Page 84 of Now or Never

“I’m not sleepy,” he said, his eyes rimmed with red.

She kissed his nose. “Yes, you are.”

“My tummy hurts.”

“You probably ate too much sugar,” she said, standing up and holding his hands, pulling him up off the floor. “Let’s give you a bath and read some books.”

He held his stomach a little, winced.

“Poor little guy,” she said, rubbing his back and leading him up the stairs. “You had too much fun. You’ll feel better in the morning.”

He tucked himself into her side, and they walked up the stairs together. Chelsea looked down at his sweet little face and totally brushed Jae’s opinion about her career choices away. There was a difference between compromising on her dreams and putting her son first. She prioritized building a solid foundation for her and Ben, and that wasn’t compromising. That was smart decision-making.

But maybe Jae had a point about Adam. Chelsea now knew that she wanted someone in her life. And she wanted that someone to be Adam.

Now she’d just have to make him understand that she didn’t care about his medical problems; she just wanted to be with him. Hopefully, he could come to terms with that.

twenty-four

Adam’s stomach rolled with the waves lapping against the side of his boat. He pushed aside empty bottles on the table in front of him, and set his half-drunk beer down, then slumped across the seat.

It was five o’clock in the evening, all the beer he had on deck had been drunk, and the marina was getting busier. Boats were coming in from an afternoon of fishing, and families and couples were gathering and getting ready for an evening on the lake.

Adam glanced around, noticed a few other boaters waving to him, and decided now would be a good time to hide below deck. Maybe he’d take a nap. As long as he didn’t have to see anybody, he’d be fine.

He stood, his vision swirling, and took a step toward the stairs when Max appeared out of nowhere and came aboard.

Adam thought he might puke. He sat back down on the bench, put his head between his knees.

“I’ve been calling you,” Max said, his voice hard.

Adam didn’t have to look up to know he would find Max’s signature scowl and crossed arms. “And I’ve been ignoring you.”

“You’re drunk?”

Adam shook his head. “No. I was drunk a couple of hours ago. Now I’m hungover.”

Max sat on the bench next to him. Before Adam realized it, Max had swiped the blue envelope from under the bottles and flipped it over.

“Abam,” he read.

Adam squeezed his eyes closed and slumped. “He put the stick on the wrong side of the circle.”

Max opened the envelope, pulled out the Spider-Man invitation, and scanned it. “This was today. Two hours ago.”

“Yeah.” Adam glanced around the marina, wondering how fast it would get around town if he hung over the edge of the boat and puked into the lake.

Probably fast.

But did he really care?

“You didn’t go?”

“No.”

Max put the invitation back into the envelope and placed it on the table. “You let things get out of hand with Chelsea.”

Adam nodded. There was no sense in denying it now. “Way out of hand.”

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