#adam lowry imagines

[wyattjohnston]

breaking all my rules - adam lowry

summary: jasmine's first night in winnipeg becomes one she cannot get out of her mind.

word count: 3.4k

warning: smut, do not read if you are under 18.

note: hello @cellythefloshie! this is your fic for the winter fic exchange 2k24. i very much hope you enjoy it, even if the smut isn't as filthy as you deserve <3 thank you to @offside-the-lines for pestering me when i needed it and for being my editor, and to @matthewtkachuk as always for being my sounding board.

The drink in front of Jasmine was half empty, though it would soon be finished, and she watched the screen behind the bar where the Bucks were playing the Trail Blazers even though she had to dodge the bartender’s head occasionally when it blocked the only screen she was interested in.

There was no shortage of people in the bar. Most were watching any of the seemingly million screens airing hockey, and all were intently and enthusiastically doing so. Jasmine assumed that the Jets were playing but wouldn’t put any money on that.

Jasmine lifted her drink to her mouth, the sweet taste of her strawberry daiquiri coating her tongue and sliding down her throat effortlessly. Before she was able to put it back onto the bar, almost entirely empty, a new drink was placed down in front of her.

“From Adam,” the bartender said, pointing to the table of rowdy men who weren’t far behind her.

Jasmine looked over her shoulder to see one of the men raising his hand barely off the table. Not really a wave, but enough to let her know that he was the one who had bought her the drink. She nodded at him, letting a smile transform her face. His own smile followed suit.

“He plays hockey,” the bartender revealed, as though it was the hottest piece of gossip in Winnipeg. “You should cash in on that.”

She turned back to the bartender, a wry smile forming on her face as she said, “That sounds like a fucking good reason to stay away if ever I’ve heard one.”

She was left alone to drink her new cocktail and watch her basketball game, while intermittently glancing over her shoulder back at Adam. With every look back, he seemed bigger than the last, he was noticeably the tallest out of everyone he was with, and Jasmine couldn’t help but drink him in from head to toe.

He noticed.

She didn’t know if it had always been his intention to walk over to her at that moment, but he was moving toward her regardless. Jasmine turned back to the bar but kept the stool in just the right position to know that his presence wouldn’t be unwelcome. She only knew he had reached her when she felt a heavy hand on the back of the stool, turning her towards him.

He stepped into her personal space with ease, one of his legs pressing in between hers ever so slightly. It took all her willpower to not react, to not lean forward as she so suddenly and so desperately wanted to.

“What’s your name?” he asked, his hand brushing against hers on the bar.

Jasmine smiled up at him, watching as his eyes darted back and forth between her mouth and her cleavage.

“Tomorrow morning,” Jasmine asked, “are you going to tell me that you’ll call me?”

Adam nodded easily, quickly, without any thought. “Yeah, of course.”

Her eye roll was involuntary. “Are you really going to call me?”

He laughed unabashedly at being caught out, “Probably not, no.”

“My name’s Minnie.”

“That’s not your real name.”

“It’s close enough.”

There was a silence, Adam’s hand still brushing against hers. His smile was infectious now that she was no longer actively fighting it.

“I’m Adam,” he said, lifting his hand and taking a step back, away from her, “but you knew that already.”

“I was told.”

He took her hand, guiding her off the barstool. He was already leading her out of the bar when he asked, “Your place?”

“It’s a hotel room.”

“We can go to mine then. I’m not going to a hotel room in a city where everyone knows who I am.”

Jasmine couldn’t contain her snort, “Everyone in the city? A bit arrogant, don’t you think?”

Adam was smiling and shrugging silently. It was as easy as anything to follow him out of the bar and into a cab, not worrying about the light snow that had started to fall. The cab driver instantly recognised Adam, starting a conversation about hockey that Jasmine could barely follow. Adam was sending her looks throughout the entire drive—apologetic with a lingering arrogance that Jasmine was loath to admit she found attractive.

It was worth it for one night.

The exterior of the house they pulled up to was nothing as extravagant as she’d been expecting for a professional athlete. It was undoubtedly a nice house—much nicer than anything Jasmine ever hoped to be able to afford—just less than what she’d imagined. Not that she’d been imagining much more than what it would feel like to have his hands all over her.

“Do you want anything to drink, or…?” Adam asked when they were standing inside his front door and, rather awkwardly, removing their coats.

“Why waste time?”

Reaching up to grab him by the collar of his shirt was the easiest decision Jasmine had made in a while. He was so tall, and, while it had been part of everything she’d had until that moment t, it was certainly more noticeable when he was leaning over her to press his mouth against hers.

She had no choice but to wrap her arms around his neck to draw him closer, to give herself leverage. The shock of his hands on her thighs wrapping her legs around his waist was enough to elicit a squeal and a giggle.

He smirked against her mouth.

When he pressed her up against the wall behind her, Jasmine used it as leverage to push their bodies together while she chased his mouth and the taste of whiskey within it. His hair was the perfect length to play with, the perfect length to wrap her fingers in and tug; his own little gasp gave him away.

They were moving before Jasmine even realised, though it wasn’t for long, as Adam set her down on the staircase. Her head tilted, a silent question about what she was supposed to do next, when his hands—his very big hands—were on her waist again to spin her around. There was no missing the glint in his eyes.

The very second her back was to him, there was a playful tap on her ass that had her running up the stairs with an unexpected giggle. She heard something hit the floor and looked quickly over her shoulder to see that Adam’s sweater was gone so she pulled hers off with no thought given to making it look sexy and threw it somewhere near the top of the stairs. She had plans she did not want to delay.

His bedroom was close, his body hot behind hers as he guided her to it with his lips pressed to her neck and his hands pulling at her shirt to pull it from her jeans. When his fingertips met the skin of her stomach, the electricity that ran through her was enough for her to know the night was going to be something she would remember for a while.

Jasmine’s eyes fluttered shut as Adam pulled her shirt over her head and wasted no time by removing her bra. His mouth moved up her spine, hitting spots she had never known could feel so good with such precision and eagerness that she reached behind her, clawing at his own shirt desperate for the skin-on-skin that would come with it.

Adam got the message. He kissed the nape of her neck one last time and turned her around. Her eyes were wide as she looked up at him, desperation filling every part of her body and only getting stronger when he effortlessly lifted her and dropped her onto the bed.

His shirt quickly disappeared, leaving Jasmine even more speechless than she already was as she scanned every inch of newly bare skin for the first time. She reached out, fingers brushing gently over his skin until she reached his belt.

Looking at Adam’s face was too much, the want in his eyes was more than she could handle, so she focused on unbuckling his belt and helping him remove his pants. The memory of his muscles clenching under her lips as she kissed the skin just about the buckle would be burnt into her brain forever, There was no time to waste, it seemed, because the second Adam’s pants were off he was pulling hers down her legs in one swift motion before he was prowling on the bed leaning over her.

The next time their mouths met, Jasmine arched off the mattress, the skin-on-skin everything she had been hoping for. It made her even more aware of him surrounding her, his aura taking up the entire room and encompassing even more of her headspace than just the feel of his mouth against hers. 

The kiss lasted nowhere near as long as she wanted, with Adam moving to start kissing down her chest, between her breasts, nipping at her skin as he went. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him as close as she could, just to relieve some of the pressure between her thighs that was only building more when he cupped her breast and his thumb brushed over her nipple so lightly she barely felt it, and yet she couldn’t feel anything else when he did it again.

He was possessed, leaving no part of her unkissed, no part of her untouched. She could see–feel—how hard he was, and she could imagine he could feel how wet she was with how close she was pulling him.

An involuntary whine left Jasmine’s mouth when Adam’s hand moved away from her breast, she instantly missed the electric shocks that ran through her every time he touched her nipple. She arched her back to chase the feeling, the sensation,, completely unable to form words, but forgot what she was aiming for when his fingers brushed the hair out of her face and his mouth drew closer to hers.

The gasp that left her was met with an appreciative grunt from Adam, as the kiss deepened and his hand moved, pushing her body back from where she’d arched up so that he could finally touch her where she so desperately wanted—needed—to be touched.

Jasmine woke first the next morning and had to forcibly extricate herself from Adam’s sleep-tight grip.

She stared into the bathroom and wondered how strange it would be to use his shower while he slept. She decided against it, if only to avoid the awkwardness of him waking and her still being there. She wanted to be gone before he had any opportunities to pretend he actually was going to call her, despite their conversation the night before. It was always easier to just leave before she had to talk.

Being careful not to rustle the bed, Jasmine inhaled deep into her stomach before she planted her feet on the floor and searched the room for her clothes. She definitely had some clothes littering his hallway—her coat and sweater were nowhere in sight—but she grabbed what she could, cradling them to her chest so that she could change in the hallway with less risk of waking him up.

The bedroom door creaked ever so slightly as she pulled it open just enough to slip through, and she held her breath when there was movement behind her. Adam didn’t rouse, though, and she relaxed enough to find the remainder of her clothes and get dressed standing in his living room.

She couldn’t help but take a look around while standing there, taking in the little things that showed he was rich—namely that nothing looked like it was falling apart. Nothing even looked second-hand. Her bank account was shrieking.

Jasmine stopped in the kitchen on her way to the front door, desperate for a glass of water. She pondered, longingly, what it must be like to cook in such a large space with appliances that looked like they’d rarely been used.

“D’ya want breakfast?”

An unholy shriek left her at the sudden interruption, and she spun around with a heaving chest and one hand still brushing over the stove. Adam hadn’t made a noise until he spoke. Unless she’d been so caught up in dreaming about her dream house that she hadn’t heard him. Both were equally as plausible.

One of his hands patted the kitchen counter loudly, and Jasmine’s attention was drawn to it, images of their night involuntarily filling her mind and making her catch her breath.

“No,” she said breathlessly. “I’m going. It was nice to—thank you for—Goodbye.”

“It was nice to. And you’re welcome. Goodbye, Minnie.”

Jasmine nodded, short and stiff, before she had to squeeze past the small space he’d left between himself and the counter. Her breathing was already laboured when his very large, very experienced hand caught her wrist.

“You should give me your number.”

Taking a moment to control herself, to remind herself that she didn’t give out her phone number to one-night stands for the express purpose of keeping them as one-night stands no matter how good said one night stand was. She gently pulled her hand out of his grip and to her side and was able to keep her resolve even if she didn’t truly want to.

Two things were true: Jasmine didn’t like repeat performances with guys she met in bars, and Jasmine could not stop thinking about Adam.

Even as she flew home to Baltimore to pack her life into a U-Haul, even as she drove 1,500 miles to Winnipeg, even as she started her new job, he was all she could think about.

It certainly didn’t help that ice hockey was slowly but surely taking over her life, as much as she had tried to prevent that from happening. She was coming to learn that the Winnipeg Jets were a religion in the city—a cult, even—and that meant seeing the face of their captain almost everywhere she looked.

As it turned out he didn’t just play hockey. If the Jets were a religion, he may well have been their God.

Their God who was, despite being everywhere, was also exactly nowhere.

“So, which one is it?” Elyse asked, her head tilted towards the group of Jets players huddled around a pool table.

“What do you mean?” Jasmine played coy; her eyes fixed squarely on Elyse.

“We’ve been to this stupid bar every weekend for two months—but only on weekends the Jets are home—and you all but stare at them the entire time we’re here. Which one do you want to take you home? Because I will go ask him for you right now so we can go anywhere else in this fucking city.”

Jasmine faltered, took a look at the group, and shook her head. “You can’t.”

“Is it one of the married ones?” asked Taylor, interjecting suddenly and very loudly from where she’d been leaning back in her chair and watching the conversation. “Because if it is, we’re definitely going somewhere else next week.”

“It’s not. You just can’t.”

Elyse and Taylor both rolled their eyes; Elyse left to get another drink and left Taylor to judge Jasmine alone.

Jasmine knew it was ridiculous to insist that they keep coming back in the hopes that Adam would return. Especially when she had put on such a show of not seeing him again. She just couldn’t work out for the life of her why he wasn’t showing up when so many of his teammates were there every weekend.

She had already decided it would be the last night; Taylor’s words just solidified it.

The conversation moved on, an easy and natural shift into complaining about clients they’d dealt with that day. Jasmine participated as much as she could while her head was still very much in Adam’s bedroom.

She didn’t even wait for a break in the conversation to tell Elyse, “We’ve been coming back because he’s never been here.”

“Huh?” Elyse mumbled into her drink.

“Adam Lowry. Walking this way,” Taylor said as she pretended to be doing anything but watching him.

Elyse’s face immediately morphed into a delighted and devious expression that Jasmine never wanted to see again, especially directed at her. The situation was undoubtedly made worse by the fact that Adam was there, that he’d finally shown up and, even more so, was allegedly walking towards her.

She braced herself for him, holding her breath as she waited. She didn’t want to give anything away to her friends, lest they use it against her, but she also couldn’t predict what Adam would say or do.

If he was even walking her way.

It really didn’t feel like he was. She had to inhale before she passed out.

“He went to the bar,” Taylor said, her eyes moving rapidly between Jasmine and the bar. “It is him, though. Isn’t it?”

Jasmine shook her head, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“God, you’re a horrible liar.”

It wasn’t any use denying it. She could only imagine what her face looked like in that moment.

The girls talked around her, waiting her out as she tried to shake off the strange feeling in her stomach. Hurt? Not really. Disappointment? More likely.

She was startled when a drink was placed in front of her. A strawberry daiquiri.

“I heard you’ve been attempting to stalk me, Minnie.”

Jasmine couldn’t be certain if her cheeks paled or went red. She could, however, be certain that a shiver ran down her spine due to the cool hand that brushed against her neck before it settled on her shoulder.

“Oh, good,” Elyse beamed. “So, they did notice that we’re always here. It wasn’t for nothing.”

“You should have just given me your number when I asked,” Adam said.

Jasmine was just thankful he wasn’t responding to Elyse. Or trying to get any information he could from her. Jasmine knew she would readily give it.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see he was watching her carefully, his hand a steady weight on her shoulder. She should have given him her number, but she already felt pathetic enough for having dragged her friends to the same bar for weeks on end in the hopes that she would see him again. From what she could tell by his expression, he didn’t seem put off by the idea even if he had called it “attempted stalking.”

Then, just before he disappeared, he asked her to find him when she was ready to leave.

Well.

Ignoring her friends at that point was useless, Elyse and Taylor had never looked so interested or so devious. They didn’t let up until Jasmine’s daiquiri was emptied and she was psyching herself up to head over to Adam; at that point, they managed to control themselves and focused on boosting her confidence. It was much needed to quell the nerves that were running through her body.

Not looking at him and his table was crucial to maintaining her nerves. She was desperate to know if he was looking at her, but if she caught him looking back she’d melt into the chair she was sitting on.

Jasmine didn’t need to be looking, though. Not when Elyse and Taylor were giving her a play-by-play of everything they were seeing.

One more daiquiri later, Jasmine made her decision. She felt good; she felt loose. Without a single word to her friends, she rose to her feet and crossed the room to Adam.

The table of men fell quiet when she got close, their silence noticeable compared to the once raucous noise. Adam was, in fact, staring right at her, and he hadn’t stopped since she started moving; Jasmine felt the weight of his attention right in her core.

She didn’t stop at the table—didn’t stop at all—just made eye contact with Adam long enough to wink before she headed straight for the door. He was standing next to her before she even stepped foot outside.

His hollering teammates echoed in her mind even with the door shut behind them.

As they stood outside in the chilly March air, she said, “Jasmine. My name’s Jasmine.”

Adam put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close.

“Can I call you Minnie?”

“Nobody else does, really.”

“Sounds great, then. It’s just for me.” 

if you made it this far, i would very much like to hear what you thought about this fic

[senditcolton]

breakable heaven

summary: when Juliette Lucas wakes up wrapped in the arms of Adam Lowry - the man that she had pined after for years - she should feel content. but instead, she feels guilty. she didn’t mean for any of this to happen. she never planned on becoming the other woman. but when it feels this good, how could it possibly be wrong?

playlist word count: 17.5k warnings: cheating fic, smut (explicit in the beginning, multiple vague references throughout), angst, bittersweet ending

written for @wyattjohnston's Summer Fic Exchange. to Celly (@cellythefloshie) with love.

Am I foolish for wanting this? It will end in flames, it always does. Maybe I like the way it feels to burn.

*~*~*~*~*

“Jules?”

Juliette Lucas can’t help but stiffen at the sound of the nickname. Not because of any traumatic memory or something of the sort. Unless you count the fact that the only person who ever called her that – her best friend from high school – left almost eight years ago without a word.

The person whose voice she could still hear in her sleep.

The same voice that was calling out to her from across the grocery store right now.

“Hey, Jules!”

She turns, muscles still tight with anticipation over seeing his face again. And there he is, Adam Lowry, jogging up to her from the other end of the breakfast aisle.

And, fuck, he looks hot. He was always attractive, even in high school but damn, the years had definitely been kind to him. Even in his simple joggers, plain navy t-shirt, and baseball cap, Juliette could see the muscle tone of his body. And the shadow cast across his face simply emphasized everything else: his strong jaw, the deep red of his facial hair, the bright blue of his eyes that were sparkling as he ran up to her.

“I look like shit right now.”

That irrational thought is the first clear present statement that echoes through her brain as she takes a quick glance down at her sweatpants and old tank top.

There is little time to worry however, because before Juliette knows it, Adam is front of her and the wind of his momentum ruffles her hair.

“Hey,” he says breathlessly, smiling down at her. “Long time no see.”

“That tends to happen when you move away to a different province,” she replies, trying not to give her words a cutting edge. Although, Juliette can see that she wasn’t entirely successful based on the subtle way Adam’s face falls.

“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to visit but, y’know, life,” he attempts to explain, his hand reaching back to scratch the back of his neck. Juliette can’t stop the small smile that tugs at the corner of her lips, his nervous ticks the exact same ones he had back in high school.

A lot of things might have changed. But that didn’t mean the person standing in front of her was a stranger. It was Adam. Her Adam.

“It’s alright, I get it,” she replies, her voice softening. “Anyway, you’re here now. What brings you back to Calgary?”

“My dad was finally able to convince me to come up, mostly to see all the finished renovations they made on the lake house. And it looks really good. Although, I almost don’t recognize it which is weird considering all the summers we spent there, growing up.”

“Life moves on around you, whether you like it to or not,” Juliette laughs, knowing the feeling of time passing her by all too well.

“Speaking of life, how have you been Jules?”

“Oh, I’ve been alright. Nothing super new or exciting. Work is work, life is life. Same old, same old I’m afraid.”

“Well, considering the last time I really talked to you was eight years ago at graduation, I highly doubt everything is the same,” Adam teases and Juliette’s eyes roll at his jab.

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I know.”

There is a small pause as the two of them simply look at each other. It had been years and that time seemed to stretch in between them like and ocean. One too expansive to cross right now, here, in the middle of a grocery store.

“Well,” Juliette says, being the first to break the silence, “I got to finish shopping. Need to get home and get ready a party later tonight.”

“Charleen’s party, right?” Adam asks. The statement sort of catches Juliette off-guard as she fixes Adam a puzzled glance.

“Yeah. How’d you know?”

“She invited me too.”

“You still talk to Charlie?”

“More like my parents still talk to her. She helped them with the renovation.”

“Right, her interior design business,” Juliette nods.

“Yeah, she was visiting today, going over a few last-minute details with my parents when I arrived and she invited me.”

“Cool. Well then, I guess I’ll see you there?”

Adam replies with a small nod which Juliette returns, grabbing her cart. She starts to turn away before Adam’s voice calls out to her again.

“Hey, Jules.”

She turns her head to look back at Adam and the pang in her heart is sharp and sudden as she takes in that smile, the one that shot her back to nights on her parent’s couch, his laugh echoing around the family room at whatever ridiculous movie he convinced her to watch.

“It was really good to see you again.” 

Juliette just returns his smile before turning away, hating the feeling of heat that crawls up her neck. She attempts to smother the thoughts and emotions that had been lying dormant, just long enough to finish her shopping.

After checking the last things off her list, paying, and packing up her Jeep, Juliette starts her drive home. And as the scenery passes her by, the memories come flooding back as fast as the wind.

He was back. Adam was back, after all these years. And his presence had awakened the feelings that Juliette thought she had banished long ago. It was beyond cliché, falling for her high school best friend. But in her defense, she never expected to. There was just one day when she realized that she wanted him as more than just a best friend.

Unfortunately, that realization came too late, arriving right before Adam was about to leave for Winnipeg to start his professional hockey career. She should have told him then, before he was gone. But she didn’t, out of fear of ruining their friendship and losing her best friend to something worse than distance. Something that couldn’t be recovered from.

But… she lost him anyway.

Juliette sighs, snapping herself out of her reverie as she pulls into her apartment complex. Her mind is still filled with static on the elevator ride up and the static remains as she puts her groceries away and starts to get ready for Charleen’s party.

After a quick shower and some makeup, Juliette finds herself standing in front of her closet, flipping through her clothes, attempting to find a suitable outfit for the festivities. It shouldn’t be this hard; it usually isn’t this difficult. But Juliette would be lying if she pretended not to know why she was struggling. It was Adam, once again.

She wanted to look nice. Nicer than just nice. She wanted to look beautiful, gorgeous, eye-catching, stunning. She wanted Adam to see how she had changed. She wanted Adam to want to talk to her.

Or, simply, she wanted Adam to want to want her.

When her hand lands on a dress buried in the depths of her closet, one that she had almost forgotten about and yet was everything she could’ve asked for, she slipped it on over her head.

“This is a shit idea.”

That’s the thought repeating in Juliette’s head as she turns, checking out her reflection in the full-length mirror next to her closet, head spinning with the implications of what she was planning.

“Listen,” Juliette thinks, attempting to assuage the nagging voice in the back of her mind. “It’s just a dress. That’s all. I just want to look good for this party. No other reason.”

That was a blatant lie. This tight red summer dress hugging her frame was for one reason – or more accurately, one person.

After seeing him again, knowing that he was once again back in Calgary, back in her life and she felt just as strongly about him as she did in high school… well, how could anyone pass up the opportunity?

So, yeah, maybe she should wear the sexiest dress she could to the party at Charleen’s lake house. Maybe then her and Adam could stop tiptoeing on this fucking tightrope or at least, she’d know if Adam felt the same way about her that she did.

And, hey, if that didn’t happen and he left for Winnipeg at the end of summer … at least she looks hot.

A sigh escapes Juliette as she gently shakes her head, her mind once again reiterating how stupid of an idea this was. But she is nothing if not committed – even to her most ridiculous ideas. So, with another sigh, she grabs her white denim jacket and car keys and leaves the apartment.

The drive to Charleen’s is quick and even though Juliette isn’t ridiculously late, cars are already lining the street outside. She manages to find a spot off to the side of the house and hops out of her Jeep, her eyes flicking over the other vehicles, wondering which one is Adam’s.

If he’s even here yet.

There’s another quick shake of her head, another silent admonishment about how desperate she was acting, before she walks up to the front door, not bothering to knock, knowing Charlie would have left it unlocked for the guests.

As soon as the door swings open, Juliette is welcomed in with the sound of music being played over speakers and the chatter of other people. She slips into the house, kicking off her shoes by the front door before wandering deeper until she is on the edge of the living room, looking out at the scene of multiple friends and acquaintances, all laughing and drinking.

“Julie!!”

The screech of joy comes from Elsie, who bounces over to Juliette sweeping her into a hug, her own long blonde hair tickling Juliette’s shoulders. Juliette laughs as she is spun around by the sheer force of Elsie’s hug.

“I’m so glad you made it!” Elsie continues shouting, drawing the attention of a few people around them.

“Hi, Elsie,” Juliette giggles into her friends embrace, finally pulling away and meeting her bright gaze. “It’s good to see you too.”

