Tamed (Torn #5)(31)

“Is that everything?” Adam asked as he shoved another box into the back of my car.

“It’d better be. I don’t have any more room.” I watched him slam the trunk closed.

He chuckled. “What the f*ck do you do with all these clothes?”

“Um, wear them. Duh.”

He shook his head. “I will never understand women’s obsession with clothes. I have, like, ten shirts and a few pairs of jeans.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s different for girls. We can’t just wear black T-shirts over and over.”

“Whatever. So, what time are you leaving tomorrow?”

“We’ll be on our way back to Charleston by nine. Logan is driving his own car back.”

“He still planning on staying with you all summer?” he asked.

His tone had sounded as if he didn’t care, but there was an emotion in his eyes that made me wonder if that was true. It looked like he was…jealous. I shook my head to clear away that thought. Pigs would fly before Adam started acting like a jealous boyfriend.

“Yeah. I’m glad he’s staying with me. I’ll be lonely since Chloe is going with you guys.”

“Well, why don’t we spend our last night together at my place?” he asked.

I grinned. “Like I’d ever say no to that.”

He smirked. “You’d better not. Come on, you can ride with me. I’ll bring you back here in the morning.”

“All right.” I locked my car and then followed him over to where he’d parked his.

After his Escort’s engine had blown up—or rather, after he’d blown up the engine—Adam had traded his Escort in on an older model Cavalier. I’d learned from his friends that Adam would go through cars faster than he went through women.

The ride to his apartment was silent. He kept flipping between radio stations before giving up and putting a CD in.

“Radio stations suck anymore,” he grumbled as The Amity Affliction’s “Don’t Lean on Me” started blaring.

“I love these guys,” I said before humming along.

“Me, too.”

When we pulled up in front of his apartment building, he shut off the car. He climbed out of the car, and I followed. The walk up to his apartment was as silent as the ride over.

Once we were inside, I dropped down onto the couch and rested my head against the back. “I’m exhausted. Packing sucks.”

“Come here,” Adam mumbled as he sat down on the couch with me. He pulled me onto his lap.

I was lying on my stomach with my head resting on his legs. He pushed my hair aside and started rubbing my shoulders. I relaxed further, his strong hands working the kinks and tension out of my body.

“Jesus, that feels good,” I moaned.

We stayed that way for a while.

I was starting to doze off when he spoke again, “I’m going to miss you.”

The words were simple enough, but coming from him, they were monumental. Besides commenting on how glad he was to have me as a friend, he’d never admitted to caring about me before. I wasn’t even sure if he’d only said those words to be nice. They might have been said to remind me that we were only friends.

“You won’t even have time to miss me once your tour starts. You’ll be too busy traveling, playing, and banging random chicks,” I said, only half-kidding.

“I’ll still miss you,” he said quietly.

I sat up, and he let his hands drop to his sides. I stared at him, noticing that he wouldn’t look at me. I reached up and ran my fingertips along his cheek, loving the rough stubble on his chin.

“I’ll miss you, too,” I said, my own voice barely above a whisper. I cleared my throat and smiled at him. “You’re an *, but you’ve started to grow on me these past few months.”

“Tell me how you really feel.” He cracked a smile.

I leaned forward and brushed my lips against his. The kiss was softer than any other between us. It was barely a whisper of a kiss, but it held so much emotion. When I tried to pull away, Adam grabbed the back of my head and pulled my mouth back to his. He hungrily kissed me, taking me by surprise. My lips parted, and his tongue darted inside to tangle with mine. I sucked on his tongue, and he groaned as his hold on me tightened. He finally broke away and stood.

He grabbed my arms and pulled me up with him. “Let’s make tonight something to remember since it’ll be our last one for a long time.”

He tugged my shirt up and over my head. He tossed it to the floor as I unbuttoned my shorts and let them fall to the floor. He pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it on top of mine. His shoes and shorts disappeared next.

“Come on,” he said as he led me back to his bedroom.

Once we were inside, I unfastened my bra and let it drop to the floor. I pulled my underwear off without a second thought. After so many months together, being naked around Adam didn’t faze me in the least. I smiled as I remembered how self-conscious I’d been around him at first. We were well past that stage now.

Adam’s boxers dropped to the floor, and he kicked them aside. My eyes slowly slid down his body, taking in every tiny detail of him, committing it to memory. Even after months of spending quality time with his naked body, I still marveled at just how beautiful he was.