Newly Exposed

  Laughing, I said, “Oh, my God, you’re just as bad as the other guys. There is gluten free pasta in the pantry.”

  “Oh, okay. Have to keep my figure, you know.”

  “I know,” rolling my eyes, I went back to my computer. “See you around six…Axel.”

  Chapter Twenty One

  Adam

  “You’re burning the sauce,” Scout shouted, as he jumped off the counter and started stirring the pot of sauce that was on the stove.

  “No, I’m not!” I pushed him to the side and assessed the sauce myself. It was a little crusty on the bottom, but I chalked it up to adding a smoky flavor. “It’s fine.”

  “I’m so not eating this crap.”

  “Good,” I responded, taking the half-burnt sauce off the stove and then draining the noodles. “Because you weren’t invited to dinner.”

  “Who is?” Scout asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

  “You know who is.” I grabbed two plates and put out generous portions of gluten free pasta, steamed spinach, and topped it off with “smoky” sauce. I took a piece of basil and decorated the top of each plate, feeling slightly proud of myself.

  “Looks like shit, man,” Scout patted me on the back.

  “What? I think it looks…” I examined the plates a little closer and realized that maybe it wasn’t the most gourmet-looking meal, but Solo would appreciate it; she was cool like that. “Well, it will taste good.”

  Laughing, Scout grabbed a steak from the fridge and started rubbing spices on it. “Saw your new picture on my newsfeed today.” Scout playfully whacked my crotch as he walked by and said, “Who knew you were packing, man?”

  I buckled from his “love tap” and eyed him. “Didn’t know you were into men,” I joked.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “As long as there is enough love for everyone, who cares what kind of pleasure I get?”

  I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at him. “Are you bi?” I asked with a quizzical eyebrow, not that it mattered to me.

  “No,” Scout laughed out loud. “But God, the look on your face just now was priceless.”

  “You’re a dick.” I placed the plates at the table and then folded two napkins to set next to them along with silverware. I grabbed two glasses from the cupboard and filled them with water; soda was against my diet restrictions, but what I wouldn’t give for a Mountain Dew right now.

  “Do we have any flowers?” I asked, looking around for a centerpiece.

  “What is this? Fucking Lady and the Tramp?” Ty asked, as he walked in and took in the dinner for two. Big mistake on my part putting dinner in the kitchen nook.

  I was about to grab the plates and move them, so I wouldn’t have to deal with Ty, when Solo came walking in. She stopped when she took in the dinner and a big smile spread across her face.

  “Something smells burnt,” Nikko said, as he walked in behind Solo along with Gunner. Great, all we needed was Levi, and we would be one big fucking family.

  “What are you doing here?” Ty asked Solo, who was looking at me with a big grin. The room fell silent as all eyes fell to Solo and me.

  Solo wrapped her hand around my neck, pulled me down for a kiss, and pressed her lips against mine…in front of everyone. My heart beat rapidly against my chest from the statement she was making, with her bold actions. She was letting everyone know that she was mine, and she didn’t care who knew about it.

  When she pulled away, she pecked my lips and said, “What’s for dinner, handsome?”

  “No fucking way,” Gunner laughed, as he came up to me and clapped me on the back. “Dude, seriously? Solo? You have some big balls to be able to get this girl to settle.”

  “Thanks?” I asked in question, not really knowing what to say.

  “How much are you paying her to go out with you?” Ty asked, looking a little jealous. Scratch that, a lot jealous.

  “Fuck off,” I said to Ty, as I grabbed our dinner plates. There was no way I would be eating dinner with these fuckheads looking over us. “Let’s go somewhere else.” I nodded toward the patio, where there was an outdoor dining set.

  “I’ll get the drinks,” Solo said, grabbing them and then turning toward the boys. “If you don’t mind, Adam and I would like some privacy, so keep your peeping eyes to yourselves.”

  “So, you an item now?” Ty asked, with a bit of malice in his voice. It almost seemed like he was taunting Solo.