“A drink! You need a drink!” Elsie says, mind going a mile a minute as it always did, grabbing Juliette’s hand and drags her to the adjoining kitchen. “Charlie stocked everything but people have also brought their own drinks so there’s plenty to go around.”

Elsie’s words are confirmed as soon as the two of them enter the kitchen, Juliette’s eyes almost bugging out of her head at the various alcohol cans and bottles lining in the kitchen island.

“There’s also a keg outside.”

“Oh, god, how long until someone does a keg stand?” Juliette playfully grimaces, turning to Elsie who shares her laughter.

“Corey already tried to convince some people to do one but thankfully, we aren’t at that point yet. I think we are trying to keep it somewhat classy.”

“Oh yeah, a bunch of twenty-somethings in a cabin with a ton of alcohol is definitely how we keep it classy.”

“Okay, the important word in that sentence was trying,” Elsie laughs. Juliette just responds with a shake of her head before grabbing a vodka seltzer and following Elsie back into the living room.

For the next hour or so, Juliette spends her time greeting and catching up with old friends as well as being introduced to some people that she didn’t know; mostly new romantic partners but some friends of friends. It seemed as if Charleen managed to cram almost all of their old homeroom into her lake house and everyone invited brought at least two other people with them.

Eventually, Juliette settled down on one of the couches, talking to Elsie’s twin brother Evan. It is in the middle of their conversation with when she hears a commotion. And when she turns her eyes towards the noise, she sees Adam walking into the room, the grin on his face and a six pack of beer in each hand, a bunch of people cheering around him.

She can’t help the roll of her eyes and the shake of her head at his entrance.

“It’s like he’s the next coming of Christ,” Evan jokes to her, reading her reaction.

“The local celebrity graces us with his presence,” Juliette quips back, causing a laugh to fall from the blond. Although, even with her snarky words, Juliette can’t stop her eyes from jumping back to Adam as he wanders back into the room, a single beer in his hand and the plain white t-shirt highlighting the warmth of his skin and the strength of his body.

“Have you talked to him?” Evan asks, pulling her attention back to him.

“We actually ran into each other earlier today, at the grocery store of all places.”

“And how was that?”

“What do you mean?” Juliette asks, her eyebrows furrowing at Evan’s question.

“Come on, Julie. You two were practically attached at the hip in high school. He came over to our house with you almost as many times as you did alone.”

“Yeah, but that was years ago. He’s off doing bigger and better things. Probably doesn’t think about me that much anymore.”

“Did you recognize him earlier today at the store or did he recognize you?”

“He did…” she replies, the words trailing off as she tries to uncover Evan’s meaning.

“So, he recognized you after almost eight years. That’s a long time, Julie. Plus, judging by the way his eyes have been attached to you since he walked in, I think it’s safe to say he remembers you well enough.”

“What?”

Juliette’s head spins towards Adam and is immediately met with his blue eyes locked on her frame. Eventually, their eyes connect and Juliette watches as a smile breaks out on Adam’s face as he tips his beer towards her in a silent greeting.

Juliette lifts her hand up in a small wave and as soon as the motion happens, her hand flies back down and she tears her gaze away, only to be greeted with Evan’s smug face.

“Shut up,” she mutters, taking another drink of her seltzer, the skin on the back of her neck heating up at Evan’s laugh.

“My god, you still have a crush on him,” Evan says. “Oh, this is hilarious.”

“Shut up Evan.”

“Nah, this is great. Eight years and you’re still pining over him.”

“I am not pining over him.”

“It’s okay, I get it. He was pretty hot back then and he’s only gotten hotter with age. Fine wine and all that nonsense.”

The look that Juliette shoots Evan is one of bemusement as Evan glances over towards Adam before jumping back to her.

“What? I’m gay as shit, remember? Besides, even if I wasn’t, I’ve got eyes.”

“Well, then, why don’t you go and talk to him.”

“Not my type,” Evan replies dismissively causing another snorting laugh to fall from her mouth. When she looks back up to Evan, the expression on his face is still teasing but Juliette recognizes the sincerity underneath his features. “Just go and talk to him, Julie. Even if it’s just as an old friend.”

Evan’s advice bounces around her skull, the proposition sounding so easy and so effortless. But perhaps it was that simple. Maybe Juliette was the one making everything more complicated than it had to be, adding to much weight to a moment that would end up being inconsequential.

For what seemed like the hundredth time that evening, a heavy sigh escapes Juliette as she glances back towards Adam, whose attention was now directed to Marina and her new fiancé. She looks back at Evan, sitting patiently to see her next move.

“You’re like an annoying younger brother, you know that?” Juliette says, the playful tone lightening the blunt words.

“I’m technically older than you.”

“Yeah, yeah, technically,” Juliette says, lifting herself up off the couch, stretching her arms over her head.

“Go get him, tiger,” Evan quips, to which she replies with a quick middle finger thrown over her shoulder, an action which elicits another cackle from Evan as she walks away.

As she wanders into the kitchen, Juliette’s eyes scan over the assortment of alcohol laid out over the counters. The smart thing to do would be to grab another seltzer and nurse that for as long as possible. But she promised Evan that she would talk to Adam and if there was one thing she knew about Evan, he would continue to nag her until she did.

But considering the fluttering of her heart at the mere thought of holding a conversation with the man she still harbored feelings for, she knew she was going to need a stronger drink to help loosen her inhibitions at least a little bit. Just so she wouldn’t embarrass herself.

Although, drunk Juliette could be an embarrassment all on her own. It was a calculate risk.

One that, after a minute of thinking, Juliette decides to take. She grabs some random mixer and pours it into one of the cheap plastic cups that were stacked nearby. She is halfway through adding the vodka when, for the second time that day, Adam’s voice sounds from behind her.

“Do you remember that time your parents let us make our own drinks?”

The smile that comes to Juliette’s face is automatic as she continues to focus on her current task, replying without looking back.

“During the Labour Day barbeque? Of course.”

“I think they ended up regretting that idea later,” Adam says, the edge of his words painted with a breathy chuckle. Juliette also giggles, grabbing her drink before turning to see Adam standing on the other end of the island.

“That was just because someone heard if you mixed blue raspberry vodka with Mountain Dew of all things, it would taste like a Baja Blast.”

“Well, I mean, it did.”

“Yeah, and that was the problem!” Juliette laughs, shaking her head slightly at the still blurry memories of her and Adam acting like complete fools. “I still don’t remember how many of those we managed to drink before falling asleep on the couch in the basement.”

“It sure was a night,” Adam sighs, his eyes darting away, looking down at the half-eaten plates of snacks that Charleen had laid out earlier.

Juliette watches as he reaches out to take a carrot, trying not to get distracted by how elegant his fingers looked. Her attempt was quickly derailed as it took Adam clearing his throat to get her eyes to snap back to his. She has to push away the blush that she feels rising, hiding her face behind her cup as she takes another sip of alcohol.

Juliette half expects Adam to call her out on it, never one to pass up an opportunity to tease her. But he doesn’t. Instead, he once again shoots her that gentle smile and Juliette stops herself from taking another drink to quiet the pounding of her heart.

“What do you remember about the morning after?��� Adam asks. His question causes another sigh of laughter to fall, his return to normal conversation giving her some relief.

“That I couldn’t eat for like a full 8 hours. As far as hangovers go, I never want to experience that again.”

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“Oh, I’m sorry we don’t all have the tolerance of a professional athlete.”

“Hey, I wasn’t professional back then,” he retorts.

“Still an athlete,” Juliette sing-songs into her cup, the action making Adam chuckle and shake his head.  

“Fine, I’ll give you that.”

There’s another small pause and Juliette takes the chance to think over Adam’s words. The conversation had been pretty normal, reminiscing over the past as friends would, specifically a memory that was similar to the current situation. But there was one aspect of it that nagged at the back of her mind – a loose thread of sorts. And Juliette decides to tug at it.

“So, did you not wake up still drunk the morning after that Labour Day?”

“I mean, I was definitely hungover. But, uh, waking up the morning after with you curled up next to me… it made the splitting headache a little better.”

It takes a minute for Adam’s confession to register but when they finally do, Juliette has to smother the immediate surprise that his words bring.

Waking up next to you made it better.

The words spin around in Juliette’s head, burrowing into every crevice of her brain and stoking the flames of that every present spark of hope that was still burning after all this time.

Waking up next to you made it better.

The critical voice in her head chooses to speak up, telling Juliette that he didn’t confess to anything. Waking up with a hangover alone, or even with a complete stranger, would absolutely be worse than waking up to a friend.

“Shouldn’t have been that life-changing,” Juliette forces herself to say, attempting to brush off his words and pretending that they didn’t affect her as much as they did. “We’ve slept in the same bed before.”

“I know,” Adam replies, his own voice non-committal, his eyes once again falling away from her.

Another silence falls but this time, there is a tension with it. One that is suffocating and Juliette hates the feeling of it. Hates how it hangs. But she isn’t sure how to fix it. So, she does the one thing that she knows how to do.

Leave. Before things take a turn for the worse.

“Um,” she begins, calling Adam’s attention to her again and her words stick in her throat for a moment at the way his blue eyes pierce into hers. “I better be getting back. Evan was just about to tell me about his most recent terrible blind date.”

“Okay,” Adam replies. His eyes stay glued to Juliette’s body as she starts to walk towards the kitchen exit. “Talk to you later?”

“Of course,” Juliette hums, almost at the threshold to re-enter the living room. She is about to exit when Adam’s voice once again stops her.

“Hey, Jules?”

The nickname makes her turn back to look at Adam and a small trill is sent down her spine as she watched Adam’s gaze shamelessly rake up and down her body before their eyes lock again.

“You look really… pretty, by the way.”

“Thanks,” Juliette says, the compliment warming her from the inside. “You don’t look half-bad yourself,” she returns. A deep chuckle rumbles from Adam’s chest as he shakes his head, a move that was familiar to her; it was the response she always provoked from him whenever she did something amusing or embarrassing. Or both.

Juliette hightails it away from the kitchen, internally cringing at her awkward words before taking another hearty drink from her now half-empty glass.

If the night was going to continue like this, she was definitely going to be refilling her cup multiple times before the party was over. She spies Evan still on the couch, now talking to Thomas and Kristy. She darts over before sitting down next to him, listening to their conversation, both in order to calm her spinning mind and to join in.

It’s only a few seconds until there is a small lull in the conversation and that is when Evan shoots her a glance, one eyebrow raised in a silent question that Juliette doesn’t need him to voice to understand.

“Don’t even ask,” she mutters into her cup. Evan just gently bumps his shoulder against hers in reply and that casual ease is what finally allows her to relax, focusing on the talk around her and reorienting herself to the party that was filled with her friends.

As the party continues into the night, it slowly dwindles down. People take off, heading back to their own homes and families. The later it gets, the more the party shifts, from its previous riot to a more relaxed get-together. Eventually, Juliette finds herself lingering with the remaining guests, all of them huddled around the firepit constructed on the sandy lakeshore out back.

Juliette takes another sip from her cup now filled with water as she relaxes, listening to the chatter of those around her, breathing in the fresh air of the pines and feeling the cool sand beneath her bare feet.

She is so focused on the present moment that she doesn’t even notice Adam’s approach, didn’t see the way his eyes softened at the sight of her. The sound of him clearing his throat causes Juliette’s eyes to fly open, meeting his gaze in the low firelight.

“Is this seat taken?” Adam asks, gesturing to the empty expanse of the wooden log she was perched on.

“Not at all,” comes her easy reply, scooting over to allow Adam enough room to sit down. And Juliette cannot suppress the shiver that runs through her when Adam’s knee knocks against hers.

They sit there is silence for a moment, just the crackling of fire and the chit-chat of the people around them being the only noise in the night until Juliette breaks the silence.

“So, I hear you got a dog?”

“Yeah, Banks. He’s a golden retriever.”

Adam continues to talk about his new puppy, even going to show Juliette videos of Banks and his adorable retriever smile. The icebreaker leads them to finally take the time to catch up on their respective lives; careers, pets – or lack thereof in Juliette’s case, homes, and all the rest. Almost every detail, from the menial to the major.

Throughout the conversation, Juliette notices a few pauses in Adam’s speech; that he sometimes takes more time to tell her things that don’t seem complicated. Like he’s hiding something. Like he doesn’t want her to see all of him.

She hates it. Because even though there was still a small flame of attraction for Adam, she would be fine with just having her best friend back – the one that was never afraid to tell her exactly how he felt.

Which is what leads her to press a little further.

“So, life’s been good in Winnipeg?” she asks, leaning closer to Adam to really hear his answer

“Yeah. I mean, haven’t gotten everything I wanted yet but it’s still pretty good,” he replies, shooting her a small smile. She doesn’t have time to pry more before Adam deflects the conversation back to her. “How about you?”

“Eh, still figuring things out. But I have plenty of time to decide where I want my life to go.”

“You were always really good at that; just letting things happen naturally.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Juliette laughs, shaking her head lightly. “I think I’m just really good at disguising my true emotions which makes it seem like I’m easy-going.”

“Really? How so?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Like… relationships or dating for example. It’s easy for me to flirt with people I’m not really interested in. It’s easy because I know I’m never going to let them get too close to me. I don’t have to try so hard to be the girl they want me to be because… I was never planning on being their girl anyway,” she explains, the lingering alcohol in her veins loosening her tongue. She looks at Adam, watching as her words sink in, his brow furrowing.

“Was that true back in high school?” Adam asks. “Like, when you were dating Pierce, you weren’t actually interested in him?”

A small shocked movement goes through Juliette, surprised that Adam even remembered the guy she dated back then. She doesn’t linger on the knowledge that Adam didn’t seem to forget, even after eight years, choosing instead to shrug her shoulders before replying.

“He wasn’t looking for anything serious. And it was nice to have someone.”

Juliette doesn’t tell him that back then, Pierce offered her more than just a warm bed. He was also a placeholder, someone to help her suppress her feelings towards Adam. In a way, she had been disguising herself for years.

Her eyes jump back to Adam, who is staring into the fire pit, seemingly deep in thought. Juliette waits for him to speak, even though every second that passes feels like torture and the anxiety starts to gnaw at the frayed edges of her mind. Eventually, Adam looks back at her and there it is – that pang in her heart.

Because he’s looking at her with those soft eyes. An expression that she had seen only occasionally back when they were kids. An expression she never thought she’d see again.

“You know you don’t have to try with me, right?”

Juliette hears the words but they don’t fully register, don’t fully connect at first. She lets out a somewhat dismissive laugh, nudging Adam’s thigh with her knee.

“Yeah, that’s why we’re friends,” she giggles, glancing away as she takes another sip of water. There’s another small pause and Juliette thinks that that is the end of it. But then she feels the warmth of Adam’s palm envelop her knee, the touch causing her eyes to snap back towards him. His expression had shifted – still soft but there is a hardened sense of earnestness underneath it.

“No, I mean, you don’t have to try.”

The words are repeated, nothing new said. But it’s the way he says it that causes Juliette’s heart to skip a beat. The chill from the lake disappears as the heat floods her body. But unfortunately, while the heat comes in full force, so does the anxiety.

Why was he saying this? Did he really mean it? Did he know how she felt? Does he feel the same?

These questions and more spin around in her mind, rendering her silent, her eyes just wide and still, staring at Adam. She barely registers the shift in his own expression, her silence no doubt causing some doubt of his own to enter his mind.

“Jules…”

“I don’t want to hear this.”

The thought comes over her in an instant, cutting through the rest of the static in her brain. Whether he was going to comfort her, or rescind his words, or try to explain them more, she didn’t want to hear it.

“I need to get more water,” she mumbles, the words fall past her lips in a jumble of syllables, barely coherent. But it didn’t really matter when they were accompanied by the speed in which she lifted herself up, retreating back into the now empty house and into the kitchen. And as she fills up her cup again, her confusion resurfaces.

What the fuck was happening?

Was Adam trying to pick her up? Is that what that meant? And if so, why was she so scared of it? That’s what she wanted. That’s the reason she wore this dress. The reason she was here.

So, if it worked, if her efforts paid off, why was she running away?

Because it had never worked before. Not with any of the guys in the past eight years. It didn’t even work with Adam back in high school. Sure, she didn’t tell him outright that she wanted more back then. But that didn’t mean that she didn’t drop hints to him, hoping that he would understand them and take that first step himself. But he remained oblivious for those last few months and then he was gone.

And of course, now – now after years of not talking – he finally reciprocates. And that was terrifying.

It was easy not to be wanted, to be casual, to be friends. Nothing was real; there was no risks and no consequences to unrequited feelings. But now… if she took that step with Adam, whatever tenuous strand of friendship that they were still clinging to would be irrevocably shifted and changed.

What the fuck was she going to do?

Juliette heaves a sigh, walking out of the kitchen, debating on what her next step should be. Should she take the leap? Pretend Adam’s words didn’t tangle her in knots like they did? Fully run away by hopping in her car without saying goodbye?

Perhaps unfortunately for her, Juliette doesn’t have the chance to make the final decision. Because when she enters the living room, looking up from her glass, Adam is standing there waiting for her.

“Jules,” he starts, taking a step towards her.

“Please stop calling me that.”

“Why?”

“No one ever calls me that,” Juliette explains, her voice dismissive as she takes another sip of her drink, still trying to settle the pounding of her heart.

“No one? Not one other person has ever called you Jules? A friend? A boyfriend? No one?” Adam asks, taking a step towards her after every single question until he is standing in front of her, his body towering over her.

“No one,” she confirms, her voice faltering with the nerves still thrumming through her body.

“Only me?”

Juliette takes a deep breath, steeling herself for the words she was about to speak, knowing that they would be more of a confession than anything else she could possibly say. It takes a moment before her hazel eyes open, connecting to him.

“That nickname has only ever been for you.”

The words hang in the air between them and Juliette watches as they register on Adam’s face and her heart pangs when that soft, gentle smile appears on his face; a smile that was always reserved for her. Her heartbeat doesn’t settle when Adam’s hand lifts up to brush away the loose curl from Juliette’s forehead, his finger twirling around the strand before placing it behind her ear. His fingers don’t stray far as they move to brush along her jawline and she knows Adam can see the goosebumps his touch causes.

“What else is only mine?” Adam questions, his voice dropping impossibly deeper as his face moves closer towards Juliette’s.

“Do you really have to ask?”

“I need you to say it, Jules. Tell me what’s going on in that pretty head of yours.”

This was the moment. There was more delaying, no time for hesitation. It was time for a decision. One that felt impossible for Juliette to make. But then Adam’s thumb brushes against her cheek, pulling her attention away from her thoughts and back to him.

“Don’t overthink it, Jules. It’s okay,” he whispers, his voice as delicate as his touch. “You don’t have to try with me, remember?”

It’s those words that cause that last wall to come crashing down, a shuddering breath running through Juliette. She closes her eyes, digging deeply for the strength to speak the truth that she had known for a long time.

“I am, Adam. Only yours. I think I always have been.”

Juliette’s response is enough for Adam to finally close the gap between them, his lips coming to press against hers. And even though Juliette could see the kiss coming, the feeling of it – the reality of it – still made her almost drop her glass.

Because Adam was kissing her. He was actually kissing her.

It’s Juliette that deepens the kiss, pushing up on her toes to press her body closer to Adam, relishing the groan that escapes him as his hands fly to her hips in order to keep her body pinned to his. Somehow, Juliette manages to find some flat surface nearby to set down her cup and as soon as the cheap plastic is out of her hands, they fly up to tangle in Adam’s hair, kisses never ceasing.

It feels like an eternity before Adam finally pulls away from her and Juliette’s eyes reconnect with his, registering the dark black of his pupils almost swallowing the bright blue of his irises.

There aren’t any words spoken between the two of them as Adam steps back. There was no time to speak before he is taking her hand in his and leading her down the hallway. Juliette was still trying to piece her mind back together after the dizzying kiss that she doesn’t protest as Adam drags her along, doesn’t question when Adam leads her up the stairs and into the second-floor bathroom.

She definitely doesn’t complain when Adam locks the door behind him and pulls her back into his arms, their lips connecting again. Adam uses his strong body to push Juliette against the sink countertop, a chill rushing down her spine as the cool marble hits the back of her bare thighs.

Adam’s hands are all over her body, pulling her closer to him, pressing her frame against his. A gasp falls from Juliette when Adam’s hands cup the back of her legs, lifting her up onto the countertop with an ease that sends another rush of heat down to her core.

Eventually, Adam’s lips fall from her own and begin to move across her jawline, down the smooth expanse of her throat. Juliette can’t help the way her hips roll when Adam pauses against her neck, sucking a hickey into her pale skin with a fierceness that is exquisite in its sting. Adam moves again, his lips trailing down across her collarbones, dancing across the top of her cleavage, before he pulls away to flick his eyes back up to hers.

“What else is only for me, Jules?” he asks, reiterating the question that led them here. “Is this dress for me?”

There is no hesitancy as Juliette’s response comes in an empathetic nod of her head. A whine escapes her as Adam’s fingers deftly trace along the neckline and she can hear him moan at the sight of her nipples straining through the fabric.

“Only wore it so you could take it off,” Juliette murmurs, slightly shocked at how Adam was able to pull the truth from her so effortlessly. The only response Adam gives is a low chuckle, his hands moving up to momentarily play with the thin straps between his fingers before he oh so painstakingly slides them off her shoulders.

Juliette lets him pull the fabric down, exposing her bare chest to the harsh light of the bathroom, another groan falling from his lips at the sight of her.

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful,” he mutters before moving forward, his lips resuming their former place against her sternum, now free to roam further down. A soft moan escapes Juliette as Adam’s lips close around her nipple, teasing it and causing another involuntary roll of her hips. Adam pauses on her chest for a moment, to give both of her breasts an ample amount of attention before continuing to move his lips down, over the ridges of her ribs.

“What are you – ” Juliette attempts to ask as he sinks to his knees in front of her but the question is quickly cut off when Adam’s strong hands pull apart her thighs and his soft lips connect to the delicate skin.

“What do you think I’m doing?” he whispers again her inner thighs, lips slowly moving further up. “Tell me what else is mine, Jules.”

The shiver that runs through Juliette’s body is in response to Adam’s movements, her legs opening wider both to give him access and as a silent plea. If Adam notices, he doesn’t take the bait, his lips lingering just inches from where she wants him.

“What else?” he asks and a shuddering breath falls from Juliette as one of his hands sneaks up towards the soft grey cotton of her thong, the fabric flooding with her need as Adam presses a finger against her slit.

“Is this all for me?” he continues, his touch moving upwards to rub her clit, pulling a whine from Juliette as her hips jolt forwards once more. “Tell me Jules,” Adam softly demands, his movements never stopping. “What else is mine?”

“I am,” Juliette whispers, the words coming out shaky, not only due to the feeling of Adam’s fingers against her but also the lingering anxiety that laced itself between the syllables. Adam manages to hear that hesitancy within her voice and he tears himself away, looking up to lock his eyes with hers once more.

“I’m yours, Adam,” she continues, the gentle expression on his face calming her, allowing the truth to be spoken with ease. “All of me.”

Adam doesn’t give Juliette a verbal response but she can see the shift in his expression as he takes in her words, sees his lips uptick in a smile. He raises his body up slightly to allow Juliette to close the gap between them, pulling him into another kiss, her hands tangling in his hair once more. She moans into his mouth as she feels his hands sneaking underneath the hemline of her dress and finding the elastic waistband of her panties, pulling away from her lips as he pulls the fabric away from her core.

He shoots a quick smirk up at her before his large hands are pushing her thighs even further apart, the movement causing the bottom of her dress to slip up over her hips. Juliette barely has time to react before Adam’s head is ducking down again, his lips retracing their movement against her inner thighs until they finally, finally, connect with her core.

