Page 79 of Now or Never

“Mornin’,” Mark said, giving a pointed look at Chelsea’s hand wrapped in his and resting on his thigh.

“Good morning, Mark,” Chelsea said, sending a smile his way.

So far, so good.

Jaclyn and Amy got on the bus, followed by Jess. Finally, Ethan and Natalie.

“Oh, you guys are already here,” Natalie said. “We missed you at breakf . . .” She trailed off, taking in their clasped hands. “What’s this? What are you doing?”

“Natalie,” Chelsea said in a warning tone.

Natalie threw a glare at Adam before turning her face away to look out the window. He felt like absolute shit.

Everyone seemed uncomfortable or pissed about them holding hands. They were all figuratively circling Chelsea, trying to protect her from him.

How could he blame them?

Chelsea squeezed his hand, and he looked at her. She gave him a reassuring smile that soothed him and made him feel that what he was doing wasn’t wrong. As long as he was only looking at her pretty blue eyes, everything felt right in the world.

Suddenly, the bus rocked to one side as Max climbed the stairs. He gave Ethan a nod, then his eyes zeroed in on Adam’s lap, and his permascowl deepened. “What are you doing?”

Natalie hummed. “That’s what I’d like to know,” she said under her breath.

Adam wondered whether Natalie and Max were long-lost twins or some damn thing. They were the same scary, opinionated person.

Adam opened his mouth to say . . . something, when Chelsea piped up.

“Our situationship is none of your business, Max. It’s no one’s business,” she said, giving Natalie a pointed look.

Max stared at her as he sank slowly into his seat. “You sound like Cara.”

Adam winced. He knew Max compared Chelsea to his little sister to make Adam uncomfortable.

“Who’s Cara?” Chelsea asked.

“My little sister. Same age as you.”

Adam glared at Max. Max glared back.

Max had always been overly protective of women, so Adam tried not to take it personally. He’d been raised by a struggling single mother and had had to step up to take care of his younger sister when he was a teen. But comparing Chelsea to Cara, who’d just got out of a pretty abusive relationship, was way out of bounds.

“Careful,” Adam said in a low tone that came out more aggressive than he would have liked. Part of him wanted to throw Max out the door. But the bigger part wondered whether he was being defensive because Max was right. The truth was often hard to hear.

He would never mistreat Chelsea. Never. But now that he was in the light of day, surrounded by the criticism of people who cared about both of them, he was wondering why he thought being with her was a good idea. He loved her, no doubt. But would he really date her? Be her boyfriend? Would he ever be more than that?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Probably not.

Fuck.

She was a long-term relationship type. She didn’t do casual sex—she’d told him as much. She wanted a proper marriage and more kids, and he could never offer her that. Would never. So why was he even starting something with her? Was he just stringing her along? He didn’t want to lie to her. But he honestly didn’t even know what the truth was.

Chelsea’s voice broke through his thoughts as the bus lurched forward. Her tone was one he hadn’t heard before. Authoritative and cold.

“I’m not interested in your opinion, Max. You’re not my brother and I make my own decisions.”

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