Breaking the Rules (9 page)

“Hey Adam,” Micah called from the front door as Adam bounded across the lawn, “She's a good girl. Take care of her.”

“I plan to,” Adam sighed ducking into the driver's seat.

***

Being back in Brooklyn for the first time in years was nerve-wracking. It shouldn't be since this
always would be home, but it was. Of course, part of that had to do with the gorgeous blue-eyed man walking across the parking lot as Carly leaned against her rental car, wringing her hands.

“Hey Peanut,” Adam said wrapping both arms tightly around Carly's waist.
She looked around nervously, trying to make sure no one spotted them together. She knew if someone saw them, word would reach Julia before they could get to her house, and that was something Carly desperately wanted to avoid.

“Miss me much?” She laughed, placing a kiss on his cheek. It was nowhere near what she wanted to do
, but it was as far she was willing to go in public.

Adam nodded. “Only every day. Let's go get lunch and head back to the house before they
send a search party after me.”

They walked across the empty parking lot where they'd met
at Subtown, bumping shoulders and poking one another along the way. To anyone passing by, it would look like two friends enjoying each other's company rather than lovers who were trying to play it cool.

By the time they walked back to the cars, Carly regretted her insistence that they
keep their relationship a secret from everyone. It was going to be hard to live a lie when they were in public. Plus, they were adults. Why should it matter? Wouldn't their friends be happy that they'd found one another, and they were happy?

There were two things stopping Carly from telling Adam she'd changed her mind.

First, she wasn't going to turn into the girl who waffled on her decisions. Carly always stuck by what she said, whether it was right or wrong. To keep flip-flopping back and forth on something so significant would make Adam feel like she was unsure of everything.

Second, she wasn't going to risk a Julia meltdown if she found out. Julia had always been the most emotional of the trio of friends
, and she'd been through a world of shit since coming back to Wisconsin. Yes, there was the off chance that she would be happy for them, and it would take her mind off things, but that would be out of character for Julia.

No, they'd just have to find a way to get through the next few days stealing moments when they could get away from everyone. If she could find a way to make it work, maybe she'd stay at Adam's instead of at Gran's so she could still have the nights with her man.

“How's Jules holding up?” Carly felt like a crap friend for not asking sooner. She couldn't imagine what Julia was feeling.

Adam shrugged. “She's holding up, I guess. We talked for a while this morning
, and she's trying to downplay everything. I know that's crap because her eyes kept darting around like she was waiting for someone to jump out of the bushes.”

“I don't blame her. Are you sure we should go to the dance tonight?” The annual all-class reunion street dance was the entire reason Carly had come home. She didn't want to miss it
, but she would do whatever was best for her friend.

“Honestly, I don't think we should go.
It would be easy for Karen and whoever was with her to blend in with so many people there. Not knowing who was working with her makes it that much worse.”

“So why don't we all go out to dinner and chill for the night?” It wasn't ideal
, but Carly could tell Adam was going to be pissy all day if they didn't change their plans.

Adam shook his head. “Nope, I think if I bring it up again, Annie's gonna have my balls in a vice. She was pissed when she heard me and Micah talking about not going. We'll just have to make the best of it. You remember what Karen looks like, right?”

Carly nodded.

“Okay, well we're all gonna have to watch out for her. And I need you to stay rig
ht by Julia as much as possible unless Micah and Annie are right there. In that case, I fully expect you to sneak off and find me.”

Carly laughed at the thought of the two of them sneaking around like horny teens. The entire situation
honestly was quite ridiculous.

“You know, I never liked that woman, but I really can't stand her now.” It was selfish, but most of Carly's loathing of Karen centered
on the fact that she now had to pretend as if she was not falling head over heels for Adam. “How can one person screw things up for so many people for so long?”

Adam opened Carly's car door and then pulled her into his arms. “It'll be
okay. Hopefully we get a call from Eric Andrews saying they caught her, and there will be nothing to worry about.”

Before moving out of the way so she could get in her car, Adam leaned over to kiss her. The feel of his rough lips against hers drove out every thought from her mind. She didn't care who drove by. She didn't care who knew about them. She only knew she didn't want him to stop. Her lips parted allowing his tongue to dip into her mouth. When she felt him hesitate, Carly deepened the kiss. That was the moment she knew she was a goner. She was falling
absolutely in love with Adam Sanders.

Carly waited in the parking lot for five minutes before starting the car
so that no one would question her getting to Julia's house at the same time as Adam. That was a good thing because she needed a few minutes to compose herself after their kiss. Never before had a man affected her so deeply just by kissing her. Once her heart rate was back to normal, Carly turned the car out of the parking lot and headed down Main Street.

There was no time to think about Adam once Carly got to her friend's house. He ushered her up the stairs as soon as she walked through the door and
thrust her into what would prove to be the most challenging makeup job she'd ever attempted. She was thankful she made it a point to befriend as many people as possible behind the scenes on the shows she worked on because Vixen was one of the best when it came to covering marks and had been all too happy to teach Carly.