  “Yes,” Solo said without skipping a beat. “Deal with it, Ty.”

  The tension between Ty and Solo was a little strange, and I made a mental note to ask Solo about that later. Maybe it would help me understand Ty’s moodiness a little bit better. I was all for giving people second chances when it came to my opinion of them, and right now, Ty needed a really big second chance.

  “Good for you!” Nikko said, as he tossed around a soccer ball that was in his hand. “I hear he likes his ears rubbed before he goes to bed,” he joked.

  “Actually, it’s his dick he likes rubbed before he goes to bed,” Solo shot back, making all the guys stare at her for a second before throwing their heads back and laughing, all except Ty, of course. That was my girl!

  When we got outside and set our dinner down, I pulled Solo into my chest and kissed her forehead.

  “God, you’re amazing, you know that?”

  “I know,” she said with confidence.

  “Oh, confident today, are we?”

  “You have a problem with that, Mr. James?”

  “Not at all, Miss Cohan,” I responded, pulling away and helping her into her chair. I was taught it was a man’s duty to treat his lady like a queen, and that meant pulling her chair out for her.

  “What do we have here?” Solo asked, picking at the food with her fork, testing things out.

  “Pasta and sauce with a side of steamed spinach. The sauce might have a smoky taste to it, which could have been from some sauce burning at the bottom of the pot, but I did that intentionally, of course.”

  “Oh, of course,” she smiled at me. She cautiously speared some noodles, sauce, and spinach, and brought it up to her mouth. “Thanks for making dinner.” I nodded and watched her place the forkful in her mouth. I watched her taste the meal, chew a bit, and then swallow. I waited in anticipation to hear what she had to say.

  She put her fork down, dabbed her mouth with her napkin and said, “That sauce is smoky, but it’s damn good.”

  I could feel my face light up from her compliment. “You really mean it?”

  “Yes,” she laughed, as her finger pressed into my dimple, a move my mom was accustomed to doing, which only made me smile harder. “That right there, that dimple will be the death of me. It’s so damn cute.”

  “Cute?” I asked. “Shouldn’t it be sexy?”

  “On you, it’s cute. No matter what Zia does to you, you will always be that rookie who walked into the office with the baby face and bright eyes. You’re cute, Adam, nothing wrong with that. You’re also sexy as hell, especially when you’re flexing under water,” she said shyly.

  “Ahhh, you liked my pictures,” I said, shoveling my food in my mouth. “Want me to frame your favorite one for you and hang it above your bed so you can stare at me while you try to fall asleep?”

  “Wow, full of yourself already?” she joked.

  “Always have been, muffin. I just won you over with the new guy in town routine. You fell for it so easily,” I laughed and shook my head.

  “Oh, really? So, I guess you don’t need my help at the photo shoots anymore?” she fake threatened.

  “Don’t you even dare think about leaving me on set. You know I need you,” I said softly.

  From across the table, she grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “I wouldn’t leave you, Adam.”

  “Good,” I squeezed her hand back. “That shit is scary. You’re the only reason why I feel semi-comfortable on set, knowing that you’re next to me, encouraging me; I wouldn’t be able to do it without you. Plus, you’re all I think about wh
en I’m on set…my mind drifts to you, to your beautiful lips and that long brown hair of yours; it’s what gets me excited, what puts emotion in my body.”

  Studying me for a second, Solo took in my confession, and then stood up. Both of our plates were practically empty by now, so she took my hand and pulled me toward our favorite lounge chair. She laid me down and then cuddled in close to my side.

  “Even though life with you will be interesting, I couldn’t be happier that you walked into Teeg’s offices,” she confessed, rubbing my chest with her hand.

  “Me too,” I added.

