“No one’s good at anything the first time they try. You should learn on the beach, though. That’s where I learned.”

The stinging receded, and his mind cleared. When he looked from the red cotton ball up, he connected with Chelsea’s bright eyes. She quickly glanced away, pulling the cotton ball away from his leg and dropping it onto a tissue. Then she pulled out a bandage.

---