New Forever (23 page)

I still plan on taking her to Bimini and impressing her with my star naming skills. I just have to bide my time so Janus doesn’t think we’ll be abandoning him a once a month for a few days. And she has to meet my parents. When I take her to Bimini, I want all the tension completely gone. I want it to be a thing in the past that we never recall.

It’ll just be us two, with nothing between us. The way it should be.

After a while, Adam comes back to where he left me and I hand him a beer that is already starting to warm. He pops it open with my opener and settles down in front of me, lifting his beer in silent salute before taking a drink.

“You wanna give it a go?” he asks, looking back at his skateboard sitting next to his feet.

“Nah.” I shake my head. Wouldn’t want to get a concussion the night before their wedding. “You used to come here often?”

He nods his head, not really looking at me as his eyes glaze over with a faraway look in his eyes. “Josh and me would come since we were real young. My mom would drop us off and pick us up hours later. Then, in high school, Dee would tag along. She had me bring her out once so she could learn and surprise Josh.” He laughs and shakes his head at the memory. “She fell on her ass a couple times and Josh nearly beat me for endangering her life.”

Not one for sentimental conversations, I just laugh along with him and relax my forehead so that it’s no longer wrinkled. It’s funny how life seems to derail at the worst possible time, but somehow comes back together, making the future that much better. That’s what happened with Dee and Adam. Their life derailed, leaving them in a wake of destruction neither of them knew how to survive. But they had each other. And they had Josie.

Their life didn’t take them where they thought it would, but I’m positive both of them are happy with where they are.

“When we were in junior high, my mom started taking Josh and me to the dirt track in Clewiston once a month to watch the races. We’d stay at a hotel that was close to a park like this one. Instead of skateboards, we’d take our bikes and tear that place up.” Adam chuckles, lost in his own thoughts. “Josh loved my mom so she always went with us. I’d be embarrassed to have her there, but there was never saying no to Josh. One time, we were just riding around, not really going up any ramps when this dumbass drove his bike into Josh. Just rammed him for no reason. Before Josh even had the chance to get up, my mom was on this big guy, threatening his life and ready to tear him a new asshole. After apologizing to Josh, he walked away from us and my mom immediately started mothering Josh. He ate it up, loved every second of it and let her know what a bad ass he thought she was.” He shakes his head with a small smile on his face and I can’t help but think of my own mom. She was the mothering and protective type. She’d been the one I always ran to for all sorts of injuries. And she always made them better.

“Gonna grab one more set,” Adam tells me.

He tosses his beer in a nearby trash can while he goes up the steps of a ramp he hadn’t tried yet. I stay behind but keep my eyes on him, wanting to see what else he can pull off. Instinctually, he pushes off the side of the ramp and glides down only to rise above the ramp in front of him. He continues this see-saw motion, doing turns in the air with each ascent. After completing a quick one-hand handstand, he maneuvers to glide down but misses the board and falls on his back with a loud thud and slides down unceremoniously.

I don’t bother rushing to him after I hear him laughing from his place on the ground, but walk toward him at a normal pace and only stop when I’m in front of him.

“My only job was to make sure you got home safely.” I grin and he grins back, taking my offered hand to help him up.

“Just don’t tell Dee and we’re all safe.” He brushes his hands over his knees and claps me on the shoulder. “You should try it some time.”

Yeah, because I haven’t had enough altercations in my lifetime that end up with broken bones.

“I’ll pass.”

He shrugs and I shake my head when Adam runs his hands through his hair as he hobbles over to the fence with a satisfied grin on his face.

After a relaxing few hours of getting our nails done, Dee and I head back to my apartment so I can fix her hair. I can’t believe it! The big day is finally here. My best friend is getting married today. If I allow myself to get all teary eyed it would result in puffy, raccoon eyes.

Instead I hug her sporadically and break out in song and dance every chance I get. I mean, how often does a girl get to be a maid of honor for her very best friend and soul sister? And obviously, it’s all about me, the maid of honor, and not the bride. At least that’s what Max keeps telling me.

I smile back at Dee’s reflection from the mirror she is sitting in front of. She looks radiant. Her cheeks have a natural glow to them that either confirm my suspicions that she is in fact pregnant or simply tells the world she’s marrying the man she was destined for.

I don’t know if it’s strange or not that I believe in destiny, but I do. I believe every path we choose or don’t choose leads us toward whatever fate has in store for us. Which is why we have to choose so carefully. Choosing the wrong path could lead us toward a life full of destruction and mayhem.

Dee chose love. She managed to let go of the poison floating through her veins and made a family for herself and her daughter.

I methodically straighten her hair while she drinks from her glass of wine, already knowing how I’ll curl each strand to make a perfectly intricate bun. And I think. I think about Max and every path we have chosen or not chosen. And I think about the decisions that we have yet to make.

I have to forgive his parents, Dee’s right. Of course she is, the bitch
, I think and purposefully tug her hair harder than necessary and her eyes look back at me from the mirror questioningly. I have to let go of their involvement in Hannah’s death so that Max can have a relationship with his parents.

I twist Dee’s hair before pinning it to the bun I’ve started creating and quickly wipe my eyes with the back of my hand as Dee eyes me. I’m happy for her. I’m happy for me. We’re both going to get our fairy tale ending. Just as I pick up another strand, my phone starts vibrating and my lips break into a smile when I see Max’s face pop up on the screen.