  Silence fell between us as we looked over the valley. The night was just falling upon us and the lights of the valley started to twinkle. Having Solo resting on my chest with the stars looking over us was all I needed. She helped me forget about all the troubles in my life, the fact that I still didn’t have enough money to buy back my childhood home, that my mom was dying every day in the hospital, and that my Aunt Sarah was the only solid thing from my childhood still left.

  “Can I ask you a question?” she asked, nuzzling deeper into my chest.

  “You can ask me anything,” I responded, as I lifted the back of her shirt and pressed my hand against her warm skin.

  “I know you asked me not to talk about this, but I’m curious, so please don’t be mad at me.”

  “I could never be mad at you,” I said, preparing for what I knew she was going to ask.

  “Well, you have said a couple of times that you really need the money from the modeling job, and you sounded so relieved when I called to offer you the job; I was just wondering…why? Why are you so desperate for money? Are you in trouble or something?”

  I laughed from the pit of my belly.

  “Do you think I’m in some kind of bad shit?” I asked, still laughing.

  She poked my stomach and said, “I don’t know. Maybe a gang or gambling problems…”

  I laughed even harder. God, she was adorable.

  I kissed the top of her head and said, “You’re so damn cute, you know that?”

  “What do you expect? You act like money is the key to life…”

  “It is,” I thought about the bills that were piling up.

  “Why?”

  I rubbed her back and took a deep breath. “I’m not in a gang and I don’t have gambling problems, but thanks for thinking the best of me,” I joked.

  “I didn’t know…”

  “It’s okay.” I kissed her head again. “I can see how you might think I might be into some bad stuff with the crazed look I get when money crosses my path.”

  “Stop teasing,” she pinched my side.

  “Watch it,” I laughed, feigning pain.

  “Just tell me,” she said, exhausted.

  “So demanding.” I gathered myself and said, “My mom is sick. She’s been in the hospital for a few months now, looking for a new heart, and we kind of ran out of money. The day you called me, I was told that they were going to have to take her out of the hospital if I couldn’t make the minimum payment on her hospital bills. Your phone call saved everything that was important in my life. I know you thought it was a cheap deal and I probably shouldn’t take it, but it changed everything. I was able to pay for two more months in the hospital for my mom,” I said meekly.

  Solo propped herself up on my chest and looked me in the eyes. “Oh, Adam, I’m so sorry.”

  I shrugged my shoulders and said, “She’s a fighter. She’ll make it.”

  “What about your dad?” she played with the dog tags under my shirt.

  “Killed overseas,” I admitted, opening up more than I wanted to, but it was Solo, I felt like I could tell her anything. “My mom seems to think the moment my dad died, her heart died with him. They were soul mates. You know the feeling when you’re in the presence of true love, you can feel it radiating off of people, that was what it was like when you were around them. They were so far in love that it killed me to see my mom suffer when she was told my dad was killed. I believe her when she says her heart left with him.”

  Solo was cupping her mouth and shaking her head. I could see the devastation in her eyes, the hurt she had for me. It was endearing, comforting. It felt nice to talk to someone about my pain, someone other than my Aunt Sarah, because I could share my pain with someone who wasn’t already feeling the same thing. It was like Solo took some of the hurt and pain off of my shoulders and put it on her own.

  “Were you close?” she asked, wanting to know more about my past.

  “My dad and I? Yeah, he was my best friend. When he was gone, I was the man of the house, but when he was back home, not fighting for our freedom, he was the best guy I knew. We would work out together, wrestle, build things…he taught me everything I know.”

  I looked off into the distance, trying to tamp down the tears that were building from talking about my father, the one person who knew me inside and out.

  Solo’s hand caressed my face and her thumb swiped just below my eye. “You miss him,” she said more as a statement rather than a question.

  “I do, more than anything, and it kills me right now that there is nothing I can do for my mom other than sit around and wait for someone else to lose their life, so my mom’s life can be saved. It’s debilitating to think about.” My emotions started to get the best of me as I tried to explain my feelings to Solo.

