"I just need a quick shower and a five minute head start."
"Damn it, Belle!"
I push past him because I know he's a man of his word, and he's been presented with a signed IOU.I shower and dress quickly, then hustle back into Cal's room.His room is huge like Adam's.Eden University is nothing if not extravagant.Cal stands there in his near-naked glory and he is distracting!
"Can you put some damn clothes on?I need to get to the parking lot undetected."
"And just how in the hell do you propose we do that?"
"I could go out the window?"
"Let's call that plan fuck no.What else ya got?"
There's no way he's letting me go out that window and I have almost no faith in my rappelling skills anyway.So, what are my options?He's probably out of the shower by now, which means he's noticed that I'm gone.
"I'm just going to walk out.Give me my IOU back."
"What?No way.You used my shower."
I narrow my eyes at him.That IOU earns me more than a shower.It's good for one escape.We hear a loud crash out in the hall.Looking at each other warily, Cal huffs and throws his head back, handing me the IOU in an overly dramatic flourish.Using my most childish tone, I tell him, "Thank you."
Walking out of Cal's room, donning my best badass Rambo expression, I'm quivering on the inside.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
I keep walking like I don't hear the murder in Adam's voice.
"Don't fucking push me, Eve.Why is your hair wet?Why did you just come out of that mother fuckers' room?"
I snap and wheel around to face Adam.If looks could kill, I would be a pile of ash ,but so would he.
"Don't push you?How long do I keep doing that?Forever?Not going to happen."
Adam advances on me, closing the distance between us in two quick strides.He grabs me by the throat and around my waist.
"I won't let you leave me."He attempts to be stern, but his voice cracks.
Reaching up with both hands, I cup his face.
"I'll never leave you.I will, however, stand up for myself.You won't win every argument.If you want to constantly be at odds so that you can get your way, we're both going to be miserable.Do you want to be miserable?Do you want ME to be miserable?"
He drops his forehead to mine and simply shakes his head.
"I just want to take care of you."He whispers, and I hear the pain.
"Let's take care of each other instead.Let's be partners."
With our foreheads still together, he nods, inhaling a deep breath.I kiss him softly on the lips and I speak gently when I tell him, "I love you."
He pulls back and looks into my eyes with a question on his lips: "What if I can't stop?"
"I'll still love you," I respond without hesitation.
Again, he nods slowly without a word, looking at me as though my face holds the secret to life.Finally, he lets me go and dangles my keys beside my face.Where in the hell did he get those?I thought I had them.
"Damn it."
Adam chuckles deep in his chest.It's only now that I look past him and see that the door to his bedroom is lying on the floor of the hall.My eyes widen and I look back to Adam with a pleading question in my gaze.