As she walked up the stairs, Carly reminded herself that she couldn't let on that she knew the entire situation already. As far as Annie and Julia knew, she was walking into a shit storm without warning. Although she had confidence in her acting skills, it wasn't something she liked doing in her personal life. She hated the fact that so much of her trip to Wisconsin was turning into one
huge lie.

“Holy shit, girl! What happened to you?” Carly hoped her reaction to seeing Julia was believable. She was genuinely shocked at just how
awful Julia's face looked so maybe there was enough true emotion that no one would question her.

Julia proceeded to ramble about what happened and how none of this would have happened if she hadn't moved back to Wisconsin. It killed Carly to hear the misery in her friend's voice.

As the conversation went on, Carly realized just how deep her lies this weekend were going to run. Annie and Julia had no clue that Carly knew everything about the attack, about Julia and Micah trying to decide if they were going to take another shot at their relationship or anything else.

“Wait a flipping minute
; Karen's back in town? You and Micah? What in the hell's been going on around here?”
Thank God I was a theater major. This weekend's going to suck big time.

Annie flopped back on the bed and started explaining everything that had happened since Julia had come back to town. Listening to her
talk made Carly homesick. She wished she lived closer and could be going through all of this with her friends. There was no one in New York that she could fall into such a comfortable conversation with, not even her roommate because she was rarely ever home. Now, Annie and Julia were reconnecting and Carly would eventually be the odd man out.

“Oh, and the best part,” Annie squealed, “that first night... Julia thought Caleb was yours!”

Carly's hands dropped to her sides in shock. “You what?” She wondered how in the world Julia could have thought she would have stooped so low as to sleep with Micah.

After what he did to Julia the summer after graduation, no amount of alcohol or desperation could have made her do something like that. And if she had, Julia should have known better than to think she would have abandoned her child the way her own parents had abandoned her. That would
never
happen.

Julia sheepishly explained how she came to her assumption about Micah and Carly
, and it made sense on some level. It was a bit odd to know that Gran took care of Caleb and had accepted him as her own grandchild. Now that Micah had grown up and proven himself a responsible adult, she was glad he was there to help Gran when she wasn't.

When Carly finished her makeup magic, no one could see the physical evidence of Julia's attack. She'd look
a little out of place wearing long sleeves since it was supposed to be a warm night, but she didn't have to worry about anyone seeing the bruises.

As Carly bounded down the staircase with her two best friends, it was easy to remember the things she loved about living in Brooklyn. If there were more opportunities here to
remain involved in theater and still pay the bills, then she could almost see herself drawn back to the small town life. As an eighteen year old, living in a town of five thousand seemed like a prison sentence. Now, there was something comforting about being home.

She knew she'd be lying to herself if she didn't admit Adam
also played a part in her feelings. Being in Wisconsin would mean more time with him. It would mean having a better idea of when she would see him because he wouldn't have to work so hard to find reasons to get to her. It would mean doing something she swore she would never do, sacrificing her sense of self for someone else.

It was hard to maintain distance from Adam as everyone relaxed in Julia's living room. As much as she tried to stay involved in the conversation, she felt like the outsider. Everyone was talking about life in Wisconsin
: who was seeing whom, who got a new job, who was getting married, who died. This type of conversation used to induce eye rolls when they were all kids, and it was the adults carrying on. Feeling like she was watching a group of strangers, Carly excused herself to the kitchen.

“Hey, you okay?” It didn't take thirty seconds for Adam to follow her into the other room.
She could tell he was trying to keep his distance, and she hated it. She was being stupid and seeing him leaning against the doorframe when all she wanted was for him to wrap his strong arms around her solidified that point.

“Yeah, it's just a little weird.” She hated knowing that part of the tension was her own fault. She was the one
who chose to keep the truth from her friends, meaning she had to keep her guard up so that she didn't slip.

Adam walked behind her and pressed his lips to her hair. “What's going on?” He reached for her shoulders, turning her to face him. It was hard to resist those expressive blue eyes, currently filled with worry and doubt. Carly hated knowing that she was the cause of at least part of his turmoil.

“I just...” Carly stopped herself, trying to figure out what she could say that wouldn't put her in a deeper hole. “I feel like I don't fit in with them anymore. I mean, it was all right when we were all upstairs, but now it's like I'm the friend of a friend at a party. You all stayed so close, and I'm off on my own.”

“It's not like that unless you make it that way. Julia's only been back for a week
, and she's one of the people out there that you're saying stayed close to everyone. Think about that for a minute; could anything be further from the truth? Come back out and have fun with us.” Adam tightened his embrace, chastely brushing his lips against hers.

“Hey you two, get a room or something.” Micah's nonchalance surprised Carly
, and she jumped out of Adam's arms. “It's okay Carly, I heard Adam talking to you last night. I know,” he whispered before heading to the fridge to grab a beer.

“Please don't say anything.” It seemed foolish to keep up the lie knowing that Micah knew the truth
, but she had to ride this out now that she'd committed.

“I won't,” he promised, “but you need to know it's going to piss her off more to find out later. I can tell you firsthand she's not a fan of people keeping shit from her.”

