Breaking the Rules (14 page)

“Not a problem, son. You've done a
n impressive job with this proposal.” Mister Hubbard stood from the long conference table to shake Adam's hand. “I have to run this past the board, but I feel confident we'll have an answer for you by early next week.”

“Thank you, sir. I look forward to hearing from you.” Adam let out a deep breath as he walked out of the conference room. For a minute, he'd nearly let his personal life jeopardize what could be a career-changing deal.
The funny thing was that even though it was a major deal, he didn’t care. Moving up in the company no longer held the weight it once had for him.

As soon as Adam was through the TSA checkpoint at San Francisco International, he reached for his phone. If everything went according to plan, Adam would be home in just over seven hours. After five rings, Carly's phone went to voicemail. “Hey, Peanut. I'm just about to get on the plane. I'll call you when I land, but I was hoping you could come out to my place for the night. I really want to spend some time with you before you go home.”

Once the plane reached cruising altitude, Adam turned on his computer to check out the current project bid board for work. He had become obsessed with looking at the board, hoping his seniority would help him find his way back to the only coast he wanted to be on. Unfortunately, the senior manager who made the final decision was convinced the company needed Adam in California, where they were trying to gain ground against some other
leading manufacturers.

Somewhere over Wyoming, Adam gave up on trying to work and closed his eyes. It was going
to be another long night; one he hoped was full of more passion than fighting. Even in his sleep, Adam found himself thinking of Carly. His mind drifted to seeing Carly standing on his front porch, waiting for him to come home. Her being there made it a home, not just a house that he'd gotten an excellent deal on.

When the first plane landed in Minneapolis, Adam turned on his phone to see if Carly had responded. There were
three text messages waiting for him.

Carly: I'll come out as soon as Gran goes to bed. I miss you.

The last sentence made his heart leap. He'd been certain things were falling apart between them, but if that was the case, he couldn't imagine she'd have said something like that.

Micah: Pool at The Oasis tonight. Will you be back in time? We're short one for
league.

Julia: Micah wants you to shoot. Can you?

This was exactly why Adam didn't want to keep hiding things from those around him. If they spent the evening at The Oasis drinking, there was no way he could guarantee the truth wasn't going to come out.

Adam: Hey, Peanut. I'll be home in about two hours
. Micah wants me to shoot pool league tonight. Is that okay?

Part of him wanted to go home, curl up in bed with Carly and not come out until it was time for her to leave for the airport, but that would raise red flags. Yes, Micah knew the truth and would more than likely cover for them, but he couldn't bring himself to keep lying to Julia. They were just starting to get along again and he liked having his
big sister in his life. If she found out that he hid the truth about something as crucial in his life as falling in love, he knew it would do irreparable damage.

Carly: Yeah, that's fine. Will we have time to talk before?

Adam: Not much, but some. And we'll talk after. Okay?

Carly: Sounds good. Are you hungry? I can head to your place and make dinner before you get home.

Adam: Good plan. See you soon.

Feeling slightly better about life at home, Adam turned off his phone as he handed over his boarding pass to the flight attendant. Somehow, they'd find a way to get through this.

Before Adam reached the front door of his country home, he could smell dinner. The peace he felt knowing someone who cared about him was cooking was foreign. It was also something he could
grow used to in a hurry, a fact that was more than a little terrifying given the fact that Carly would be going home in the morning. The couple of days he spent in California while she was in Wisconsin made him certain of what he wanted. The problem was he was starting to feel like Carly's dirty little secret with how adamant she was that they not tell anyone they were together.

If Adam had his way, one of them would relocate so they could be together all the time. It was something he'd been thinking about since before Carly had even left New York. He hated not knowing when he'd get to fall asleep with his arms wrapped around her again. He didn't like knowing she was alone in such a
large city, worrying about whether or not she was walking out stage doors into dark alleys. She had told him she didn't, but on three separate occasions, he'd caught her doing just that. Sure, she made friends on any show she worked on and had a core group of people she hung out with, but she was still alone as far as he was concerned.

When she told him that Tatyana was moving out, it gave him one more reason to worry. With the show at the Schumann having closed two weeks ago, Carly was between jobs.
With most of the winter shows already fully staffed, Carly would be in the position where she would be living off her savings, something that had her stressing out before she knew she would be responsible for the full rent until she found a new roommate. If she were here with him, that wouldn’t be an issue because he could easily afford the mortgage, but he knew she would never allow him to help her with her rent.

“Honey, I'm home!” Adam's voice echoed through the great room as he dropped his suitcase beside the door.

“I'm out here,” Carly called back from the deck. As if weren’t amazing enough that she was making him dinner, she was actually grilling. This woman was seriously going to kill him if she kept it up. He opened the sliding screen door and the most beautiful woman in the world met him, holding an open bottle of beer out to him. Yep, he was a goner for sure.