The sharp gasp that leaves Juliette’s mouth is the only sound that escapes as her hands tighten in his hair, pulling him impossibly deeper into her, an action that sends a chuckle rumbling from Adam’s chest, the vibration of it sending another jolt through Juliette.

The whines and moans only increase as Adam continues to move, his tongue dipping into her folds, groaning at her taste. His lips eventually wander up to wrap around her clit and the way he sucks, the way his tongue flicks over the sensitive bundle of nerves almost causes Juliette to come undone.

“Oh fuck,” Juliette moans, hips rolling up to chase Adam’s lips.

“Yeah? Just like that?” comes Adam’s questioning voice before he repeats the movement, another high-pitched whimper falling from Juliette. “Come on sweetheart. I want you to cum for me.”

His simple request and the repeated motion of his mouth against her is all it takes for that peak to come crashing over Juliette, thighs tightening around Adam’s head before his hands lift to hold them open as his mouth continues its movements, eagerly lapping up her release, the vibration of his own groans causing her orgasm to be prolonged.

The crest eventually subsides, leaving Juliette’s still exposed chest heaving as Adam’s lips move back to kiss at the apex of her thighs. But before the desire completely disappears, before Juliette is slammed back into the reality of where she was and what just happened, another moan is pulled past her lips as Adam’s hand sneaks between her legs, his fingers once again coming to press against her slit, this time unobstructed.

“Fuck Jules, you feel so fucking good,” he groans into her soft skin, a finger plunging into her core, the welcomed intrusion sending another flush of heat through her body, no doubt painting her chest a more mottled scarlet than before.

“Adam,” she whines, the hand still tangled in his hair tugging him upwards. He obliges, lifting himself off his knees but still keeps his hand between her thighs, one finger pumping into her core before he slides another in.

The moan that escapes from Juliette is swallowed quickly by Adam crashing his lips back to hers, kissing her deeply as he continues his movements. Juliette breaks away from the kiss when Adam curls his fingers within her, the motion causing him to graze over that one spot that had her seeing stars. Adam reads her reaction with ease and is smart enough to repeat the motion, causing another delectable moan to fall from her.

Juliette’s eyes jump down to stare at Adam’s arms, taking in the the way his veins became more prominent with every motion, her moans becoming erratic as Adam once again brings her closer and closer to her peak. Without thinking, the hand that had she had been using to support her body flew to wrap around Adam’s forearm, as if to silently beg him to keep it there. It was an additional bonus for her to feel his muscles flex as his fingers continued move within her.

“That’s right darling,” Adam sighs out, his breath hot against the shell of her ear. “Give me another one. Prove to me that you’re all mine.”

His sudden possessiveness is what drives Juliette over the edge again, her second orgasm crashing over her. The feeling of her clenching around Adam’s fingers pulls a groan from him, one he muffles by burying his mouth into the junction of Juliette’s neck and shoulder, his lips and teeth marking her once more.

It takes a moment for both of them to catch their breath before Adam is pulling away, his hands and body retreating from Juliette’s. He doesn’t stray far, only taking one step back and Juliette can’t help but bask in the way his eyes rake over her still exposed body.

Juliette appraises him similarly, eyes jumping down to the bulge in his jeans. That sight renews her hunger as she slides off the countertop, not bothering to adjust anything before sinking to her knees in front of Adam. Her hands crawl up his thick thighs towards his belt buckle. She barely has the chance to start to undo the leather when Adam’s hands reach down and halt her movements.

“No Jules,” Adam says. “Not here.”

“But I want to,” she replies, looking up at him, her eyes still blown wide in pure need.

Adam reaches down to cup her face and Juliette leans into his touch, his large palm almost covering her entire cheek. Adam holds out his other hand to her and there is only a moment before Juliette places her hand in his. He pulls her off the tile floor, not waiting even a millisecond before pulling her into him again, lips crashing together. Juliette wraps her arms around him, reveling in the way he touches her and kisses her until she feels drunk. Adam eventually breaks away, his warm breath fanning over her cheeks.

“Let me take you home, Jules.”

Juliette response is an assured nod, desperation still fueling her actions and Adam can’t stop the small laugh that escapes him. Juliette feels his hands moving against her but this time, it’s to pull the hem of her dress down, covering her. She pulls the top half back over her chest and reaches for the denim jacket, oh so carelessly left on the bathroom counter. But when she pulls the fabric back over her shoulders, her keys fall out of the pocket and onto the tile with a clatter, reminding her of a small snag in their plan.

“Wait, we came here separately,” she says, halting Adam at the doorway. “And I’m not about to try and explain why I’m leaving my car here.”

“Right. Fuck, um,” Adam says, pausing with his hand on the handle, his free hand coming to run through his hair. “Do you want to lead the way?” he asks, looking back at her.

“Back to my place?”

“Yeah,” he replies. “I mean, only if you want to.”

Juliette smiles, slowly walking over to him. She slides between him and the still closed door before lifting herself up to connect their lips again. Adam happily melts into the kiss, pressing her against the solid wood. Juliette lets her hands wander down, once again dancing over Adam’s belt buckle before dipping a little lower and she can’t help the satisfied feeling that rushes through her when Adam breaks from the kiss with a groan as she gently palms him through his jeans.

“If we leave now, we can be there in 15,” she says, not halting her movements as she captures Adam’s lips in hers again. This time, Adam voluntarily pulls away, reaching down to stop her hands before grinning back at her.

“You gonna break the speed limit?”

“Are you?”

Adam’s immediately grabs Juliette’s hips, pulling her into his body before lifting her feet off the tile, spinning her away from the door. She gasps at the ease in which he could maneuver her, the heat once again moving through her body at the possibilities his strength could provide as the night went on. Adam leans in to press a quick kiss onto her lips before moving back, his eyes heavy as he looks down at her.

“I don’t want to be away from you any longer than I have to,” he says, turning the handle and holding the door open for Juliette. She steps through, looking back at Adam with a mischievous smirk.

“Just don’t get pulled over.”

*~*~*~*~*

The morning sunlight shines through the cracks in Juliette’s white curtains, hitting her closed eyes. The concentrated beam causes her eyelashes to flutter open, softly groaning as she burrows deeper into her sheets. As she does, the weight of another shifts and Juliette’s eyes open to see Adam sleeping peacefully, the sun causing his hair to alight in a beautiful auburn.

Last night…

It was everything that Juliette could’ve wanted; everything she could’ve dreamt it to be. Adam made her feel… everything. All those thoughts and emotions that she had been holding back for ages, he brought forth with the touch of his hands on her skin.

He made her feel desired. He told her as much. And she had told him that she was his.

But words said in the heat of passion may not hold in the harsh light of day.

They needed to talk. Actually sit down and have a conversation about everything that had happened, every word said.

The conviction in her mind makes Juliette sit upright in bed, the covers falling from her body as she stretches her arms over her head. Perhaps she would make breakfast, or order in, or something. Food always seemed to help hard conversations become a little easier.

Juliette swings her legs over the edge of the mattress and right as her feet hit the floor, she hears the vibration of Adam’s phone rattling against the wood of her nightstand. She quickly circles the bed, intending to hit the lock button to silence what she assumes to be an alarm, as to not disturb him. Let him rest a little longer. But when the screen comes into view, she sees that it is not an alarm, but a Facetime call attempting to come through.

And when Juliette’s brain registers the picture and caller ID on the screen, her heart stops beating.

She doesn’t move, just stares at the phone as it continues to ring, memorizing the face of the girl wrapped in Adam’s arms in the image plastered on the screen; the blonde of her hair, her smile. The two hearts framing her caller ID.

The phone eventually silences but before Juliette can take another breath, a text message pops up.

Betty You’re probably still asleep. I forget that you’re in a different time-zone. Hope you had fun at the party! Call me whenever you wake up! Love you! Message received May 27th at 8:41am

Juliette doesn’t move; her feet feeling like stone weights, her heart collapsing in on itself like a dying star. She is so stuck in the moment where everything she thought she knew shifted on its axis that she barely registers the rustling of sheets next to her, the gentle groan of Adam rousing from his sleep.

“Morning,” Adam mumbles and Juliette can hear him turn his body towards her. But she doesn’t look at him, just keeps her eyes locked to the phone, her mind racing with the truth that Adam withheld.

He lied to her. He made her an accomplice in his infidelity. Turned her into something she never wanted to be. The temptress, the mistress, the other woman.

“Jules?”

There’s that fucking nickname again, falling from his lips and Juliette doesn’t want to acknowledge the ache in her heart when she hears him say her name like that. Because she knows that she would do anything he asked if he would just say it again.

She clenches her jaw and finally tears her eyes away from the nightstand, moving to look at Adam laying in the messy sheets. And when her hazel eyes connect to his, she wishes she could erase the feeling of desire that comes rushing to the surface.

Because he is not hers to want.

She knows that now.

“Who’s Betty?”

The words echo around her bedroom and Juliette can feel them hanging in the air as she watches Adam’s brow furrow before the realization drops. And he looks as if he’s been shot.

“Good,” she thinks. He should feel disgusted for what he did. For lying to her. For leading her on.

“Jules, I can explain,” Adam begins but Juliette cuts him off with a scoff.

“You can explain? Explain what, Adam? That you –”

Juliette spins away from him, her hand coming up to her mouth. She didn’t want to say the words, didn’t want to speak the truth into existence. But there was no avoiding this.

“Who is she?” she asks again, not bothering to turn around to face Adam again, instead choosing to stare out the window at the rising sun, not caring if the light caused her eyes to water. The tears would’ve come eventually. Better to blame it on something else instead of the feeling of her heart shattering.

“She’s my girlfriend,” Adam confesses, his voice soft with defeat.

Another scoff falls from Juliette as her lips purse, her head slightly shaking. Her arms cross in front of her stomach as she continues to look forward. She tries to ignore the sound of Adam sliding out from underneath her sheets, the gentle sound of his footsteps crossing the short distance between them, the heat of his body behind her. She ignores it until she can’t, when his hands slide across her arms before stopping over hers, holding her in his embrace.

She should push him off her, throw him out of her house and her life. But she doesn’t. She doesn’t move, doesn’t speak, barely breathes.

She just waits. Waits for him to speak. To tell her. Tell her what exactly, she isn’t sure. Because she knows that any word out of his mouth would just plunge the knife deeper.

The silence lasts for a long moment, neither of them brave enough to make the first move. Until Juliette feels Adam’s hands shift, moving to her biceps, gently gripping them.

“Jules, look at me. Please.”

She tries to resist the pull of him, not just the physical pull but the tug of her heart, begging her to listen even though her mind knew better. Eventually, she turns, her eyes closing, wanting to hold off on staring into those beautiful blue eyes.

It’s the gentle touch of his fingers against her chin that finally forces her eyes to flutter open. She can see his expression shift as he registers the tears on her cheeks and the blankness in her gaze.

“I’m sorry,” he says and Juliette can’t help the small huff of laughter that escapes as her eyes move away for a quick moment before coming back to his.

“For what? Sorry for what?”

“For not telling you,” Adam begins and – in a reaction that was long overdue – Juliette feels her sad numbness finally shift into anger.

“You’re damn right you should’ve told me!” she says, tearing her arms away from him and pacing to the other side of her bedroom. “What, did you think I would be okay with this? Do you think I wanted this?”

“You wanted this last night,” Adam mutters and the words sink in, causing the fire in Juliette to blaze higher, another scoff falling from her lips.

“Don’t you dare try to pin this on me. I’m not the one who fucked someone else while they’re girlfriend was waiting for them two provinces away!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying that! Stop apologizing to me like that’s going to fix everything. What the fuck were you thinking, Adam?”

“You want to know what I was thinking?” he says, turning towards her with a fierceness in his eyes that makes Juliette take a step back. “I was thinking; here’s this girl that I had been friends with for years, that looks more beautiful than she did the last day I saw her, and that looks like she wants me just as much as I want her.”

It takes a moment for his words to break through the fire that surrounded Juliette but when they finally do sink in, it smothers the blaze as quickly as it came.

Because it feelslike he is telling her the truth. The words he spoke… they don’t feel hollow. They don’t feel like words he spewed just to assuage her, to calm her. They feel real. But then again, so did last night.

Juliette doesn’t respond, just stays in place, letting her silence stretch until Adam takes it as a sign to continue.

“Betty and I…” Adam starts, the sentence trailing off as he tries to put his thoughts in order. “I care about her. I do. And I know it might not seem like it based on, well, everything. But when I saw you again… I don’t know if I can explain it. Something hit me, like I was seeing you for the first time.”

Adam takes a step towards Juliette, his footsteps delicate against the hardwood of her bedroom floor. He approached her cautiously, as if she was a wounded animal backed into a corner. Which she very well might be, based on how razor-thin close she was to shattering.

“I thought that I would die if I didn’t have you.”

Juliette can feel the tears start to well in her eyes and she tries to push them down. But it is futile as Adam’s voice continues to gently call, his hand moving to reach out to her.  

“Jules. My Jules.”

“Don’t.”

“Please.”

“Adam… don’t,” she repeats, the words growing thick with all the emotions that she had suppressed for so long. She feels the first teardrop fall the second that Adam grabs her hand, his touch pulling an involuntary reaction from her, like it did last night underneath her bedsheets.

“It’s always been you. I’m sorry it took me this long to see it.”

His confession finally causes the damn to break open and it is purely instinctive, the way she collapses into his outstretched arms, her tear-stained cheeks pressing against his still bare chest.

Juliette isn’t sure about the meaning behind her tears, her mind too jumbled to make sense of anything except the feeling of Adam’s strong arms holding her tight. He doesn’t speak; he just lets the emotions pour out, his lips burrowed in her hair. 

There is no denying how wrong this situation is. Nothing would erase the newfound discovery of Adam’s girlfriend waiting in Winnipeg, waiting for a call back. But right now, Juliette can’t seem to find it in herself to care.

Because although she isn’t sure what is true… this, here, being in Adam’s arms feels right.

And if it feels this good, how could it possibly be wrong?

Eventually, Juliette’s tears run out, leaving her only with small sniffles and red eyes. Adam is still holding her, one of his hands running calming circles against her spine. It takes a moment for her to gather enough to strength to push away from him, although she doesn’t go far, content to stay encased in his arms.

“So,” she speaks, brushing away any lingering wetness from her cheeks before looking up towards Adam. “What are we going to do?”

Her heart shouldn’t leap at the sight of a grin breaking out on Adam’s face. But like every reaction that Adam pulls from her, she isn’t sure that she would’ve been able to stop it.

“What do you want me to do? Or need me to do?”

“I mean, breaking up with your girlfriend would be a good start,” Juliette says, trying to infuse some light-hearted teasing into her words. An ease that is quickly squashed by Adam’s response.

“I can’t. Not now.”

“But you said –” she starts, her eyebrow furrowing in confusion before Adam cuts her off, an explanation waiting on his lips.

“I know. And I promise, you are the only one I want, I swear. But I do care about Betty. I can’t just break it off with her over a phone call while she’s a thousand kilometers away. That wouldn’t be fair.”

���So, what does that mean for us, now? Am I just supposed to go on with my life after everything you told me? Are we supposed to go back to how it was before yesterday; when I tried to forget you and you did the same?”

“I never forgot about you,” Adam says, his head ducking down to kiss her but Juliette turns her head before he can.

“You know what I mean, Adam,” she says, sending him a serious look indicating that she wasn’t about to let this go that easily. Adam sighs, shaking his head while shooting her a small smile.

“Always so stubborn,” he murmurs. “There is no way we are going back to never talking. I’m not letting you go that easily, especially now that I finally have you.”

“So, what are we going to do?”

Another sigh escapes Adam’s chest as he looks up towards the ceiling in thought. Juliette waits patiently, wanting him to take the reins in this situation. Especially considering that this… thing was his idea.

“I think it’s best that we keep this,” he says, pulling her closer to emphasize the meaning behind his words, “private. There’s no way I’m not spending another night in your bed for the rest of the summer.”

The sultry cadence of his words causes a rush of heat to rise to Juliette’s cheeks, her head turning away shyly. Or attempting to turn away before Adam catches her chin, pulling her attention back towards his.

“But we can obviously hang out together. Like we did back in high school. No reason that what we do behind these four walls would change how we act outside of them. How’s that sound?”

The question is directed towards Juliette and she lets the proposition sink in, tearing it over in her head. She would be lying if she said she didn’t have reservations. The proposal was an affair – there was no other word that better defined it. But Adam didn’t frame it like that. It was a necessary but temporary situation. Nothing more.

Juliette isn’t sure what makes her shake her head in agreement. If it was desire or fear or desperation. But she doesn’t get a chance to examine the driving emotion further. Because as soon as she gives her silent answer, that smile appears on Adam’s face, the fingers underneath her chin lifting her head up to meet his eyes.

“I promise Jules,” he whispers against her lips. “Just a few months. And then I can be yours completely.”

And when he seals his vow with a kiss to her lips, the only thing that Juliette can put into words is how good it feels to have him right now.

*~*~*~*~*

The summer drifts by and sometimes, Juliette finds her mind drifting with it.

Her and Adam continue their affair. Juliette hates thinking about it like that but there was no other way to describe it. She knew about Betty, about the girl waiting back in Winnipeg for Adam, about the girl who had claimed the spot of partner in Adam’s life long before she did. Juliette doesn’t like to think about Betty though, often banishing any thought of her from her mind. Because thinking about Betty would mean acknowledging her own role in this – the other woman.

But it’s easy to forget whenever her and Adam are alone.

Adam is intoxicating: the way he touches her, the way he kisses her. The hours she spends with him are exhilarating; stolen moments in his car, kisses shared in secrecy behind garden fences and in secluded hallways, evenings in her room with their hips moving in tandem, mornings when Adam dips beneath her covers and looks up at her, grinning like devil from between her thighs.

The voice in the back of Juliette’s mind remains, occasionally speaking up, telling her this is going to end – badly. That she is walking a treacherous path and eventually, she’s going to pay for the missteps that she is making.

However, that voice gets weaker and weaker as the summer goes on.

Because the way Adam treats Juliette… it’s not temporary. Or at least, it doesn’t feel like it is temporary. He doesn’t act like she is some summer fling, something to illicit excitement for a few months and then abandon as soon as the weather turns cold.

No, Adam treats her like this is it, like this is the one romance that he always wanted.

It was dangerous, falling for him again. It left her with nothing but heartache the last time, pining after him: the one that got away.

But then he came back. Fate brought him back to her and he was here now. He was next to her and he was telling her all the things she dreamed about hearing. His sweet words drowned out everything in her mind that was screaming at her, telling her this was wrong.

Because how could it be?

When she woke up next to him, watching the sunlight dance over his skin…

When he wrapped his arms around her and held her close…

When he told her that she was the only one for him…

How could any of that be wrong?

Yes, there were moments where she didn’t want to leave the comfort of the sheets that she and Adam were tangled in. Because leaving the privacy of her bedroom walls meant pretending that he didn’t send a fire burning through her with every look, every touch. And sometimes, she got tired of pretending. Juliette wanted to be able to hold his hand while they were walking down the street, wanted to kiss him in front of their friends, wanted to show the world that he was hers.

But Adam always soothed her, told her that this was the only part of their summer romance that was temporary. She just had to wait a little longer. Just until he saw Betty in person.

Just a few more months.

*~*~*~*~*

The cool breeze blowing in from the lake ruffled Juliette’s hair, the curls still damp and her skin still warm. Adam always loved to kiss the freckles that appeared on her cheeks after the hours she spent in the sun and Jules loved the feeling of his lips on her skin.

She wanted to feel them again.

They had spent the day at the lake with their friends and it was fun and enjoyable. It sent Juliette back to those high school summers where everything was simpler. Sometimes she still found herself wanting to go back there because maybe then she would be braver. Maybe she would’ve told Adam how she felt before he went away.

Juliette feels the warmth of a palm appear on the bare skin of her thigh and her eye dart from the passing woods to Adam’s profile, sitting behind the wheel as he drives her back to his house.

Maybe she could’ve been braver. But he was here now and that was all that mattered.

They had to pretend for the entire day, keeping a friendly distance from each other, only giving into the rising temptation in the backseat of Adam’s car parked in a secluded spot by the lakeshore after all their friends had left. Juliette still wanted more, not quite satisfied. Sometimes it didn’t feel like enough. But these stolen moments… they were enough right now.

And every touch Adam placed against her skin was weighted with the promise of something more to come as soon as the night took hold.

But they would have to pretend for a little longer – long enough to sit through a dinner with Adam’s mother, father, and brother Joel, along with Elsie and Evan. Just like old times.

Juliette is snapped out of her reverie by Adam pulling into his driveway, putting the car in park before smiling over to her.

“Ready?” he asks. Juliette lets out a hum, her eyes darting towards the front door, knowing as soon as they stepped over that threshold, their masks of ‘just friends’ would have fall back into place. Her eyes return to Adam, a playful glint reflecting in them.

“I don’t know if I want to let you go yet.”

Adam doesn’t hesitate in responding to her stalling by leaning over the center console, his hand coming to grip the back of her neck and pulling her close, pressing his lips against hers. She willingly surrenders to the kiss, pushing her body towards him, her hand lifting to grip his wrist and hold him in place. Juliette breaks the kiss, pulling away before nuzzling her head into Adam’s palm, looking up at him with her best bedroom eyes.

The shudder runs through her body as she hears Adam exhale, her lips twitching upwards in delight, loving the response that she could pull from him.

“We’ll stay for two hours, tops,” Adam says, his own darkening eyes dancing over her frame and Juliette can almost see the pictures flashing through Adam’s mind, her own body heating with anticipation.

“I’m holding you to that,” she whispers before fully removing herself from Adam’s touch, opening the car door and slipping out. She doesn’t wait for him as she walks up the front porch steps, swinging open the door and kicking off her slides before following the sounds of conversation, leading her to the kitchen.

When she rounds the corner, her eyes gloss over the scene quickly, noticing Elsie standing next to Adam’s mom by the stove and Evan talking to his dad Dave over on the couch. Juliette is about halfway into the room when the back door opens and Joel walks in, holding an empty platter and tongs with Elsie following closely behind him.

“Wait, Elsie?”

If Elsie was outside then who was –

“Adam! Guess who decided to pop in unexpectedly.”

It’s his mom Elaine that speaks and Juliette knows that behind her, Adam has just stepped into the kitchen. And when the blonde that was standing next to Elaine turns, the blonde that Juliette originally mistook for Elsie, there was no mistaking who it was.

Her face had haunted Juliette even since that morning in late May.

“Betty?”

Hearing her name fall from Adam’s lips feels like a gut-punch but Juliette forces herself to turn and watch as Betty jogs over to him. She tries not flinch when Betty jumps into his arms and Adam easily lifts her up. And it is only a moment before she presses her lips against his.

Juliette barely registers the scattered clapping coming from Adam’s family and their friends over the sentimental reunion and she shakes herself out of her shock just enough to politely join in. Her eyes stay glued onto Adam as he and Betty untangle, the smile pulled across his face, his blue eyes shining bright.

It looks so convincing.

“Surprise!” Betty giggles, holding her hands up in joy. “Miss me?”

“Of course, I did,” he replies, his hands resting on her hips pulling her into another hug, Betty’s head pressed against his chest. It is only then does his eyes dart over towards Juliette and she tries to keep her face as neutral as possible, not wanting to reveal any emotion that would complicate this now dangerous situation they found themselves in.

“How are you here?” Adam asks as Betty pulls away.

“A work trip. Not here, up in Edmonton but I decided to take an extended weekend to come surprise you.”

“Well, consider me very surprised,” Adam says and Juliette turns away as he leans into kiss Betty again.

She had to get out of this kitchen.

