The Fifth Lesson (The Bay Boys #2) (27 page)

Not to mention his guilt over their lessons.
 
But that was another can of worms.

Adam watched, feeling helpless, as Olivia started the car once Kate climbed into the back.
 
They drove away a moment later and Adam turned back to the bar.

When he returned to the table, all three of his friends were scrutinizing him.
 
He shifted under their stares and sat down on the stool he’d vacated earlier that night.
 
Someone had the foresight to buy him a beer, so he took a chug while he endured their stares.

Luke was the first one to break the silence.
 
“Thanks man,” he said sarcastically.
 
“I had a
marathon
planned for Kate tonight…and it wasn’t the running kind.
 
We haven’t had sex for
two
days because she’s been stressing over edits for her literary agent.
 
Tonight was the night.
 
What the hell am I supposed to do now?”

Adam almost laughed, but he felt more miserable than anything.
 
He took another gulp of beer.

“Wait another day?” Caleb suggested mockingly.

“Easy for you to say,” Luke mumbled, irritated.

“She’ll probably be back tonight, right?
 
I mean, they’re not staying the night,” Adam murmured, squinting down at his beer.
 
Anything to avoid the accusing eyes of his friends.

“One thing I’ve learned is that when women go off in packs like that, they don’t resurface until the next day.
 
They’re probably bashing you as we speak,” Luke offered.

“Thanks, man,” Adam deadpanned.

“So…what the hell happened?” Alex asked.
 
“I’ve never seen Christie that upset before.”

Adam groaned inwardly, guilt and confusion plaguing him.
 
He hadn’t told his friends anything about their arrangement.
 
It was embarrassing enough that he was a virgin while all his friends had lost their virginity over a decade ago.
 
How would they even understand?

But how could he explain why they’d been seeing each other without telling them the whole story?

He already knew he would never live this down.

Taking a deep breath, he told them everything.
 
About Christie’s drunk email, about breaking into her gallery to install a hacking software onto her boss’ computer, about the subsequent ‘lessons’—although he left out the blindfolding, oral sex, and cuddling—about spending time together outside of their lessons, and finished with tonight’s argument.

Even Caleb raised his eyebrows in surprise.

After Luke and Alex picked their jaws off the floor, Luke loudly proclaimed, “Wow, and I thought
I
was an idiot.”

“Jesus, I don’t need this right now,” Adam growled, his cheeks flushing with anger.

“So, just to be clear,” Alex started.
 
“This has all happened since the barbecue?”

“Yes.”

Alex grinned.
 
“Damn.
 
I’m so proud.”

Adam groaned.
 
His friends were absolutely zero help.

TWENTY-TWO

Christie thought it was odd sitting in the passenger seat of her own car.
 
Watching the street lights flash over the pavement as Livy navigated the streets near Christie’s apartment, she wondered what Kate and Livy thought of her.

The three women were strangely silent as they pulled up to Christie’s apartment complex.
 
Her two friends seemed to sense that all conversation was to be put on hold until they all were cuddled on her couch with big glasses of wine.
 
It was just one of those nights.

And as they climbed the stairs leading up to her apartment, Christie realized that it would be a long night too.
 
She had a lot to explain to Livy and Kate.
 
And she’d already kept so much from them.

Christie stumbled over a pair of her heels in the entryway.
 
She cursed under her breath as the room lurched around her.
 
The alcohol wasn’t agreeing with her.
 
Perhaps she’d forgo
her
glass of wine tonight and swap it for a water.

But she still needed to play hostess to her two friends, so she slapped on a smile and asked, “Can I get you two anything to drink?”
 
Her voice sounded overly cheerful even to her own ears.

Kate and Livy exchanged looks with one another.
 
Christie hated when they did that.

Then, Livy stepped forward and guided Christie to the couch, while Kate made sure to shut and lock the front door.

Once Kate brought over a tall glass of water for Christie and Livy made sure she downed it all, the two women fixed her with stares that made her want to recoil and hide.

“Spill,” they both commanded at the same time.

Christie sighed, setting the water glass down on the coffee table, mentally preparing.
 
It wasn’t as though she and Adam had been doing anything wrong, but she felt somewhat guilty.

She must’ve paused too long because Livy burst out, “You and Adam?
 
Is that what that was tonight?
 
Have you two been hooking up behind our backs?”

“What?
 
No!” Christie protested, but then paused.
 
Because she realized that that was exactly what it was.
 
“I mean…maybe?”

“Maybe?”

Christie bit her lip.
 
“We…I don’t…we haven’t had sex or anything.”

“But you two have been hooking up?” Kate inquired, raising a brow in interest.
 
Christie could see the wheels in her mind turning.
 
Kate was a romance novelist; she loved shit like this.

“I…yes, I suppose so.
 
But it’s not what you think.”

“What exactly is it then?
 
Like a friends with benefits kind of thing?”

“No, not really.”
 
Fuck it.
 
Adam probably already told his friends, so why couldn’t she tell hers?
 
Besides, he never specifically told her she couldn’t tell anyone.
 
Taking a deep breath, she admitted, “You see, it all started with tequila.”

She launched into the whole story, sexy details and all.
 
Livy and Kate gasped excitedly, amid grins and knowing looks, during Christie’s spiel.
 
And once she finished, ending with tonight’s incident at the bar, they were positively glowing with excitement.

“Why, you little…” Kate trailed off with a laugh.
 
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell us when this was going on!”

“I didn’t know if Adam would want you all to know!” Christie said.
 
“You know how private he is.”

“Well, I certainly don’t know if I’ll be able to look at Adorable Adam the same way again,” Livy mock pouted.
 
