Page 92 of Hung Up
I freeze, that voice immediately sending me into fight or flight mode. Jesse’s expression changes to one of pure rage, whereas Kai and Stetson look ready to step in and kick him out of here. Resting a hand on the one Jesse has resting on my thigh, I squeeze it, forcing his gaze to mine. I try my best to give him a reassuring smile, and I breathe a sigh of relief as he relaxes slightly—but not entirely.
“What are you doing here, Adam?”
I turn around to face him, resting an arm over the back of the couch. He’s wearing a blue button-up and black dress pants, a media lanyard around his neck that has my brows furrowing. One glance at Rylie from over my shoulder tells me she had no idea he was going to be here. Is Alicia trying to mess with my head? To punish me for the media fiasco and not taking her ruling without argument? I don’t believe she’d do that, but why else would he be here?
“I begged Alicia to send the team here to cover finals,” he admits, his voice softer than I remember it being. “I thought the team should be together to help you finish what you started.”
“Or you’re just here to try and ride the momentum she’s gaining.” Rylie leans forward, her elbows resting on her knees as she studies Adam. “Can’t handle how popular she is right now, can you?”
He ignores her, looking down at me. “Can we go talk in private? Please?”
“I don’t think so,” I tell him before Jesse can open his mouth. “Anything you have to say to me, you can say it here.”
“Faith—”
“Or you can leave. It’s up to you.”
Adam sighs, rolling out his neck before squaring his shoulders. When our eyes reconnect, I’m shocked to see the pleading look in his gaze. “I wanted to tell you I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have cheated on you, and I shouldn’t have said the things that I did afterward. I never should’ve tried to force my way back into your life, and I’m sorry for how I handled things at the bar and for what I’ve said since. You didn’t deserve any of that, and I hope you can forgive me.”
Everyone sits in stunned silence, unable to fully wrap their heads around the idea that Adam did, in fact, just apologize to me. But despite his words and the sincerity in his gaze, I don’t feel a sense of peace like I thought I would if he ever were to apologize to me. Instead, I feel more cautious and on guard than I did whenever he’d yell at me.
“I don’t buy it,” Jesse says before I can, and that look I’m familiar with—and oddly find more comfort in—reappears on Adam’s face. Anger and disdain. “Why are you apologizing to her now?”
“Because I’ve realized how shitty I’ve treated her and she never deserved that,” he tells Jesse through clenched teeth. “She was the best thing to ever happen to me, and I never should’ve thrown that away.”
A scoff escapes me and Rylie at the exact same time, but it’s Rylie who speaks up for me. “I see what this is. You saw that article about her and Jesse and what happened last weekend, and you’re jealous. Don’t tell me you’re here to beg for her to take you back again.”
“He shouldn’t have to beg.” This time my heart falls into my ass, my heart rate skyrocketing as I watch my father round the corner.What the fuck is going on?I whip my head around tolook at Rylie, only to see that her expression mimics my own. “This has been going on for long enough, Faith.”
I tip my head back, a laugh of disbelief slipping out of me before I leap to my feet, turning to stare at the two men that I currently hate more than anyone in my life. “You showed up to my work for this bullshit? You really woke up and thought, ‘huh, let’s humiliate and corner her on the job’? What is wrong with you?” I fix my attention on Adam. “You really ran with your tail tucked between your legs to my father? You thought he was going to convince me? You’re more stupid than I thought.”
Adam takes a threatening step forward, and Jesse leaps to his feet, putting himself in front of me despite the fact that a couch stands between Adam and me. I can see the tension in his shoulders and feel the anger radiating off him. Resting a hand on his arm, I pull him back so he’s next to me, no longer obstructing my view.
“Holding a grudge isn’t a good look, Faith,” my father says, and I notice Jesse’s fist clench between us. “He’s apologized and apologized, what more do you want?”
“For him to leave me the hell alone,” I snap. “Take no for a fucking answer and move on. Get it through his thick fucking skull that I won’t ever take him back.”
A look of disgust enters my father’s gaze as his eyes fall on Jesse. “Because ofhim?”
“Because Adam treated me like shit.” My voice raises, not caring that people are walking on the other side of the cloth partition and can easily hear me. “Because he was manipulative and got physical when he was angry. Because he made me feel worthless and turned his back on me when I needed him the most. He made me hate myself. He’s the reason I thought I was too much and too difficult, that I wasn't worthy, and that it was too hard to love me. He took advantage of my grief and wormedhis way in so he could try and make me into his perfect fucking girlfriend.”
“He loves you,” is all my father responds, and the frustration that bubbles up in me engulfs me whole.
“You know, for the longest time, I’ve struggled to understand how you could possibly want someone like that for your daughter. Why you would spend so much of your time and energy trying to get us back together. And I can’t believe it took me this long to see that it’s because he reminds you of yourself.” My father’s eyes widen slightly. “You see nothing wrong with his behavior because it’s yours. It’s the same shit you did to my mother and you never saw anything wrong with that. I think you’re afraid that if I can’t forgive him, maybe Savannah won’t be able to either when you do the same thing to her.”
I interlace my hand with Jesse’s, and both Adam and my father’s gazes drift downward. “He’s the kind of man you should want for me. One who spent months earning me. One who has made me feel special and important, loved and cared for. Someone who has shown up for me time and time again and has never once made me doubt how he feels about me. A guy who is kind, gentle, and dedicated. A man who would never take his anger out on me or walk away when I become hard to deal with. One who would give up the thing he loves most, sacrifice everything, for me.” When I glance over at Jesse, he’s already looking at me, a barely visible smile on his lips. “You’re not going to be able to sway me, Dad. The sooner you realize that, the better. Jesse is the kind of man I deserve. Now, if you’ll excuse us, these men here have a ride to prepare for.”
With my hand still in Jesse’s, I walk around the couch, striding past Adam and my father without so much as a glance. Stetson, Rylie, Georgia, and Kai follow behind us as we ignore the looks of those who overheard and walk down the hall, heading toward the media room. I stop outside the door andturn to face Jesse, and he wraps his arms around me before I utter a word. My hands rest against his back, my cheek against his chest, a shaky breath leaving me as all the tension and anger I was carrying evaporates.
“I’m so proud of you,” he murmurs into my hair, pressing a kiss against the side of my head. “Is that really how you feel? About me, I mean.”
I pull back, looking him in his mesmerizing eyes to see some doubt lingering in them. “Of course. And I’ll do everything I can so you never have to question that.”
He opens his mouth like he’s about to say something, his eyes slightly watery, but Rylie steps in, pulling me away from him as she squeals and throws her arms around me. I start laughing as she jumps in excitement.
“I am so fucking proud of you, Faith,” she says loudly, pulling away and looking up at me with a wide and wild smile. “I can’t believe you finally said that to your dad. Screw them. You don’t need people like that in your life.” I’m about to interject when she roughly grabs my arm. “Did I hear you right? Did you say Savannah, as in?—”
“Oh my god, did I not tell you?” She shakes her head. “Yeah, he’s marryingthatSavannah in June apparently.”
