Page 18 of Worthy (Adrenalin #1)

Chapter seventeen

Maddox

“ M mm, my favorite,” I roll over and stretch as Cade sets a steaming cup of coffee and a toasted bagel on the nightstand.

″I know.” He takes a seat on the bed and plants a lingering kiss on my lips.

This is an… interesting development.

″What’s the occasion?” I ask, as I pick up a bagel. “Is this your way of trying to keep me in bed all day?” I lick my lips before taking a bite.

″Think you could handle that?” Cade drags his finger up the inside of my thigh, stopping just before the point my dick would take notice.

″I want to say yes.” I close my eyes, remembering how good it felt to be buried inside him last night. “But you probably need a break. And I know I do. I’m still worn out.”

″Rain check then,” Cade laughs. “Besides, I have to meet with my old man to go over the projects we have going on.”

I lick a drop of cream cheese off my thumb. ″Is that who was here last night? ”

“Yeah. My old man just had to give me shit for being the last to know about you.” Cade grabs my hand and licks a similar blob off my forefinger.

“You didn’t tell them?” It’s a struggle to keep my jaw from dropping completely. “We were on display for the whole town to see and you didn’t give them a heads up?”

“Relax.” Cade’s warm hand rubs over my thigh. “They’ve been out of town for weeks and only got back today, so it’s not like there was this big conspiracy to keep you a secret. And all will be forgiven if I bring you over for dinner. Think you can do that tonight?”

My whole body seizes up, the coffee that’s halfway to my mouth sloshing dangerously close to the rim of the cup. Did he really just invite me to a family dinner?

″Isn’t that…I mean…What?” I sputter as I set the mug back on the nightstand.

″Small town, Maddox.” He exhales heavily, letting his hand fall away from my leg. “As soon as we went out together word spread. They’re curious.”

″Fuck. I mean… you told me this happens in small towns, but… seriously? They want me to come to dinner?” The room suddenly feels way too hot.

″This is part of why I was so content to spend most of our time here or on the trail.” He offers a weak smile. “The town sort of takes over and makes it hard to have any sense of privacy. But we don’t have to do it. My folks will understand if I tell them it’s too much.”

″It’s not that,” I blink, “I’ve just never met anyone’s parents before. I’m not sure what to expect.”

″You’ve never met a guy’s parents before?” Cade looks confused .

″Well, I didn’t really date much in high school, and in college no one’s parents were around so, no.” I lift an exasperated shoulder. “I don’t really know how this works.”

″I’ve never brought anyone home before, so I don’t know how it works either. And I know it’s…weird to do this already, but, seeing as most of the town has already met you, it’s kind of weird how my parents haven’t, if that makes sense.” He rubs his neck, looking adorably flustered.

″I guess.” I bite down on my bottom lip. I know word travels in a small town, but what sort of word has made its way back to them? Does the town see me as his latest conquest? Do they worry I’m using him for the summer? Do they know I’m a man?

It sounds silly to ask, but my shoulder length hair has fooled people before.

″What’s wrong, Madd?” Cade threads his fingers through mine. “You got sort of pale there for a second.”

″What do you think your parents have heard about me?”

″Nothing bad.” He gives my fingers a squeeze.

″No, I mean… Do they know about me?” My hand floats over the length of my body, pointing out the obvious.

“Do they know I’m sleeping with a man? I assume so, since my dad watched me kiss you then walk in here last night.” Cade smirks.

“And?”

“And what?” He has the audacity to look confused.

“Their formerly straight son is sleeping with a man, and the first thing they said is bring him to dinner?”

″Pretty much.”

I don’t even know how to respond to that. Even my parents, who have been endlessly supportive, had questions. When did I realize I liked men? Did I still identify as a man? The usual. And while those questions might seem offensive on the surface, I knew they were my parents’ attempt to support me to the fullest extent. The idea that Cade could just blurt out he’s with a man and no one bats an eye is totally foreign to me. I don’t know how to roll with that.