“Damn, woman. You keep that shit up
, and I might tie you up in the guest room so you can't go home tomorrow.” Adam pulled Carly's back to his chest, holding her close. For the first time in his life, he had everything he needed to be happy: his girl, his house with an amazing view, a job he liked and was valued at, steak on the grill and a cold beer in his hand. Everything was perfect, but it wouldn't last for long.

Carly turned her head so
that she was looking at him. “You'd really do that just so you didn't have to get your own beer?” 

“You know me so well,” Adam chuckled. “It's a known fact that it always tastes better when someone else gets it.”

***

Carly smacked Adam's ass as he lifted the lid of the grill. It felt good being in his space with him. Scary good. The thing that worked for them was the times they were playful, not worrying about anything other than their time together.

“Come on, we need to hurry if you plan on making it down to The Oasis on time. I grabbed some potato salad to go with the steaks.” Carly ducked inside to get two place settings so they could eat on the deck. The evening was far too nice to be inside, and it was the last night she would be able to enjoy the clean air.

Dinner was quiet. Both of them knew they needed to have a long talk, but neither
was willing to say the first word. Adam grabbed the plates when they were finished eating, taking them inside and returning with two fresh beers.

“We really need to talk, Carly,” Adam said, slouching back in his seat. Carly could tell from the lack of eye contact
that this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation. “There's not much time before we have to leave, but I can't keep lying to Julia, and she's going to be there tonight.”

Carly pinned her arms across her stomach, praying the tightness she felt would ease. She didn't like being this way. She wanted, more than anything, to be a normal adult capable of having a normal relationship that might
someday lead to living happily-ever-after. “I know, Adam. I know it's not fair.” The words seemed to be stuck in her throat. Was this going to be the end? “I don't like it either; I just can't tell her yet, any more than you can keep hiding it from her.”

Adam looked at the ground, scrubbing the back of his neck with one hand while gripping his chair tightly with the other. This conversation was going downhill fast. “Does this mean anything to you?” Adam finally asked, waving his hand between the two of them.

“You know it does, baby.” Carly sniffled, willing the tears to stay at bay.

“Really? I
know
we mean something in your eyes?” Adam's voice was strained, the look in his eyes pained. “I have no clue what we mean to you. I thought I did, but the way you want to keep me hidden makes me wonder. Why can't everyone know about us? Why can't I tell my sister that I finally found someone who makes me happy? That even with as fucked up as our parents were, I managed to find what, for the most part, was a stable, healthy relationship.”

Whether he knew it or not, Adam cut to the core of the issue. He was willing to take a chance on a relationship in spite of his upbringing while Carly couldn't take that chance because of hers. “Maybe when we get home and have more time, I can explain it to you. Just please, give me tonight?”

***

As much as he didn't want to, Adam, once again, gave in to Carly. He knew that, push
come to shove, he always would cave to her, all because he finally had her and didn't want to lose the way he felt when she was happy. That meant he was now driving down the highway staring at Carly's taillights when he wanted to have her sitting in the seat next to him. If they weren't going to say anything about being together, they couldn't exactly drive into town in one car. Adam hoped they'd be able to finish off their games of pool quickly so he could get home and have a little more time with her.

“Hey man, didn't figure you'd make it,” Micah said, patting Adam's back as they walked into the bar. Micah nodded his head towards the bar, where Carly was ordering a drink and talking to Julia. “Figured you'd want to stay in.”

Adam sighed. “Nothing I want more, but she's still insisting that Julia not know about us. If I stayed home, my sister would have known something was off. It's pathetic enough that I'm lying to her; I'm not going to have you lying for me, too.”

When he looked to the bar again, Carly was looking in his direction nervously. In a twisted way, he liked seeing that she wasn't comfortable. Maybe putting her in the position where she had to face what she was demanding of him would make her see how unfair it was to everyone. He waved to her before turning his attention back to Micah.

“This is going to explode in your face. You know that, right?” Micah asked, raising one judgmental eyebrow. If anyone knew the consequences of keeping things from Julia, he was the resident expert. Then again, Julia seemed to be working on forgiving him, maybe Adam would be so lucky when she found out about his secret.

“Believe me, I've told Carly that, more than once,” Adam sighed. “But what am I supposed
to do? On one hand, I can put my foot down and insist that we come out of the closet, so to speak. That's going to cause an enormous fight that I seriously don't want to have. On the other hand, I keep lying to my sister, the same sister I'm just starting to get along with after your stupid ass essentially chased her out of town.”

Micah picked at the label on his beer bottle. “Glad I'm not in your shoes,” Micah laughed, patting Adam on the back before heading to the pool tables.

