Harkham's Choice (Harkham's Series Book 2) (6 page)

“No, I didn’t know. I mean, I knew he was kind of a pyro, but I—”

“Yeah, he really doesn’t belong in Honors Biology with you, but Physics is so beneath him, it was really his only option. He got in trouble at our last school because he knew more than the teacher did about physics, and he kept correcting her. She got irate and sent home a lot of nasty letters about him.” Samara looked up at the row of physics books on the wall next to her.

“Calculus is a joke for him, too. He’s too smart for that class. This whole education he’s putting himself through is ridiculous.”

“What do you want, Samara,
really
? Why are you in here telling me all this?”

Samara continued as if the question hadn’t been asked. “He’s so talented it’s downright sickening. He’s ambidextrous, you know?” She nodded as if having a conversation with herself. “It’s one of the reasons he’s so amazing at baseball. He can bat and throw almost flawlessly with both hands. Pitchers hate him because they don’t know until he comes up to bat which hand he’s gonna use.”

“Is there a point to all this?” Mari grabbed the pillow behind her and shoved it in her lap. She needed something to grab onto and dig her fingers into. Samara was making her insides near ready to explode.

Samara’s gaze flicked over to Mari, and there was this viciousness about her look, making Mari scoot back a little on the bed.

“You’re not good enough for him. And I’m not even talking about all the mistakes you’ve made. Even if you’d lived a church-girl life—you’d still pale in comparison to him. He’s like an angel, and there’s no way anyone other than me is ever going to get that. Mom didn’t. Dad and Zach don’t. So stop jerking him around. Leave already—stop pretending you plan to be in his future.”

“I already told you I love him, and I’ve been there for him. What do I have to do to prove to you he means the world to me, and I’ll do anything I can to protect him and help him continue to grow?” Mari’s heart stung at these cruel accusations.

Samara growled low in her chest. Her teeth were bared. “Stop it! Walk away! You might be helping him now, but what about a year from now? Two? This can’t last. You’re giving him sugar, you’re—”

“Sam?” Adam asked, stepping into the room fully clothed for school—hair wet and tousled.

“I was just chatting. I never get to talk to Mari anymore.” Samara shifted from one foot to the other and gave a small smile.

“Well, she lives here now, so you can talk to her more. Just don’t do it in my room. I don’t want anybody in my room anymore other than Mari.” Adam stepped away from the door and stood still, watching Samara like he was waiting for her to leave immediately.

Samara squared her shoulders, gave half a wave to Mari and left.

Once she was gone, he asked, “What did she say?”

“Not much. She still doesn’t like me,” Mari said.

“Some people are blind, and they miss out on great people like you. I’ll never do that.” He smiled and sat on the bed next to her. She tucked into his side automatically.

“I guess one of three people in your family being okay with me is decent odds.” She nuzzled her head into his bicep. He smelled unearthly—oak, light musk, and something so Adam that was completely edible.

Her mouth watered.

“Two of four,” he corrected her. “And I think Dad’s on your side now, so it’s probably three out of four.”

She waited for him to tell her more statistics, but he stroked her hair and kept quiet.

This reflective, tender Adam was her favorite. She felt safer than ever when he was like this.

She wrapped her arms around his ribs and hugged him tight.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He sighed.

“She wants me to leave, but I won’t.”

“Good, because I’d cry and chase after you.” He made a happy humming sound.

“Okay.” She sniffed back the tears as her heart swelled with so many feelings for him. “Breakfast?”

“Shower first, I think,” he said.

“Not happening. I want to smell like you all day.” She placed a peck on his chest, rolled over him and out of the bed, then waited for him to join her so they could walk downstairs and eat something.

He intuitively kept his arm around her all morning.

And she needed it.

* * *

Halloween was next week. Mari wanted to dress as a weeping angel. Adam wanted to know what that was, so without telling her, he went to retrieve her DVDs of
Torchwood
and
Doctor Who
from her mom’s place.