So, in the most casual movements that she could muster, Juliette walks over to the backdoor, pushing it open and wandering onto the Lowry’s expansive deck. She spies Joel standing in front of the grill, flipping the chicken breasts for dinner. Juliette goes to him for no real reason except for maybe distraction.

“Hey Julie,” Joel says once she stops next to the grill.

“Hey Joel. You got stuck with grill duty?”

“Looks like it. Dad didn’t want to today and you and Adam weren’t back in enough time so, here I am.”

“So, I’m partially responsible for your predicament?”

“Depends on if you were the reason Adam was late,” Joel jokes, looking over to Juliette with a smile on his face.

Juliette has to push down the heat that threatens to rise as the image of her and Adam in the backseat of his car with his hand between her thighs, flashes through her mind. Instead, she just laughs before her attention is pulled by Elaine and Dave walking outside, followed closely by Elsie and Evan. Adam and Betty appear last and she tries not to feel hurt at the sight of their hands intertwined.

She turns away, looking for another distraction, moving to the cooler placed in the corner of the deck. Juliette manages to fish out a beer and pops it open. But before she can even take a swig, she hears Adam’s voice sound from behind her.

“Hey Jules,” he says and she spins around and comes face-to-face with him and Betty. “Have you met Betty yet?”

Juliette once again must force a different expression on her face, one that disguises her true emotions (like the feeling of wanting to glare daggers in Adam’s direction) before turning to Betty with a smile on her face.

“I don’t think I have,” she says lightly, holding out her hand. “Nice to finally meet you, Betty.”

“Finally meet me? Oh no, please don’t tell me Adam has told you everything about me.” Betty laughs, taking Juliette’s hand.

“Well, we’ve been best friends since high school so he usually tells me everything,” Juliette explains, her eyes darting back to Adam knowing that he understands the insinuation behind her words. “But he’s only painted the best picture of you.”

“That’s good to hear. Want to try to make a good impression, y’know?”

“Totally understandable.”

Their conversation is interrupted by Adam’s dad calling everyone over to their outdoor dining table, ready to serve dinner. And as they all take their places, Juliette finds herself sitting next to Elsie and right across from Adam and Betty. Which means that all throughout dinner, Juliette is forced to watch the two of them.

She has to watch Adam with his arm so casually thrown over Betty’s chair, has to watch his head occasionally dip down to kiss her. She has to sit through a dinner filled with everyone talking about Betty and Adam: about their house in Winnipeg, about their golden retriever Banks, about their life together. An entire life separate from the world of this little Calgary lakeside neighborhood.

A life completely separated from her.

And when Juliette listens to Adam, hears his whispered words to Betty that float over to her on the late summer breeze… they sound so similar to the words that he whispered to her those early mornings, safe beneath her sheets.

Sometimes, Juliette focuses her attention onto Betty, watching as she effortlessly becomes a part of the moment, how she is so at ease with Adam’s family, and how she manages to make even Elsie and Evan laugh. And how in love she is with Adam.

Dinner ends as the night cools and after a few more drinks and a little more conversation, Juliette finds herself walking out the front door with Evan and Elsie close behind, catching a ride back to her apartment with them instead of Adam. For obvious reasons.

And it’s only a few moments until Juliette is curled up in the backseat of Elsie’s convertible, the night air chilling her to the bone as she watches the scenery pass her by, only slightly listening to the conversation being had by Elsie and Evan in the front. Until she hears Adam’s name.

“So, Adam’s girlfriend. What do we think?” Elsie probes, her question dancing on the air.

“She pretty cool. Although it seems kind of weird that this is the first time we’re meeting her but it feels like she’s already met Adam’s family,” Evan muses.

“Yeah, but that’s probably because they go to Winnipeg more than we do. Most likely they met her there along with the rest of Adam’s Winnipeg friends.”

“So, we’re just the less important hometown friends?”

“Well, maybe you are, Evan,” she teases before her twin brother smacks her arm. Juliette can’t stop the smile that tugs at her lips at their antics, a smile that is matched by Evan as he turns to face her.

“What do you think, Julie?”

“About you being less important? I suppose it’s debatable,” she laughs, joining in on Elsie’s teasing.

“No,” Evan says rolling his eyes, still hating whenever the two of them team up against him. “What do you think about Betty?”

Juliette’s smile falters slightly as she turns her eyes back out into the dark forest surrounding the street.

“She seems really nice,” she offers quietly, her voice almost lost to the wind. Juliette can hear a small hum emulate from Evan before he returns to face forward.

The conversation ends there, the rest of the ride to her apartment silent except for the thanks she gives Elsie and Evan when they arrive.

And when she collapses into her bed that suddenly feels too big for just her, she turns towards the empty side, picturing Adam next to her.

*~*~*~*~*

The next thing Juliette registers is her jolting awake from a deep sleep, with the feeling of bile building in her throat, the early morning light filtering through her windows.

She didn’t remember falling asleep. She had no recollection of when she finally drifted off after hours of tossing and turning. But she did remember her dream.

She was standing in her bedroom, separate from her body, watching over the scene like a fly on the wall. Her body was in her bed and Adam was next to her, facing her, that gentle expression on his face as he looked into her eyes. His hand brushed the hair away from her face and Juliette could hear him whisper those sweet words; telling her that she was the only one he wanted, telling her that he loved her.

Juliette watched as he leaned in to kiss her, his hand tangling in her hair, pulling her body close.

It was a familiar scene, one that had played out almost every night they were together in the past two months. But as Juliette continued to watch, the scene began to shift. The body lying next to Adam starts to change: her curls straighten, her dark hair begins to lighten, the freckles on her skin disappear. And when Adam breaks the kiss, the girl below him isn’t Juliette.

It’s Betty, looking up at Adam with her beautiful brown eyes.

Juliette couldn’t look away, watching as Adam brushes back her blonde hair before whispering that he missed her. That two months away from her felt like torture. That he thought he would die if he didn’t have her in his arms.

The same thing he told Juliette that first morning.

She watched the soft smile break across Betty’s face and Juliette had to watch as Adam leaned in, kissing Betty once again.

Juliette’s hands rub across her face, attempting to scrub the dream from her mind. But she knows it is an impossible task, knows she will never be able to forget it.

That dream was a sharp shock back to reality, an upfront confrontation of the situation she found herself in. The situation that she had perpetuated.

This was what Adam was doing to her. This was what they both were doing to Betty.

Adam’s girlfriend was no longer a face on the screen. Her name was no longer something said in passing. She was here. She was real. And the truth would destroy her.

But what was the truth?

Was it the life that Adam and Betty had built together in Winnipeg? Or was it every moment that he and Juliette shared?

Juliette had believed Adam meant every word that he said to her. Back then, when this whole affair first started, she had to believe it. It was the only hope she could hold on to. But she never stopped to think that perhaps that was all it was – hope.

Enough to sustain her but not enough to feed her. No where close to what she actually needed in order to survive.

That voice in the back of her mind – the one that had been silenced as the summer went on – was back in full-force now, screaming at her. Telling her that this would be a disaster, no matter who Adam chose.

If he chose Juliette, Betty would be devastated. The life that she had built in Winnipeg would be destroyed and was Juliette that heartless to not feel a shred of sympathy for the girl whose life she was complicit is ruining?

But if he chose Betty…

Juliette pushes the voice back, silencing it before it could expand on that possibility. Because that couldn’t be real. Adam couldn’t take back everything he had said to Juliette, he wouldn’t. And call her selfish, call her a bitch, call her whatever you wanted to, but Adam was hers.

And he would prove it to her.

Betty was here, in person. Adam could talk to her face-to-face. It was exactly what he had told Juliette to wait for, to be patient for. And the universe blessed them by allowing the moment to happen here, in Calgary where Juliette was, instead of in a city two provinces away.

All Juliette had to do was wait a little longer. And then Adam would be hers. Completely.

Just like he promised.

*~* 3 days later *~*

She’s gone. Can I come over? Message received July 30th at 5:28pm

Door’s unlocked. Message sent July 30th at 5:36pm

*~*~*~*~*

Juliette hears her front door open and it takes all her willpower not to move from her spot on her bed. She hears Adam lock the deadbolt before his assured footsteps move through her apartment towards her bedroom. It only takes a minute until he appears in the doorway, his eyes landing on Juliette sitting on top of her sheets, back against the pillows.

The way his face softens when he sees her makes Juliette’s heart flutter and before she can blink, his long strides cross her room until his shins hit the edge of her mattress. Adam leans forward, his hands reaching out and Juliette feels his callused fingers wrap around her ankles. A gasp is torn out of her mouth as Adam grips her tight, pulling her down the bed towards him. His broad body covers her and he crashes his lips onto hers, throwing her legs around his hips.

Juliette’s reaction is instinctual, following Adam’s lead, legs pulling his hips down to hers, her hands coming to tangle in his hair. The kisses that pass between them are fierce, desperate, and Juliette can feel the desire pouring from Adam as his hands constantly move across her frame.

They move in-sync, bodies rolling against one another as Adam’s lips drift away, moving to her neck as his hands sneak under her t-shirt. Small moans are all that Juliette can muster as Adam’s lips continue to move across her skin, the feeling of his touch after three days of no-contact making her head spin.

A sharp gasp rips from Juliette’s chest as Adam gently bites her throat before moving over the slight indents, marking her. Claiming her once again.

But was she his to claim?

That thought is what jolts Juliette back to the issue that still lingered unresolved between them. The issue of Adam’s girlfriend. And the remembrance of Betty – of her blonde hair and deep brown eyes – crashes over Juliette like a cold morning dip in the lake, dousing the fire of passion that had been steadily building.

“Adam,” she says, her voice a little breathless. Adam does not stop, his lips still moving against her skin and Juliette tries not to get lost in the feeling. “Adam,” she tries again, placing her hands on his shoulders in an attempt to push him away. “Adam! Stop.”

Juliette finally manages to shove Adam off her, her eyes connecting with his as she takes in his puzzled stare, his hands dropping down to rest on her hips as he remains standing over her. The way his hair is mussed and how his pupils are blown wide causes an ache in Juliette that she silences, keeping it at bay until she has the answers that she needs.

“Is it over?” she asks him, propping herself up on her elbows, staring him down.

“Is what over?”

“You and Betty. Is it done?”

Juliette watches as Adam’s eyebrows furrow in confusion, his mouth opening and closing like a fish and his reluctance is what causes Juliette’s frustration to take over.

“Jesus Christ, Adam did you break up with her or not?” she snaps, pushing Adam’s hands off her body as she sits upright, Adam retreating a few steps back, either in shock or politeness, giving her space. The answer seems to be shock when Adam speaks again.

“What are you talking about?”

“What do you mean ‘what am I talking about’? She was here, Adam. You were face to face with her. You could breakup with her in person. Isn’t that what you were waiting for?”

“Jules,” Adam starts again, moving back towards his, his hands outstretched. “I –”

“No,” Juliette says, lifting herself up off the bed and placing a hand on his chest, stopping his forward momentum. “You don’t get to avoid this. Did you or did you not break up with her?”

Juliette can feel Adam’s chest raise under her palm in a sigh, his eyes turning away from her to stare out the window. The pause continues to stretch between them and because of that, because of how long it is taking Adam to tell her the truth, Juliette already knows what the truth is before he says it.

“I couldn’t do that to her.”

However, even though she knew those were going to be the words he spoke, it didn’t mean they hurt any less.

“Why not?” Juliette asks, feeling the cracks in her heart start to form as she stares at Adam, trying to decipher his expression, trying to see into his mind and find out what he was thinking.

“Because… she was only here for a weekend. And if I told her, she would have had to go back to our house and pack up and do that all herself. Jules, it would be cruel.”

“Oh, so you want to hold her hand through it all?” Juliette scoffs and it’s her anger that pulls Adam’s eyes back to her. “What makes you think she would even want you around? Maybe, if you broke up with her, she would welcome the distance. Especially when you told her about me and you.”

“She can’t know.”

“She can’t know what?”

“She can’t know I’m breaking up with her because of you.”

“Because of me?” Juliette asks, her voice incredulous and it is only then do the floodgates open. “Oh, okay, so, this is my fault now?”

“Jules, you know I didn’t mean it like that,” Adam tries to explain taking another step towards her but Juliette holds up her hand again while taking a step away from him.

“No, no, I see how it is. I’m the one that lead you into temptation and now I’m the one demanding that you break up with your girlfriend. Is that right?” Juliette rants, the tears building steadily, her voice getting thick.

“Jules – ”

“Because she’s all yours. She’s the one you want. You would die if you didn’t have her, right? Because it’s always been Betty. Hasn’t it?”

There is a pause as Juliette lets her words sink in, lets Adam register and recognize them. The words that he whispered in this same bedroom every morning he woke up here. And when Juliette sees that realization wash over Adam’s face, she doesn’t even try to stop the small satisfied huff of laughter that escapes. Even though it ends up sounding more like a sob as the tears finally start falling down her freckled cheeks.

“Or is that me? Are those the things that you told me? Back when you promised that all I had to do was be patient and then you would be mine completely,” she continues, not bothering to brush the tears away. “You think that breaking up with Betty is cruel? What do you think this is? What do you think about what you’re doing to me?”

Juliette holds Adam’s stare, almost forcing him to look at her, to see how much he was hurting her. She wanted him to know there was no hiding from this, there was no running from this. This is what he did and now he had to face it.

“You can’t have both of us, Adam. If you want me the way you’ve said that you want me, then you have to choose me. Because I can’t do this with you anymore.”

The ultimatum hangs in the air, awaiting Adam’s response and Juliette hangs with it. She watches as Adam tears his eyes away from her, his head ducking down in defeat. He speaks again, his voice so soft that under any other circumstance, Juliette might be straining to hear him. But the words he says ring loudly throughout the room, ricocheting right into her chest and shattering her already fragile heart.

“I’m sorry Jules but… I can’t. Not right now.”

The words cut like a shotgun shot to the heart and she collapses back onto the edge of her bed, the hurt clearly painted on her face. She continues to look at him, hoping he would glance up and maybe take back his words. But when he doesn’t – when Adam’s eyes stay locked to the wooden floor, she finally tears her own eyes away from him, pushing back the tears that were still coming.

“Then get out. Get out of my house. Get out of my life,” Juliette chokes out, trying desperately to put as much malice behind the words as she could. “I never want to see you again.”

The room is silent for a moment until Juliette hears Adam move and the sound of his footsteps retreat, the distance between her and him growing further and further with every step. She listens to the sound of them fading, his departure finally punctuated by the echo of her front door closing.

And when that sound hits her eardrums, that’s when the rest of her strength gives out and Juliette’s head collapses into her hands, the tears now falling freely. She sits there and weeps; she doesn’t know how long for. She just cries until the tears are gone, until she feels like she has properly mourned the loss.

The loss of everything she could’ve had.

The loss of everything she never really had to begin with.

*~*~*~*~*

In the aftermath, Juliette attempts to heal. Attempt being the opportune word.

It is difficult, one of the worst breakups that she had ever experienced. Even though she didn’t know if this could even be classified as a breakup. What was it called when you lost someone who was never actually yours?

Still, the lack of definition didn’t dull the pain. In fact, it just exacerbated it. Her heart felt like it was cut open and she had to try to stich it back together. She had to sweep up the ashes of the once blazing passion that had now been extinguished. She had to try and move on.

But moving on was easier said than done. Especially when Adam’s ghost came back to her every night and every morning, she swore that she could still taste him on her lips. It became so bad that eventually she would just lie in bed staring at the ceiling fan, picking apart everything; every word spoken to her, every interaction they shared to see if there was an indication that this would be the inevitable conclusion, until sleep finally overtook her.

She spends days alone in her apartment, drinking every bottle of wine that she owned trying to erase Adam from her mind.

She ignores messages from friends, inviting her out to parties and hangouts because she knew there was a possibility that Adam would be there. And she wasn’t strong enough to face him without being pulled back into his inescapable gravity.

But the solitude doesn’t help either. Because in the silence contained within her apartment walls, all Juliette had was her thoughts. And her thoughts are anything but kind.

They were filled with the memories of Adam and her. They were filled with the knowledge that Adam is going to go back to Betty. It makes her sick to think of Adam holding Betty close, of him never telling her about what he did this summer, about Adam lying to her face and Betty being none the wiser.

But it also makes her sick to think about Adam holding Betty to him and continuing to build a life with her. Leaving Juliette and everything he promised her behind.

Juliette’s distance is eventually noticed and one day, Elsie and Even show up on Juliette’s doorstep, demanding to know what was going on.

And Juliette tells them everything. Everything.

She is terrified that they would judge her, criticize her for willingly going along with something so immoral for months. But they don’t. Perhaps it was because they felt sorry for her. Perhaps it was because they understood that while she carried some of the blame, she was more so an accomplice rather than the perpetrator. Perhaps it was because it was easy to blame the man that had only reappeared after eight years of absence rather than the friend that had been by their side for almost thirteen years.

Whatever the reason, they threw themselves into helping Juliette heal.

It felt like high school again; sleepovers at each other’s houses, staying up all night watching terrible movies, talking until the sun came up. Going to parties together and staying by each other’s sides for the entire night. And whenever they corralled Juliette out of a party early, she knew in the back of her mind it was because Adam had shown up. But she didn’t mind because it meant that they were watching out for her. And for that she was thankful.

There were still times where Elise drank a little too much, the alcohol loosening her tongue as she trashes Adam, cursing him for what he had done. And Juliette has to stop herself from defending the man that broke her heart. But those moments were few and far between.

Juliette never pushed away Elsie or Evan’s support, regardless of whether or not they saw things differently. Because without them, she was certain she would still be waking up alone, hungover and heartbroken.

However, while Elsie and Evan were a great help, Juliette was learning to heal without them.

At one point, Juliette started to drive to lakeside alone, late at night. It was there where she stood out on the shore, watching the moonlight ripple over the still water. Sometimes she would dive in, letting the late summer waves wash away any lingering heartache.

It was there that her examination of her relationship with Adam and the words he had said to her yielded a harsh truth; she had never known him. Nostalgia and lust twisted Adam into someone he wasn’t. When he was lying next to her, twisted in her bedsheets, he was an angel, washed pure by the flame he had ignited within Juliette.

That was the reason losing him hurt so much. Because in that moment, on that day in July, he told her exactly who he was. And the illusion had shattered.

Some nights, she wished he remained unknown to her.

Some nights, she wished he never came back into her life.

That way she could’ve kept the memory of the sweet boy from high school. The one who was assigned the seat next to her in homeroom because their last names were only a few letters apart. The one who welcomed her into his friend group without hesitation. The one who quickly became her best friend.

The person she fell in love with all those summers ago.

But that wasn’t who he was anymore. And so, Juliette finally learned to let the fantasy go.

August slipped away.

And so did Adam.

*~*~*~*~*

The strong knock on Juliette’s door pulls her attention away from the oven filled with sweet potato fries. She glances at her watch, confused that Elsie had arrived almost an hour earlier than she said she would. But Juliette shrugs, moving from the kitchen to the entryway, ready to let her in.

Maybe it was a good thing that Elsie was early. After all, based on how this season of the Bachelor was going, Juliette thought that it might be a good idea for the two of them to chug a glass of wine before even starting the finale.

Juliette doesn’t bother looking through her peephole, unlocking the door and swinging it open. But when she sees the silhouette of the person standing on her doorstep, she realizes that she should’ve at least double-checked to see who was standing outside.

Because standing there on the other side of her threshold… was Adam.

The man that she hadn’t seen or interacted with in almost two months.

“Can I come in?” he asks, the baseball cap perched on his head, his piercing blue eyes peering out from underneath the brim.

Juliette knows that the right thing to do would be to slam the door in his face. She told him that she never wanted to see him again and he had done a good job at disappearing from her life, just like she asked. But now he was back, standing on her doorstep, asking to be let in.

And before Juliette can think better of it, she’s stepping to the side, a silent invitation for Adam to enter her apartment.

He accepts, walking in and taking off his hat, his hand coming to run through his hair as he takes in the scene of her living room.

“The Bachelor?”

“Yeah, the season finale is tonight,” she explains, closing the door behind her, her eyes never leaving Adam’s frame.

“Expecting someone else?” he asks, vaguely pointing to the bottle and two wine glasses perched on her glass coffee table.

“Elsie.”

Adam’s reply is a hum as his eyes continue to dart around the room. It isn’t until now that Juliette realizes that he has yet to look at her.

“What are you doing here Adam?” she asks, crossing her arms in front of her, the sharpness of her voice finally pulling Adam’s attention to her. She hates the way her heart still lets out a small flutter at the sight of his expression softening as his eyes land on her.

“I just want to say that I was wrong. For not doing exactly what you asked me to.”

“What do you – ”

“I’m going to break up with Betty,” he says, cutting off her question. The words are uttered so fast that it takes a moment for Juliette to fully register them. And when she does, she can feel her expression twist from confusion to disbelief. Adam reads her reaction before continuing.

“I go back to Winnipeg in a week and as soon as I’m there, I’m going to tell her it’s over.  But I just wanted to tell you first.”

“Why?” Juliette asks, feeling her heart start to pound in the anticipation of receiving Adam’s response.

“I was hoping that…” he starts, his words stilted and awkward as his gaze reverts to darting around the room. Juliette watches as he takes a deep breath, closing his eyes as if he was readying himself to say the words he was about to speak. His eyes return to hers and Juliette can feel her breath catch in her throat at the fierce determination in his gaze.

“I still feel the same way that I did about you, Jules. You’re the only one for me and I’m sorry that I made you wait so long to hear me say this. I never wanted to hurt anyone but because of that, I ended up hurting you. I promise I’ll never leave you again.”

Every sentence, every declaration is punctuated by Adam taking a step towards her and Juliette doesn’t retreat, doesn’t move. Just lets him continue his steady approach until his hands are resting on her hips, holding her close.

“I want all of you, Jules,” he whispers, leaning down to press a kiss into the crown of her head. “My beautiful Jules.”

It was everything that Juliette had wanted to hear, everything she waited for during those three months of sneaking around, of stolen moments and pretty lies. And perhaps if the two of them were still back there, back in the heat of June, back at the beginning of summer with all it’s hope possibility, perhaps Juliette would take him back.

But now, in the September chill… it was too little, too late.

“Let go of me, Adam,” she whispers, keeping her body stiff in his hold. She doesn’t relax until she feels Adam’s hands withdraw and it is only when she feels the space between the two of their bodies widen that she looks up at him.

“I don’t – I don’t believe you,” she says and as soon as the words hit Adam, Juliette can see the distance appear in his eyes. There is still a small part of her body that aches as she can see the defeat wash over him but she continues, not willing to let him strip away the strength that she found in his absence. “I can’t trust you, Adam. And there’s no way I can know that you mean what you say. Especially when you’re in another city, a thousand kilometers away.”

Juliette lets her words linger in the air between them, willing Adam to listen to her, to understand how he hurt her the last time he was in her apartment, when he went back on the same exact promise. The pause lasts for a minute or two before a small sigh falls from Juliette’s lips.

“I can’t go through this with you again.”

The rejection feels like a slamming door, shutting out any lingering warmth from a summer love that seemed so real. But even though it hurt and even though there was still a part of Juliette that wanted to chase the sun and bask in its light for a little while longer, she knew that if she did, she would just get burned.

Both her and Adam stand there, appraising each other and she knows that one of them is going to break first, one of them is going to take back the words just spoken. But it wasn’t going to be her. Maybe she used to be willing to give up everything to keep him close – because even though it would hurt, she would get to wake up next to him every morning – but she couldn’t do it now.

Finally, Adam sighs, understanding that he lost the battle.

“I understand,” he says, moving towards the front door, passing by Juliette with a brush of his arm against hers.