  Warmth spread through me as she pressed her hand against my heart and moved her lips to mine. She wasn’t demanding, or even trying to be sexy; she was comforting me, and I couldn’t be more grateful as I got lost in the feel of her soft body pressed against mine. She moved her leg over mine, so she was straddling my body. Her hands went to the back of my neck and her forehead lowered to mine. Her lips pulled away and she looked me in the eyes with those beautiful brown depths of hers.

  “You’re so strong, Adam. I would never have guessed that you’ve been through so much or that you’re struggling every day with the knowledge of your mom in the hospital. That’s almost too much for one person to carry around, especially someone your age.”

  “I don’t really have a choice,” I admitted.

  “Is that where you go during the day?”

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “I visit my mom once a day. My Aunt Sarah stays with her most of the time. I stayed there the other night when my mom was really sick, and I stay on occasion to give my Aunt Sarah a break, but most of the time they make me leave after a couple of hours. They say I shouldn’t be spending my time holed up in a hospital room. Little do they know, I would stay there all day every day if I could. I love my mom, Solo. I can’t stand the thought of losing her.”

  “You’re breaking my heart,” Solo said, as she engulfed me in a hug and wrapped her entire body around me. “I want to take some of your pain; I want to help you make things better. I hate seeing you so sad.”

  I cupped her face and made her look at me. “I can’t tell you how much that means to me. Just by you being here, by you listening to me, you’re already helping unleash some of the thoughts and feelings I’ve had bundled up inside. So, thank you, Solo.”

  With gentle eyes, she leaned forward and kissed me again; this time she was a little more demanding.

  “Want to go to bed?” she asked, as she shifted on my lap.

  “More than anything,” I replied, as I got off the lounge and followed Solo to her room.

  There was nothing I wanted more than to get lost in the feel and touch of Solo. She was everything I needed right now.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Adam

  I observed Solo’s room as I waited for her to come out of the bathroom. Her room was pretty basic, but plush. Her comforter felt like heaven; the black, grey, and white hues running through her room were modern, but calming, and the old school Star Wars posters that were framed on her walls made me fall for the girl even harder.

  There were touches of Solo everywhere. Her curtains were black and white flowers, showing off her soft side, and her wall décor ranged f
rom Star Wars to nineties pop culture, which showed off her bad ass self. I loved the fact that she had no problem showing who she was, that she could be confident with hanging a Whitney Houston poster on the wall and making people bow to her when they walked by. She was passionate and kind and funny…God was she funny. She was the whole package, and the fact that I was able to just tell her about my life and she didn’t even blink an eye meant that she was in it for the long run. I was pretty damn sure I’d found my soul mate.

  The bathroom door creaked open and Solo stepped out. Her hair was down, cascading over her shoulders. She was wearing a bra with the superman symbol on the cups and her underwear fell within the same theme with a red waistband, blue panty, and gold emblem.

  Fuck…she was hot.

  “Where do you even get an outfit like that?” I asked, as I ran my hand over my mouth.

  “You’d be surprised what some of the comic book stores sell,” she smiled, as she walked toward me.

  “I learn something new about you every day.”

  “Is that a good thing?” she asked, as she stood right before me.

  “It is.”

  I placed my hands on her hips and started drawing lazy circles with my fingers. Her skin felt like velvet under my touch, a feeling I was quickly becoming addicted to.

  Scanning my eyes over her body, I finally made eye contact with her, and said, “You’re so damn beautiful, Solo. It blows my mind sometimes that you would want to be with me.”

  I truly meant that. She could be with anyone, all the guys in the house would love to have a chance at being with her, but she chose to be with me.

  “You’re serious, aren’t you?” she asked, as she spread her legs over mine and sat on my lap. Her hands went to the hem of my shirt and slowly pulled it over my head. The cool air of her room caressed my skin as her warm hands cascaded down my chest; the contrast between the two temperatures was exquisite. “You’re so oblivious to how hot you are,” she murmured, as her lips found my collarbone and she started nibbling.