He couldn’t wait to surprise Mari with them.

Rap, rap, rap, rap . . .

He hovered in the doorway, hoping to shake Michelle’s hand right away to prove he was there for friendly reasons.

The door opened, and he grabbed her hand right away. “Ma’am, I am here for cordial reasons, nothing negative.” He shook it heartily.

Mari’s mom groaned and grimaced when he called her ma’am. “Is this a joke? Did Mari send you here to mock me?”

“No, Michelle. She’d never do that.”

“Oh, yeah? She’s a regular saint now, huh? And did she tell you to call me by my first name, because ma’am is ruder than hell? Makes me sound like I’m ninety years old.”

“All she did was tell me your name. I was trying both on to find out what you liked. You made a face at the first one, so I figured your first name would get a better reaction, and it did.” He smiled.

She
did
not
smile. Her nostrils flared, though. That was kind of interesting. “She
did
set you up to do this, didn’t she? It’s because she hates me and never wants to see me again.”

He let go of her hand and took a step back. His tongue felt twisted. “Uh . . . No, she doesn’t talk about you at all. But I think once she’s done with her time-out with you.” He shook his head. That sounded wrong. “I mean, when she’s had some time to feel better about you, she’ll probably want to see you again. Like maybe at the wedding?” His voice lifted at the end of his sentence.

Why was he here again, facing her? He’d never talked to her mom one-on-one before, and she was kind of scary with the way she looked at him like she wanted to destroy him.

Get the DVDs! Do it now before you say something wrong and make her mad!

“Uh, sorry, but I . . . Uh, ma’am—uh, Michelle . . .” He scratched his cheek. “Mari left her DVDs of
Torchwood
and
Doctor Who
. I came to get them for her.”

“Ugh! Not those stupid shows again. I figured you were here to get her bike.” She rolled her eyes.

“
Bike
?” He had no idea what she was talking about. Did Mari have a motorcycle?

“I forgot about those stupid geeky shows of hers. Come get ‘em,” she said, stepping aside and waving him in.

She left him alone to fend for himself.

Fortunately, he remembered seeing where Mari put the DVDs when he had watched one of the shows with her back when he’d only known her for a few short days.

He found them quickly, but there were more than he’d remembered.

Without asking, since he was unaware of where Michelle had gone, he went into the kitchen and found a plastic grocery bag.

He walked as quietly as he could, snapped up all her shows and plunked them in the bag.

Before leaving, he called out, “Thank you, my future mother-in-law. I hope you’ll like me some day. I’m a nice guy, and I’m good to Mari. Thanks for letting me in. Bye now!”

He opened the door, manipulated the handle on the door to lock it so she’d be safe in her home and he left.

On the drive home, there was so much music in his head he was singing as loud as he could.

This was going to be fun!

He parked as swiftly as he could, his hands shaking with joy.

As soon as he got inside, into the kitchen where Zach and Mari were, he wore a lopsided smile and pushed his dangling bangs out of his eyes.

Zach saw him and grinned.

“How’d it go?” Zach winked at Adam.

“How did
what
go?” Mari asked, her brow slanted.

Adam looked at him with a little bit of apprehension and ignored her question. “Treacherous . . .”

“Why do I feel like you’re talking about your anatomy again?” Zach laughed. “The words you
use
. . .” He smirked and dropped his head, shaking it a little.

“You could talk this way too, if you wanted.” Adam grabbed a drink of water and chugged it down.

“I wish.” Zach looked at Mari and leaned against the counter. “You should hear him and Dad go off. When they start talking about medical and science stuff, I have no idea what they’re talking about.”

“I’d love to see that,” Mari said. She stepped up to Adam, kissed his cheek, then rubbed it away with the pad of her thumb. As he took another sip of his drink, she nudged him with her shoulder and snickered as a little bit of it sloshed out and dripped down his chin and neck.

“You know what we’re talking about.” Adam rolled his eyes at his brother. “You’re smart.”