But unlike the last time Adam left her apartment, Juliette turns to watch him leave. Her eyes track his movement to the front door, watching as he swings it open. But before he steps out into the autumn evening, he looks back at her and Juliette can see the ocean waves of sadness in his blue eyes.

“Jules,” he whispers. There is an exquisite pang that echoes through the chambers of her heart at the nickname, the nickname meant only for her. A name that she will most likely never hear again. “I’m sorry.”

“I am too.”

Her words are the final sentence spoken, Adam walking out and closing the door behind him. And Juliette expects that seeing him leave would hurt just as much as it did the last time.

But it doesn’t.

*~*~*~*~*

I think about us a lot. I don’t know if it’s the end of the chapter and you’ll return later on or it’s the end of the story. But I love you. I miss you. I’m sorry this is the way it became.

[cellythefloshie]

;; Clinched A Winnipeg Road Wife Oneshot

Summary: With the new coach, came a new program: The Road Wife initiative is brought to the Winnipeg Jets for the 2022-2023 season. With only 2 games remaining in the regular season, the Jets only needed 1 point to clinch a playoff appearance for the first time since 2018. After a 3-1 regulation win against the Minnesota Wild, and fighting Ryan Reaves, Adam Lowry has one thing on his mind: Celebrating with the team's Road Wife. Kinks & TW: hockey fight (ryan reaves vs adam lowry), mentions of blood, height difference, sex work, unprotected sex, locker room sex, exhibitionism/voyeurism (PLD watches briefly), adam has a large cock, marking (hickies), implied possible rule-breaking, implied relationships beyond that designated by their contract Inspired By: The fight he had with Ryan Reaves, and this video posted by the Winnipeg Jets media team Word Count: 2800+ Taglist: @mp0625 , @starshine-hockey-girl

27.1 seconds. That’s how much time had been remaining when Minnesota Wild coach had sent Ryan Reaves out onto the ice for what could have been the final face-off of the game. The game was already lost for the Wild, with the Winnipeg Jets leading 3-1, so they had nothing to lose and Reaves? He had been looking for a fight all game. So, Adam Lowry gave him one. 

The fans in attendance had erupted as gloves were dropped, but it was all drowned out by the thump of Adam’s heart as it invaded his ears. It was all he could hear as Reaves’ fist collided with his arm as he struggled to get the reach he wanted. Reaves would manage a series of blows to the side of Adam’s helmet before Adam could get his own hit in. The momentum of his swing sent them both grappling as they met the ice. It was then the officials swooped in and the two fighters were separated. 

The darkness of the tunnel greeted Adam as he left the roar of the fans and the ice behind him - and in that darkness, his teammates waited for him. Brendan Dillion was half-dressed, having been sent from the game the play before for a slashing penalty against Ryan Hartman. With him stood those who had been scratched for the game, Logan Stanley and Axel Jonsson-Fjaliby among them, were dressed in their game day best all waited to greet him with the celebrations. 

Adam didn’t hear a single word as he walked through the group of them, and barely felt the pat of their hands against his chest, arms and back as his mind was still focused on the fight he had out on the ice. He could still only hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears and feel it against every pulse point in his body. Sweat glides down the angles of his body, and he can feel it soaking into his equipment. His dominant hand is slick with blood as it oozes from a knuckle that had been busted as it had impacted the side of Reaves’ helmet and that is all Adam feels as he disappears into the locker room with one thing on his mind. 

You. 

You had already made your way back into the locker room before the fight had broken out. With only seconds left in the game, the room would need to be ready for when the players began to flood in. Things needed to be cleaned, packed and stored properly as come morning they would be hitting the road for Colorado, and as the only woman on the staff of equipment managers you found yourself putting in the extra work to make sure you got to keep your job in the competitive industry. You had been bent over the large travel trunk that carried the jerseys when you heard the commotion in the hall outside. You had paid no mind to it, the Jets were winning, the boys were celebrating, and you had expected the celebration to carry on in the locker room but all you could sense with seriousness as Adam walked into the room. 

He walked with a certain swagger, and confidence, with his hair a sweaty mess as he held his helmet in one hand. Adam moved through the room, his eyes locked on his temporary stall as it was his destination and nothing was going to distract him from it. He slid his helmet into its place in his stall, and that was when his eyes lingered from their fixation on the wall. It was a subtle glance from the floor and up over the length of your body before his gaze was obscured by the removal of his jersey. It was with it off he froze, his back to the room, and let out a low, stern order: 

“Everyone out!” 

It was an order that had you hesitating for a moment, your brow quirking up as you cast him an unsure glance. He didn’t expect you all to clear out right before the game was ending, did he? Any second now the rest of the team would be coming in from the ice, and yet the rest of the staff - and some of the players - complied. A jersey slipped from your fingertips as you straightened up and began to move for the door. You had only managed to take two hesitant strides before the hold of a large hand wrapped effortlessly around your wrist. It was tight enough to hold you in place, to leave you feeling fragile, and draw your attention back. Adam had abandoned his place in front of his stall, taking a single stride to close the distance before reaching out to you. 

“No, not you,” he muttered, his voice a little softer as he loosened his hold on your wrist, his touch slipped down over your palm as he drew you in. 

“Adam-” his name left your lips in a semblance of a yelp that was rendered to silence with a single look that left your jaw slack and palms sweaty. 

While you were on the team's staff of equipment managers, it wasn’t the only position you held. You were also the team’s road wife. It had been an ill-formed habit, and unwritten rule, that Adam always got to enjoy you after a fight, but this time wasn’t going to wait until he could get you back to his hotel room. No, he was going to take you right there in that room, and he hadn’t even taken off his equipment yet. 

Adam drew you in close, each subtle step you took bringing you closer to his tower frame. Without skates, Adam already towered over you as he stood at a whopping six-foot-six, and in them, he stood closer to six-foot-nine. You had never felt smaller as your hands reached out to rest against the chest plate of his shoulder pad carefully. It was damp beneath your touch, not that you minded, nor did your touch get to linger long as when you were close enough Adam was gripping your waist and hoisting you up from the floor in a single effortless motion. 

Everything that happened next came from need and instinct.

Your legs wrapped around him just above the bulky waistline of his hockey pants, and his large hands began to travel up over the expanse of your back. It was his broad and desperate touch that supported you as Adam carried you away from the center of the room, and towards a table that rested at its edge. It was cluttered with refreshments that had been provided by the Wild organization for the players to enjoy between periods, but not it was all an inconvenience and in the way. With a single swipe of his arm, he cleared a spot on the table for your ass and sent it all to the floor. 

The clamour and mess were all lost on him as his mouth made its descent down onto your lips in a hungry kiss that wasted no time on being tender and coy. You could feel the roughness of his beard against your flesh, and with the careful rise of his hand to his jaw to guide your lips open you could taste him on your tongue. The flavours of his tongue alone, as it stroked along your own, was enough to leave you mewling. It sent a shiver right through to your core as your hands were desperate to seek out the drawstrings of his hockey pants. You worked blindly, your fingers merely hooking on the strings as Adam’s second hand came to join the other in cupping your face and deepening the kiss between you both. 

Your mind was left spinning, your chest heaving as you took in each desperate breath as you were left wanting more of him - but he was confined from you in his layers of equipment that you struggled to remove. “Adam,” his name was a mere breath against his lips as your hands found his chest and gave it a careful shove. He was a big man, so the shove barely phased him but it gave you enough room to begin to fight the layers from his body. You started with his shoulder pads that would join the mess on the floor - and then Adam was leaning back in, his mouth going to your neck as you loosened his hockey pants. You could barely focus on the knot that was there as your fingers worked desperately to work in free as his hot breath washed over your neck. As his lips moved sloppily, and his teeth grazed over your collarbone. He marked up your neck with great impatience all the while slowing you down, but soon his pants had been worked free and slipped down to rest around his ankles. 

It was at that moment, and only at that moment, you hated hockey players for just how much equipment they wore as beneath it all Adam was wearing his tight compression wear. Post-game it was like a second skin and it was a struggle to remove with how sweaty he had become during sixty minutes of game time. Yet, you made quick work of his shirt before working his pants down just low enough to work his eager cock free.

With Adam free of his confines, your hands were quick to abandon your cheeks and found the zipper of your team-branded sweater. He dragged it down, biting at his lower lip as he found that you were wearing nothing more than a bra underneath. Adam was nearly salivating at the sight of your cleavage, his palms lingering around each breast for a moment before he lets them drop to where the waist of your pants was snug around your hips. His fingers hooked them with ease, taking your panties with them as he drew them down your legs, and fought with them until they were left to hand from a single ankle, right above the sneaker on your foot. 

For a moment Adam stood in front of you, breathing heavily with anticipation as the rush of adrenaline from the fight was threatening to come crashing down as he stood between your legs. He must have underestimated how difficult it would be to undress with such haste and it left you wondering if he had changed his mind and decided to wait until you could get back to the hotel - but before you could ask he was hooking his hands behind your knees and drawing you to the very edge of the table. The tip of his cock dragged up your inner thigh as he stepped in close, the angle awkward as he stood a little too tall with his skates, but with the firm guidance of his hands angling your hips just right and a slight bend to his knees Adam thrust his cock into the warmth of your cunt. 

The careful force of his cock came with the familiar sting of taking a cock of his size. One that burned through your body like an ember that could only burn bright with every thrust. It was a pleasure that would build as he took his time with you, assuring that you could take all of him without discomfort - but today you weren’t granted the same pleasantries and you were thankful for the many nights you had laid with him preparing for this very moment. 

Adam’s thrusts were far from gentle as he rocked on the blades of his skate to gain just the right momentum to fuck you upon the tabletop. A single hand rested on your hip, gripping at the flesh of your ass so firmly for leverage that you thought you might bruise, while the other sought out the nape of your neck and tangled in your hair. He used that grip to force you to look up at him, to hold the intensity of his stare and to watch as your face melted into ecstasy as he fucked you raw for the first time. 

Each slap of his thighs against your own could be heard with his thrust, and the table shifted to and fro sending an awful grinding sound through the air that would undoubtedly be heard out in the hallway where the team must have been waiting as the game would have ended before you even had his cock out. Yet, Adam continued with no shame, and without any regard for the fact that at any moment his teammates or his coach would walk in on him as he railed you. 

Just the thought left your jaw slacking and your eyes fluttering shut, and before you could stop yourself you were letting out a soft moan. It was one that left a smile on Adam’s face, words of encouragement leaving his lips as he continued to test the limits of your core, “That’s it, get loud for me me,” he let out a heavy breath, “for the boys,” he was groaning now, “let them all hear how we celebrate.”

His words left you hissing out, “fuck!” and your hand reached up to work his hand free of your hair. With that freedom, you leaned in and buried your face into the strength of his shoulder. There you muffled your own moans as while he encouraged you, you have rules to follow and needed to maintain certain discretions. Discretions that Adam often left you wanting to cast aside, especially now as you clung to him and fell further into a haze of ecstasy.

In the crook of his shoulder, you lost your composure completely, your moans left to warm his skin and your lips dragging carefully over his strength. You clung to him desperately, your fingers digging into his shoulder blades and a single leg coming up to wrap around the strength of his thigh as if you could manage to take him any deeper. The pleasure was enough to have you throwing your head back, sending your hair cascading down your back, and your eyes opened to seek out his features again but you were quickly distracted by a figure standing in the doorway. 

Standing with his arms crossed over his chest and casually leaning up against the door frame to enjoy the show was Pierre-Luc Dubois with a small smirk playing on his lips. You didn’t know how long he had been standing there, but he didn’t look away nor did he make any attempt to leave when you had noticed him watching you. You met his stare, all the while Adam had reached a single hand between your bodies to stroke at your clit with his thumb, and it sent a wave of pleasure through your body that left you quivering. It was all quickly becoming too much, each stroke driving your body temperature to rise, sweat to build and your core to grip tightly around Adam’s cock. 

It was the grip of your climax that sent Adam deep into your cunt with one final, forceful thrust that left him to unload deep inside you. You could feel every twitch of his thick cock against your core, each surge of his cum as it was spilt inside you. 

“You all wrapped up in here, Lows?” Came Luc’s voice. It was a chippy, cocky tone that had you groaning at the double meaning it possessed. 

“He most definitely was not,” you muttered to yourself quietly, but it was just loud enough for Adam to hear as he took a careful step back and eased his cock from inside you. 

“Yeah,” Adam answered for himself after a moment of trying to stifle a bout of laughter. He masked it with ease, taking a heavy breath as he reached down to pull his layers back up. He wouldn’t speak again until his hockey pants were secured, and he stood merely shirtless in front of you - a human shield as you reached down to draw up your own pants and hide from Luc that he had just flooded your cunt with cum.

Reaching up, Adam carded a hand through his sweat-drenched hair, a knowing smile on his lips as he spoke, “The boys can all come on in now-”

Sliding down from the table, you did your best to compose yourself as the team began to flood into the room. You were just finished fastening your pants when you met with the cheers of celebration, and high fives from familiar faces as they passed - and soon as if nothing had happened at all, you and the boys fell into your respective post-game routines. Though, their night was a little different as they were celebrating: The Winnipeg Jets had clinched their wildcard position in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs.

[sergeifyodorov]

it’s so lovely seeing cowboy and mints doing well, i’ve been wondering what you think the chances are of seeing them get the call-up for next season?

I think Mints is practically guaranteed -- Easton gets another slide at least but I don't think Minten does, and he already got NHL games so some part of the Leafs development staff (and Keefe, even if he isn't sticking around) thought he was Almost Ready as of a year ago. I don't imagine he's regressed since.

EASTON is altogether a different question, a slightly more multidimensional question. I'm of the opinion he's got a higher ceiling than Mints (think Brayden Point vs Adam Lowry), but unlike him he's also pretty undersized, something that's always a bit of a liability when making the CHL -> NHL jump: undersized players tend to have higher ceilings and more longevity, but there's also always a gamble you have to make on whether or not they'll survive the first few years minimally scathed, because they're more likely to get injured in the period of adjustment. On the other hand, he just won the gotdamn OHL MVP, so he's clearly too good to stay in juniors, but the transfer agreement means he can't play AHL yet either.

My guess: Mints is, tentatively, ready, and barring illness or injury they'll probably try to get him to play at least sixty games. Easton is a wild card, and I can envision them starting him off by sending him back to the Knights post-camp and calling him up partway through the season, but I have much less of an idea.

[blogaboutartwww]

Alain Resnais - Last Year at Marienbad

Alain Resnais

Last Year at Marienbad

1961

Flim

Last Year at Marienbad by Alain Resnais is an art film that uses architecture and spatial structure to guide the audience's understanding of memory and reality. These elements play a central role, almost like a character, and Resnais blurs the lines between past and present, memory and imagination, thereby expanding and maximising spatial elements.

"Art challenges our understanding of time and space, creating new contexts for personal and collective memories." (Geczy, Douglas, and Lowry, 2022).

In Last Year at Marienbad, architecture and space are used to guide the narrative and reflect the characters' internal states. This narrative tool is valuable to consider in my project, as it embodies the complicity of time, the ambiguity of memory, and identity through spatial aspects in visual and installation art.

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Geczy, Adam, Simone Douglas, and Sean Lowry, eds. 2022. Where Is Art? : Space, Time, and Location in Contemporary Art. Exlibrisgroup.com. New York, New York; London, England: Routledge. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rmit/detail.action?pq-origsite=primo&docID=6979072. Sgolacchia, Renzo. 2017. “Deconstruction of the Filmic Space– L’Année Dernière À Marienbad (Alain Resnais, 1961).” Archined. October 6, 2017. https://www.archined.nl/2017/10/deconstruction-of-the-filmic-space-lannee-derniere-a-marienbad-alain-resnais-1961/. StudiocanalUK. 2019. “LAST YEAR at MARIENBAD - Introduction with Ginette Vincendeau.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWtPAbEScBk.

[devilstown]

-> #DEVILSTOWN !!

indie MULTIMUSE blog ft ocs & canons. imagined by asher. 25. 10+ years experience. they/he. est. established 2024. 21+ & mutuals only. low activity & discord based.

QUICK LINKS: carrd. interest tracker. muse guide. memes.

OTHER BLOG(S): @rcjoice @unbaptism

A LOOK INTO: balance of life & death, heartbreak, penitent sinners, parenthood, trauma, turning over new leaves, breaking free, human nature, justice & revenge, and living life after tragedy.

OCS

griffyth monroe

gavin foxworth

max joyce

nathaniel fitch

gunnar key

jules jameson

beau adams

prissy cox

dolly blackburn

tina martinez

missy lowry

azazel amato

gigi thatcher

nikolai petrov

CANONS

edward cullen

peeta mellark

eddie diaz

jesse pinkman

tyler owens

tk strand

paris lang

adam faulkner-stanheight

lee harker

[teenmomcentral]

Briana DeJesus recently gave her Instagram fans a life update, discussing everything from her desire to get her ex-fiancé to tat up her neck (as you do), to whether or not she plans to shoot out more kids and more.

In an Instagram Live Q&A session on Monday, Briana— who appears on Teen Mom Family Reunion Season 3– answered her fans’ questions. However, one topic Bri didn’t want to venture into, though, was her feud with former Teen Mom 2 co-star Kail Lowry.

As fans know, Briana and Kail had a years-long feud that resulted in numerous online battles, a clown suit and treadmill being sent to Kail, at least one (maybe two) of Kail’s baby daddii being boinked by Bri, and a lawsuit filed by Kail against Briana in 2021 that was later dismissed in favor of Briana.

However, when fans asked Briana how she feels about Kail currently, Briana begged people to stop bringing up the feud.

“Can we like stop that? Please, honestly,” Briana said. “You guys mention her more than I’ve ever mentioned her. Please give it a rest. Please stop comparing me to her, stop saying I’m doing things just like her…it’s been like two or three years since the lawsuit, can we all just move on? I have not said anything about her or anything since the lawsuit. I think the lawsuit should have been the end of our [feud].

“There was a lawsuit and I won that lawsuit and ever since then I haven’t said anything,” Briana said. “. ..you guys talk about my past so much, let’s just move forward already.”

Here, The Ashley breaks down what Briana had to say about a variety of other topics. 

On her desire to get covered in tattoos, done by her ex:

Briana told her followers that she has plans to get plenty more tattoos— done by her ex-fiancé Javi “Javi II” Gonzalez. (This Javi is not to be confused with Kail’s ex-husband, Javi Marroquin, who also dated Briana.)

“Javi is probably going to finish my tattoos, he’s the only person I want to do them,” Briana said. “We’re on good terms, there’s nothing romantic or anything. I want to get my stomach tatted and my back. And I want to do my neck. I want Javi to do my tattoos.”

Although some of Briana’s followers discouraged her from getting her neck tattooed, she was adamant that she wanted to get that part of her body inked.

“I want to tat my neck so bad,” she said. “Can you imagine this whole thing tatted? So sick. I also want to get my whole ear tatted… my neck is gonna be the last tattoo that I ever get. I also want to do my back, because my back is pretty plain.”

On having more kids: 

In the past, Briana has expressed that she wants to have at least one more child. However, in her latest Live, the mother of two stated that it’s probably unlikely that she will conceive another “oopsie” baby without divine (or scientific) intervention.

“I would love to have one more kid, and I would love to be married before that happened,” Briana said. “But I have a lot of cysts in my ovaries and I have PCOS [Polycystic Ovary Syndrome] so it would be hard for me to get pregnant naturally.

“If I were to get pregnant, it would be by the grace of God or I’d have to get IVF,” she said.

Regardless of how and if she could conceive, Briana said she’s not doing it solo next time around.

“I don’t want to have another baby and be a single mom,” she said. “I am not doing that, absolutely not. I would rather not have any more, and just be happy with Nova and Stella.”

On her plans to stay on the ‘Teen Mom’ franchise:

Briana basically said that she plans to ride the ‘Teen Mom’ train until it wrecks.

“Would I leave ‘Teen Mom?’ Honestly, I don’t know…probably not,” she said. “I am in such a good place right now, so if something really bad were to happen then, [I would probably [leave the show], but if everything is OK, I would be fine with continuing.”

One reason Briana said she would consider leaving ‘Teen Mom’ was if she started dating a guy who didn’t want to film for the show.

“I think I would chose him over my career, to be honest,” Briana— who recently broke up with her boyfriend—said.

Bri disclosed that she recently began filming for another season of ‘Teen Mom: The Next Chapter’; however, she has no other big things in the works right now.

“I dont have any future plans right now,” she said. “I’m trying to settle into the new house, the pool is getting built and I just want to relax. I have no plans to do anything… I am going to continue to keep working and save money.”

[annarellix]

Secrets of Clearwater Castle  by Emma Davies (Clearwater Castle series #1)

A heart-warming, gorgeous story of family secrets, lost loves, and one woman’s fresh start in the most unexpected of places.

Heartbroken Lowri Morgan, a young Welsh widow, is finally packing up her beloved husband’s belongings, her young daughter Wren asleep at her side. Then, hidden amongst the very last pile of papers, Lowri finds an official-looking letter – and her whole world shifts… Her husband had a secret inheritance, one he’d never mentioned or done anything about. And now, it seemed, somewhere called Clearwater Castle was hers – and, in time, little Wren’s. How could he have hidden this from her and why? And what on earth was she going to do? Arriving in Clearwater village, Lowri doesn’t find the fairy-tale home she’d pictured. The castle is near-derelict, a tiny cottage in the grounds barely liveable, and her responsibilities – as outlined by the ruggedly handsome but prickly local stonemason Huw – are overwhelming. This is not the future she’d imagined for her and Wren, but as the only link left to her husband, she’s determined to make the best of it. Lowri never asked for a new start, but it seems fate has decided she needed one. As she and Huw reluctantly begin to work together, sparks start to fly between them. Can they find a way to save Clearwater Castle and bring life back to the village? What will they find out about themselves – and the mystery of the hidden inheritance – in the process? And will Lowri, heartbroken once already, find the courage to give love one more chance?

My Review: My brain works in a bizarre way and when I read “Emma Davies” I immediately joined the blog tour as I love her “Adam&Eve” cozy mystery series. I neither read the plot nor checked the genre. It could have been a recipe for a disaster but I thoroughly enjoyed this story. There’s something that made me think of action&adventure stories I read when I was a child: the inheritance, the secrets, the descriptions of wild life in Cornwall. And there’s a story that the adult me liked as Lowri is a clever and well plotted character as it’s poignant, heart-warming and compelling. Emma Davies did a good job in developing a complex and timeless plot and I’m curious about what will happen in the next stories. It was a lovely surprise and I’m happy I read this novel. Recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

The Author: Emma once worked for a design studio where she was asked to provide a fun, humorous, and not necessarily true anecdote about herself for their website. She wrote the following: ‘I am a bestselling novelist currently masquerading as a thirty something mother of three.’ Well the job didn’t work out but she’s now a forty something mother of three and happy to report the rest of her dream came true. She now lives in rural Shropshire with her three children, and two guinea pigs where she writes full time from a shed in the garden.

https://www.emmadaviesauthor.com/ https://www.instagram.com/authoremmadavies/ https://twitter.com/EmDaviesAuthor

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Emma Davies here: https://www.bookouture.com/emma-davies

Buy Link: Amazon: https://geni.us/B0BWFWCPSQsocial

You can sign up for all the best Bookouture deals you'll love at: http://ow.ly/Fkiz30lnzdo

[hockeyisreligion]

The One That Got Away - Part 4

been awhile, I hope you all are well!

the link to part 3 is here: part 3

Talia was super nervous for the Lowry family barbecue she was attending. She hadn’t been to one since the summer before Adam left for Newfoundland, and they broke up. A lot had changed in the 6 years that have passed since Talia was a regular attendee. 

