Page 45 of Don’t Say You’re Sorry (Hawthorne University #2)
EASTON
Easton
Hey. What are you doing?
A dam responds immediately, just as he’s been doing all week. The poor bastard will never miss a text or a call from me again.
Adam
Drawing. Want to see?
He sends me a picture of the unfinished drawing on his iPad. It’s one of me and him at The Hideaway. We’re standing on the podium together, our bodies close. He’s shirtless, his tattoo and the hickeys visible on his chest. My hand is on his hip, my other hand fisting the remote for the butt plug.
Leaning my elbow on the table, I cover my lips with my knuckles.
He’s been drawing us since he came back and giving me the cards for my collection. I can’t wait until he draws the moment I kissed him again for the first time.
Easton
This is my new favorite.
Adam
You say that about all of them.
What are you doing?
Easton
At the coffee shop on campus.
Adam
Can you get me a chocolate chip muffin?
I glance at the bag containing the chocolate chip muffin I bought him, proud of myself for guessing right.
Easton
Sure, baby. I’ll be home soon.
Adam
I love you.
I smile and run my thumb over the three words. He’s been telling me that every day, multiple times a day. I’m pretty sure he’s figured out how much I love hearing it.
“Hey, stranger.” Xavi drops on the seat next to me and wiggles his brows. “Where’ve you been?”
He knows where I’ve been. Hiding in my bedroom with Adam. Watching movies with Adam. Fucking Adam. Kissing Adam until my lips feel like they’re about to fall off. Going to work with Adam. Coming home with Adam. Falling asleep with Adam.
Adam, Adam, Adam.
Now that he’s officially mine again, I’ve been spending every second of my spare time with him, soaking it up and making up for all those years lost.
“Aw. Did you miss me, emo boy?”
“Maybe a little,” he says, stealing a sip of my coffee. “I talked to Adam.” He lowers his voice, leaning in closer. “Why did you tell me you cheated on Lauren with her sister?”
I figured this was coming.
I awkwardly rub the back of my neck. “You asked what happened between us. I didn’t want to talk about Adam, so I said something I knew would shut you up.”
“And you chose that?”
I cringe. “It was the first thing that popped into my head.”
“Does Lauren even have a sister?”
“No. She has a brother though. I didn’t fuck him either, just in case you were wondering.”
He laughs. “Good to know.”
“Xavi,” I say seriously. “I’m sorry I lied to you. It won’t happen again.”
“I’m not mad. Don’t worry about it.” He waves me off, putting my coffee down and meeting my eyes. “You okay?”
“I’m good, Xav.” I wrap my arm around his neck and kiss the side of his head, his messy dark hair tickling my nose. “You worry too much.”
He leans into me, his head on my shoulder. “Only about the people I really like,” he jokes, echoing something I said to him the night I met him.
I rub his hair.
Nate chooses that moment to walk into the coffee shop, his eyes narrowing on me. He walks over and yanks my chair away from Xavi, flicking my ear.
“Don’t kiss my boyfriend.”
Boyfriend . I’ve never heard Nate call him that before.
Xavi grins at him as Nate picks him up, sits on his chair, and pulls him down to his lap. The corner of my mouth lifts, and I look the other way, letting them have their moment.
“You all right?” Nate asks me, pushing Xavi’s hair back from his face.
I narrow my eyes, suspicious. “Why does everyone keep asking me that?”
Nate shrugs. “You’re acting weird.”
“Weird?”
“Different.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I laugh as if he’s the one being weird and pick up Adam’s muffin. “I gotta go. See you at home.”
Nate and Xavi share a look that I pretend not to notice as I leave.
When I get home, Adam’s in the kitchen, hissing as he snatches his hand back from the stove.
He sticks his finger into his mouth and glances at me helplessly over his shoulder.
A laugh bubbles out of me as I go to him, setting his muffin on the side.
Taking his hand, I examine the several burns there before lowering my head, sucking on the tip of his finger.
His eyes fill with heat as he pulls it free, stealing a kiss from my lips.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” he says, taking the paper bag from the coffee shop and peeking inside. He smiles when he sees what’s in it and hides it in the pantry, saving it for later.
I tip my head at the stove. “What are you up to?”
“Cooking spaghetti,” he mumbles.
“Where did all the burns come from? Did you cook the sauce?” I can’t keep the surprise out of my voice.
