Chapter 19
Adrian
I amglad I’ve spoken to Skylar, that we’ve bared each other’s pasts, opened up, been honest with each other. I want her to be in my life, not just as a passing thing, but as a forever thing. I love her, am so head over heels for her that just thinking about her has my chest aching something fierce.
And she hasn’t condemned me, hasn’t looked down upon me, or judged me. She’s just accepted what I said and given me her support.
I focus on that, the warmth, the happiness that is spreading through me.
“Hey, bro, focus.” Cal, one of the guys I train with, says from behind the red punching bag I’ve just been going at. “You got this goofy as fuck smile on your face. You should be thinking about knocking the head off an asshole in the ring.”
“Maybe that’s why I was smiling,” I respond.
Cal shakes his head. “Nah, that look was one that was all sappy and shit. Focus, man.”
Cal is right, but pushing Skylar out of my head, even just for right now, even just to train, feels abhorrent. But I move all good and pleasant thoughts that Skylar brings out in me to the back of my head and start slamming my fist into the scarred, worn bag. I think about Holden. The asshole might be protecting Skylar, thinking she has something to be afraid of when it comes to me, but that pisses me the fuck off.
I think about the guys I’ll fuck up tonight, the ones who will fall at my feet as I take them down.
I slam my fist into the bag, over and over again. My bones and muscles ache and are on fire, my sweat pouring off of me like water sliding from a swimmer. I take a step back, breathing hard, my lungs expanding to max capacity until they burn.
“That’s what I’m talking about, man,” Cal says and slaps the bag a few times.
“I gotta shower.” Really I just want to talk to Skylar. I’ve been at the gym since five this morning. It’s already noon, and all I can think about is her.
I have it bad for her. So fucking bad.
Once in the shower room I go to my locker, grab my towel, and dry my face and chest off. I grab my phone and send her a text.
Let me take you out tonight. Someplace quiet, where we can just talk, if that’s all you want to do. Or I can take you to get something to eat. I do need to make sure my woman is fed.
It only took a second for her to reply.
Skylar: Anywhere with you will be perfect. I’d prefer quiet though.
So would I. Even if we just sit there and don’t say one word, that will be a perfect night for me. Because having Skylar by my side is pure bliss in all shapes and forms.
Skylar
Later that night
I stareup at the stars, the hood of the car beneath me still warm as it cools down from our trip here. The lake is right in front of us, the water having a calming effect in me. The warmth I feel from Adrian’s body, his strength, his feelings for me, bring me just as much solace as this atmosphere.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks, and I watch as a shooting star runs through the sky, as if it had been trying to escape something. “Nothing,” I reply, being honest. I wasn’t actually thinking of anything. I was feeling, letting everything around me seep into my very marrow. “I’m just basking in the calm and comfort that settles into me when I’m with you.” I turn my head and look at him. He’s already watching me. “And that’s the truth. When I’m with you, whether it’s in a crowded room, or when we’re out here in the middle of nowhere, I can’t help but relax. It always feels like it’s just the two of us.”
He reaches across and cups my cheek. “I feel the same way.” He leans forward and kisses me. It isn’t one filled with heat, or sexual in any sense. But it is still one that has everything in me coming alive.
I stare up at the sky again. He’s taken me to a little lake that is just on the outskirts of the city. Although the bustle of the Columbus city life is not that far from us, right now, and in this spot, it feels like the whole world is ours alone.
We stay like that, both staring at the sky, our hands interlocked, his thumb brushing the back of my hand. We don’t say anything, don’t even move for so long I could have fallen asleep.
“I love you,” Adrian says, and I feel my heart stop. He rises up so he is sitting now, and I follow suit.
He loves me?
“I’m not telling you to freak you out, but because I can’t not tell you. I have to let you know how important you are to me.” He cups my cheek again, and moves his thumb right under my eye. His movements are slow, soft. “I love you so much my heart hurts. You accept me for who I am. No judgment or accusation has ever come from you, especially after I told you about my past.”
I shake my head. “How could I ever judge you? I have my own problems.” He continues to gently stroke me, and I feel my throat tighten. “I love you too.” The smile he gives me has this warm feeling washing over me. It is something profound, real, and has everything to do with this being right.
Being with Adrian is right.
Now I just have to let Alex and Holden know this is what I want, so they won’t screw this up. That would hurt more than anything else in the world.