“Why are you nervous?” Adam comments as Talia gets into his truck to head to the Lowry household. He could tell just by how she scurries to the car. Talia had insisted on bringing something, and Adam finally cracked and told her she could bring a salad.Talia was wearing the cutest floral sundress and she was continuously pulling on it, Adam could’t believe how nervous she looked.

“Nice to see you too,” Talia murmurs. “You aren’t nervous?”

“Why would I be, Tal? I’ve been attending Lowry family barbecues my entire life.” Adam smiles over at Talia, pulling away from her apartment building.

“Ha ha,” Talia mocks. “Does your mom know I’m coming? I seriously don’t want to overstep.”

“Talia,” Adam pauses, talking a look at her to make sure she was being serious. “My mom has considered you to be her daughter since they day she met you. Just because we broke up, that doesn’t change a thing, I swear.”

“So she does know I’m coming?” Talia asks to confirm as they pull up to the famous Lowry house- or mansion as Talia refers to it as.

“You know,” Adam pauses putting the car in park. “I didn’t get a chance to tell her, so let’s go surprise everyone.”

“Adam Steven—”

Adam has gotten out of the car and is walking around the truck to try and get Talia out of the truck as well. He opens the door to see Talia biting her lip, she looks to be shaking a little. “Hey, c’mere” He begins to wrap his arms around Talia’s small figure. “You seriously have nothing to worry about Tal. My family loves you more than they love me.” Adam reassures, rubbing his hand up and down on her back.

This makes Talia chuckle, Adam takes this as a good sign and begins to pull back and get Talia out of the car. Adam grabs the salad she had made and took her hand gently tugging her along with him. They stopped outside of the front door, where Talia took a large deep breath. “There’s nothing for you to be nervous about, okay?” Adam smiles and gives Talia’s hand a squeeze before dropping it and opening the door to the Lowry house.

“We’re here!” Adam calls throughout the house.

“We?” Someone replies back, Talia thinks its Adam’s dad, Dave.

Adam and Talia round the corner to the kitchen and see the absolute surprise on everyone’s face (except Joel’s) when they notice Talia is with Adam.

“WHAT” Tessa, Adam’s younger sister, screeches, practically sprinting towards Talia bounding her up in the biggest hug. “Oh my god, what are you doing here?” Tessa questions, pulling back and looking at Talia from an arm’s length.

“We saw her yesterday grocery shopping and we invited her,” Joel comments, smiling at Talia.

“I’m mad that you two didn’t tell anyone I was coming,” Talia mutters, finally Tessa has let her go and Talia is being wrapped up by Elaine now.

“And ruin this surprise? I mean all of your faces were priceless,” Joel booms with laughter.

“I’m shocked you actually kept it a surprise, Joel” Adam nudges him.

“I told Sven,” Joel mutters, referring to the Lowry family dog.

“Let me at her,” Dave jokes, playfully pushing Elaine out of the way to give Talia a big hug, lifting her off her feet. Talia hadn’t seen Dave in a number of years, she couldn’t remember the last time.

“Easy big guy,” Joel jokes.

“It is so good to see you kid,” Dave whispers in Talia’s ear, putting her down with a swift kiss to her head.  

“Where’s Sarah?” Adam asks.

“She will be here soon, they just went to their hotel to get settled in.”

“Sarah’s in town?” Talia questions.

“Yeah, have you ever met the rug rats?” Dave asks referring to his grandsons and Sarah’s two boys, Lawson and Linden.

“I’ve met Lawson and I’ve seen Linden over facetime. But its been awhile, that was when Linden was a baby.”

“Sarah will be so excited to see you.” Tessa smiles, hugging Talia again. “We need to catch up, help me and mom in the kitchen?” Tessa questions which Talia nods with a smile.

“Okay boys, get grilling, so we can eat soon.”

___

It wasn’t long until Sarah was walking through the door. “We’re back,” she sing songs, followed by little fast steps running into the kitchen.

Sarah rounds the corner to see Talia cutting up some tomatoes for the hamburgers they were having, she immediately screams as she runs over towards her. Tessa and Sarah basically having the same reaction.

The two boys, Lawson and Linden look at this interaction with wide eyes and Lawson looks to their dad, Kyle to explain. “Daddy, who’s that?”

“Do you remember uncle Adam’s friend, Talia?”

“That’s her?” Lawson whispers now to his dad.

Sarah has finally let Talia go and now Kyle is giving her a friendly hug, Kyle and Sarah were only dating when Talia and Adam were still together. “How are ya, Tal?” Kyle asks.

“I’m good, what about you, dad?” Talia jokes, giving Kyle a nudge.

“Good, have you met the boys before?” Kyle runs his hand through Lawson’s hair.

Talia bends down to be eye level with Lawson, Linden hiding behind his dad’s leg. “You must be Lawson, my name is Talia.”

“You uncle Addy’s girlfriend.” Lawson smiles wrapping his little arms around Talia’s head. This gets the group to laugh. Talia doesn’t bother correcting him, just returns the squeeze. “Meet Lindy,” Lawson says trying to get his young brother to come out from hiding.  Linden looks out from behind his father’s leg and gives Talia the smallest of waves.

“He’ll come around,” Sarah comments. Talia stands up to see Adam, Joel, and Dave walking in with a plate of burgers from the barbecue. “Is the table set?” Sarah asks.

“We need another spot made up for Talia, and then we can eat.” Elaine comments, whisking everyone to the kitchen table.

___

Dinner was great, Talia forgot how much she missed Elaine and Dave’s cooking. After they ate, they enjoyed sitting on the patio, enjoying some drinks and the nice, mild night they were having in Calgary. Dave and the boys were talking all things hockey, even though it was the offseason for every Lowry, the NHL playoffs were still going on, with the Stanley Cup finals about to begin. The girls were catching up, asking a lot about Talia’s job. Talia felt like nothing had changed since the last time she was at the Lowry household for a barbecue. It was as if Adam and her were still together.

Adam really enjoyed having Talia over for dinner. He didn’t realize how much he missed having her fit in with her family so well. Talia and her family were so close even after all these years and their breakup, it still felt like nothing had changed. Talia was so close to his two sisters, fitting right in with them. It made Adam’s heart hurt a little seeing Talia interact with his family, especially his two nephews. It reminded him of what could have been, and that thought hurt Adam a lot. However, Adam was just happy having Talia back in his life, even if it is just as friends.

Talia, cleared her throat, getting everyone’s attention. “I just wanted to say a little thank you to you guys.” Talia pauses, taking a deep breathe before continuing. “When Adam invited me, I was quite nervous because it had been so long since I’ve been around you all. Which sounds stupid now because you have been nothing but welcoming to me and have always treated me like family. So I just wanted to thank you guys for that.” Talia blushes.

“Oh honey,” Elaine murmurs, moving her hand to rest on Talia’s thigh. “I have considered you to be one of my own since you were 7 years old. You will always be welcome here.”

“You and Adam not being together anymore, doesn’t change anything.” Joel comments, “You are still my sister.”

Talia had tears brimming her eyes and she took a big breathe collecting herself. “I wish I hadn’t stayed away from you guys all these years.”

Adam felt sick to his stomach, sitting there with his first love, best friend, and love of his life all wrapped into one, he felt helpless. He hated seeing her cry and knowing that he had a part in making her this emotional.

“Well you are here now, aren't ya?” Sarah comments, wrapping an arm around Talia. “Its been long overdue but I’m so glad you are here.”

“Me too.”

___

Talia and the Lowry family stayed talking until after midnight. She enjoyed catching up with the whole family and had even agreed to go to brunch in a couple of days with all the Lowry girls, before Sarah flew back home.

Adam dropped Talia back off at her apartment, they were both exhausted from the events of the day.

“I’m so glad you came,” Adam murmurs when they pull up to Talia’s building.

“Thanks for inviting me,” Talia replies.

“It was my pleasure, my family loved seeing you.”

“I loved seeing them.”

“I told you it was going to be just like old times,” Adam jokes, getting out of the car and walking around towards Talia in the passenger seat.

“I know,” Talia smiles. “You didn’t have to get out of the car,” she comments.

“I know, I just wanted to give you a hug.” Adam blushes, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace. They stand like this for awhile, Adam nuzzling his head in Talia’s neck.

“Can we hang out again soon?” Talia murmurs quietly.

“I’ll hang out with you any day.”

[ipuckwithhockey]

Too Hot to Handle- A. Lowry

a/n: adam lowry is hot.

summary: smut. adam lowry is hot. 

warnings: smut. adam lowry is hot. 

----

If you had known that coming on this trip would mean that you would be sharing a room, let alone a bed, you probably wouldn’t have agreed to come. Jen and Nikolaj had promised that the trip would include other singles, and while they hadn’t totally lied, they could have at least mentioned that the only single people coming would be you and Adam Lowry.  

Jen and Nikolaj have only been together for a few months, but they both seem equally and genuinely infatuated with each other. He was sweet and patient with her and her wild personality and while you had doubts at first about the hot shot hockey player, as you got to know him and his friends you came around to the idea of them dating. Jen hasn’t been this happy in ages and that’s just another reason why she was able to so easily talk you into coming along on their all-star week vacation.

Now you’re lying in a bed next to Adam, who seemed just as surprised when they told him the two of you would be sharing a room. It’s not that you don’t like Adam, it’s actually the exact opposite. You’re pretty sure you’re totally and completely in love the guy. Sure, you’ve known him for less time than Jen and Nikolaj have known each other but there’s something about him that keeps pulling you in.

It’s the way he leans down to listen, making eye contact with you when you’re standing in a crowded bar. It’s how he smiles with his eyes and laughs with his whole entire body. It’s how he always seems to find you and makes an effort to say hello, asking about your day or your work. It’s his hair that is dark brown but somehow looks auburn in just the right light. And after today, it’s the way his broad shoulders and toned chest look as he runs out to the ocean. 

You were sure it was just a crush, and maybe it still is, but after a long hot day at the beach you’re so worked up you think you might explode. It’s archaic really, that you’ve spent the entirety of your day objectifying a man’s body. You tried your best to hide your wondering eyes behind your dark sunglasses as they lingered on his sculpted abs and defined arms. You just couldn’t help but stare.

The room you’re sharing with him just seems to be getting smaller and hotter and you’re sure you’re having trouble breathing at this point.

Adam, the polite man that he is, asked if you minded him sleeping without a shirt on. You, being the polite and sane woman that you are said it would be fine. The two of you climbed into bed nearly an hour ago, Adam in just a pair of shorts and you in an old college t-shirt and some sleep shorts that you now realize are a bit too short. Had you known you would be in this situation you probably wouldn’t have packed the world’s tiniest pair of shorts, but because you don’t live in a fair world, you did. 

Adam hadn’t missed those shorts either. When you came out of the bathroom his bottom half was already tucked under the covers of the bed. You worked your way through the room, moving some things around in your bags and while you thought Adam had been scrolling through his phone, he had peaked up and caught glimpse of your ass as you bent over to reach for something you had dropped. He almost forgot to look away and when you turned around, he had a blush in cheeks that he hoped you wouldn’t notice. It’s the same shade of red that found itself present throughout the day on the beach. He tried to keep his distance, keeping busy with the guys playing football or swimming in the ocean, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from drinking in your bikini-clad body. When you were in conversation with Jen or had your nose buried in your book he would let his eyes rake over you. They tried to memorize every curve of your body and now, those images are dancing through his mind, taunting him and keeping him from sleep. Luckily for him, you didn’t notice any of those quick glances because you were too busy in your own head, trying to calm yourself down about sharing a bed with Winnipeg’s most beautiful man. 

The clock on the wall keeps ticking and you’re about to just haul yourself onto the couch downstairs when you feel Adam turn over on his side. You gingerly turn over in response and to see if he’s still asleep but to your surprise he isn’t. His eyes are very much open, and they don’t seem to have any remnants of sleep in them. The two of you lay there, both on your sides, looking at each other for what feels like hours. In reality its only a minute, maybe two.

“I can’t sleep,” His raspy voice cutting through the silence in the room.

“Me neither.” You reply, not breaking the eye contact that Adam is so good at holding. Your breathing still feels labored and you try your best to appear calm, cool, and collected.

“Why not?” 

You could say that you can’t sleep because you’re so horny you think you might explode. Or you could say that you’re so hot and bothered that you might actually have a fever. But you don’t. You just give him a small shrug of your shoulders that says you’re not sure. 

This doesn’t satisfy him though, and he lets out a frustrated huff as he flops onto his back while running his fingers through his hair. He stares at the ceiling for a few seconds and as you’re about to turn back over yourself, he speaks frustratedly, “You’re driving me fucking crazy.”

A knife to your gut. That’s what it feels like. You’re not sure what to say and a small, sad, barely audible, “Oh,” slips out as you start to shrink back over to the other side of the bed. But you can’t move because there’s something that’s stopping you. It’s his hand. His warm hand on your arm, burning against your skin, is preventing you from rolling away from him. 

“Wait. I-I didn’t mean it like that.” 

You’re looking at him, unsure of what to say, and regretting even engaging in the late night conversation. 

“I- I don’t know if I can sleep in the same bed with you and also keep my hands off of you. I will. I swear I’ll stay as far away as I can if that’s what you wa—“

You cut him off by closing the small space between the two of you as your lips collide with his. A small wave of shock hits him, but the overwhelming rush of want and lust overpowers him as he desperately kisses you back. 

Your hands instinctively find their way to his hair and your fingers entangle themselves between his shaggy locks. You can feel his bare chest against you and his large warm hands caress the curves of your body as he hikes your leg around his waist. You can’t help but moan into his body. Adam doesn’t miss a beat and uses the opportunity to slip his tongue into your mouth. The two of you are entangled with each other and as good as it feels, you need more. 

“Ad-Adam.” You breathe out as he moves his attention to your neck, sucking and nipping at your soft skin. He stops when he hears the tone in your voice and looks up at you, worry in his eyes, “Shit. I’m sorry.” 

You cut to the chase, “Adam. I swear to god if you don’t touch me right now, I might explode.” And with that short sentence Adam’s lips are crashing back into yours. He reaches his hands under your shirt, and he’s pleasantly surprised to find that you’re not wearing a bra. As your shirt is swiftly lifted above your head, Adam’s hands find their way back to your body and as his calloused fingers massage your nipples, your body arches into him in reaction. His lips and hands and his bare chest against yours are entirely too much and finally his hand meets the hem of your shorts, pulling them down your legs along with your underwear. Your body is a fire and Adam was the match that lit it. 

“These fucking shorts might just be the death of me.” He growls as he tosses them off somewhere into the dark room and in the midst of everything that’s happening you can’t help but let out a quick giggle. He smiles back at you again before capturing your lips once more, and you bite at his bottom lip as you feel him grind against your core. Eventually you can feel his fingers run through your wet folds and as he dips one into your core you carefully choke back your moans. You can feel him getting harder against your thigh as he holds his body above yours and slowly, he adds another finger, spreading you further, with the heal of is palm rubbing against your clit. It’s not enough though, and you need more. You need him. 

“Adam,” you quickly breathe out, “please, just fuck me,” still overwhelmed by the feeling of his fingers pumping inside of you, and desperately trying to rid him of his shorts.

Once they’re gone, thrown away somewhere in the dark room just like yours, he slowly aligns himself with you and he looks up once more, seeking your consent to go further. You nod, smiling at him and his ocean-like eyes. Then, you gently bring your hands to where they are placed on either side of his face, as you pull him into yet another breathtaking kiss. As your lips and tongues intertwine with each other you can feel him slowly push inside of you. A soft and restrained “Fuck,” escapes him as he settles inside of you, feeling your walls tighten around him while he lets you adjust to his size. 

“Fuck. Babe. I gotta move.” Adam chokes out against you and you anxiously tell him you’re okay before he starts to slowly thrust deeper inside of you. His hips rhythmically roll against yours and you want to scream for how good it feels to have him like this. All day, hot on the beach, you’ve had to keep your mind from wondering to this place, but now you’re here for real. This isn’t a day dream or even a dream in your sleep. This was reality.

Your strained whimpers underneath him are becoming more and more uncontrollable and as he quickens his pace, thrusting you harder into the mattress, he places one of his large hands on top of your mouth to muffle your moans. 

“Can’t have you waking up the whole house now, can we?” He says, smirking above you. You’ve never thought about having sex somewhere you could get caught and you’re not sure if its that or the fact that you’ve been pining over Adam for months that has you crumbling beneath him. Your hands are gripping at anything they can reach, and you’ve ceased to care if you leave marks as your nails rake across his toned back. Adam’s soft grunts and moans are strained and you can tell he’s holding himself back.

You’re both chasing your highs and neither of you know if you’ve ever felt this way with anyone else. Your bodies move together in sync, perfectly matching each other again and again as you feel yourself fluttering around him.

Adam desperately thrusts into you harder and faster as he works you toward your high, and as he reaches his hand back down to your clit you begin to unravel beneath him. Your screams are still muffled by his hand over your mouth as Adam fucks you through your climax. 

The dark room is silent, and only your shallow breaths fill the warm air. You’re still staring into Adam’s striking eyes as he slowly removes his hand from your mouth and gently rolls off of your body. The two of you now lay there naked, staring at the ceiling, slowly steadying your breathing in silence. 

[cellythefloshie]

;; Last Christmas Dedicated to @antoineroussel  for her winter fic exchange 2k23

Summary: Act 1. Home for the holidays, Charlotte isn’t looking forward to her parent’s annual Christmas party. That is until it provides the opportunity to reconnect with her childhood friend, and AHL player, Adam Lowry.  Act. 2. Charlotte avoid going home for the holidays to avoid the reminder of last Christmas and the heartache that followed only to cross paths with Adam who is now in his Rookie season with the Winnipeg Jets. Charlotte and Adam are forced to face the reality that their friendship may be something that needs to be left in the past.  Kinks & TW: Angst, holiday themed, original character, situation ship, friends-to-lovers, drinking/alcohol, heart break, size kink, teasing/banter, riding, breast play (mild), missionary, protected sex, (i probably missed something here so please be sure to yell at me if I did) ABOUT THE OC: Face Claim: Crystal Reed. Name: Charlotte aka “Charlie” aka “Mini”. Charlotte and Adam are written as childhood best friends. Act 1: Charlie is a University student and Adam is playing with the St. John’s IceCaps who were the WPG Jet’s AHL Affiliate from 2011-2015. Act 2: Adam is playing in the NHL with the WPG Jets.  Word Count: 10011 A/N: Thank you so much for reaching out and inviting me to participate in the exchange! It was an absolute pleasure to be able to write this for you! It was so much fun being able to write an OC again after writing reader inserts since April, and I got to indulge in writing both Adam and Angst. It got me right in the soul. I WAS going to fade to black with this piece (almost 5k words ago), but I have 0 self control... AND I hope you don’t mind that it’s holiday themed because I’ve had this plotted since we first talked about it, but I didn’t get it written until much later than I expected...

Listen to their playlist while you read. Last Christmas now has a sequel series! Read more of Adam and Charlotte in Just Me & You. 

​Act 1. 

“-Charlotte, honey!” 

It was the sickeningly sweet voice of her mother that greeted Charlie as she had done her best to sneak in through the back door. She had obviously failed. She should have known better, really, there was no way that she was going to be able to get away with going unseen when her parents were entertaining their family and close friends for the annual Christmas Party - not when her mother was always keen on showing her off. 

But Charlie had made other plans for the evening. She had intended to avoid the gaudy decore and the seasonal music that was too loud for Charlie to study comfortably. While her mother had tried to encourage her to put the books down, if only for a night, Charlie had managed to sneak out to a local coffee shop under the pretense of studying for the exams that would rapidly approach once she got back to school after the break - and so she hid at that small coffee shop down the road until the hours grew late and the open sign was flipped to closed. 

Warm eyes shut as Charlie turned in place, her head leaning against the door as she shut it to hide the sigh from her mother that hovered at the kitchen island with a glass of wine, and her friends as they gossips. She had hoped that it would have quieted down before she got home. Yet, the party raged on as if it were a frat party back on campus. Forcing a smile, she turned to face her mother and her guests, as her hand raised to draw her bright red scarf from around her neck. Dark hair dusted with freshly fallen snow fell in loose curls down her back as it was freed from where it was tangled in the warmth of her outerwear that was cast aside on a near stool. 

“Hi mom,” her smile was so forced it almost hurt as she looked at each of her mother’s friends awkwardly, “you ladies look like you’re having fun. I would really hate to ruin it-” She spoke causally as she reached for a festive paper plate, her fingers then finding the assortment of finger food that sat out on the counter, “I’m just going to head upstairs-”

Charlie was drowned out by an assortment of coos. All gawking about how grown up she had become in the few short years she had spent away at college focused on her studies, and how she wasn’t the little girl they all so fondly remembered. It left her grumbling as she pushed her way from the kitchen, keeping her head down as she moved for the stairs. Just a few more strides and she would be free, but her mom had other plans as her familiar touch came down on her shoulders to keep her daughter from wandering too far. 

“Ah, Ah, Charlotte,” she tutted her and suddenly Charlotte felt like a child again, “I think there is someone you’re going to be excited to see.”

Charlie had to bite her tongue to hold back a scoff, but there was no hiding how her large doe-eyes rolled as she thought to herself: Oh yeah, I bet there is. And so she followed her mother’s guidance, her expression no short of annoyed as she was forced to walk through crowds of her parent’s friends and over to her father who was entertaining his friends with one of his wild work stories - a story Charlie had already heard many times before, and she was sure everyone else had as well. 

Her eyes scanned the crowd, looking for the familiar face that was meant to excite her beyond the desire to hide back in her room. It was there, seated in her father’s favourite armchair, his face half hidden behind a glass of amber liquor she spotted him. Full lips split, bearing a far-from-fake grin as she reached down to abandon her plate on the near coffee table. After that, there was no stopping her. Adam’s bright eyes that had contrasted her so effortlessly had found her face and he was standing up from the seat to meet her halfway. 

“Dad’s just letting you sit in his chair now, huh, hot shot?” Charlie greeted him playfully, her arms winding around his middle with ease without a thought and it was only as his arms wrapped around her that she realized just how much he had changed since he had left Calgary. Charlie could feel every muscle beneath his white t-shirt and he had easily grown another inch or two since his draft day three years ago. Her fingers moved cautiously over the expanse of his back as she pulled back just enough to look up at him as he returned the stare down at her. 

“Your dad and I, we did make that bet,” Adam half smirked, earning a shake of her head as she left out a laugh. It had been the best seat in the house, leather and perfectly worn in and it reclined. It was one that Adam had sought after for years as a child, so as it had approached his draft, Adam had bet that if he had gone in the top 100 players, whenever he had come back to visit he would get to sit in the chair. Adam had been drafted 67th overall that year, but he had never returned to her childhood home, until now. 

“I didn’t think he’d hold to it,” Charlie countered, casting a glance toward her father before looking back up at Adam, “what are you doing here, anyway? I haven’t seen you since Minnesota.”

“Surprised Mom and Dad for the holidays,” Adam smiled, his hands continuing to linger on the curves of her waist - his thumbs stroking over it slowly and she watched as there was a flicker of confusion in his eyes. He didn’t remember her body feeling like that - hell, they were practically still kids when he had been drafted to the WHL and had only seen each other briefly during his draft in Minnesota. While their history would always remain, they were far from the kids they once were, not they were practically strangers now. “And they would never cancel on your mom, so I wasn’t about to pass up on seeing my best friend.” 

His words made her skin tingle. Did he have the right to call her that still? After so many years of nothing more than sparse text messages and the occasional goofy Snapchat picture? Their different lives had divided them, but maybe now was their chance to really reconnect. 

“You’ve been here all night?” Charlie quirked a brow, taking a step back when she noticed her father cock his head to the side as he had begun to raise a brow of his own. 

