Adam, Enough Said (This Can't be Happening) (21 page)

It was almost ten o’clock at night and Adam looked miserable as he walked into the living room and straight toward me.

“I gotta go, Mia.”
He cupped my cheek with his hand and bent to kiss me, but I jerked my head back.

"Freckles
, you gonna tell me what the fuck is goin' on?" He looked down at me sitting on the sofa with narrowed eyes, a scowl and a muscle ticking in his jaw. The sight of him made me want to cry again, but I couldn't give anything away. I'd never been much of a crier anyway, and I didn't know if it was that I’d just surpassed my first trimester, but I was feeling less…hormonal.

Now, all I
felt was rage, because three days out of the last six, Adam had to work his “extra job” - an extra job that had him coming home and showering straight away. Probably to wash off whatever bitch he’d just been with. He’d pull his ring from his jean pocket - when he should still be in uniform - when he thought I wasn’t looking. I hadn’t seen any more lipstick stains, but they weren’t necessary. He acted plenty guilty enough by suddenly being excessively interested in me and my baby... that’s right…
my baby
. Fuck Adam.

He kept apologizing for distancing himself from me in the very beginning,
apologizing for not giving me a big wedding or taking me on a honeymoon. He kept begging me to never leave him and telling me he was going to make things right between us again, but then he’d leave for his “extra job”.

And I was going to let him live with his “extra job” for the rest of his miserable fucking life.

I was leaving Adam.

I’d just been waiting for the right time.
I had to see him cheating with my own eyes, because I had to know, deep in my soul, that I was doing the right thing. And tonight was the night.

"What do
you mean?" I asked nonchalantly, disregarding his frustration, because he was an asshole and didn’t deserve an explanation.

"
Mia," he warned. "You know exactly what I mean... you hardly say ten words to me in a day, you flinch every time I touch you... I just tried to kiss you, you wouldn’t let me… and why the fuck is Eric here dressed like a goddamn ninja? All black doesn't suit him," he snapped, throwing a glare in Eric's direction. And he was right of course. All black didn't suit Eric. With his white-blond hair, pale skin, big blue eyes and leaner build, he sort of looked more like a celebrity stalker than a ninja, but I supposed it was a perfect fit for the night.

“Shut up, asshole,” Eric barked and stood. “
I don’t know how she puts up with your shit. She doesn’t deserve it and you sure as hell don’t deserve her…. Mia, I’ll be in the kitchen.”

Oh
my God!

“
What the hell has gotten into everybody around here?” Adam asked the room, still staring after Eric’s retreating back.

I shrugged.

“Well?” he asked, finally looking at me again.

“Well what?”

“Why won’t you kiss me?” he demanded to know and I had to think fast.

I touched my lips. "I think
I feel a cold sore coming on,” I muttered against my fingers and he stared at me like I just landed from outer space.

"Are you fuckin' shittin
g me?" he asked, irritated.

I shook my head.
"No, I'm not
shitting
you. I think it's going to be a bad one. I'd really hate for you to get it too, you know, it's something a concerned, pregnant
wife
should care about... giving her husband a fucking infection!" I couldn’t contain my wrath any longer.

I heard his teeth grinding and he looked away.
He swiped a hand over his head and down his face, before looking at me again. Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me off the couch. I glared, tugged on my hand and he dropped it, but only to wrap his arms around my waist.

“You’re mad at me,” he stated softly, but it wasn’t a question.

Still, I answered, “Killing.”

He closed his eyes and inhaled
deeply, before opening them. His bright green eyes bore into mine. “I’m trying to make things right between us, but you’re making it hard for me, Freckles. I can’t read your mind and you won’t talk to me.”

“Trust me, you don’t want
me to.”

He sighed.
“Is it the baby? Are you not feeling good? Are you tired --”

His care was sweet, but it was painful
and it was too late. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” I cut him off.

“
Are you leaving me?” he asked in a tortured whisper, and I slammed my eyes shut. The fear in his voice was excruciating, but what hurt the most was that I couldn’t answer him, and I was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

His arm around me constricted painfully tig
ht. He dropped his forehead to my shoulder and I heard him breathe me in. I hugged him back and buried my face against his neck because I couldn’t resist. I loved him with everything in me… I always would and nothing would change that.

“
Don’t leave me,” he pleaded. “You’re my heart, Baby, and I need you to survive. I know I screwed things up between us, but I’m trying to fix it… I’m dying to fix it, but you’re not letting me.” He lifted off my shoulder and framed my face with his hands. Tears filled my eyes at the sincerity in his. “I hate this job, Mia. If I hadn’t already agreed to work tonight I would stay with you so we can work this out… but after tonight, I promise, Baby, no more. Just give me tonight. Promise me you’ll be here when I come home.”

I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t make a promise I wasn’t sure I could keep. I wanted so desperately to be wrong. There was a small piece of me that refused to believe he would cheat, but the signs were all there and I couldn’t ignore them. I had too much pride.

But I knew Adam wouldn’t let me go if I didn’t agree, so I did the only thing I could do… I nodded.

Two Hours Later

Mia Bryant

“Kenny, are you sure he’s still inside?” Eric asked as I turned into the parking lot of a strip club named Hunnies. The name made me throw up a little in my mouth, as did the neon sign that hung over the front of the building; a bottle of - wait for it -
honey
dripping onto a something pink that looked a lot like the tip of a tongue surrounded by pink lips.