By the time they got to the street dance, everything was in full swing. It was
nice to see so many people from different classes all making the effort to get home at the same time. The blessing and the curse of a small high school is that you have friends in all four grades. Without this all-class reunion setup, it'd be nearly impossible to keep in touch with all of them.

Adam and Micah insisted on walking on either side of Julia as they made their way to an empty table. Since it was crowded, Carly was able to brush her hand against Adam's as they walked. At her touch, Adam reached for her hand
, and they remained that way until the group found a place to sit. Micah looked over at them, his eyes dropping to their linked hands before he strategically moved his body so Annie and Julia couldn’t see them. It seemed Micah knowing they were together might turn into a blessing if it meant having someone keeping an eye out for them when their lust for one another consumed them.

***

It was killing Adam to keep this secret. He wasn't fully on-board with it having seen how Julia reacted to people keeping things from her with the Micah situation, but he wasn't willing to upset Carly either. He needed to be close to her. In just a few days, she'd be going back to New York, and he had nothing on the books for at least three weeks. While that might not seem like a long time to most people, it was the longest they'd gone without seeing one another.

Noticing that Annie, Julia and Micah's glasses were already empty, Adam offered to buy the next round. As he walked away, he heard Carly call out to him. “Hey Adam, I'll come and help you carry.” The girl was a quick thinker. He liked that. This gave them the perfect excuse to both duck away from their group of friends without anyone asking questions.

Once the crowd obscured them, Adam put his arm around Carly's waist. “Nice cover, Peanut.”

The beer stand wasn't as busy as he'd expected it to be
, so he took the opportunity to spend a little private time with his girl. He pulled her through the entrance gate and they walked down Main Street.

“Come here,” Adam whispered, leading Carly between two buildings. “I've been dying to do this all day.”

Adam rested his hands on the wall to either side of Carly's head. Their lips crashed together as Adam urgently kissed her. This kiss was completely different from anything they'd shared previously. There was desperation and need that wasn't normally present. His teeth grazed across her lower lip pulling them closer together.

He moaned when Carly's delicate hands began tugging the hem of his t-shirt from his jeans. Her hands felt like fire running up the length of his back. Adam leaned closer to her, needing to feel his body against hers. “Damn, you have to go to my house tonight,” he groaned breathlessly. He
broke away from Carly and reached into his pocket. “Take my keys. As soon as we can get away, you go check on Gran, and then go to my place. I'll text you the address.”

Adam's skin felt cold in the humid night as soon as Carly removed her hands from under his shirt. The second to
the last thing he wanted was to put a halt on their mutual exploration. The only thing he wanted less was to take Carly in a dark alley. He pulled Carly in for one last kiss before turning her back towards Main Street and leading her back to the dance. They walked to the end of the alley with Carly under the crook of Adam's arm just as they did so many nights in New York.

By some miracle, there was still no line at the beer booth when Adam and Carly made their way back into the fenced-off area of the street. They took a few seconds to
straighten and tuck their shirts in before grabbing the next round of beers and heading back to their friends.

All hell was starting to break loose about the time Adam found their table. “You and Adam are crawling up my ass trying to take care of me. I came here tonight to have a
relaxing time, and that is just not possible when I have you two walking around like my personal bodyguards.” Julia was doing a poor job of trying to keep her voice quiet enough to avoid creating a scene. Everyone at the surrounding tables had turned to watch her lay into Micah. Adam couldn't blame her for feeling suffocated. She hadn't been allowed to go anywhere on her own for nearly twenty-four hours, and that's not something she was used to. At the same time, they'd tried to talk Julia out of coming at all since it wasn't safe for her to be alone with Karen walking the streets and obviously holding a grudge. “Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to get Annie and Carly, and we're going to dance. Without the two of you,” she demanded, looking at both of the men in her life.

Carly and Annie trailed behind Julia trying to keep up with her near running pace towards the dance floor. Adam couldn't wait to hear what Carly had to say about this latest debacle when he got home tonight.

“What the hell was that all about?” Adam asked, handing Micah one of the plastic cups.

“Hell if I know,” Micah paused to empty half the glass in one swallow. “She was fine
, and then she just snapped. I mean, I know she hates having us hovering, but we told her it was going to be that way. If she'd have just let us stay--”

“Damn, man. You've know my sister for how long?” Adam asked
, shaking his head. “She's one of the most independent broads out there, and now we're stuck to her ass like glue. I'd be pissed too.”

“Speaking of stuck like glue, where'd you and Turner disappear to?”

Adam felt his cheeks flush remembering how heated their little walk had been and how much further it could have gone if he hadn't pulled the brakes. “Just a little walk. It's not easy being together but not, you know?”

Micah shook his head, staring into his beer for a long moment. “I don't see why you're not openly together. It's ridiculous, man.”

“We didn't want to add any stress for Julia. I don't think she'd mind, but Carly's convinced she'll have a conniption when she finds out.” Adam was grateful there was at least one person he could talk to about the entire confusing situation. “We had a huge fight the last time I was in New York, to the point I was pretty sure we were done. All because I agree with you, it's fucking bullshit that I can't let everyone know she's the reason I'm happy lately.”