She and Adam had always been close - their mother’s bathed them together, and she called her mom Auntie until she was 10 and knew better kind of close - but Charlie wasn’t a little girl any longer and her father knew that - her father also knew that Adam wasn’t the little boy that used to follow her around like a lost puppy anymore. He was a grown man now-

“Since your mom started making dinner,” Adam sighed, his hand reaching up to card through his shaggy brown hair as he cast a glance out the window and to the snow that fell outside, “they sure know how to throw a hell of a party.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing compared to the trouble you get into now,” Charlie teased, taking careful strides, and Adam fell in step behind as she moved to the makeshift bar. 

“Me, get into trouble? Never,” Adam was beaming as he leaned back against the wall. 

Charlie shook her head slowly as she mixed herself a drink, her pour a little heavy on the alcohol - but she had to make up for the lost time. Adam was surely multiple drinks deep after spending the evening with her parents, though he hid it well or had developed a very strong tolerance since they had last broken into her father’s liquor cabinet at fourteen. 

“That’s only because you’re always able to talk your way out of it,” Charlie reminded, taking the first slow sip of her drink that burned its way down her throat, “or have you been hit so many times that you’ve lost your silver tongue?”

“Nah, I still got it,” Adam assured. 

“Good, because I don’t think I can handle listening to All I Want For Christmas is You again,” Charlie half groaned, her hand reaching out to take one of Adam’s carefully. 

She didn’t dare look back as she lead him through the living room and to the stairs that would take them up to the second story, and up to her bedroom. Adam didn’t stop her, his steps careful and quiet as he followed up behind her, his voice dropping to a low whisper as he whispered to her, “you really want your father to kill me, huh?”

She could feel his hot breath on her neck as he spoke, and it felt like his laugh was sending vibrations right through her body as they came to her bedroom door. It was just as she had left it when she had moved to campus at seventeen. From her small collection of stuffed animals sitting in her favorite reading chair to the pictures that framed her vanity mirror, her parents hadn’t moved a single thing out of place. Charlie stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, her hand gripping the flimsy plastic cup almost desperately. This wasn’t the first time she had Adam in her room, but they had been just kids back then - the click of the door closing had her stomach jumping into her throat - and they had always had a strict open-door policy thanks to her dad. 

“Oh, you’re really wanting dad to kill you now,” Charlie teased him as she turned in place, finding his smile and following his eyes to the pictures on her vanity. They were an assortment of photos from when she was young, and many were with him. There were pictures of when they were babies, to the days they spent at summer camp together, and their most recent photo was framed and sat at the very corner of her vanity. It had been the morning of his draft, their families had gotten breakfast together and he was in the ill-fitted suit of his - prepared for the off chance that he may have been drafted in the first round. 

Adam didn’t reply to Charlie’s banter, and instead shot a smile back at her, his tone soft as he spoke to her, “lots of good memories here.”

“Yeah,” she agreed gently, stepping forward to join him at his side, “we used to do everything together-”

“Do you ever miss it?”

“Miss being kids or us?”

Us. The word left an odd taste in Charlie’s mouth, one that she tried to wash out with the strong alcohol in her drink. They had never really been an Us, had they? Sure, they had been inseparable for most of their childhood, Charlie & Adam, but that was their friendship. He had dated girls she had never approved of, and she dated guys Adam would inevitably scare off. Hell, they hadn’t don’t anything to suggest that there was a chance that they would have ever shared anything more than the friendship they had forged. She hadn’t wanted to kiss him… not until now as he stood so close to her in her room, wearing that smile she had almost forgotten and very much a man now. 

“I could always count on you being there back then,” Adam sighed and Charlie's mouth went dry, “every tournament, every game. Hell, we almost had your mom convinced to move you out to Swift Current, you remember?”

“How could I forget?” She shook her head as she remembered the nonsense she had tried to feed her mother and the dramatic lengths the pair had gone to before it was made clear that it was far from a reality for them. “Still convinced them to drive me out to see you almost every weekend - but they got you all the way across the country now, don’t they hot shot?”

Reaching her hand out, Charlie shoved against Adam’s arm, a playful habit that returned all too quickly as did the comfort of being around him. 

“Oh, you’re already going to start back up with that shit, huh, Mini?” Adam laughed, a large hand reaching out to abandon his glass on the vanity. 

Hearing her old nickname slip from his lips so effortlessly left her mouth dry. No one called her that anymore - not since she hit her growth spurt - but Adam, he would forever tower taller than her. Charlie licked her lips slowly before taking another long sip of her drink before she set it down beside Adam’s. Her hands then found his chest, so strong beneath her touch, in a playful shove. One that Adam met with his own, earning a laugh from Charlie as she took one stumbled step back. It wasn’t enough to send her into a retreat. Instead, she had leaned in for another playful shove, but she wasn’t met by Adam’s playful roughhousing. No, Adam wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her up with ease. 

When they were kids, she would have left out a laugh, or a groan of protest, but not, Charlie was reduced to silence. Her bedroom went blurry around her, and she could only see Adam and the grin on his face as he took careful strides toward her bed. She could feel each flex of his muscles as he held her so effortlessly, and there was no ignoring how naturally her legs had wrapped around his hips - and how his belt buckle grazed roughly over her jeans. The strength of his arms remained as they reached the bed, as  Adam didn’t release her to free fall down onto the mattress, instead, he was falling with her but she was left breathless all the same. 

Charlie did her best to hide the heave of her chest as she lay out on the bed, her dark hair fanned out beneath her and her sweater left wrinkled and bunched up her waist bearing just enough skin on her stomach to draw in Adam’s curious touch. She could feel his thumb drag over her exposed skin, his touch hesitant as if he shouldn’t be touching her there at all. Together they lay out on the bed in silence, Adam’s body hovering slightly over her own. Charlie could feel the heat of his body against her own and taste his breath with each inhale. It was an intoxicating combination. One that left her reaching down to her mattress and gripping at the covers in restraint. 

“Adam,” his name escaped her lips in a quivering breath, her warm eyes dragging over the softened features of his face. His jaw had slacked, and his thin lips parted as they were consumed by each of his steady breaths. Her gaze dragged over the angles of his jaw and up and over his cheekbones that had only seemed to sharpen as his youth left him. And his eyes were piercing as Charlie found them. His brazen stare was only obstructed by the shagged strands of his hair that hung down over his forehead and the intensity that consumed the blue of his eyes was unlike she had ever seen in him before - or maybe she just hadn’t been looking. 

Their gaze was locked, but it didn’t distract her from how his hand had left the skin of her stomach and dragged upward. Up and over the swell of her breast - that threatened to heave at just the slightest graze of his fingers tips. Those same fingertips danced over her collarbone - her neck stretching out almost instinctively, a heavy breath consuming Charlie as if to prepare for his fist to wrap around her throat - but his touch persisted. His touch didn’t stop until it had stroked over the angle of her jaw, and his thumb had found her quivering lower lip. 

“I’ve missed you, Charlie,” Adam sounded, his words a low groan as his thumb stroked her lip, leaving it almost numb, “fuck, you’re so…” Charlie watched as he licked his lips, trying to find the right word to say - and she didn’t care what he had to say. Not really - how could she when all she could think about was what his tongue would taste in her mouth? “...Beautiful.”

The word stung, just like the slap sixteen-year-old Charlie would have given him if she had even thought he was thinking something like that. But now, Charlie was very much consumed by his touch and his words held left her melting. 

“Adam, you shut your mouth before you say something stupid…” Charlie cautioned him slowly, his own voice weak as her lips dragged over the pad of his thumb. The graze left her shutter, her eyes shutting as she tried to force herself to ignore just how good it felt to feel his flesh in places he had never explored before. 

“Stupid? No,” Adam answered, and Charlie felt the bed shift oh so slightly. He was leaning in, his hot breath washing over her face now as his thumb tugged at the lower lobe of her lip, “I should have been telling you that a long time ago-”

Charlie scoffed, her eyes remaining closed as she parted her lips to speak again - too nervous to open them and see just how close to her he had become. If she had seen him so close, she wouldn’t be able to control herself. “Adam, how many drinks have you had?”

“You think I’m drunk?” his voice was laced with a laugh, one that left her own lips curling up into a grin. 

“Can you blame me?” It was only then that Charlie let her eyes blink open and she took in the sight of him. 

Adam was a mere breath away from her lips, his hair tickling her forehead as his eyes fell into slow, dreamy blinks. “Charlotte,” she hated when people called her by her full name, but in the moment, he had made it feel so intimate, “I really want to kiss you.”

“What’s stopping you?” Charlie muttered, her lungs holding onto her breath as if he was going to steal it from her. 

“I’m only slightly worried that you may hit me if I tried,” his smile grew, and her own came to mirror his. 

“I’m not going to hit you, Ad-”

Before she could finish, he had stolen the last bit of air between them, his thumb leaving her lips to clear the way for his own lips.  His mouth met hers gently, cautiously, as if she may change her mind at any moment and raise a hand up to give him a good smack. Once upon a time, she would have. She would have pulled back with a gasp and her palm would have met his cheek with a sting because he was her best friend and she wasn’t going to risk that at sixteen. But now, her head was spinning, her body consumed by the mix of emotions that came with seeing him for the first time in three years. Excitement met longing and mixed with melancholy and it left her head spinning as his lips moved effortlessly against her own. Each motion drew her mouth open, adding depth and hunger to the first kiss they had shared. 

She reveled in the taste of sweet bourbon from his tongue as it met her own in a slow graze and it had brought such comfort that her hands eased from their rigid grasp on the covers. Her touch found the expanse of his back, her fingers wrinkling the thin-white fabric of his t-shirt as she left herself to feel his strength. It drew him in closer, Adam shifting in the slightest to hover fully over her form - never once breaking their kiss - and she could feel all of him. Her head was spinning, her thoughts gone as she was consumed by Adam and only Adam. 

Charlie was left groaning against his lips, her hands clutching him desperately, and her knees resting on each side of his hips as she lost all composure. She was pushing up from the bed, Adam giving her just enough room to seek out the hem of her knit sweater and he helped her draw it from her frame. It was then their lips were pulled from one another, both of them left gasping and eyes opening to meet in a desirous gaze. Adam stared at her, and Charlie stared back the only sound shared between them, desperate, panting gasps. If they continued, there would be no going back to how things were before, and they both knew it. But it didn’t stop them. 

Adam’s hands dropped her cable-knit sweater down on the bed, his eyes never once leaving hers before he reached back and took hold of the thin fabric of his t-shirt. He pulled it off in one swift movement, bearing the muscles of his toned chest and strong abs to her as he knelt between her thighs. 

Charlie let out an uneven sigh. She had seen him shirtless before, probably more times than she could count, but he had never looked like that. “Jesus, Adam,” she couldn’t contain herself, her hand reaching out to stroke down his chest without a single thought to how he was seeing her breasts in something other than a restrictive sports bra for the first time since puberty had finally decided to be kind. “What are they feeding you out there?”

Adam let out a low throaty chuckle as he arched over, placing his hand palm down on the mattress trapping Charlie beneath him against the bed. She watched as muscle she didn’t even know could exist flexed in his shoulder. Licking her lips, Charlie was near salivating at the sight of him as she pushed up onto her elbows to close the short distance between them and prevent Adam from having too much time to admire her soft, feminine body. His athleticism had never intimidated her until now. It was not his talent or his status, but his body that made her so instantaneously insecure. And she was sure he could feel it in the desperation of her kiss against his mouth and the angles of his jawline. 

Charlie could feel the vibrations of his groan against his own lips as Adam lowered himself down against her. He wasn’t heavy against her, but Charlie marveled at just how much of him she could feel. His chest was warm against the exposed skin of her breast, his friction sending the cups of her bra chaffing and making her nipples hard. Then there were his hips, which pressed down into her. It sent the cold metal of his belt buckle dragging over her skin and the pressure, paired with the strength of his thick, muscular thighs had her spreading her legs for him further. 

Her heels dug down into the plush mattress, her hips raising with the hope of grinding up against him only to meet the flesh of his abs. Charlie groaned against his lips, almost frustrated. Why did Adam have to be so damn tall? Usually, Adam towering almost an entire foot taller than her was an asset, but not when she was trying to be sexy. 

Leaning her head back she let it lull to the side, Adam’s hot lips dragging over the soft skin of her neck, and she used that leverage to reach her hand down between their bodies and didn’t stop until her careful touch grazed over the growing bulge of his cock as it tested the restraint of his jeans. Fingers traced up and down the thick outline, earning a low, quivering breath from parted lips. A breath that was laced with a subtle holy fuck that she did her best to play off as a moan. Adam was huge, in every way she could possibly imagine. From his height to his cock - Charlie swallowed hard - she was all the more intimate to take him now. 

“First time?” Adam muttered out against her skin, his tone only half teasing. 

“Oh, you would like that, wouldn’t you?” Charlie gawked up at him, her eyes going as large as a doe in the headlights as she mocked him, “Oh Adam, I’ve been waiting so long for you to take me with your giant cock. I’ve wanted you and only you for so long,” she let out two desperate heaves before she was muffling her laughter into the strength of his bicep. 

“Fuck off,” Adam laughed, his hands taking each side of her hips firmly before flipping over in the bed. He guided him on top of him effortlessly, her knees falling on each side of his hips so that she could feel him against her cunt the only thing between them was the thin layers of their clothes. 

Perched up on top of him, her cheeks flushed with color, her hands coming to brace against his chest as she began to roll her hips slowly. The friction left her biting her lip, her arousal already beginning to pool between her legs as she could feel his cock growing harder - and it even left Adam groaning with impatience. 

He was propped up against her pillow, his bright eyes fluttering as he reached a single hand out to stroke over her warm cheek. He stroked the heated flesh, his fingers reaching out to hold her dark tendrils away from her soft features as he spoke to her. “I may not be your first, Charlie,” his tone was low, sultry and it left her mouth dry and panties wet, “but have you taken a cock this big?”

She let her hips roll slowly dragging her cunt from what felt like his balls to tip, and she shuttered as her head shook slowly from side to side. And she watched as his smile grew, the touch of his thumb stroking against her cheek a little more tender now. 

“We can go slow,” he assured, his hips raising as his hand dropped. 

She couldn’t hold back the soft whimper that took her as the pressure of his cock tested the friction of her jeans as he sunk his hand into his pocket. He fished out his wallet, drawing out the fine leather before pulling out the foil that had been tucked away among a wad of cash in various, colorful, dollar amounts. 

“That’s not the same one that you stole from your dad’s bedside table in high school, is it?” She teased him gently, her smile splaying over her lips as she crawled off of him and to the bed at his side. 

“No, no,” Adam laughed before he put the foil in his mouth and held it there as she reached down to take care of his jeans and belt. It was as he pushed them down he muttered, “that one didn’t fit.”

“Oh fuck off, they stretch,” Charlie scoffed, her handing beginning to work on her own pants. 

Spitting the condom out on the bed, Adam smirked and pressed up onto his knees. “Okay, okay, correction,” he raised his hands up as if in surrender, “it didn’t fit comfortably.”

“That’s what I thought,” she chided as she pushed her pants down to her knees, only for Adam’s own hands to meet the fabric and pull them down the rest of the way. 

Charlie could feel every lazy drag of his fingers against her skin, his touch like the strike of a match leaving a blazing trail on her skin in its wake. It should have left her pulling away, but it only made Charlie want more. His touch silenced her teasing, his fingers dragging back up the smooth skin of her legs as she was rid of her jeans and was left in nothing but her underwear. If it had been anyone else Charlie would have been flooded with confidence, but with Adam, it might as well have been her first time. He knew her better than anyone, every story, every scar, every secret. But it was only being near-naked in front of him that she felt truly vulnerable.

His hands kept gliding up. Up over the ticklish curves of her knees. Up over imperfect, tiger-striped thighs. And to the thin, flimsy fabric of her panties that left an imprint of the seams against her hips. Adam looks up at her through his shaggy hair as two thick fingers hooked her panties around her hips - and she couldn’t breathe. Not while he was looking at her like that, silently asking her permission to keep going with the most curious and caring of glances. Her lips parted, but she found no words. Charlie could only nod. 

Adam bit down on his lip as he eased her panties away from her lips. Charlie watched as his jaw went slack, his gaze dropping to the sweet heat between her legs as it was exposed to him. “Oh, Charlie,” Adam let out a satisfied hum at the sight of how her arousal, and how it had soaked into her panties, “you’re so wet.” His words were almost as if he were in awe, but then his smile grew and his tone became teasing, “Did I do that?”

His teasing cut right through her nerves and brought a smile to her lips that lit up her features and brought her the confidence she so desperately needed. 

“You might have had something to do with it,” her head cocked to the side sending her dark curtain of curls over her shoulders and over her breasts as she reached back to free the, from the confines of her bra. 

Adam’s eyes went as wide at the sight of her soft, womanly body fully exposed to him. His smile didn’t fade, no, it grew wider as his teeth took hold of his lower lip almost shyly. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Charlie muttered. Her words were a mere whisper as her arms crossed over her chest awkwardly in an attempt to cover her exposed breasts. 

Adam almost stuttered on his words, his cheeks flushing as he reached a hand out to gesture to her body, “you look, incredible Charlie. Absolutely, just, wow-”

“You're just saying that-”

“No, really,” Adam sighed, his hand reaching down and pushing down his boxers and abandoning them at the foot of the bed. She crawled up her childhood bed until he was seated against the pillow - his stiff cock laying out over the tone plains of his stomach threatening to draw all of her attention. It was there, propped up in the comfort of her bed, that he ripped open the foil and worked the thin latex over his cock with the strength of his well-worked hands. “Come ‘ere, Charlie.”

Silently, she obliged and crawled up the length of the bed and into his lap. Each of her knees found its place at each of his hips and her sweet, dripping cunt came to rest over his cock. Her stomach fluttered with the nerves of anticipation, her hips rolling oh so slightly so that she could feel the thick vein of his cock stroke against her clit. The pleasure burned through her body and coaxed a soft sound from Adam’s lips. One that lingered in his words as he spoke to her, “you’re fucking perfect.”

His hand reached out, stroking her dark hair back from her face, and back so that it cascaded down the length of her back. His hands then dragged down, Stroking at her eager neck and the angles of her shoulder and stopping at the impressive swells of her breast. Adam palmed at her supple flesh with his coarse hands, her chest consumed by desperate, heaving breaths at his touch - and he muttered out his sweet words, “so perfect…” Then, Adam was leaning in, his hair hanging down into his eyes as his mouth descended down. He placed slow, open-mouthed kisses over each breast. Kisses that warmed them with the heat of his mouth and were instantly cooled by the room’s tepid air. 

“Adam,” Charlie gasped out, her fingers finding his hair gripping just enough to ground herself but not enough to stop his movements as he sucked on one nipple, and the next, before his tongue dragged up from the valley between them to the sweet angles of her jaw. 

Adam raised a brow at her as he placed peppered kisses along her jaw, trialing his way to the corner of her mouth as he let out an inquisitive hum, “do you think you’re ready for me, Charlie?”

Nodding desperately, Charlie pressed up on her knees and gave Adam the room he needed to reach between them. She could feel his hot hand against the inside of her thigh as he took hold of his own cock, stroking it slowly as he drew it up to guide the very tip to her core - but it wasn’t without teasing her first. He dragged the tip of his cock up and down the fold of her cunt slowly, sending her arousal dripping down the latex and over his hand before he positioned himself at her core. 

“You don’t have to take it all,” he assured her gently, “it can be… a lot. So go slow, and we can stop if you need to. Okay, Charlie?”

“Yeah,” she sighed, her hand reaching out to brace herself against the strength of his shoulders, “yeah, okay.” She took two long blinks, trying to ease the spinning in her mind at the feeling of his cock between her legs. It all seemed like a dream, like the ones she would have as a teenager and would do all in her willpower to repress - because you weren’t supposed to think about your best friend like that. But it was the burning pleasure of slowly taking his cock into her eager cunt that reminded her that this was very much of a reality. 

Charlie took him slowly, inch by inch he spread her walls, and it left her cursing out under her breath in pleasure. “You’re taking me so well, Charlie,” came Adam’s encouraging coo, his hands having abandoned his own cock and found her hips to help carefully guide her as she rode his cock. With each rise and fall of her cunt around his cock, her head spun and she questioned just how much more of him there could possibly be. 

“Jesus Christ, Adam,” she near yelped, her head thrown back before she could bite down on her lip and stop herself. 

Adam hushed her gently, a single hand raising to stroke over her cheek. Charlie leaned into his touch as she panted, her lips parting and taking his thumb in her mouth without a thought in her head. She sucked on it slowly, earning a soft moan from Adam’s lips and it muffled her own as she eased down on him further and found the relief of his balls smacking against her ass. She had managed to take all of him. Smiling around his thumb, Charlie cast a glance down at Adam who was watching her with a dreamy gaze. 

“We’re going to have to find a way to keep you quiet, Charlie,” he beamed up at her and dragged his thumb from her lips and over her smooth cheek slowly. He cupped her face in her hand, his fingers knotted in her hair. “Because if your dad wasn’t going to kill me before, he sure as hell would want to kill me now-” 

“Don’t talk about my dad when you’re balls deep in my cunt, please,” Charlie begged, her skin ablaze and shimmering as she began to sweat. 

“Sorry, mood killer?”

“Just a bit,” Charlie gasped out as the tip of his cock pressed into her limits. She was so impossibly full of him, and it near had her legs trembling. 

“I’ll make it up to you,” Adam spoke, his words almost charming as his hand gripped at her hip firmly, “just don’t make a sound.” 

His smile was wicked as he held her gaze and drew her in close to his body. With their bodies chest to chest, his cock buried to its absolute limit and her face tucked into his neck to muffle any sound that would threaten to spill from Charlie’s lips, Adam flipped them.

The plush mattress was welcome on Charlie’s back as she let out a soft yelp against the flesh of Adam’s throat. “Sorry,” she muttered softly, her smile blossoming and her lips dragging over his neck with every word, “I can’t help it - you feel so good.” 

Adam propped himself up with his elbows on each side of her head, his lips coming down to kiss her forehead with a slow lingering kiss - as he couldn’t quite reach her lips while he remained deep inside her cunt. His hot breath washed over her face with every exhale as he began to roll his hips, drawing his cock from her just enough to slide back inside her in a steady rhythm. Each thrust sent a burning pleasure through to her core, and a soft sound from parted lips. It was a moan that only threatened to grow louder as the pleasure grew. And when Charlie wound her short legs around Adam’s hips, she muffled her cries of pleasure in the strength of his shoulder and clung to him like he was her only source of gravity. 

Her eyes watered as she held onto him so desperately, her teeth grazing over his skin and the taste of him lingered on her tongue as she muffled her moans into his shoulder - and when he reached a hand back to grip at her thick thigh, holding it in place as he hit such a depth that sent his own eyes fluttering back with pleasure, her head lulled to the side and she forced to burry he gave into the flex of his bicep.

“Adam,” his name was a hymn on her tongue, her body shuddering as her climax threatened to overtake her - as he could feel its threat as her cunt began to pulse around him. 

His hand only left her leg to take hold of her chin, guiding her soft features took look up at his as they too melted with pleasure. His thumb stroked over her lips slowly, tugging at her lower lobe and drawing her sweet lips open to welcome his mouth. Charlie was consumed by Adam’s kiss - one that was unlike the one that had started it all. There was no caution, no that had all been abandoned now. His kiss was one with purpose. One that stole her desperate breath from her breast and flooded her with emotion. It struck her like a slap to the face, leaving her gasping against his lips and her head spinning. 

Not once had she ever been kissed the way Adam had kissed her, and it left her trembling as her core clenched around him. The grip of her was enough to draw him to his release. He lost all control, every thought of gentle caution seemingly lost as Adam pounded into her with a series of forceful thrusts. Then, with his cock buried deep inside her and sweat dripping down the angles of his face and body, Adam stilled. 

