“I don’t need perfect. I need the mess, the chaos, all your fears and your insecurities. I’ve given you mine, and you’ve walked me through all of them. Let me walk with you through your chaos.”
“What if it’s too much? All the time apart, the games, the media. What if it’s too hard?”
“That’s life, isn’t it? Figuring it out when it gets hard? It’s how we grow. And I’ve spent so many years growing by myself. Now I want to grow with somebody else.”
Hope sparks in his eyes, and I swear his body comes alive. “With me?”
“With you, Adam.”
He grins down at our hands, watching his thumb move along my skin. When he looks up at me, there’s a patience there, a reminder that this man has always understood even the deepest parts of me. “I think you need me to take it slow.”
“I think so too,” I admit, gauging his reaction. But he just smiles.
“I think that might be what I need too. I’m so certain that you belong in my world, but I want to do this right, Rosie. I want to give you all of me, give you the time to get used to all this at whatever speed you need.” He lifts my hand to his mouth, sweeping a featherlight kiss across my knuckles. “So take your time, okay? Because when you’re ready, I’m not gonna let you go again.”
I’ve always been a fan of silence. The good kind, where everything is comfortable. The kind of silence that comes with peace, with laying it all out there, working through your problems together and, finally, finding the path where you can walk together, side by side. It’s the kind of silence I’d be happy to stay in, and I do just that as we ride the elevator up to my apartment.
The door opens as soon as we stop in front of it, almost as if someone had been watching through the peephole. Archie stands there, his gaze moving cautiously between us, and Adam sticks his hand out.
“We haven’t formally met. I’m Adam.”
Marco’s face appears over Archie’s shoulder. “Oh my God. He’s here. For research purposes, Adam, could you lift your shirt up? Rosie says you have an eight-pack, but Archie thinks she’s exaggerating. We have a bit of a bet going, and—” he lays his hand over his chest “—I bet on you, obviously —so if you—”
Archie silences him with a hand over his face. “Please keep your shirt on. Marco’s working on boundaries, but it’s nice to formally meet you.” He crouches down, scratching Bear’s ears. “Hey, big boy. You are every bit as handsome as Rosie promised.” His eyes come to mine, searching. When I smile, he smiles too. “Connor, wanna play trains while Mama says goodnight to Adam?”
Connor races through the door with a scream, then skids to a stop. He runs back to us, tossing his arms around Bear’s burly neck. “Bye, big dog. Lub you.” He collides with Adam’s legs next, wrapping his arms around them. “Bye, Dada. Lub you.”
Adam scoops him against his chest. “Bye, buddy. Love you too.”
The door closes behind Connor, leaving us alone in the hall.
“I missed that,” he says quietly. “Dada. I know it doesn’t mean…” He shakes his head, tucking his hands in his pockets. “It makes me feel special to him, that’s all.”
“You are special to him, Adam. You’re special to both of us.” I study this man before me as he nods, eyes on the ground, the strangest, most endearing mix of confident and bashful, the purest heart underneath it all. “How did you know?”
“Know what?”
“Stardust Lane,” I murmur the name of the street I spent my childhood on. The name of the scholarship that conveniently appeared after mine was lost.
Adam flushes, chuckling nervously. “You knew that was me, huh? I, uh, Googled you.”
I snort a laugh. “I guess this whole mess would’ve been avoided if I’d Googled you .”
Adam looks down at his dog, sitting exactly halfway between us, like he refuses to choose just one of us. “I think Bear brought me you, you know. I would’ve never had you and Connor if he hadn’t knocked you on your ass that day in the mountains. And while he was in surgery, I realized that.”
He takes a step closer to me, and my heart jumps to my throat. “But I also realized I had your parents to thank. That you wouldn’t have wound up in Vancouver if they hadn’t brought you here and made you fall in love. That you might not have ever wanted to be a vet if it weren’t for your dad, or for the way your parents raised you, gave you this incredible, empathetic heart. I couldn’t sit back and watch you put your dream on hold for another year, not after all the work you’ve put into this. I know you didn’t want me to pay for it, Rosie, but giving you this…it’s one of the best things I’ve ever spent my money on. And as for Stardust Lane? I wanted to find a way to honor your parents’ role in your life and your future. Because I know they’ve been with you every step of the way, proud as hell of their daughter.”
Sneaky tears sting my eyes, and I sniffle, fanning at my face. “Why do you always have to make me emotional?”
He chuckles softly, brushing a stray tear away. “I love your heart, Rosie. It’s what’s going to make you such an amazing vet. It’s what makes you you .”
“Thank you for believing in me, Adam.”
“Thank you for giving me a second chance. I won’t need a third, though. I promise.”
The promise feels as good as the warmth of his hand cupping my cheek, and I sink into both of them. “No more secrets, though, okay?”
“Okay.” He pulls his hand back. His eye tics, and he flexes his fingers, curling them into fists before he blurts, “I love Fruit Roll-Ups. I know it seems like I mostly only eat healthy food, but I love Fruit Roll-Ups so much, I’ve got eight boxes in my pantry right now. I’ve tried to stop, but I can’t.” He exhales, so long and so loud, a hand on his torso as he deflates. “Wow, I feel so much better.”
That that’s the worst of his secrets is so damn telling about the type of person he is, and when I laugh, he grins.
His fingers find mine, twining them slowly. “I spent most of the last two weeks in my kitchen, staring at my green cupboards, because I didn’t want to forget what color your eyes were.” His eyes roam over me, and my heart kicks into high gear at the heavy look there. “I wouldn’t have given up, just so you know. And now, I’ll do everything you need me to do until you’re ready. I’ll take it as slow as you need me to. I’ll be patient.”
“Ready to spend your days waiting on a woman, huh?”
“If that woman is you? Absolutely.” He drops a kiss to my cheek, soft lips finding my ear, lingering there with his whispered words. “I’m gonna marry you someday, after all. Batman always gets the girl.”
He backs away, a proud smirk on his face, before he heads to the elevator. Playful eyes come to mine before the doors slide closed, and he winks. “Night, trouble.”
CHAPTER 30
SHIRTLESS DADDIES DO IT BEST
ADAM