Four Day Fling(24)

“I mean when you’re together.”

“In the same room together, or having a conversation together?”

“Now you’re just being awkward, Red.”

I brushed a final stroke of mascara over each of my eyes, then stopped, wand in hand, and met his eyes in the reflection of the mirror. “Given how you ended up here, I would have thought you knew that awkward was my default mode.”

“That was cute-awkward. This is attitude-awkward.”

“How do you know there’s a difference?”

He pointed at himself. “Four sisters. I grew up with attitude-awkward. I could recognize it blindfolded with hands cuffed behind my back from two hundred miles away.”

“Wow. Someone’s cocky.”

“I thought we established that the night we met.”

My cheeks flushed. Damn it. Why did I have to blush like an idiot? Oh, that’s right. I was a redhead and so pale I was a distant relative of Casper the Friendly Ghost, which meant you could see my blushing a mile off.

“You’re adorable when you blush.” Adam grinned.

“Thank God,” I drawled. “That was my life goal. Be adorable. Now, I can get it in neon lights over my bed.”

“Will they be black to match your soul?”

“Red, actually.”

“To match your hair?”

“No. Red to match your blood when I murder you in your sleep.” I put the wand back in the tube and put it in my makeup bag.

“I’ll keep it in mind. And hide all the sharp objects.”

I turned, leaning against the sink. “Who said I needed a sharp object?”

“You’re right.” He walked over to me, trapping me against the counter with his body. His fingertips grazed my knuckles as his hands clamped onto the counter and gave me no means of escape. “Hockey pucks are deadly. I’ve seen them slam into people more times than you can imagine.”

“I always told my parents, sports are dangerous.”

“Is that why you don’t follow them?”

“No. I don’t follow them because I literally do not care about them.”

He blinked at me for a second before his lips curled and laughter burst from him. His forehead rested on my shoulder, and his entire body shook with his amusement at my words.

“Did I make a joke I don’t understand?” I asked, moving as if I could look at his face.

“No,” he chuckled, straightening and looking at me. “Your honesty is so refreshing. Every time it comes up, it makes me believe a little bit more, that you really have no idea.”

“Are you saying I lied?”

“Don’t twist my words.”

“Shit. I hate it when people catch me on that.” I paused. “I have no idea. I thought the Stanley Cup was football until I met you. I don’t know what to call it when you score. A goal? A try? A point?”

Adam scratched his stubbled chin. “Wow. You really are completely sport-ignorant, aren’t you?”

“You’re a smart man to put ‘sport’ in front of ‘ignorant.’”

“You’re a redhead and you’re getting ready to have lunch with your mother, who you don’t get along with. I can honestly tell you I have no intentions of making you angry. I would also like to get out of this lunch in one piece, preferably with my sanity intact.”

Tilting my head to the side, I raised my hand to his cheek. Ah. Spiky. Why was that hot?

“Oh, honey,” I said slowly. “You think you’re going to leave this weekend with any sanity at all. That’s so cute.”

“Did you just call me honey?”

“Would you prefer I reverted to Hockey Boy?”

“No, actually. I wouldn’t.”

“All right. Hockey Boy it is.” I kissed his cheek and, with one quick shove of his arm, made my escape. I slid my feet into my flip-flops with a giggle and grabbed my phone and purse from the bed.

Adam sighed behind me. “You know what you are?”

“A pain in the ass? Sarcasm personified? Queen of Sass?”

“Yes, yes, and yes,” he replied. “You’re also the internet troll everyone assumes is a twenty-something gamer living in his mom’s basement.”

“That might be the nicest compliment anyone’s ever given me.”

“Don’t get excited. It wasn’t a compliment.”

“Then you need better insults, because five-year-olds at recess have you beat. Hockey Boy.” Another grin and I twirled into the main room of the suite. “Come on. My grandpa will be here after lunch, then you’ll really see how crazy my family is.”

“It gets worse?”

“Oh, yeah. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

Adam pulled the door open and held it for me to walk through. “You know, if it weren’t for the sex, I might be regretting this entire weekend right about now.”

“You know, if it weren’t for the sex, I would definitely be regretting this entire weekend,” I replied. “Come on. Let’s go. Satan can only last so long on the surface before she gets too cold and has to go back underground.”

“How the hell did you survive past your teenage years?”

“Avoided my mother as much as possible and left for college the minute I was able.”