“Do they know I’m only here for the summer?”

“Yeah, why?” Cade regards me warily.

“They won’t disapprove of us sleeping together when I’m leaving?” For a second I swear he winces, but when I focus on his expression it’s the same sheepish one he always wears when talking about his past.

″I’m no saint, remember?” He brushes a strand of hair back from my face. “Besides, they’d probably rather have me sleeping with you than with a bunch of random tourists.”

Oh wow. That’s an angle I hadn’t thought of before, and it kind of knocks the wind out of me. I don’t care about his past, though I do care that people might make assumptions about me because of it. Especially his parents.

″Your parents know your… history ?” I swallow.

″They don’t know details.” He rolls his eyes. “But it’s no secret I spent lots of my time with the visitors who came through town.”

″Won’t they think I’m another visitor?” I regret the question as soon as it leaves my mouth. We haven’t had any conversations about what’s happening with us, and it sounds like I’m fishing for confirmation I’m somehow different. Even though I know I am, at least in the sense that I’m a man and he’s spending time with only me, I wasn’t trying to push him for anything more. Not deliberately anyway.

Do I want to mean more to him than the people he’s been with before? Yes, without a doubt. But this is Cade we’re talking about, so there’s a good chance I already do even though we’re not together together. I have to be content with that, no matter how much I’m starting to envision a different outcome once the summer ends .

″You’re…I…Maybe this is a bad idea. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot.” Cade’s eyes drop to the floor.

″You didn’t.” I sigh heavily, hoping I didn’t just push him away. “My first instinct is still to worry about what people will think instead of living for myself. It’s a byproduct of always feeling like the black sheep in my family. I’m working on it.”

″Cool.” His wary expression eases into a smile. “And don’t worry about my parents. They won’t think anything one way or another. They just don’t want to be the only people who haven’t met the sexy guy I’m sleeping with.” He arches his brows suggestively.

″Well, when you put it that way, what am I worried about?” I roll my eyes.

″Exactly.” Cade leans in to kiss me, more tenderly than I expected given the way he was just teasing me, then heads out to meet his dad, giving me some much-needed time alone. Not that I’m tired of having him around or anything, the opposite actually, which is why it’s good for me to have a little space to sort things out.

He hasn’t said anything specific, but between his actions at the bike race, breakfast in bed, and now dinner with his parents, I get the sense things have taken a more serious turn. I mean, small town gossip aside, if I was just the summer fling would he really bother introducing me to his parents? My gut says no. But if I’m not a summer fling, what am I?

I know I’m putting my heart at risk by immersing myself in him so completely. But I can’t seem to pull back, which is why dinner with his parents scares me.

Cade wouldn’t go through with dinner if I was just a fling, but just because I’m not a fling doesn’t mean he’s falling for me the way I’m falling for him. After all, this is the guy who’s never been on a date, who I’m not even sure has been with the same woman twice, so believing he could actually fall for the first man he tries a relationship with is a stretch.

He may care about me in a way he didn’t let himself care about the women before me, but as much as I want to believe that makes this thing with us real, unless he says otherwise I have to operate under the assumption Cade is simply living in the moment. That he isn’t reading anything into the fact he’s stayed here every night for the past week, or that he’s going to introduce me to his parents. He’s simply making the most of this experience while it lasts, because we still have an end date.

***

I’m tense as we make the drive to Cade’s parents, but not because I’m about to meet them.

Well, not entirely.

I still think meeting his parents is kind of a big deal, though what really has my mind spinning is something Cade himself told me, about not worrying what other people think. Granted, we are talking about his parents, so it makes sense they’d be the exception to that mantra, but the Cade I’ve come to know doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to do, so if he’s bringing me to meet them, is there some part of him that wants this?

Part of me thinks the answer is yes. The question is why.

We pull up to a ranch-style house on a flat plot of land next to a stream carrying the snow melt off the mountain. It’s clearly an older house, though it’s well maintained, and with the wide walkway up to a large porch it looks inviting.

