URGENT (Book 2 of the Soundcrush Series)

Chapter 5: Nice Guys Give The World's Worst Proposals

So here's the famous Maybe-Baby fight. Hmmmm...it's not quite like Mac told it to Kat and Tamara in the hot tub. At least, not as seen through Adam's eyes....

Adam

Mac has rolled over in her sleep and has practically crawled on top of me. Despite my sleepless night and my nerves, I feel instantly better when she wraps her arms around me and presses her flesh to mine. Her strawberry blonde curls are strewn across my chest, tickling me. She's drooling on me. She's making me hot. I don't mind. I let her sleep.

Because I'm not ready for what happens when she wakes up. I know what's coming.

Except I'm wrong. She wakes with a sigh, her fingers curling against my chest as she yawns and tenses. She raises her head, rests her chin on my chest and gives me the calm killer gaze.

"Something's different," she says quietly.

My heart thuds twice as hard, like Bodie's bass drum. The hand I have against her back flattens, and I hold her tight against me.

"Wh—what? Different...how?" I stammer.

She keeps watching me. "I dunno. This just...feels different."

"Mac—I have to tell you something."

She rolls her eyes, but she grins. She sits up, completely comfortable in her nudity. I get distracted for a second by her beauty—ok, by her tits, but they are beautiful—but then I meet her eyes again.

"Adam, if you're going to profess your feelings again, can it wait until after coffee?"

I raise up in the bed, so I can see her face better. She's still grinning. What  the fuck has gotten into her? The Mac I know would normally be irritated to wake up and find that she had latched onto me like a sloth in her sleep. And now, she's joking around about the things I tried to say to her last night—emotions that would normally have her baring her teeth and growling?

"I don't think so," I say. Any minute she's going to figure out on her own that the condom broke. I mean...she's gonna go pee and...you know. It will be obvious. Unprotected sex is messy.

She tilts her head and crosses her arms. What the fuck—still grinning? "Okay, fine. Just say it. I know you're dying to. Lay it on me, preacher."

I just stare at her. What is she talking about? What is she thinking I'm going to say?

Oh shit. I get it.

"I...I love you?"

Even to myself, I sound like a douche. Her grin melts, her eyes narrow, her face flushes in anger.

I grab both of her hands, to keep her from flouncing off the bad. "No, no, no," I say quickly. "I do. Mac," I let her hands go, and I slide mine into her hair. "Mac, I love you. I love you like the sun and the ocean and the sound of us making music. I love you. You're my warmth and my source and my backbeat." It's not like I haven't practiced, how I would tell her.

Her flashing eyes go round, and the angry flush drains away. She swallows. "Okay," she whispers. "That really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." She chews on her thumbnail as she looks over my shoulder. "You know Adam, you should write some lyrics sometime. That was pretty good, actually."

I take her hand away from her mouth and kiss it. Shit, what the fuck am I supposed to say now? Yeah, I love you, Sweetheart. But maybe we made a baby last night. Here, take this pill to fix it and let's go get some breakfast.

"I don't suppose you feel the same?" I ask casually.

Her eyes stay on the wall. "I...I want this. Me and you. I want to try. I mean, obviously we need to keep it on the down-low. It's just too much pressure, otherwise. But I would really like it...like it used to be. You know, back in college. Not the last two times..."