“Yeah, that’s why I had to repeat my senior year and be in the same grade as you and the nugget.” Zach tensed up, his forearms flexing.

“That’s not why,” Adam said. He set his drink down. “You get distracted—that’s all.” He half-shrugged.

“Yeah, by anything wearing a skirt.” Zach snorted, went to the pantry and grabbed a bag of pretzels, then started munching.

“Men wear skirts, too. They’re called kilts,” Adam said, staring at him like he already knew this everyday fact.

“Well, thank God kilts are not the normal every-day wear at school for dudes. The day one of them shows up in one, sounds like you’ll have to chain me to my desk to keep me away.” Zach popped a handful of snacks into his mouth while he fought off a huge smile.

Mari busted out laughing.

“Oh, before I forget,” Adam said. He went and grabbed the plastic grocery bag he’d left by the door. The bag made a crinkly noise as he handed it to Mari with a huge grin plastered on his face.

“You really got them? You mean she hadn’t burned them or urinated on them?” Mari’s eyes glowed with pleasure as she pulled out her
Doctor Wh
o and
Torchwood
DVDs.

“
Urinated
?” Zach chuckled. “You’ve been hanging out with him
way
too much. You sound like a doctor.”

Mari smirked. “Well, I’d rather
that
be the case than Adam sounding like me. He’s already cussing way more than he used to.”

“No way!” Zach smacked his leg. “Show me, big brother. Use a few nasty words.”

“No.” Adam’s face heated and his heart rate picked up. “Dad’s rules—no profanities.”

“Aw, c’mon!” Zach whined. “He’s not here. He’s still at work. And Samara is gone, too. It’s just the three of us.”

“I have no reason to say bad words right now.” Adam turned to the fridge and rummaged for a snack.

“I had a donut today,” Zach told him.

Adam’s head popped up, and he closed the fridge. “You did?” His voice shook, and his fingers flexed, then fisted.

“Yeah. A Boston cream, and I swear they put more cream in it than usual. It was oozing out all over my fingers. I had to keep licking it off—it was
that
messy. That was my breakfast. For lunch, I had a slice of chocolate cake and a Dr. Pepper.” Zach rubbed his tummy. “I wish I could’ve shared it with you, but, you know, you’re not allowed since sugar makes you insane.”

“It does not!” Adam’s volume escalated. He stood to his full height now, and his chest puffed out.

“Does too. Samara says—”

“I don’t give a damn what Samara says! And why the hell wouldn’t you save me some of your cake? With all the shit I do for you—helping you with your homework, tutoring you!” Adam glared. “That’s really fucked up!”

Zach’s lips twitched, then he busted into a roaring laugh. “That was awesome!”

“Zach, give him a break. Don’t provoke him. He’s not really proud of it,” she said, grabbing Adam’s hand and tucking it into her side like he used to do.

“You did that on
purpose
?” Adam’s arms shook, and his eyes were blue fire.

“Yeah. I didn’t have any sugar at all today. Mari’s teaching me to eat healthier so I can lose some weight. I want more definition in my abs. Lori has an amazing bod! She deserves to like what she sees too when we’re both—”

“We don’t want to hear it,” Adam said, ripping his hand out of Mari’s and covering his ears. Ever since Zach met that blonde woman, Lorraine, at that Pearl Jam concert, all his brother did was talk about how hot his new girlfriend was.

“Fine. See if I give you any more sex books to read.” Zach put the pretzels away. He looked at Mari. “I guess that wasn’t the smartest snack, huh?”

“Not really, but it’s okay. We all have setbacks.” She smiled. “I probably should’ve stopped you from riling him up like that, but I like watching your family interact. I’ve noticed how Adam talks in more simple terms when he’s upset or when he’s dealing with too many overwhelming emotions. It’s like his innocence and inexperience with life comes through. But when he’s at home, he’s so comfortable, he’s well-spoken. He comes across sounding like a lawyer or a polished politician. I love it!”