URGENT (Book 2 of the Soundcrush Series)

Chapter 50: Bad Girls Play Bad Cop

Mac

I come awake with a sharp intake of breath and raise my head. The car is stopped on the side of a Tennessee back road. Adam is pressing against my legs, grunting and reaching down into the floorboard at my feet. I hear the vibration of a phone.

"Fuck. Can't find your phone in your purse. Shorty...can you...?" Adam eases himself back behind the wheel and puts his head against the seat. I dig in my purse.

I can't find my phone either, but that's because I'm eyeing Adam, while I dig for it. He looks tired. I can't tell if he looks any sicker or not.

"Adam, if you aren't feeling any better, maybe you should go to an Urgent Care or something." He hardly ever gets sick...although once he got the flu in college.

He was a big baby about that. Complaining that I wouldn't come take care of him. Which was ridiculous, because I left chicken soup outside his dorm room and bitched at Trace everyday to check on him between classes and stuff, make sure he had gatorades and ibuprofen. It wasn't like I was actually going in there—I didn't want the damn flu!

He doesn't look quite as sick as he did then. "Feelin' better, actually. I'll be ready for that oral as soon as we get to the house," he says, winking at me. "Not that I won't reciprocate, of course. How about this...a quick hello to my parents, a little sexy, a lotta sleep, then maybe some dinner. At which point, we'll probably both be feelin' set—and ready to take on the whole family."

"I'm sure your mom will love your priorities," I tease.

He curls a hand against the side of my face, and rubs a thumb on my cheek. "You are my priority. I know you are nervous about meshing with my family, but I got your back, Sweetheart. I promise. You let me worry about their expectations, okay? You just be you—the real you. They'll love you. You'll see."

When he looks at me like that—with earnest eyes—I want to cry for all the times I've been bitchy and manipulative to him. I don't ever want to be that girl again—not with him. I love him.

Fuck. I love love him. I really do. I just want to be good to him.

And Babycakes, of course. But there's no way I won't be good to that baby. I know that now. I probably won't be a perfect parent, but I won't bail on my kid. Adam's right. I'm not fated to be a bad mother. I get to choose. So the one thing I've decided to choose already, is to never give up on being this kid's mom. Probably it will suck sometimes. But whatever being a parent is like, it won't suck as much as the look on Samantha's face when she looks at me—that sadness, that guilt, that hole she feels for not sticking.

Yeah, not doing that. Probably need to work on forgiving her for that, too—just for the karmic boost.

"Shorty?"

I pull Adam's hand to my lips and kiss the pad of his thumb. "Yeah. Okay. I'll be sweet. You got my back. You'll arrange the sex, sleep, dinner, family time. Sounds good. Oh, and I love you."

I see the little flare in his eyes, and I slap him gently on the arm. "You're still counting, aren't you?"

"That's seven," he confirms. "Two in the last week. I think you might make double digits by the end of my birthday weekend."

"High hopes, Preacher."

Adam's low chuckle is so sexy. Really sexy. Even as exhausted as I am, his rumble does things to me.

I look behind us down the road. Deserted. A car hasn't passed us since we pulled over. "I could say it again right now. With my mouth around your dick." I raise my eyebrows, trying to look inviting. Honestly I'm still so tired I can hardly see straight, but I want to be good to him.