Jacked (Trent Brothers #1)(148)

“Here he is. Ask him,” she said.

Adam slid into his chair next to me. “Ask me what?”

“You want kids, right?” she asked bluntly.

He was totally caught off guard. “I don’t know. I guess.”

Her eyes were like laser beams. “What do you mean, you guess? I know you do.”

He was uncomfortable, being put on the spot like that.

“Well, yeah, I guess. Eventually.” He stared at me as if I was the one who’d lost her mind. “Where did this all come from?”

I gestured across the table, wishing I could shrink down and hide under the tablecloth. I needed to escape. “Where were the bathrooms?”

Adam pointed. “Down the hallway on the right.”

“Excuse me please.” The doorway was promising all sorts of air on the other side. My high heels had me leaning forward, quickening my steps.

I didn’t really need to pee, but hiding in a stall for the rest of the evening was starting to sound promising.

I made it three steps inside the ladies’ room before I almost ran over the bride.

I pulled up quickly before falling over a pool of white taffeta.

She was standing in front of the bank of sinks, cursing and crying, using wads of paper towels to wipe the mess of cake and icing off her face. Cake was everywhere: her hair, her nose, and down the front of a very poufy gown.

The tradition of smashing cake in each other’s faces was disgusting. It was so disrespectful, like saying “here, bitch, f*ck you” and defiling hours of beautification with no mutual consideration.

The way she was privately distressed, I’d say she agreed with me.

“Do you need help?”

Her bottom lip wobbled. “Would you?”

I yanked a wad of paper towels from the container, not really knowing where to start. I picked a spot near her neck. “He got you good.”

“Bastard,” Ellie groaned. “Shoved the whole piece at me. I told him not to, but…” She sighed. “My dress is ruined.”

I had no idea how to remove red icing from white either.

Ellie gave me a weak smile. “Thanks. You’re Erin, right? Adam’s new girlfriend?”

I tossed a chunk of cake into the garbage. “Yes. Sorry we’re meeting like this. I hadn’t had an opportunity to meet you before.”

“It’s okay. I’m just glad for the help. My maid of honor is drunk off her ass. My mom is gonna be so pissed when she sees these stains. Two grand in the mutha-effin toilet.”

“Maybe if we get some club soda some of this will come out.”

Ellie swiped at the black smear that had now turned gray. “It’s no use.”

I pulled a chunk of icing from her dark hair. “Do you have another outfit you can put on?”

“No. I thought the whole point was to have my husband take me out of this dress later.” She smacked the garbage can lid as she disposed of the last of her wet paper towels. “Fucking A. I am so mad. How could he do this to me? Take note, being married to a cop isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Ask Nikki. She learned that the hard way.”

My brain almost imploded. “They were married?”

“No, well, almost,” Ellie said, squinting at me. “He didn’t…? They had a date set but… I probably shouldn’t be telling you this.”

“No, please. Go on.”

“Apparently Adam was having fun on the side with some fan or something. I’m not sure of the details, just what Nikki told me.” More cake hit the sink. “Woman to woman, just be careful, okay?”

Oh my God. My stomach churned, burning acidic torment up into my throat.

“But that doesn’t… Oh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. You know what I mean. You must have been shitting yourself that night they pulled you over.”

I didn’t know how to answer. I feared anything I’d try to say would come out as a scream. Washing the icing stains from my hands was a good diversion, though hiding in the bathroom had turned into a huge mistake.

“You know all the guys in the unit are sorry about what happened to your relatives. Weird. Jesse said they almost had that car pulled over, too.” She tisked. “If Adam and Marcus hadn’t tried to pull them over—”

The bathroom lighting seemed to dim. “Wait, what?”

“Jesse said they were told to pull back but I guess Adam knew the driver or something and kept going after them. Once a car gets out onto the Schuylkill it’s just a matter of time.”

A pain shot through my forehead. “Adam knew the guys that killed my aunt and uncle?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “You didn’t know that?”

Her words disappeared behind me.

This new information twisted in my gut, driving my feet to move. I hit the hallway and stopped, unsure of which way to go. I had my purse under my arm and enough cash for a taxi. Adam was in the other direction, scorching my mind as the source of this increasing misery.

Left or right—either choice left me hurt in the end.

I don’t want to do this anymore.

The secrets. The lies. Settling for a piece of a man’s heart instead of the whole. What he’d already given away to another would never be mine.

I should have prepared for this. I knew it was coming, but I tricked myself. Told myself that if I ignored it, it would just simply disappear.