My hands were
shaking. My face was on fire. My blood was boiling. My heart was pounding and I felt nauseous. This night was going to end badly. I knew it the second I parked, turned off the truck, and lightening flashed across the sky.

“Kenny said Adam’s been in there
over an hour and hasn’t come out yet,” Eric said, the sound of flipping his cell shut at my side brought me to attention and I faced him.

God, I loved
Eric and Kenny. Eric and I had tried to follow Adam the last night he worked late, but we hadn’t really thought it through. Adam had called my cell five minutes into our pursuit wondering where Eric and I were going and why we were out on the streets so late. Adam had spotted us and our plan had been foiled.

Bastard…

So I’d quickly gone back to the drawing board and came up with Plan B. Kenny would wait down the street from our house in his car and follow Adam to his final destination where Eric and I would then swoop in.

And it worked.

And now we’re at a fucking strip club.

“
Mia, baby love, you don’t have to go in. I can go in and tell you what I see. Maybe even take a picture with my phone as evidence?” Eric offered, but I shook my head.

“
Thank you, Eric, but no. I have to see for myself. I won’t be able to live with doubts.” I sighed and opened the door. “Let’s just get this over with,” I finished and jumped out of the truck.

As we walked to the front door, I
looked down at myself feeling absolutely ridiculous in the clothes Eric had bought for me. I was pregnant, wearing a skintight black leather miniskirt, a flesh hugging black, low cut tank and black thigh high, high heeled boots.

I looked half stri
pper, half biker chick, but I figured I had to fit in and couldn’t very well wear jeans and flip flops.

Luckily, Eric knew my every size and thankfully, even at four months,
I wasn’t showing yet.

My makeup was caked on to hide my freckles and I had my hair teased and pulled into a ponytail near the crown of my head with little fly-aways hugging my face… that way Adam wouldn’t see red coming from a mile away.
If the lighting was dark enough inside - which I suspected it would be - my hair would look light brown.

As soon as I walked through the
velvet, yes velvet, front door Eric held open for me, the lyrics from Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me” assailed my ears and my nerves soared.

Shit just got real.

“Sorry, babe, no women allowed inside,” a young, beautiful, big boobed, black haired woman snapped at me as soon as I walked to the counter to pay my admission fee and I glanced at Eric who looked completely baffled.

“What do you mean no women allowed inside?
It’s a strip club for
men
,” Eric asked curiously, enunciating the word, and big boobs glanced his way.

“Unless you’re a dancer, no women allowed inside.”

“Well I wanna dance,” I thought fast and big boobs faced me again with a scowl.

She looked me up and down. “
You
wanna dance,” she asked, like it was an insane idea and
that
pissed me right the fuck off, but pissing me off served to sooth my rattled nerves.

“Do I look like I’m here to play checkers?” I snapped back
and watched as she narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. I wasn’t dancing, but I had to get inside and if this was the only way in, so be it.

Then I watched as big boobs
picked up the phone and dialed. A second longer and she started her one-sided conversation. “Richard, got a girl up here, says she wants to dance… yes…” Her frown deepened. “How the hell was I supposed to know that…? No, bitch called in a-fucking-gain… All right…” Her eyes gave my body another once over. “Yeah, she’s small… Short… Big tits… All black, mini-skirt, red hair… All right… I’ll send her in.” Big boobs slammed the phone down.

“Richard
, the owner, said he’ll check you out. Got a girl that cancelled and we gotta fill her spot. He said to wait for him at the bar, but your friend here’s gotta pay... twenty bucks.”

S
he held her hand out in Eric’s direction.

Oh shit!

I was going to have to find Adam fast.

I am not freaking dancing.

I glanced at Eric who handed her the money and I muttered, “Thanks,” just before we walked through the black curtain and straight into a wife’s nightmare.

My feet moved
of their own accord, because my mind was too busy being over-stimulated. It was dim, the only colored lighting came from the stage where my eyes were riveted on a topless woman who had just finished a dance to Motley Crue’s “Girls, Girls, Girls”.

I jumped at the popping sound the lights made the moment they flashed off.

And then Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer” started playing in perfect beat... bump, thump, bump, thump, bump, thump… and a blonde woman in a black patent leather bodice and matching thong and heels glided onto the stage and started dancing in faultless rhythm.

Butterflies filled my stomach and I was spellbound.
It was strange, but I thought her dance looked absolutely beautiful. Had this been any other time, I’d have asked Eric for some dollars, but time was of the essence so I hurried and asked, “Do you see him?”

I saw Eric scanning the room and so was I
.

Nothing.

I kept looking around, at all the faces of the men whose eyes were engrossed in watching the woman on stage, but none of them were Adam.

I turned, and that’s when
I spotted the stairs hidden in the back. My eyes lifted… balcony.

I had no doubt he was up there, but I scanned the room once more
just to make sure.

No Adam.

When I looked to the stairs once more, I saw the bouncer.

“Eric,
he’s up there, I just know it, but there’s a bouncer.” I pointed to the stairs and when Eric looked, I saw his shoulders slump. He stayed quiet a moment before he faced me.

“Okay. I have an idea. I’m not sure if it’ll work, but you’ll have to play alon
g,” he said.

Next thing I kne
w, I was climbing the stairs behind Eric. The bouncer had also been so engrossed with the woman onstage that when Eric told him he wanted a lap dance from me in particular, the bouncer hadn’t even glanced in my direction.

But it also might have been from the one hundred dollar bill Eric slipped in his hand that I never saw happen.