Believing Lies (16 page)

Butterflies, the beautiful kind, took flight in my stomach. However, I played off the tenderness of the moment by shrugging as if it was nothing and switching the focus of the conversation to him. “Your turn. What do you want to be when you stop being a space cowboy?”

“A high school math teacher,” he replied nonchalantly. “No real reason besides I like math.”

“I didn’t know you like math . . . I don’t believe that’s the only reason you want to be a teacher.”

“I like math because I’m good at it, and it was accounting or teaching. I think I could handle teenagers better than I could handle receipts and paperwork.”

“I think you’ll make a great teacher,” I told him sincerely. “But you’ll have to fight the teenage girls off with a stick,” I added, smiling coyly.

He laughed, and we both ended the conversation, so we could keep eating our now slightly-cold food. When we were too full to eat another bite, Adam took the leftovers to the fridge and the dishes into the kitchen. I laid lengthwise on the couch, my upper body propped up with a throw pillow, relishing in post sweet and sour bliss. Adam came back to the couch, picked up my legs, sat down, and placed them on his lap.

“What’s the real reason I’m graced with your company tonight? Were you not having a fun enough time at the bar?”

“Nah, the bar was fun, but I got hungry and knew you were home. I didn’t want to eat alone.”

“Awww . . . Nice try. I think someone really did miss me,” I chimed.

“Keep telling yourself that.” He held up two fortune cookies. “I found these in the bottom of the bag.”

“I can’t believe I forgot about the cookies. They’re my favorite part,” I told him with a small grin.

“Mine too,” he said, grinning back. He let me choose which one I wanted. “Open them together on the count of three?”

“Yep.” It was all I could muster.
He wanted to open his cookie at the same time
. To most people that would be insignificant and completely trivial. But to me, it was monumental. That was the exact moment I realized that I didn’t just like him . . . I had actually started to fall in love with him.
How did I let this happen?
I scrambled to make a quick assessment of my feelings. I wasn’t fully in love with him, that much I was sure of. But I was getting there, and that was an extremely slippery slope to tread.
I should’ve seen this coming
. I had chalked it all up to sexual attraction, friendship, playful banter, and harmless flirting. But in the back of my mind, I’d known there was more to it, slowly manifesting until this moment when everything crashed to the forefront of my thoughts.

Adam waved his hand in front of my face. “Hello? You still there?”

“Yeah. Sorry. Just spaced out, I guess.”
Don’t act differently. Don’t let him know anything has changed. Remember that to him nothing has changed. Pull it together, Sienna!

Adam counted backwards from three, unaware of my epiphany. We tore open the thin plastic wrapper and cracked open the cookies at the exact same time before pulling out the tiny slips of paper. “What does yours say?” he asked, without looking at his first.

I read my fortune aloud.

“
What’s meant to be will always find a way
.”

My lips curled into a small smile. “I like my fortune.”

“What if what’s meant to be ends up not being something good?” Adam asked quietly, almost as if he didn’t want me to hear the question.

I furrowed my brow. “You shouldn’t be so pessimistic.”

“You’re right,” he said apologetically.

“I’m always right,” I stated matter-of-factly.

“Pshhh. Now you’re just being delusional.”

“Whatever. What does yours say?”

Adam looked at his fortune and read it aloud.

“
If you desire something you’ve never had, you will have to do something you’ve never done
.”

“I like your fortune too,” I said. His face was unreadable. “What? You don’t like it?”

“Sure. It’s fine.”

I nudged him with my foot. “It’s
fine
? Come on, Adam. There has to be something you desire that you’ve never had,” I taunted playfully.

His face paled, and he hesitated. “Not until recently.”

“What is it?” I asked, my curiosity peaked.

He grinned, but it didn’t touch his eyes. “Maybe I’ll tell you someday, but not tonight.”

“Okay,” was my only reply. I was disappointed, but I didn’t want to push him to share something with me if he didn’t want to. I decided it would be best to just shift the conversation. “Thank you for bringing food,” I said, flashing a small smile. “It was really nice of you. I’m glad you came over.”

A gloriously handsome smile appeared. “You’re welcome.” He paused, and I saw him glance at the clock. “It’s getting pretty late,” he observed.

