Page 5 of A Little Luck
A wince, and he leans down as if he’ll pull me into his arms—what I’ve always dreamed he’d do, only now it leaves me cold. Now it makes me wonder if I’ll always be this way, falling in love with men who aren’t who they seem to be.
Or who I need them to be.
“You can’t be around my son like this.” I swallow the knot at the base of my throat. “Or me.”
“What are you saying?” He tries to smile, but his dark brow furrows.
“You have to go.”
Our eyes meet again, and I’m afraid when I see the pain in his. But I have to be strong… for my son.
“Don’t come back until you’re clean.”
His hand holding mine drops, and he turns, leaving the room as quietly as he entered it, breaking my heart as easily as he stole it all those years ago.
* * *
ADAM
My forehead is pressed against the steering wheel. I’m sitting in my car on the side of the road, and red and blue lights flash through the back window, reflecting in all the mirrors and stinging my eyes every time they hit them.
I’d almost made it all the way to my house in Eureka, which means one thing.
Fuck.
Closing my eyes, I see her face so clearly, pretty hazel eyes wet with tears, wavy red hair stuck to her cheeks and the sides of her neck. Mascara flecks under her eyes.
She was exhausted and weak from childbirth, and she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I wanted to pull her into my arms, both of them. Baby Ryan, with his tiny fists waving and his little face so perfectly hers.
He sneezed, and I was a goner.
It was a mistake.
I shouldn’t have gone there tonight, but I couldn’t stay away. I had to see her. I needed her to know she’d been on my mind every second since Britt texted me. I had to make sure she was taken care of—even if it meant breaking the law.
Even if I haven’t had a sober day since the night he died.
Even if I’ve kept my distance in an effort to absolve my sin; the sin of wanting her so much, I found it hard to mourn my best friend’s death.
The tall, dark silhouette walks slowly to where I’m sitting, and my fists tighten on the steering wheel. What is he doing out here at this time of night? He’s supposed to be at home with his family, leaving shit like this to the state troopers.
Although, to be honest, I’d rather deal with him than them.
His dark brow lowers over steely blue eyes, and he stops at the driver’s side window of my car. My oldest brother Aiden Stone, sheriff of our small town, glowers at me from the driver’s side of my car. The muscle in his jaw moves back and forth as he shakes his head, exhaling slowly.
“What the fuck, Adam?” Disgust and impatience permeate his tone.
Anger tightens my jaw. After Dad died, he appointed himself surrogate father, but what the hell does he know about my life? He’s always had everything handed to him on a platter. Captain fucking America.
“Piper had a little boy tonight.”
Lifting his square chin, he looks out across the empty field. A slow moment passes, and he rubs a hand over his mouth before speaking.
“How’re they doing?”
“Good. She’s strong. He’s perfect.” Roughness enters my tone. “He looks just like her with Rex’s dark hair.”
Even after nine months, saying my dead best friend’s name cuts like a knife. It cuts almost as deep as loving the girl he left behind.