The Fifth Lesson (The Bay Boys #2) (31 page)

Guilt was all he’d been feeling the past couple weeks.
 
Last night, he thought he’d done the right thing.
 
But the look in Christie’s eyes…the hurt on her face…

Jesus
.

He rejected the woman he was in love with.

Because she’d been
falling in love with him
.

What the fuck was wrong with his head?

It was fair to say he’d panicked.
 
When she said those words, his brain shut down as shock filtered in.
 
That had been the
last
thing he ever expected her to say.
 
And like an idiot—and an asshole—he’d handled it badly.
 
Christie probably hated him right about now.

Adam turned back towards his house and started running.
 
He pushed himself harder and harder until he was sprinting down the pavement, punishing his lungs and his body.
 
By the time he reached home, he thought he might throw up so he paced around with his hands on his head before making his way up to shower.

It was almost dark outside when he toweled off in his bathroom.

His birthday was in two days.
 
The big thirty.
 
Alex, Luke, and Caleb were taking him out God knows where.
 
But losing his virginity was the last thing on his mind.
 
Christie was the first.

TWENTY-SIX

The first thing Christie did to start the healing process was call up Mike, the hottie from the bar.
 
He’d texted her the day after he’d somehow managed to wrangle her number out of her.
 
Although, in all honesty, it hadn’t been that difficult.
 
She’d given it pretty willingly, especially since Adam had been on the other side of the room chatting up a pretty brunette.

They went out to dinner the night after Christie called in sick and visited Livy.
 
While Mike was charming and made her laugh with his over-the-top and thoroughly cheesy lines, Christie felt her mind wandering to Adam.
 
Unconsciously, she made comparisons between the two of them, mentally tallying every little thing.

Mostly, she was thinking that it felt wrong looking into Mike’s blue eyes.
 
They weren’t golden.
 
They weren’t framed by black glasses.
 
They didn’t make her quiver with need and excitement or give her butterflies.

Her heart clearly wasn’t ready to move on.
 
But what else could she do?
 
Wallow for an indeterminate amount of weeks?
 
No, thank you.

There was one big difference between the two of them, however.
 
Mike would have sex with her if she dropped enough hints.
 
She’d considered it too, for about three full seconds.
 
But then she pictured Adam lying in bed with her.
 
She pictured his grin and his flushed cheeks after she’d taught him how to pleasure her.

Any thoughts of sleeping with Mike died.
 
She wouldn’t be able to go through with it.
 
No matter how long it’d been since she last had sex.

He had kissed her though.
 
He walked her up to her apartment after dinner, clearly hoping for an invitation to come inside.
 
Christie merely smiled at him and thanked him for a good night.
 
He told her he’d call with a charming grin and then he’d leaned forward.

Mike was a good kisser.
 
Christie could appreciate his technique.
 
But it felt different and it felt dirty.
 
And not the good kind.

After another whispered goodbye, she locked the door behind her, knowing that if Mike ever called, she would probably have to say no to another date.
 
Maybe before Adam she would’ve jumped at the chance.
 
But not now.
 
Adam had fucking
ruined
her.

But now, it was Wednesday night, the night after her date with Mike.

It was also Adam’s birthday.

Livy had invited her and Kate over for a girls’ night, since Alex, Luke, and Caleb were taking Adam out.

Supposedly, it was also the night Adam wanted to get laid.
 
Bitterness had been souring her mood all day.
 
Her and the girls were already through a bottle of wine and were well on their way through bottle number two.

Christie had a light buzz going, so she was relaxed.
 
But that was all she wanted since later tonight she fully intended to drive back to her apartment and snuggle in her own bed.
 
And possibly have another good cry.
 
She didn’t want Livy and Kate around for
that
.

“Did they say where they were going?” she couldn’t help but ask in the middle of
Pride & Prejudice
.
 
The one with Matthew instead of Colin.
 
It was one of her favorites, but right now, she couldn’t focus on it.
 
She couldn’t even appreciate the breathtaking landscapes or how handsome Matthew looked with his broody frown and piercing blue eyes.
 
Something was definitely wrong with her.

Kate hesitated.

“Spit it out,” Christie told her.

“Luke said something about…a strip club.”
 
Christie’s mouth pinched.
 
Quickly, Kate said, “But I think he was just joking.
 
He likes to mess around with me.”

“Or he knows Adam wants to lose his virginity,” Christie said, her mood fouling once again.
 
Her chest felt like it’d been ripped to shreds just thinking about her Adorable Adam with a stripper.

“It’s illegal for the dancers to have sex with the men, Christie,” Livy pointed out.
 
“So don’t worry about it.”

“Oh, like it doesn’t still happen in some of the seedier clubs?” she snapped.

“And do you honestly think they’d bring Adam to a seedy strip club?”

“Again, if they wanted to get him laid, then yes.”

Livy sighed, giving up, knowing Christie was not in the mood to be reasoned with.
 
Kate wisely chose to stay silent.
 
They all returned their attention to the movie, but Christie blankly stared at Alex’s huge flatscreen.
 
Leaning forward, she snagged her glass of water from the coaster on the coffee table and took a deep chug.
 
She wanted to get home sooner rather than later.
 
It wouldn’t take her long to shake off her buzz.

*
   
*
   
*

“Stop moping around, man,” Luke told him, “Before I buy you a lap dance.”

Luke would do it anyway.

“Does Kate know you’re here?” he shot back, gloomily looking around the club.
 