“I’m not tired,” I answered, but then it dawned on me that maybe that was his way of hinting he wanted to leave. “But I understand if you’re tired and want to go,” I amended.

“No, I’m not tired.”

“Good. Do you want to watch a movie?”

He shook his head. “No. Keep talking to me.”

“Um . . . What about?”

“I don’t care. Anything. You choose.”

An idea popped into my head. “I get to choose? Well, in that case, since I have you here all to myself, I think we should play a little game.”

“A little game?” His voice was suggestive, and one side of his mouth turned up in a provocative smile.

I gently kicked his thigh. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Korbell.”

“You know my mind lives in the gutter, Princess.” He winked.

“Oh, I know. Anyway, when Sophie and I were little, we would play in the tree house in her backyard. Lots of nights, we’d camp out in it, and while we laid in our sleeping bags, we’d play a game we called Questions . . . We were like ten or something, so our skills at naming a game were pretty weak.”

“I’ll say.”

I kicked his thigh again, and he chuckled. “So, as the title suggests, we would just take turns asking each other questions.

He looked skeptical “What kind of questions? As in ‘what’s your favorite color?’”

“Purple, but no, not those kind of questions—creative questions. Usually we make them funny or completely random. No serious or sad ones allowed. Well, what do you think? Want to try?”

“This seems like a bad idea,” he stated, his voice low.

I felt like a fool and also a tad hurt.
Of course a silly childhood game is a stupid idea. He’s a sexy, grown man for God’s sake, not a little girl
. “You’re right. It was just a thought.” I used a false upbeat tone. “Are you sure you don’t want to watch a movie?”

He started to rub my foot.
Oh sweet baby Jesus!
Heat ran up my legs, and my whole body hummed. I didn’t know how to react, so I acted as if I wasn’t affected at all. I bit the inside of my mouth to keep myself from making a noise as he kneaded my foot.

“I don’t want to watch a movie. I want to play Questions. I didn’t mean that I thought the game itself was a bad idea. I meant that I thought us playing the game together was a bad idea.”

“Then why play it?” I asked quickly before biting my mouth again as I relished in the feeling of his hands on my foot.

“I changed my mind. You go first.”

I tried to hide my delight that he was willing to play my dumb game. “Um . . . If you could have just one super power, what would it be and why?”

“Lots of possibilities for that one, Princess.” He thought for a little while. “The ability to look through clothing,” he said, staring straight at my boobs while trying to keep a serious face. His smile broke free when my chest started to shake from the laughter I was attempting to contain.

“I should have known you’d say something like that. Your turn.”

“What to ask? What to ask?” He set down my foot and picked up the other one. Starting the massage again on my other foot sent another jolt of heat through me.
Great, now I’m turned on even more
. “This is harder than I thought it’d be,” Adam said. “I can’t think of one . . . Hold on, I got it. If you were going to be put on a deserted island, and you could only bring three things, what would you bring? Oh, before you answer, you can’t bring food, water, or anything used to start a fire.” The look on his face said that he was very satisfied with his question. He was still massaging my foot, and it was very distracting, but in a good way. When I didn’t answer after a a minute, he said “Come on. Any day now.”

“You’re so impatient sometimes,” I chided. “Alright, I’m ready to answer. Gasoline, a helicopter, and a manual on how to operate it.”

“That’s cheating.”
“Nope. Your question said I was going to be
put
on a deserted island. You never said I’d be
stranded
on it.”

He stared at me transfixed. “Holy shit. I think you’re a super-genius.”

“A super-genius, huh? Wow. I never expected to hear you call me that.”

“Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Too late,” I said smugly. “My turn now.” I thought for a moment. “If you could buy anything in the entire world, what would it be? Keep in mind that I said
anything
. Money, laws, and plain old reality do not matter. You could buy a dragon if you wanted.”

Slowly, he moved his hands from my foot to my ankle as he thought about the question. I wished he’d answer soon because I felt as if I would literally combust from the pleasure.
Slippery slope indeed. More like a treacherous mountain
.

“A dragon would be badass, but I’d buy the largest mansion for Conner’s parents, equipped with staff and lots of vehicles. Plus, I’d get a shit-ton of gold bars and bury them in a secret bunker in the backyard, so they’d be set for life.”