Then a smile cracked through.
 
“He made you orgasm
that
quickly?”
 
A wild flush burst onto Christie’s cheeks and Livy’s resulting laugh was delighted.
 
“I’ve only seen you blush a handful of times, Christie.
 
He must really be something.”

“He is,” she murmured.
 
But then she sighed.
 
“But it’s only temporary.
 
Every time I hint that I want to have sex with him, he ignores it.”

“Maybe he doesn’t know they’re hints?” Kate suggested.
 
“I mean, I have to spell things out for Luke
every single day
.
 
Men are completely clueless unless you tell them exactly what you want.”

“He said he’s trying to create boundaries between us.
 
So I don’t feel like he’s taking advantage of our situation.
 
Or maybe he just
really
doesn’t want to have sex with me.”

“That’s crazy,” Livy burst out.
 
“Adam has been crazy about you ever since I first introduced you two.
 
Whenever he looks at you…Christie, the man would do anything for you.”

“Except have sex with me,” she grumbled, feeling sorry for herself.
 
She’d never thought she’d be in this situation.
 
Never.
 
A man she was falling in love with didn’t want to have sex with her?
 
Christie shook her head as a thought occurred to her.
 
“Have Luke or Alex ever said anything about Adam and another woman?
 
When he first asked me to do these lessons, I thought that maybe he had someone in mind to…to seduce.
 
It drives me crazy thinking about it sometimes.”

“
No
, absolutely not,” Livy said.
 
Kate nodded in agreement.
 
“If he has anyone in mind, it’s you, Christie.”

“I just…I think I’m falling in love with him,” she told them, lowering her voice as though someone else might hear.
 
“Whenever I’m with him…I’m happy.
 
So happy.
 
He makes me nervous, but in a good way.
 
But then he makes me feel safe and comfortable.
 
I don’t know how to explain it.
 
Everything just feels right when I’m with him.”

“You’ve always had a thing for Adam,” Livy said, a soft, gentle smile appearing on her features.
 
“Even if you didn’t realize it.
 
You’ve always liked to push his buttons.
 
And the sexual tension between the two of you was unbearable.”

“Agreed,” Kate murmured, smirking.
 
“Honestly, I’m surprised you two haven’t hooked up before now.”

“So, does it make sense that I went completely crazy with jealousy tonight?” she asked, but her voice was edging on bitterness.
 
“I don’t know what I’m going to do if Adam sleeps with another woman, after this is all done between us.
 
The thought makes me sick to my stomach.”

Christie could still see the brunette woman in her mind.
 
The one she’d foolishly told Adam to approach.
 
She wondered if Adam had returned to her side once Christie left, if they were exchanging numbers…or worse.
 
Had she gone back to his place?
 
Would they even have a fourth lesson?

Her fingernails bit into her palms.

“Then give it to him straight,” Kate said.
 
“My advice is to cool down for a couple days to figure out where your head is at.
 
And then tell him.
 
Everything
.”

“I don’t know if he feels the same way,” Christie murmured.

“Nonsense,” Livy said, waving her hand in the air.
 
“Of course he does.”
 
She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, but Christie was still unsure.
 
Adam was so concerned with preserving their friendship once they walked away from their agreement.
 
That didn’t exactly scream ‘in love’ to her.

Livy and Kate chatted between themselves, gushing over Adam and Christie’s ‘blossoming romance,’ but Christie remained silent.
 
She was tired and the alcohol she’d consumed tonight was making her head throb.
 
All she wanted was to curl up in bed with Snazzy and forget about tonight.
 
God, what would she even say to Adam when she saw him next?

Livy noticed the look on her face.
 
“Should I call Alex to come pick me up?
 
Or do you want us to stay here tonight?”

Christie smiled.
 
“Go home.
 
Both of you.
 
I’ll be fine.
 
And I’m sure your gorgeous, hunky boyfriends have plans for you, which I
so
don’t want to ruin.”

Kate smiled sheepishly, “I
have
been putting Luke off for a couple days.”

After two short phone calls to their boyfriends, a half hour later, Christie had her apartment all to herself.
 
She went to refill her water glass and she nursed it as she glanced around her empty apartment.
 
Her paintings caught her eye and she remembered how Adam had admired them.
 
She hadn’t been working on them much lately.
 
But tomorrow, she was free all day, so she could dedicate a good chunk of time to them.

She remembered the phoenix she’d started at Adam’s house.
 
In the back of her mind, she wondered if she’d ever get a chance to finish it.

Sighing, she turned towards her bedroom to get ready for bed.
 
After she washed her face, brushed her teeth, and stripped out of her clothes, she crawled into bed.
 
Snazzy was curled up on one of her pillows.
 
Her jostling didn’t even make him stir.

Just as she was dropping off into sleep, her phone rang.
 
Grumbling, she leaned over and grabbed it off the nightstand.
 
Butterflies erupted in her stomach when she saw Adam’s name lit up across the screen.

“Hi” she murmured, accepting the call without a second thought.

“Hey,” he said softly, his voice gliding over her like a balm.
 
“I just wanted to make sure you got home alright.”

Christie couldn’t stop her smile even if she tried.
 
Or the warmth that spread through her limbs.

“I’m supposed to be mad at you,” she reminded him.

“And are you?”

“I don’t know.
 
I haven’t decided yet,” she told him, but her tone was light.
 
“I was just about to go to bed.”

“Me too.
 
I just got home,” he said.
 
Christie had to bite her tongue to keep from asking about the brunette at the bar.
 
Obviously, she hadn’t come home with him, but were they going to see each other again?