″You grew up here?” I ask as the truck rolls to a stop .

″Yep. This was one of the first houses Dad built here, and Mom loved it so much she claimed it as hers instead of letting him sell it. Come on.” He exits the truck and meets me at the front of the cab like he always does, then guides me to the front door.

From the front entry, you can see straight through the house, past the living room to a wall of windows framing the mountain range in the distance, and I immediately see why Cade’s mom fell in love with this house. Right now, the view is a lush green dotted with reds and yellows and purples from all the wildflowers. In the winter, I imagine it’s a pristine white surrounded by a rich blue sky. It’s breathtaking.

He takes my hand and leads me through the living room to the deck out back where his parents are lounging on a couch. A coffee table holds a few plates of snacks, and a grill sizzles off to the side with what smells like burgers.

Cade’s parents turn to look at us as we enter, and I notice right away he’s the spitting image of his dad. An inch or two shorter and slightly thicker, his dad has the same strong jaw and blue eyes that first drew me to Cade. His mom is also tall and slender, her sandy brown hair matching her son’s, perfectly. Both of them have lines around the mouth and eyes, the kind you get when you smile often, which puts me at ease.

They rise off the couch to greet us as Cade makes introductions. “Maddox, these are my parents, Charles and Jessica. They go by Chuck and Jessie.”

″It’s nice to meet you.” I shake their hands. “Thank you for having me.”

″It’s nice to meet you too,” Jessie says. “Can we get you something to drink?”

″Whatever you’re having. ”

Chuck hands me and Cade a beer, then Cade leads me over to the couch where we all sit, his fingers loosely intertwined with mine. I know our joined hands don’t go unnoticed, but I convince myself if Cade’s comfortable with it then I should be too.

″How are you enjoying your stay so far?” Chuck asks.

″Oh, it’s great.” I smile, hoping I don’t sound overly enthusiastic. “The weather’s been cooperating, and the scenery is unbelievable. Even better than I remembered.”

″You’ve been here before?” Jessie seems surprised, although I can’t imagine why. Maybe Cade implied it’s my first time here since he’s been showing me around his favorite trails.

″Years ago.” I twist the cap off my beer and set it on the coffee table. “That’s what led me to believe it would be the perfect spot to get some work done.”

″Cade mentioned you’re working on a PhD?” Chuck asks.

″Yes, in environmental science,” I say proudly. I don’t miss Cade’s reassuring wink, and I have to admit it feels good to own that instead of dwelling on how it sets me apart from the rest of my family.

″What’s your thesis on?” Jessie leans forward.

″Mom’s a teacher at school.” Cade’s silky voice draws my gaze to his. “Science.”

“Oh,” I exclaim, turning back to his mom. “I’m focusing on alternative energies. Specifically, water, and how we can harness its power without negatively impacting the ecosystems it supports.”

I notice Cade picking at a spot on his shorts as I talk, like he’s uncomfortable. We rarely talk about my work, and not in explicit detail. He’s attentive and asks questions when we do, which I appreciate, but I think that’s more to be polite than because he’s really interested. I get it, the subject isn’t for everyone so I haven’t tried to force it, but I can’t help but wonder if it bothers him to be learning some of this at the same time his parents are. If anyone else notices they don’t say anything.

″That would make Katah Vista a good resource as well as a good spot to work I imagine,” Chuck wonders aloud as Cade inexplicably seems to perk up a bit.

″It would.” I’m easily drawn back to the water conversation. “Observing how water acts as it melts helps us understand the impact it could have if we alter that behavior or try to harness it, although much of the work currently being done in this area is on the coast.”

After a few follow-up questions, the conversation drifts towards lighter subjects like favorite movies, foods and places to travel seeing as how his parents just returned from Belize. One thing that doesn’t come up is Cade’s sexuality, which I wasn’t convinced his parents were so willing to accept when he’d never skewed toward men before. It’s almost like sexuality doesn’t exist, which makes it even easier to feel comfortable in this new environment.