“I like the bunker idea. Why Conner’s family?”

“I can’t answer that. Your rules said no serious or sad questions.” Despite the grin on his face, his eyes were sad.

I didn’t press. “Fair enough. Your turn.”

“If you could buy Sophie anything at all, what would it be?”

“You’re kind of piggy-backing off of my question, but I’ll allow it. I’m going to cheat a little and pick two things. A never ending supply of red lipstick and a personal lap dance from Channing Tatum.” Adam laughed at my answer. “She’s always had huge celebrity crush on him, but after seeing
Magic Mike
, she keeps begging me to go to a male strip club with her.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Before you even get started, no, I’m not going with her. Guys covered in baby oil and wearing banana hammocks aren’t my thing.”

“Then I guess I won’t be needing baby oil anytime soon,” he teased. “Too bad. I look damn good in oil.” Adam stripping down did paint a nice mental picture.

“You’re arrogant,” I pointed out.

“You’re blushing,” he shot back.
Crap
. “I like making you blush.” I blushed even more.
Double crap
. “Hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to tell Conner about this one. He’s so whipped by your cousin, I bet he’ll strip for her.”

“Oh no, mental image. TMI,” I said while laughing. “Okay, okay, enough with the stripper talk. My turn now.”

“Hit me with your best shot,” he challenged.

Adam took the backs of his fingers and ran them along the arch of my foot, causing my brain to short circuit. “Um, I’m actually running out of questions.”
No, you’re getting too worked up with his hands on you to think of one
. Unable to come up with something original, I asked a question that Sophie and I used a lot during this game. “If you could do any one thing, without any repercussions at all, what would it be?”

He stopped rubbing my foot and gently laid both of my feet on the floor, in turn causing me to sit up a bit.
What the heck?
He looked at me, and I could feel the full force of his gaze. “Anything at all? Zero repercussions?”

I was baffled by the intensity I saw in his eyes. “Uh-huh,” I squeaked.

Ever so slowly, he crawled over me until his body hovered over mine, caging me under him. Keeping his eyes locked on mine, he lowered his face and gently placed the softest kiss on my lips. My eyes fluttered shut. I was absolutely stunned, every nerve in me tingling. I felt his tongue brush my bottom lip, and I slightly parted my lips in encouragement. He kept the kiss soft as his tongue coaxed my mouth open. I kissed him back, and soon we were engulfed in the sweetest kiss imaginable. A slow dance of give and take. Before the kiss could deepen further, he pulled away, and I lazily opened my eyes. He searched my face for only a moment before standing up. As if a rope was connecting us, I sat up.

“I don’t know why I did that.” His voice was strained. “It’s late. I’m going to get going. I’ll see you later.”
He was leaving
. Disappointment at the thought raced from my head straight to my stomach. I couldn’t stand the thought of him walking out the door.

“Stay,” I heard my own voice breath out the single word. His eyes shot to mine and locked with a mixture of piercing intensity and complete disbelief.
Holy shit, what am I doing?
I’d only just tonight admitted to myself that I was falling for him.
Am I ready to take a leap like this?
I knew it was nonsensical, but it felt as if the reason I’d never slept with anyone else was because I’d been waiting for Adam.

He looked at the ceiling. I’d begun to notice it was his telltale move when he was avoiding something or concentrating. Although it was probably only seconds, it felt as if hours passed before he finally brought his head down and faced me, though he avoided any eye contact.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll sleep on the couch,” he flippantly replied. “Sophie is staying with Conner, so it’s probably best that you aren’t home alone.”
He’s playing it off—giving me an out
.

“I didn’t mean on the couch, but you already knew that.” My tone was calm, but I could barely keep my voice from trembling.

“That’s not why I came here tonight.” He closed his eyes and exhaled. “I shouldn’t have kissed you.” He finally looked straight at me, and I could see his face was as strained as his voice. “Please, just go to bed.” He gave me a small, forced smile. “I’ll see you when you wake up, Sienna.”

A tsunami of embarrassment and rejection washed over me, threatening to drown me.
He called me Sienna. He’s never addressed me by my name before
. The dynamic of our relationship was altered.