“No, Nate made the sauce. I’m literally just trying to cook spaghetti.” He glares at said spaghetti as if it personally wronged him. “How do I get it in the pan?”
“Not with your fingers.”
He huffs.
“How are you still a hopeless cook at twenty-one?”
“I’ve lived with a chef my whole life. Sue me.”
Speaking of, Axel walks into the kitchen wearing running shorts and a loose T-shirt, awkwardly looking between the two of us. He side-eyes the pan on the stove. “Can I help?”
Adam sneers at him. He’s not happy about Axel staying here despite him telling him to move out. They haven’t talked since Adam punched him. Axel’s tried, but Adam’s giving him the silent treatment.
In answer to his question, Adam picks up a few pieces of uncooked spaghetti, snaps them in half, and tosses them into the pan. Boiling water splashes his forearm. He hisses again and clutches it to his chest. I resist a face-palm.
Axel sighs. “I’m going for a run.”
“Great,” Adam says, his back to him as he washes his hands at the sink. “How many miles can you do? London’s about three thousand away.”
Axel looks at me, probably thinking the same thing I am. He’s talking to him. It’s a start.
With one last glance at his brother, Axel turns around and heads toward the front door.
It opens before he gets there, and Carter walks in carrying Frankie on his shoulder.
He stops short when he sees Axel, but Axel keeps moving, muttering a quick goodbye to Frankie on his way out.
Carter glares at the ceiling and carries on walking toward us.
“What’s up with Axel?” Frankie asks, looking at us upside down.
“Adam snapped the spaghetti in half and told him to run all the way back to London.”
“You spoke to him?” Carter asks at the same time Frankie says, “You snapped the spaghetti? That was a low blow.”
“He deserved it,” Adam mutters.
Frankie looks between the three of us, waiting for more. When we say nothing, she clicks her tongue. “I hate being out of the loop. Are any of you going to tell me what happened between you four?”
Carter smacks Frankie’s ass. “Stop trying to change the subject.”
“Someone’s touchy today,” she murmurs. “Put me down.”
He doesn’t.
Nate and Xavi come downstairs and walk into the kitchen hand in hand. They’re wearing different clothes than they were earlier, and their hair is wet from their shower. That explains why Nate gave Adam the job of cooking the spaghetti.
“What are you doing?” Nate asks Carter, gesturing to Frankie on his shoulder.
“I caught her trying to leave us for another family.”
“That’s a stretch.” Frankie rolls her eyes. “I told you I’m meeting my sister.”
“Fuck your sister. She’s a cunt.”
“So are you.”
“Yeah, but I’m a cunt who loves you. Can you say the same for her?”
She presses her lips together.
“He’s right, Frank,” Nate says. “Every time you go to see her, you come home miserable.”
“Last time, you came home with a black eye,” Xavi reminds her.
Adam’s eyes widen, and I make a cutthroat motion with my neck. If she senses even an ounce of pity, she’ll bite. He gets the message and schools his features.
“First of all, it was a split lip and a teeny cut on my eyebrow. Don’t be so dramatic,” Frankie says. “Second of all, mind your business. All of you.”
She wiggles her way out of Carter’s grip and slides down the front of his body. She tries to walk around him, but Carter moves with her, getting in her way.
“Move,” Frankie says.
He stays where he is. “What does she even want with you?”
“What does it matter? She’s my family.”
“We’re your family, you little shit. Sit your ass down and have dinner with us.”
“Or what?”
“Easton will tie you to a chair,” he says simply. Leaning down so they’re eye level, he gives her a wicked look. “He knows how to tie the knots just right so you can’t escape.”
Frankie looks back at me and Adam with an impressed look on her face. “Is that true?
Adam’s cheeks heat as he rubs his wrists, probably remembering what I did to him last night.
I smirk.
“Fine,” Frankie says. “What are we having?”
Adam cringes at the soggy pan of spaghetti on the stove. With my help, he throws it away and starts from scratch.
Nate and Xavi set the table while Frankie teases Carter about him telling her he loves her for the first time. He flicks her on the forehead.
A little while later, the six of us sit and have dinner together as a family.
It’s great for the most part. We talk and laugh and poke fun at each other, but I can’t help feeling like something is missing, and I know I’m not the only one.
“It’s okay to miss him,” I say to Adam, low enough that only he can hear me.
He stares at his plate. “I don’t miss him.”
I click my tongue. “That’s the first lie you’ve ever told me.”