Over burgers, Cade and his dad debate the pros and cons of a former ski racer buying the resort. Apparently, everyone's a little apprehensive about the son of a wealthy man getting handed the reins, even if his background is in the sport. Since that topic doesn’t apply to me, Jessie and I chat about her work at the school, what lessons she teaches her students, and even the history of the area.

″Did you know the mountain runoff follows the same path today that it has for centuries?” she asks me.

″I knew the path had never been deliberately altered, but I didn’t know it’s the same as it's always been.” I shake my head.

″There’s less of it now. The stream over there used to be several feet wider and higher—” she points to the edge of their yard “—and some years it’s little more than a trickle, but it’s the same riverbed that existed w hen the Native Americans first settled here. That’s how the area got its name.”

″From the riverbed?”

″No, from the mountain. Katah is short for Katahdin, the Native American term for ‘Great Mountain.’”

″Mom, no history lessons tonight,” Cade groans. “Maddox has enough school during the day.”

″Then no business talk for you two,” she admonishes the men with a grin in my direction.

We cap off dinner by roasting marshmallows over the fire pit, with Cade teasing me that the light brown shade I prefer isn’t melty enough just before he takes a bite of his crisp marshmallow and dribbles the sticky mess all over his face. I help him wipe it off before realizing his parents are watching us with contented smiles. I feel myself blushing under their gaze and am grateful for the stubble on my face that hopefully hides it.

Cade’s parents refuse my offer to clean up, so he takes me to his old room while they put the leftovers away. It looks exactly like you would expect a teen boy’s room to look, a double bed with a plaid comforter in the center of the room, sports and band posters all over the walls, samples of what I assume are his earliest attempts at welding on a bookshelf.

″When was the last time you stayed in this room?” I run my finger along the edge of the dresser.

″I usually stay on Christmas Eve so I’m here when I wake up, but I haven’t lived here since I was twenty.”

″You’re really close with your parents.” It’s more of an observation than a question .

″Yeah. Hard not to be when I work for my dad. Plus, I bump into them around town a lot. You’re not close with your parents?” He sits on the bed to watch me wander around his room.

″Yes and no.” I pick up a little figurine that resembles a bike. “I don’t bump into them around town so the only contact we have is when we schedule it. And even though they support what I want to do, the fact I didn’t go into the family business puts some distance between us. Not bad, but it’s there. Your parents are nice.” I change the subject.

″They’re pretty easy to hang out with.” He leans back so he’s resting on his forearms.

″They are. And they didn’t give me the third degree which was nice. I was sort of bracing for that.” I pick up a different piece, a candle holder maybe?

″Third degrees aren’t really their style. They just wanted to meet you.” His eyes track me as I set the candleholder down.

″If you ever met my parents, you’d definitely get the third degree,” I say without thinking. Dammit, why do I keep saying things that seem to hint at a future?

″Yeah?” He seems curious. “That does sound uncomfortable. Now I get why you were worried about coming here.”

″I wasn’t…yeah, okay. I was worried.” I smile sheepishly. “But I shouldn’t have been. This was fun.”

″They like you, you know.” He sits up and pulls me to him, setting his hands on my hips.

″How can you tell?” I lay my hands on his shoulders.

″Just a feeling.” He shrugs before gently touching his lips to mine. “You know,” he whispers against my mouth, “I’ve never shown anyone my room before. Never christened this bed.” He trails his fingertip along the waistband of my jeans .

Something about our conversation must’ve spooked him since he’s reverting to his flirty persona. But since being with his parents felt so easy, I’m a little spooked too, and I retreat to the physical with him.

″You want to do that now, with your parents here?” I slide my hands under his shirt and worry a nipple. I’m absolutely not going there right now, but I don’t mind teasing him a little.

″No. You’re a screamer. So, I’m thinking I should get you home.” He nibbles at my ear.

“I’m not a screamer.” I pinch him.

“You will be tonight,” he growls before kissing me deeply, and when we get home, he makes good on his promise.