The Fifth Lesson (The Bay Boys #2) (2 page)

Christie relaxed back into her cushioned seat and took a long sip from her iced lemonade.
 
It felt like a perfect afternoon.
 
The sun was warm on her skin, she was surrounded by great friends, and the smell of smoky barbecue permeated the air.
 
Not to mention she could leisurely admire the beautiful roses next to her.
 
She knew exactly how she’d place highlights and shadows if she were to paint them.

Suddenly, she realized Kate, Luke’s girlfriend, was saying something to her.

“I’m sorry.
 
Zoned out for a bit.
 
What did you say?”

“I asked how your date went a few nights ago.
 
Jake, right?”

Christie mentally groaned and sunk even deeper into her chair.
 
“Awful.”

“That bad, huh?” Kate said, her mouth twisting into an expression of sympathy.

“I thought you liked him,” Olivia chimed in.

“I did.
 
At least until he called me Rachel.
 
Turns out he’s been seeing
five
other women.
 
All at the same time!
 
It’s not like we were exclusive or anything, but
five
.
 
No wonder he couldn’t keep our names straight.”
 
Christie scoffed, the memory riling her up all over again.
 
“And to think I actually considered sleeping with him.”

“I’m sorry, honey,” Olivia said, frowning.
 
“Good thing you found out before.”

“But the sad thing is that I still thought about sleeping with him even after he told me,” Christie confessed.

“Christie!”

“I was going to use him for sex anyway!
 
I haven’t had sex in almost ten months, okay?
 
That’s some dry spell.
 
Anyone’s starting to look good at this point,” she grumbled, taking another long draw from her lemonade.

“Someone will turn up eventually.
 
They always do,” Kate murmured and Olivia made a sound of agreement.

“Easy for the both of you to say.
 
You two are getting it, like, every morning
and
night.
 
From super hot men who probably have penises the size of Jupiter.”

Olivia choked on laughter and Kate, amused, pointed out, “
That
would be quite painful.”

“You know what I mean.”

Olivia smiled, a sudden mischievous twinkle in her eye.
 
“Well, I know someone who would be willing to help in that area.”

“Thanks, Livy, but no.
 
Even if you are my best friend and all,” Christie replied dryly.

Livy rolled her eyes and pointed over Christie’s shoulder towards the barbecue, where Alex, Luke, Adam, and the newly arrived Caleb stood.
 
She turned in her chair to admire the view.
 
The four friends looked like gods in the warm afternoon light, their good looks attracting every female eye in the backyard, theirs included.

“Not me.
 
Adam
,” Olivia emphasized.

“Adorable Adam?” Christie asked in disbelief.
 
The man, while a gorgeous hunk of man, was completely immune to Christie.
 
She’d been flirting with him for
months
and so far, she’d elicited no reaction.
 
They were better off as friends anyway since she actually liked talking to him.
 
“He’s not into me.”

“Are you serious?” Kate asked in shock.
 
“He’s
so
into you.”

“He’s just shy,” Olivia defended, agreeing with Kate.

She still remained unconvinced.

Luke said something to make Adam laugh.
 
Christie watched as his face lit up in a grin.
 
Straight white teeth peeked out from underneath his full, curving lips.
 
He was clean-shaven, even though she’d seen hints of his five o’ clock shadow whenever Olivia dragged her out for late night bar meet-ups.
 
Everything about Adam was clean, from his spotless glasses lens to his neat chestnut brown hair.
 
Christie often imagined dragging him into a dark closet and kissing all the
clean
right out of him.

But despite everything, there was always something a little bit
rumpled
about him, whether it was a wrinkle in his shirt or the secretive, shit-eating little grin she’d sometimes see cross his lips.
 
It was a grin that didn’t quite match the reserved quietness he showed to everyone else, but one that fit him so damn well.

Suddenly, his eyes caught hers from across the lawn.
 
A flirty smile automatically flitted across her lips.
 
She gave a little wave.
 
She couldn’t help it.
 
Adam
was
adorable.
 
And he had the best damn eyes she’d ever seen.
 
Golden
.
 
A hazel brown so light that they appeared golden.
 
Framed by his dark glasses, the effect of his gaze was stunning.

But he wasn’t someone she usually went for.
 
Adam was…good.
 
Christie preferred a little bad in the boys she dated.
 
Someone like Caleb.
 
Her eyes automatically shifted to the man on Adam’s left.
 
Even from here she could spot the tattoos peeking out from underneath his shirt sleeves.
 
And Christie swore his nipples were pierced, leading her to wonder what else was pierced...

But even though Caleb was some major eye-candy, Christie’s eyes still returned to Adam a few moments later.

There was something about him that always intrigued her.
 
Every so often, she’d catch a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, as though he was thinking wicked thoughts and he wanted to be caught.
 
It did things to her, that look.
 
It made Christie believe that there was more to him than she originally thought.
 
A secret side of Adam that no one else saw.

Christie sighed.
 
She turned back around in her seat, refocusing her attention on the two women in front of her.
 
“Well, he’s cute.
 
I’ll give him that,” she commented, almost dismissively, with a wave of her hand.
 
She wanted to move on from this conversation.
 
She wasn’t on the prowl for a relationship…and Adam seemed like a relationship type of guy.
 
Was just a little casual sex too much to ask?

“And he’s a complete gentleman,” Olivia continued, not catching onto Christie’s rising exasperation.
 
“Way different from Andrew!
 
Maybe he’s just what you need…a nice guy.”