“Yep?” I answer.

“I need you,” he whispers into the phone and my grin grows wider.

“Later, Max,” I whisper back and Dee throws her head back in laughter as she mumbles something about horny teenagers.

“No, Hay, you need to come now. I need your help with Adam.”

I feel my face drain of all color while I plaster a smile on my face for Dee’s benefit.

“Be right back,” I tell her, cupping my hand over the phone. “The man is relentless,” I say with a dramatic eye roll, hoping she can’t see my panic.

I leave Dee in my bathroom and close the door as I pace the living room.

“What happened?” I hiss into the phone.

“Adam hurt his back last night. It’s bad. He can hardly walk.”

“Give him something for the pain!” God, men can be so stupid.

“I already did!” he shouts into the phone, his patience obviously wearing thin. “He needs something stronger.”

“And what do you want me to do? Shit out some narcotics?”

Max sighs heavily into the phone so I flip him off with my middle finger. I feel the pulse in my neck throb, wondering what the hell I’m supposed to do to help him. My job is Dee, not Adam. He’s in charge of Adam. It’s a simple task. I take a deep breath, calming myself before I insult him and start an unnecessary argument.

“You still have your anti-anxiety pills, right?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t taken them in a while. I guess, but I thought you said his back hurt?” I question, growing skeptical. I swear on everything holy, if Adam is even thinking about leaving Dee at the altar, I’ll castrate him. “Why does he need something for anxiety?”

I grind my teeth together as I wait for Max to answer. I’ll castrate both of them and hang their balls from a tree.

“Anti-anxiety pills can work as muscle relaxers,” he says slowly, as if I were stupid, and I clench my hands into fists, wanting to punch him in the face.

“I’ll check, but I have to finish Dee’s hair first.”

“Fine,” he huffs, “but hurry.”

Hurry, my fucking ass. He shouldn’t have done something stupid last night that could get him hurt.

Nonetheless, I hurry back into the bathroom and continue fixing Dee’s hair while she looks back at me with curious eyes. She knows something’s up, but I’ll be damned if I’m the one to tell her.

***

“What the hell did you go to a skate park for last night?” I chastise both men, and both have the good sense to squirm uncomfortably under my intense stare.

I shove a glass of water toward Adam and stalk the room while he grunts in pain. I take the glass back when he finishes drinking from it. Adam lies back on the couch and tries to get comfortable and I almost feel bad for him. Almost.

“I just wanted to go somewhere that meant something. Josh and I used to go there all the time.” He shrugs and looks back at me sheepishly.

Leave it to Adam to make something like going to a skate park leave me feeling sentimental. I mean, it’s a skate park, a place for teenagers to do ridiculous things that can cause bodily damage, but he turned it into something special. Damn him and his tender heart.

“Fine, whatever,” I say, but, feeling sympathetic, I sit down beside him and pat his shoulder. “Take the other one before the wedding if you need it.”

“Other one?” His eyes triple in size and I let out a loud moan. This isn’t happening. This simply is not happening.

“Please, for the love of God, tell me you didn’t take both.” We stare at each other, all three of us already knowing the answer. “Sonofa- Adam! Both of them?” He’s gonna need a wheelchair to get down the aisle now. And I’ll flee the country. Mexico, maybe? I mean, chulupas are good and I love rice.

“You gave them both to me. I didn’t know.” A stupid grin spreads across his face and I look back at Max for an explanation.

“He’s had a few beers, too,” Max tells me without making eye contact.

“Define a few.” I grind my teeth together and wait for his answer.

“Four? Maybe five?”

“Maybe five beers and two strong anxiety pills that’ll knock him on his ass without alcohol. Are you shitting me?”

“Baby, it’s okay.” Max puts his arms around me and tries to reassure me with a tender kiss, but I push him back and stare at Adam who is quickly drifting to sleep.

“We need to make him vomit,” I decide and laugh at the absurdity that has so quickly unfolded before me.

“He just needs sleep. You and I need something else.”

I inch away from him, needing to get back to Dee to work on her make up, but he takes hold of my waist and presses his lips against mine. I refuse to open my mouth to him, so he angles his face differently and licks my lips slightly, just a small touch that makes me moan in both satisfaction and frustration.

With his hands still on my waist, he gently guides me backward until we are in Dee and Adam’s guest bedroom. My heart flutters in my chest when the back of my legs touches the side of the mattress. He lifts me from the floor and gently puts me onto the bed where he pushes me back. I arch my back as he leans toward me and pushes his weight on me. The flutter in my heart grows until my whole body is throbbing and pulsing along with it.

He deepens his kiss as his hands explore my body, and my body warms with each touch. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull his trailing mouth toward me, making him growl in response. When our lips join again, his mouth slams against mine, as we try to remove each other’s clothes in frenzied movements.

Once inside of me, curses explode from his lips as he thrusts viciously on top of me. I hold onto his shoulders, keeping the crazed tempo along with him. I shout his name as my nails dig into his skin when I find my release, but continue to hold onto him as his body grows tense. I relish in his tight muscles and run my fingers over them, as he tenses over me a final time before his body collapses on mine.