He’d been to strip clubs on a couple of birthday occasions for his friends, but this one was surprisingly nice.
 
It was upscale with cushioned black and red leather booths, seductive purple and blue lighting, and a well-stocked bar.
 
The waitresses weren’t dressed in skimpy, midriff baring outfits, but rather, tight black pants and a white silk blouse.
 
The bartenders were all well-built men, who seemed to also act as bodyguards as their eyes constantly scanned the club, looking for trouble.

Adam usually didn’t like strip clubs.
 
The ones he’d been to in the past were sketchy, where the women were desperate and the men were out of control.
 
Here, the dancers put on a tastefully erotic show and the men seemed to be mostly business men, in suits and slacks, coming here to unwind after their day.

In the back of his mind, Adam wondered if Christie would be bothered by his coming here.

The answer was
probably
, so he was uncomfortable being here.

“Kate knows I wouldn’t do anything.
 
My wild and crazy days are over,” Luke informed him with a shit-eating grin.
 
Adam rolled his eyes as Alex laughed.
 
Caleb, looking surly, didn’t say anything.
 
“
You
, however, are not shackled down.
 
So, I’ll live vicariously through you.
 
Namely, by buying you a lap dance.”
 
One of the dancer approached their open booth, only dressed in a thong and high heels.
 
No bra.
 
“Oh,
wait
.
 
I already did.”

“You motherfucker,” Adam said through gritted teeth.

“It’s his birthday,” Luke told the girl with a smile.
 
“And he’s a little shy.”

Adam’s face flushed, wanting nothing more than to kill Luke at this very moment.
 
Out of the corner of his eye, Alex looked on, fighting a smile.
 
Caleb simply shook his head.

“My favorite,” the dancer purred.
 
She was blonde, with pert breasts, and a slender waist.
 
But what made Adam pause was that she smelled like jasmine.
 
Christie’s scent.
 
It was more overpowering than Christie’s, but if Adam closed his eyes…he could almost picture her.

The dancer straddled him without delay.
 
It was hard to see around her breasts, so Adam simply shut his eyes.
 
He didn’t want this.
 
He vowed he would punch Luke before the night was out.

She started grinding into him, rhythmically moving her hips in a sensual glide.
 
He breathed in deeply, filling his nostrils with jasmine, then slowly released it.
 
He did this over and over until she was done.
 
Only then did he open his eyes.
 
As she sauntered off, throwing him one last flirty look, Adam knew that he’d made a mistake.
 
When Christie told him she was falling in love with him, he should’ve kissed her and not pushed her away.

Adam took off his glasses with the pretense of cleaning them.
 
He wanted the world to blur, just for a little bit.
 
The lights softened into orbs, but the colors shone bright.
 
He didn’t want to see his friends, he didn’t want to see anything, he just wanted to
feel
.

Luke was talking.
 
“See?
 
That wasn’t so bad?”

“You’re an asshole,” Adam retorted, half-heartedly.
 
He knew Luke had good intentions.
 
But how Kate handled him all the time, Adam would never know.

“I’m just helping you out, man.
 
You’ve been down all evening.
 
Kate told me you and Christie aren’t
together
anymore.
 
And since she’s moving on, I figured you need to too.”

Something he said made Adam mash his glasses back onto his face.
 
“What the fuck are you talking about?”

Luke looked confused, ignoring the warning looks Alex was flashing his way.
 
“So, you two are still together?”

“No, what the fuck do you mean Christie’s moving on?”

“Luke,” Alex cautioned.

“What?” Adam asked, his heart racing.
 
“If you guys don’t tell me, I swear—“

“Fuck, just tell him,” Caleb murmured grumpily.

“Kate said something about Christie going out on a date.
 
With the guy she met at the bar last Friday.
 
His name is Mike,” Luke added, as though Adam gave two fucks what his name was.
 
He’d rather
not
know his name.

“The Asshole?” Adam said, jealousy climbing in his veins.
 
Fuck!

“Yeah.
 
Sure.”

He was reeling.
 
Why didn’t he think she’d move on?
 
Why was this coming as a shock to him?
 
Christie was beautiful, sexy, and she could flirt like a champ.
 
Any guy would kill to have her.
 
Did he honestly think she’d wait around?

Anger lit him up from the inside.
 
Angry at himself for pushing Christie away, angry that she sprung the ‘I’m falling in love with you’ thing onto him, angry that he was too cowardly to take what he wanted for once, angry that he still felt guilty, angry that he’d even asked her to do the stupid lessons in the first place.

When had everything become so fucked up?

He was a mess.

But he knew he was the world’s biggest idiot.

Adam stood up.
 
“I have to go.”

“What?” Luke asked.
 
“It’s your birthday!”

Alex was studying him with a knowing look.
 
“Let him go,” he told Luke.
 
“We can celebrate another time.”

And from Caleb came, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Me too
, he thought.

TWENTY-SEVEN

Christie was working on her painting.
 
She was touching up the dark sky, adding in more shades of grey and taupe.
 
She’d left Livy’s almost an hour ago.
 
She thought she’d be tired, but when she stepped into her apartment and saw her studio, she knew it would calm her mind before she headed to bed.

Her hand faltered on the canvas when a knock sounded at her door, startling her.
 
The brush made a smudge she hadn’t intended to make and she was too distracted by it to even think consider that it was odd someone would be coming to her apartment at this time of night.

But, as though her body already knew who it was, she drifted over to the door and opened it.

She peered out…and her treacherous heart started doing backflips.