I leaned in for one last kiss.
“Call me when you get there so I know you made it.”
“Worried about me?”
“Don’t let it go to your head.”
Finn
As luck would have it, I was on a plane headed back to New York on Wednesday. My agent booked an interview on a morning show. Typically, I declined that type of press, but an hour of being uncomfortable to spend a night with Adele was definitely worth it.
“What are they interviewing you about?” she asked from her bed. Sleepy-eyed and hair mussed. If I weren’t already running ten minutes late, I’d never get out of here without touching her again.
“You mean besides the fact I’m a famous soccer star?”
“Yes, besides that, of course. I don’t see many interviews with soccer players on daytime television.”
“The host is a friend. He’s been asking me to come on for some time and it finally worked out.”
“Your life is bizarre. Interviews, parties, celebrities.” She waved a hand in the air and smiled.
I pulled my jacket on. “Speaking of parties, the team has a media event next weekend.” Before she could shoot me down immediately, I bent down to kiss her. “David Beckham is rumored to drop by.”
She sat up as I walked to the door. “No way.”
“Yes way.”
She stood on top of the bed when she could no longer see me over the bookshelf. “I swear to God, Finn, if you’re dangling Beckham just to get me to California, I will kill you.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, sweetheart.”
The interview took most of the morning and with Adele at work, I had a few hours to kill. I stopped by the café and took my usual table.
“Hey, handsome. Back for another go at winning your girl?”
“Won her back. Now I’m just here to kill some time until she gets off work. What’s on special today?”
“Cinnamon rolls.” She smiled and grabbed my coffee. The place was quiet, so she took a seat. “She came to her senses, huh? Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
“Doing the long-distance thing or have you convinced her to move back to California?”
“Nah. Long distance for now.” I hoped someday I could convince her to come back, but I’d hop on a plane every week if that’s what it took to be with her. “I think she enjoys the independence and challenge of being on her own.”
Flo raised a brow.
“What? You don’t think so?”
“New York is a tough city but being on your own is hard no matter what or where. Take it from me. I’ve moved ten times in five years. And sure, it gives me some satisfaction to know I’m capable of starting over each time, but if I had a man like you offering to move me across the country and take care of me… well, even I’m not dumb enough to turn that down.”
I didn’t think Adele would see it that way. Furthermore, I wanted her to see herself the way I did – as a woman who could have everything, do anything.
“Ten times in five years?”
“Don’t ask.”
She slid out of the booth to go check on her other tables. “The more comfortable someone is, the easier it is to accept change. You want your girl to move across the country, help her conquer New York first.”
As I sat at the table by myself drinking coffee and staring out the window to the people coming and going about their day, I thought about Flo’s advice. One thing that stuck out above it all is that I should have been helping her all along. I’d been so focused on proving myself to her that I didn’t think about what she needed. For starters, I knew she needed to know she was capable on her own.
When she got home from work, I met her at the door of her apartment. “It’s a bit of a mess so I need you to have an open mind.”
She looked past me with a nervous smile, but I sidestepped to block her view. I took her hands and walked backward.
“If you hate it, we’ll take all of it back.”
She pushed past me and stopped short at the kitchen. The shocked expression on her face slowly turned to excitement. “Oh my God. Did you buy out the kitchen supply section of the store?”
Yes, yes, I did.
“It’s just a few things to get you started.” I picked up one of the items that I hadn’t found a place for in her kitchen. “This is a microplane. The lady at the store said it’s faster and easier than a regular grater.”
Adele picked up the top book on a stack of recipe books I’d also purchased.
“Those are just for ideas. They have a class twice a week at the store or the owner said she’d come here to help.”
She walked through her small kitchen looking at all the items, touching them lightly like she was browsing in a store. She hadn’t said a thing and I was starting to get nervous that I’d screwed up. Too over the top, too overbearing, too presumptuous.
“Too much?”
She turned, tears in her eyes, and nodded. Ah, shit, I’d made her cry?
“I’ll take it all back. I’m—”
She cut off my apology with her lips. Her tears ran into my mouth salty and sweet. “You are absolutely incapable of small gestures, aren’t you?” She looked into my eyes and the happiness I saw there gave me hope that she didn’t mind my brand of over the top. Good. I didn’t plan to stop anytime soon.
“Big and hard. It’s the only way I know how to love.”
Her eyes widened.
Aaaand now I was dropping the l word, but fuck, I did. “I love you, Adele. I know I’m probably breaking all sorts of relationship rules and scaring the shit out of you in the process, but I’ve never felt like this before so I’m just winging it.”
“What about…” She shook her head and I read the question without her saying it. What about Cindy? Or any other girl I’d claimed to have loved.
“I loved her and maybe I would have even been happy if we’d gotten married, but I’m so glad we didn’t. You’re pieces of me I didn’t know I was missing. You’re my new favorite ice cream flavor that I just discovered and want to have for every meal. Loving you makes the feelings I had for anyone else seem like something else entirely.”
Her tears started up again and I kissed each one. She wrapped her arms around my neck, and I lifted her up and sat her on the counter. I fit my body between her legs, not breaking the kiss, deepening it. I tasted her, nipped at her bottom lip all while getting her out of her coat so I could touch more of her skin.
The high neck blouse and long skirt she wore teased me in ways I wouldn’t have thought possible. Her conservative clothes just made me that more eager to rip them off her. A present just for me. Her long hair hung over her shoulders and I brushed it behind her back and then twisted one hand through the thick strands.
I pulled gently at first and then harder when she moaned into my mouth and arched her back. Her reaction surprised me. I’d been so worried about being gentle with her, but my girl was all but telling me she wanted more.
“You’ll let me know if you want me to be gentler?” I asked, momentarily loosening my grip in her hair.
“Yes.”