“Let’s not go there,” Christie snapped, the name of her ex irritating her.
 
It hit her that Livy had planned this.
 
She’d been thinking of setting her and Adam up for a while now.
 
Hell, she’d probably planned it before they’d even met all those months ago.
 
“I don’t want to be set up, okay?
 
With work and that letter from my dad…it’s not what I need at the moment.”
 
Forcing herself to lighten her tone, she attempted a small smile and said jokingly, “I just need to get laid.”

“So does Adam,” Kate mumbled, looking down with a secretive smile.

Olivia’s eyes caught on something over her shoulder, her eyes widening.
 
But Christie paid her friend no mind, figuring she was still in hostess mode and a new guest had probably just arrived.
 
Instead, Christie snorted, laughing.
 
Drawing on another sip of her lemonade, she confessed, “Adam’s a nice guy and everything.
 
But he’s not exactly my type.
 
Too…wholesome.
 
As in, sex might be a little boring with him.”
 
Okay, so she didn’t really believe that.
 
She suspected it was quite the opposite actually.
 
But she needed to get Livy off her back about Adam.
 
“He needs to cut loose a little, you know?”

“Christie!” Olivia hissed.

She went in for the kill.
 
“Do you think he’s gay?”

The first thing she noticed was the embarrassed looks on her friends’ faces.

The second thing…dead silence.

The third…shadows cast on the lawn beside her chair.

Christie froze and whirled around.
 
Her eyes immediately connected with Adam’s golden gaze, who was no more than three feet away from her.
 
The group of guys had moved from the barbecue towards the rose bush, apparently with the intention to join their little circle.
 
Except they all heard what Christie said about Adam.
 
Including
Adam.

Shit!

Her lips parted, a feeling of immense guilt and shame slamming into her chest when she noticed the mortified expression on Adam’s face.
 
He was trying to hide it, but the tips of his ears burned in both embarrassment and—most likely—anger.

And his friends had heard everything, too.
 
She saw it in their carefully blank faces.
 
Even Luke, the jokester of the group, was silent.
 
Christie had just insulted Adam’s masculinity…in front of the men he was closest to.

Double shit!

“Adam,” Christie whispered, her face draining of color.
 
“I—“

“I’m not gay,” he informed her, his voice cold, yet polite.
 
He was always unfailing polite.

“I—of course, I just…”
 
Shit, what could she say to make this better?
 
Absolutely nothing
, her mind whispered.
 
“Adam, I’m sorry.
 
I’m just being an idiot.
 
Please don’t listen to me.”

He didn’t respond and Christie desperately tried to catch his eyes.
 
But he didn’t spare her a glance.
 
Instead, he turned to the rest of the group.
 
“I’m gonna go grab more chairs.”

“I’ll help,” Caleb offered, shooting Christie a dirty look as he walked with Adam towards the deck.
 
Caleb clasped a hand on Adam’s shoulder in a friendly gesture, leaning closer to say something to him.

The guilt didn’t ease.
 
But Christie had to hand it to Adam.
 
If it was her on the receiving end, she would’ve hightailed it out of the party to lick her wounds in private.
 
But not Adam.
 
He and Caleb returned with four chairs.
 
And the four guys plopped themselves down, although Adam made sure to take the chair furthest from Christie.

And no matter how many times she tried to catch his eyes, he managed to avoid her.

You definitely fucked up
, she thought to herself, in quiet misery, hoping she hadn’t completely ruined their friendship.

THREE

The minute that his hour and a half was up Adam started the long process of making his polite goodbyes.

His friends slapped him on the back, knowing they’d see him later this week at their favorite bar.
 
Olivia quietly tried to apologize for Christie’s words during his hasty escape, but he smiled in reassurance, said everything was alright, and then tried to walk quickly through the house towards the front door.

But Alex and Olivia’s house was crammed with people, so it was easier said than done.
 
Adam figured most of these people were Olivia’s relatives, since she told him once how close everyone was.
 
So, when he finally side-stepped enough people and squeezed his way outside, he was beyond relieved.

Although, it only lasted for a moment.
 
Christie’s words raced through his brain over and over again, depriving him of the silence he craved.
 
He thought he’d held it together pretty well back at the party when all he’d wanted to do was take off his glasses and let the world go blurry.
 
But now that he was alone, he could let his disappointment, frustration, and anger take over.

And he was
really
fucking embarrassed.

Sex would be boring with him?
 
He was a virgin!
 
He didn’t know
what
it would be like.
 
But he was curious enough to try anything, so he didn’t think he’d have a
boring
sex life…when he eventually got around to it, that is.

Needs to let loose a little?
 
Okay, perhaps.
 
But he was comfortable with his life, dammit!

Gay?
 
He didn’t even want to go there.

But the worst thing was that those words sprang from Christie’s mouth.
 
The mouth he’d been dreaming about for months.
 
He’d kissed those lips a thousand times in his mind.
 
Hell, he’d done a lot more than kiss them too…

But to realize that in her eyes he was just a boring, uptight man who wasn’t her type…that was the killing blow.

His life was controlled and predictable.
 
He liked it that way.
 
It was comfortable.

So why did he feel so fucking lonely all the time?

“Jesus,” he muttered under his breath, fishing his car keys out of his pocket while he jogged down the steps leading towards Alex’s driveway.
 
Christie had opened up a can of worms today.
 
He didn’t know how he’d ever face her after this.

“Adam, wait!”

Or face her right now…