“Yeah, fuck you too,” Adam yelled playfully.

***

“So, are you looking forward to getting back to New York?” Julia asked as she and Carly watched their guys shoot pool.

Carly shrugged. “You know, I thought I would be suffering some serious withdrawals, being away from civilization and all, but there are things I'll miss about being home.” She carefully glanced in Adam's direction. It was harder than she thought it would be to keep her feelings hidden, and three Limon and Cokes weren't making it any easier. She was used to city bars, where
watered down drinks were normal. At The Oasis, they took their jobs seriously, and that apparently included making sure their patrons got their money's worth from the drinks.

Julia's back stiffened. “Really? Name three things,” she challenged. Carly and Julia
, as girls, seemed to be in a race to see who could get out of town quickest.

Carly tapped her fingernails on the Formica
tabletop. “Let's see... I'm going to miss Gran. She's getting older and I hate the thought of her being out there all alone.”

Julia laughed. “That doesn't count. Even if you were back in Wisconsin, do you mean to tell me you'd move in with her so
that she wasn't alone?”

“Maybe,” Carly admitted. Gran had been so g
enerous to her that she felt guilty that she wasn't home to return the favor. “Anyway, you wanted three things. I'll miss the quiet nights. I don't know if you know this, but it's
never
quiet in New York. Just about the time the city starts getting quiet, people are waking up for the day. And there aren't any stars at night there. It was nice to be able to sit outside and find constellations.”

“Are you still obsessed with Orion?” Julia asked, poking Carly's arm. When they were younger, Carly would rush outside every night to find her favorite constellation. Sometimes, she would sit on Gran's front porch, talking to Orion as if he could hear her.

“Shut up,” Carly laughed, tossing back the rest of her drink. “Just because my first love was a true Greek god doesn't mean you need to pick on me.”

Julia shook her finger in Carly's face. “Actually, Orion was a mortal, not a god.
Nice try, though.” The two girls laughed as they weaved their way to the bar.

Carly held up two fingers to the bartender, pointing at both of their glasses. She knew it wasn't a smart decision, but she wanted to get so obliterated she forgot about the fact that she was sitting across the table from the woman who had been her best friend for over twenty years and lying to her every minute.

“So, what about you,” Carly shouted as they turned back to head downstairs where they guys were finishing with pool league. “You think you're back to stay?”

Julia shook her head, almost violently. “No, I don't. I mean
, it’s fantastic being back, but I don't think it's permanent. It was never supposed to be,” Julia said sadly. She'd been through so much, between the divorce, moving home and then rekindling her relationship with Micah; Carly couldn't blame her for being a bit confused.

“What about Micah?” Carly asked, looking over her shoulder to where the men were filling out the post-match paperwork. “You two seem to be pretty hot and heavy now. Is he going to up and move with you when you go?”

Julia's entire body stiffened. “Hell no,” she said adamantly. “That's the thing, Carly. I've done everything in life for other people. I stayed in state for college because of Micah and we all know how well that turned out. I didn't get a job in my field when I graduated college because Josh didn't know where he was going to get a job and then, when he did, he was never contracted for long enough for me to establish myself, so I played the pretty little housewife.”

Carly snorted, immediately covering her face in embarrassment at the crude noise. “You, a housewife? Yeah, I don't see that working out. So then what?” Although they had spent some time together since Carly came back to town, this was the first time they were one-on-one. The more she heard, the more she hated the fact that she was getting on an airplane in less than twelve hours.

“Then he decided I wasn't exciting enough for him. He was screwing a co-worker for over a year before we split up.” Carly would have been pissed if that were her, but Julia sounded eerily okay with how things ended. “And then, I moved here to regroup. Annie's parents are renting me the house for cheap. If I didn't know better, I'd think Annie planned all of it, trying to get Micah and me together again.”

“Okay, so again, what happens with you and Micah when you leave?” It was a dirty trick, but
keeping Julia's focus on her relationship with Micah kept Carly from having a chance to slip up about her own love life. “If you say he's not going with you, are you going to do the long distance thing?”

Julia was quiet for a long time. They had talked at lunch about her fears surrounding Micah and Carly knew those weren't going to be easy to get past. At the same time, after seeing Micah and Julia together, anyone could see they were still just as in love as they had been in high school. The difference was they now had a ton of baggage following them around.

“I really don't know,” she finally admitted. “Sure, the sex is fantastic, and he's still one of my best friends, but there's so much history there, I'm not sure if I can ever get past it. And Caleb's a terrific kid and all, but tying myself to Micah means tying myself to Caleb, and that means tying myself to that psycho-bitch mother of his.”

“I'm sure you'll figure it out,” Carly assured her. If ever
two people were meant to be together, it was Micah and Julia.