Faces mere inches apart, only panting could be heard. Eyes brown and blue were caught between open and fluttering shut as their bodies only began to calm. While Charlie crazed to continue to be close to Adam, the wrap of her legs around his waist loosened, her feet sliding down to the bed with a quiet thud. And she reached up both hands slowly to stroke his sweat-drenched strands from his face. Charlie watched as his eyes fluttered and his lips parted as he let out every heavy exhale that was laced with the whisper of her name on his tongue. And she relished in it, her own name echoing in her euphoria dazed mine until Adam’s words drew her back into reality. 

“What time is it?” his words were a soft whisper as he remained hovering over her and his cock still buried deep in her cunt. 

Charlie’s head lulled to the side, taking in the glow of her old digital clock. “Late,” she answered him simply, “people would have started to go home already… Your parents, were they staying the night in the guest room?” Her words were slow, hesitant even as she silently recollected the many times he had spent the night in her room when they were children. When they were too young for their parents to care, they had shared the bed, or even a tent out in the backyard in the summertime - but as they had grown older, her father more concerned about a teenager's urges, Adam had slept on the floor beside her bed. She remembered waking up with her hand reaching down over the edge of the bed to his hand even more fondly now. 

“No,” Adam hung his head, “we were going to cab home, my flight leaves early in the morning.”

Her heart fell, and her stomach twisted into knots. Of course, he would have to leave. They would need him back before their next game, and they kept a tight schedule - she was lucky to have gotten to see him at all. There was no easing how sick knowing she was going to have to say goodbye to him before the night was through made her. Not even the thrill of seeing him again, nor the euphoria of her climax could put it at ease. 

Charlie forced a smile, trying so desperately to hide the dread that consumed her. “We should probably get dressed before someone comes looking for you.”

“Your dad would really kill me then, huh?” Adam half laughed as he pushed up with whatever strength he had left as eased his cock from her core. 

She near whined as she was left void of him, her legs coming together firmly as she shifted to the edge of her bed. She bit down on her lip as she fought to find her composure, and when she spoke her tone with low but she carried her smile into her voice, “Your teammates would really miss you if you died over something so menial-”

“Ouch,” Adam hissed, his hand coming up to rest over his heart as if he had been stabbed through it, “menial? That’s how bad it was?”

“Adam I-” Charlie found herself stumbling over her words as she pulled a loose t-shirt down over her naked body - the Swift Current Broncos logo resting right over her chest, “you know that’s not what I meant…”

“I know,” Adam grinned his tone teasing as he discarded the used condom into the waste basket by her bed and moved to step into his boxers, “I’m just teasing you Charlie - and like, I mean,” he rambled as he tried to choose his words carefully, “you enjoyed yourself?”

“Well,” Charlie’s tone was teasing as she found his t-shirt, took it in her hand, and held it out to Adam casually, “you were right about being the biggest-”

“Oh, you’re just cruel, Charlie!” Adam laughed out so loud that she was sure that someone would have heard it downstairs. He continued to laugh as he stepped forward, his one hand pushing his shirt away while the other reached out for her. Soon, Adam had her in his arms again and hoisted her up so that he was holding her near and her legs could wrap around his middle. “Lie to me at least,” he playfully begged her as his hands kneaded at the soft flesh of her thighs, “tell me it’s all you’ve ever dreamed.”

Charlie shook her head slowly, her forehead coming down to rest against his carefully as she deadpanned, “worst I’ve ever had.” And then she snickered, her lips curling up into a smile to match Adams. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever been more relieved that you’re the worst liar I know,” Adam sighed in relief, “because I don’t think I have the time to prove to you just how good I can be…”

“Another time, hot shot,” Charlie hummed, leaning back just enough to peer around him and to the door when she heard footsteps pass in the hall, “I think we’ve pushed our luck long enough.”

Adam lowered her to the ground before his hands abandoned her body for the soft fabric of his t-shirt - but the ghost of his touch remained on his skin and between her legs even. It was a feeling that Charlie was sure would be difficult to forget - even if it all came to feel like nothing more like a dream in the morning. 

The pair dressed in silence, nothing shared between them except lingering glances and soft smiles as more and more skin was covered. It was only in that silence that Charlie could hear that the Christmas carols that had consumed the home had gone quiet and there was nothing more to be heard from downstairs than their father’s laughter.

“You should go down first,” Charlie decided as she reached for her robe and leaned back against the pale floral wallpaper that decorated her wall, “dad will ask too many questions if I come down already changed into my pajamas…” 

“Yeah, right, good idea,” Adam stuttered, his hand carding through his own hair, “so I guess, this is where I should give you a proper goodbye, huh? Because I don’t think you’re dad would like me kissing you at the front door…”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Charlie nodded slowly and swallowed hard - though, she would be much more worried about what their mothers would do if they had found out. She was already sure that they had been planning their wedding since they were five. “Don’t be a stranger Adam…”

“Just pick up the phone when I call Charlie,” Adam hummed, his tone almost dreamy as his hand came up to cup her cheek. Then he leaned in, placing a soft, warm kiss on her lips - one that would linger long after he left. 

“I’ll pick up, promise.”

“That’s my girl,” Adam praised, but when he pulled back he was wearing a solemn look. 

He hated goodbyes. 

And so did she. 

“Merry Christmas, Charlie,” was Adam’s final goodbye in the privacy of her bedroom, his thumb dragging over the skin of her cheek and neck before she was left completely void of his touch, “you were by far the best gift I got to unwrap this year.”

Her cheeks flushed red hot with color as she stepped back from the door. She hid just out of sight of anyone waiting just on the other side of the door. “Merry Christmas, Adam,” she spoke, her head leaning against the wall. It was from there that she watched him open up the door - his features falling into relief when he found that their parents were still very much entertained with each other’s company downstairs. He glanced back with a grin, one that silently screamed: SUCCESS, before he reached back and shut the door back into its place in the frame. Charlie didn’t move an inch, not even as she heard his heavy footsteps on the stairs just on the other side of the wall. There was nothing comforting about the sound of him leaving. Not when she so desperately wanted him to stay. Saying goodbye was something that had never been easy for them, not even as children - one of them had always cried. And now, they had made things a whole lot harder by blurring the lines between friendship and something more. 

Act 2. 

The warmth of the ski lodge was a welcome after a day spent out on the slopes. Charlotte’s body ached in all the worst places, but no one would have been able to guess it. Not with how she carried herself so well in a pair of heels and her short, yet elegant slip dress that hugged her body in all the right places. Her hair was left down in long, cascading curls, and her makeup was just enough to hide the sunburn. Charlotte and her best friend had escaped to the mountains for the holidays, the chalet was brought to life for the last big party of the year and she had let herself be consumed by it. By the music, and by the drink, hell, even the unwanted attention from guys, she thrived on it for it was all that could keep her mind from wandering to last Christmas. 

Last Christmas, seemed both like a century ago but also only yesterday in Charlotte’s mind. She could still so clearly remember the excitement of seeing Adam for the first time, and the sting of heartache as the days of the new year passed. They had tried to keep in touch, they really had - but with the time zones, and their busy schedules, it had led to an inevitable silence. She had to focus on her courses, and Adam got called up to the NHL, becoming the hot shot she had always told him he would be. Charlotte knew she should have known better. That she should have been prepared for ever the outcome, but it didn’t take away the ache in her chest that came with giving herself fully to Adam. 

Charlotte didn’t blame him, how could she? They both knew the risks, but that didn’t mean she wanted to risk seeing him again by going home for the holiday. It was too soon, it would only rip open the wound in her heart time was still trying so desperately to turn into a scar. A wound that was ripped open the moment she looked up from her drink and towards the bar when she heard the nickname she had tried to abandon echo in her mind like the beckoning of a ghost in the crowded room. 

“Charlie, I thought that was you!” Adam was pushing through the crowd that had formed around the table, dressed casually in a nice pair of blue jeans and a half-tucked button-down. He looked just as he had a year ago, the same face that had been burned into the back of her mind at the peak of her pleasure, save for the scruff that peppered his chin and jawline. Charlotte might have even thought it looked good on him if it hadn’t felt like someone had poured the salt from her margarita into an open wound - if she hadn’t felt like she was on the verge of throwing up. 

“Charlie?” one of her friends piped up, their brows furrowed. 

“A childhood nickname,” Charlotte rolled her eyes as her lips couldn’t find her drink fast enough. Her glass was near empty by the time Adam had reached the table, her face putting on a fake smile as she looked at her friend with eyes that looked as if they had been encased in candied sugar as they were consumed by the threat of tears. “This is Adam, we grew up together.”

Her friend didn’t need to hear much more than that. From the excitement of seeing him again to the pain of getting just sort of ghosted, she knew it all and it drew her face into a knot that she struggled to hide. “Oh, yeah, the hockey star,” her friend's words were like sweet venom that would kill you before you knew the poison you were drinking. 

“What are you doing here?” Charlotte’s voice almost broke as she shifted in her seat, her fist grasping at her empty glass desperately, “I thought you would spend the holiday back in Winnipeg with that tough schedule they keep you on-”

It was a casual jab at one of the many excuses he had used to explain his silence. Sorry I couldn’t text you I had a game… I had practice… I won’t be coming home for the summer, I’ve got training… They had all been just words on a screen then, his career too much for even a conversation with her then, but somehow, he had the time to celebrate the new year in Banff. It made her stomach sick. 

“Caught a trip out with some of the guys,” he nodded back towards the bar where a group of guys had gathered, some missing teeth, others bruised and banged up from their last games before their few days off, “we fly back out tomorrow, you should come to meet them-” 

Her heart was pounding like drums in her ears, her mouth falling open as she let out a steady, frustrated huff. How could he be acting so casually, so calmly? As if nothing had ever happened between them at all. Did he ever care about her at all? The thought hit her like an avalanche, sending a single glistening tear down her cheek as she abandoned her glass and pushed it up from the table. 

“I’m sorry,” was all she could manage, her voice broken as she let her eyes drop to the floor and she began to push her way through the crowded room. 

Charlotte didn’t look back when she heard Adam call after her, and persisted through the crowd as she hoped that she would lose her in it. She was small enough, she could slip out of just about any room unnoticed, but Adam he towered over almost everyone in any room. He could use that to his advantage - so Charlie didn’t stop until she was in the foyer of the chalet, where the music was almost reduced to silence and the view of the mountains in the distance could be seen out its grandiose windows. 

She let the way the silver mood beamed down onto the slopes calm her. The sight brought a semblance of peace as the ache in her heart raged on. A peace that was lost when the echo of heavy footsteps took the foyer, and Adam’s voice pierced the air, his annoyance clear, “Dammit Charlie, what was all of that about?”

Charlotte doesn’t look at him, she doesn’t even want to listen to him as she’s standing in front of the window - the winter’s chill sending goosebumps as it permeated the window��s failing seal - with her arms crossed over her chest and her gaze locked on the mountain tops. She could feel the burn of tears as they trailed down her cheeks, tears that she tried to hide from him as he approached. 

Adam came to sand on her left, his towering frame leaning against the cold glass of the window. She could see him out of the corner of her eye, his figure only slightly distorted by the tears that built up along her lashes and smudged her mascara. 

“You should go back to the party, Adam,” she had tried to tell him firmly, but her words broke as soon as she said his name. 

He didn’t make an effort to leave, it was going to take a lot more to get rid of him than that and it left Charlotte’s stomach in knots - and it was left near lurching as she felt the warmth of his hand encroach on the expanse of her back in a careful touch. 

“Adam, don’t-” she wanted to bite out, but her words were a pathetic mewl instead as her head spiraled. Oh, how good it felt to be reminded of how it felt to be touched by him. 

His touch lingered, his fingers slipping around her waist just enough to carefully turn her to face him. She was sure he could see it all now. The tears. Her tired frown. The pain that was coming to love him and knowing that she would never be loved by him the way she needed from him. It could all be seen in the sad glimmer of her eyes. 

“Oh, Charlie,” Adam sighed, his face falling, softening at the pain that was painted across her beautiful features. 

“Don’t patronize me-”

Her words were cut short as the embrace of his hand came to warm her cheek, leaving her lips parted as she let out an unsteady breath. His touch was careful, and tender, as it wiped away the tears that strained her cheek. And she wanted so desperately to lean into that touch. To embrace its comfort and let it consume her as she had let it last Christmas. 

“Adam, don’t,” her whisper was breathy, her head turning and eyes shutting as she felt the gentle guidance of his hand as Adam tried to draw him into her. 

Charlotte desperately wanted to give in - it would feel so good to give in to him. To let him make it feel like everything was going to be alright. That their relationship would always be more than that of childhood friends, but it would be a comfort built on falsehoods. She wasn’t going to let herself get built back up only to be left in shambles again. 

Raising a hand, Charlotte took hold of his carefully, guiding it to her lips and placing a kiss on his palm slowly. Her eyes fluttered shut as she inhaled the subtle scent of his cologne, and left the warmth of his skin lingering for but a moment during her tender gesture. Then, she guided his hand back to his side, and her warm eyes met his gaze. Adam held a sadness in his eyes, one that told her that she didn’t need to speak a single word to him to explain anything. He knew the sadness she felt - and maybe he felt it too. 

“It’s been really nice seeing you Adam,” Charlotte's words were broken as she spoke, a genuine smile taking her lips for the first time, “but I can’t be doing this, not again…” She gave his hand a gentle squeeze before her fingers slip from his like silk. 

Adam gave her a slow nod, the hand that had overtaken her back with the warm comfort of his touch leaving her void. Her chest ached as they held their gaze, the space between them growing as she took a careful step back. The air between them was suffocating, and it left Charlotte’s heart feeling tight in her chest.

It felt like a goodbye. A farewell to her childhood, to their friendship, and to any hope that either of them had that they would be able to sustain any kind of relationship into their adulthood. But life had taken them in separate directions. Adam with his career in Winnipeg - or anywhere else he could end up if he were to ever be traded away - and with Charlotte remaining close to her family and putting down her own roots in Calgary, there would always be too much of a divide. Too many obstacles to truly make something worse when they were both still so young and had so much more of their lives that were unknown just waiting to be uncovered. 

And so she left him standing in the foyer and made the walk back into the party alone. The ghost of his touch lingered as the music consumed her, her eyes growing bright as they fell on her friends that welcomed her back with smiles of their own. Smiles that almost eased the pain in her aching heart. It was a pain that told her that her love for Adam would never fade, and would go unforgotten. But with that pain, she could finally move on. 

[gabelandescrocs]

i just think--y'know... we can platonically bro kiss like two himbos trying to end a youtube video... 👉👈😩

[plasticfilth]

ADAM LOWRY IS AN UNDERRATED BEAUTIFUL MAN WITH GORGEOUS EYEBROWS AND HAIR AND HE BAKES COOKIES?!?! Isolation with him sounds like a dream honestly 🥺

haven’t spoken about this hunk in a hot second.

i guarantee you’d be doing facemasks and self-care routines together because he strikes me as the type to be down for that.

music would never not be playing around his apartment.

does a signature little boogie dance around you.

might even start tik tok.

when it comes to baking, he burns the first batch but it’s okay because he bought extra ingredients. 

tries to flip the cookies with his hockey stick.

“babe, watch,”

does not work but it’s a funny sight.

social distancing doesn’t stop him from getting head massages. 

it just makes him melt every time, and a lot of time together means a lot of adam just laying directly on top of you.

all 6' 5" of him.

you giggle into his shoulder and squeal trying to push him off.

“baby you’re crushing my lungs,”

“fine,” and when you think you’re free, he flips you on top of him.

easy to say he can’t go too long away from you even when you’re in the same room.

[hattywatch]

A. Lowry - I’m Just Happy You’re Here

9 

Author’s Note: This is for my lovely @xolilyxo​. It’s prompt number 9 on this list. I’m working on a few more requests from this list I got! Be patient with me please! I work retail and this is hell week right now, folks! I am also very proud because I said I would do “blurbs,” and this is only 2 pages. You know what that is? Growth.

Christmas is beautiful. There's no argument about that; the lights twinkle and the snow flurries and the fire crackles. 

What isn't beautiful is that your boyfriend's job, while great in many, many aspects, steals his time and prevents him from being home to witness all the beauty of the season with you. 

Which kinda sucks if you're being blunt about it. 

So right now, you're sat in your kitchen waiting for the timer to herald that your cookies can be removed from the oven, sipping on a glass of wine. The presents you wrapped earlier glisten under the lights on your Christmas tree with their big shiny bows on top. You dread the idea of having to lug them into your car in the morning to transport them to your parents house.  You don't really feel like celebrating without Adam here, but it is what it is, and at least your siblings and parents will be there, and your mom's lasagna. Thinking of the lasagna takes a little bit of the sting away.

The clock on the stove changes from 11:59 to 12:00 and your phone vibrates against the granite of your countertop. 

Adam 💕: Merry Christmas🎄 Miss u

It's almost enough to make you cry, slightly emotional after the sheer number of Christmas flicks you had mainlined all day, while baking batch after batch of cookies for tomorrow. 

Y/N: 😭😭😭💔 miss you more. FaceTime?

Sliding your hands into your oven mitts, you pull the baking sheet from the oven and set it on the counter to cool. Looking back over at your phone, you see it's still black and Adam probably fell asleep before he even read your message, exhausted from his training and game schedule. 

Just as well, you'd probably cry your eyes out at seeing his face, a little sadder today that he's so far away. 

When the morning comes you wash your face, brush your hair and teeth, but leave your pajamas on. It's a holdover from when you were kids and you know your sister and brothers will show up in theirs as well. It's comforting. 

After five trips in and out of your house for gifts, you get approximately three blocks away before you remember the cookies and turn around grumbling to yourself, decidedly not in a very festive mood at all. 

Pulling up to your parents' house late, you don't get a spot in the driveway, so you only grab the cookies before running inside to yell at your brothers for help. 

"Hey! I've got a trunk full of presents and I'm just a little girl! I need some strong menfolk to take pity on me!" Your mom hugs you hello and hands you a coffee, you called her a week ago, a little weepy when you learned Adam wouldn't make it home until the middle of January. Your dad gives your brothers a sideways look and your older brother grabs your keys and mumbles something about feminism under his breath, but does it nonetheless. 

You're okay the rest of the morning, opening gifts with your brothers and complaining when your sister shows up late like she always does, her new fiance in tow. You and your mom giggling over her ring and already concocting wedding plans as her fiance begs your dad for a coffee.

When your brothers' girlfriends show up halfway through the day, fresh from their own family obligations.They help cook dinner. It's… it's nice, but you're getting more jealous by the second watching the couple's around you steal glances and brush hands. 

When your mom asks you to set the table, you grab 9 dishes and head for the dining room. There's a knock at the front door and she dries her hands on a dish towel and hurries to the front door, "I'll get it, I'll get it." 

In hushed tones she talks to the person at the door and you lean into the living room to shout, "Should I grab another pla-?" 

Scampering through the living room as fast as you can you launch yourself at your boyfriend before he can even shuck his jacket. 

"Hey! Don't get too excited; I didn't bring an presents, didn't really have much time to shop this year." He's holding you tight to him and you don't want to pull away because you might be crying a teeny tiny bit. 

"I don't need a present you dope," you laugh into his chest, "I’m just happy you’re here.” 

[bilbos]

Yesterday || Adam Lowry

word count: 8.5k words

requested: yes || no

author’s note: this was written as part of @hockeynetwork‘s Hockey Trump Hate event! This piece is for @antoineroussel <3 Also, admittedly, I was a bit hand-wavey about some things like who Brandon Tanev is dating and I’m ignoring that he was ever traded for the sake of this story. 

ao3 link

~ ~ ~

Deciding to move to Winnipeg to go to university is something you never imagined. Living in the states, back in Seattle, there were plenty of great opportunities. But something drew you to the school and you knew that you had to try and get in. 

Dating a famous hockey player was also something you had never imagined, yet here you are. You met Adam at a party in your freshman year at the University of Winnipeg. To be honest, you didn’t even recognize him at first, but once you started to talk to him more, you developed more of a crush on him.

It wasn’t until the beginning of your sophomore year that the two of you began to date, but Adam has been an amazing boyfriend the last three years. Now that you’ve graduated, you’re officially moving the rest of your stuff into his apartment. While attending university, he was insistent that you live with your friends to get a true university experience. At the time, it hurt, but you’re grateful for it now.

“Babe, how the hell did you get so much stuff living in that tiny apartment?” Adam groans as he carries in the last box from the moving truck.

You shrug. “Nobody was there to tell me no to my late-night impulse purchases.”

Adam looks at you and raises an eyebrow. You know that look and just laugh. Even though it might not seem like it, sometimes he was the more responsible one, at least when it came to money.

“You know what, it all brought me joy during finals week, and I feel like that’s good enough reasoning,” you explain.

“I love you, y/n, but you know that’s shitty reasoning,” Adam remarks. “At least I’ll be around to tell you no from now on.”

“But did you think about when you’re on road trips?” you ask innocently.

Adam just stares at you again, pursing his lips. “I’ll figure something out.”

You snort as you walk into the kitchen to start unpacking all of your kitchenware. Adam sighs and comes in to start helping you. Despite all of his grumbling, you know he doesn’t have that much of an issue with it.

“So, how’s the job hunt going?” he asks, subtly changing the subject.

~ ~ ~

Now that you’ve been out of school for six months, you start to realize the lack of a support system you have here in Winnipeg. Outside of the academic sphere, you’ve had a hard time meeting new people and feeling like there’s people in your corner, rooting you on. You never realized how lucky you’ve been the last four years. It’s not like you don’t enjoy being in Winnipeg, there’s some truly great places here, but it just doesn’t feel like home anymore.

And it’s not that you’re lonely, you’ve met some amazing people outside of Adam’s sphere of friends. But…it’s just not the same. Plus, how often he’s gone during the season really sucks. Somehow, it feels worse than when the two of you weren’t living together. You’ve only brought this up to Adam a couple of times, but each time it was met with resistance. He just didn’t seem to get it. Which is how you’ve found yourself on your coworker’s couch with a glass of wine on a Friday night when Adam is off on another three-day trip.

“Julia, I just don’t get why this is so hard,” you complain for the hundredth time.

“I think it might just be because he doesn’t get it, so he can’t help you,” Julia explains patiently. “It’s hard when your biggest support system just…doesn’t support you.”

You sigh. “Why are you so smart, Julia?”

“Because I have to be. Working with high schoolers is a trip and a half, as you very well know.”

“Unfortunately,” you remark.

You and Julia both work with a non-profit focused on student and family advocacy. It’s tough work, but you’ve met some amazing people this way and you feel good doing what you’re doing. This job is also part of the reason why you’re hesitant to leave Winnipeg. The thought of leaving your students is hard to think about, but you know that if you’re not feeling great, it can be hard to serve the community at full capacity.

“Look, we’ve been over this plenty of times. Just finish out the school year and see if you can find something back home,” Julia says. “I know it feels like giving up, but it isn’t. If this is taking a toll on your mental and emotional health, then it’s okay to go back.”

“God, I wish you weren’t right,” you whisper. “I hate this so much.”

“Well, you know it won’t hurt to look for opportunities. And I know that you’ve been looking at grad schools. It might be easier to get support for that back with your old support system.”

You drain the rest of your wine, then set down the glass. “Yeah, I guess so. I just…need to think about this more when I’m sober.”

Julia snorts. “Okay, kid, let’s get you to bed.”

~ ~ ~

Adam knows nothing about your job search. It feels weird to bring it up if nothing might come of it. You can tell he knows that something is up, but you decide to not bring it up. No use in starting a fight over it, even though it might explode in your face later on. It isn’t until the end of June that you get a phone interview from a school back in Seattle that you start to get nervous.

Now that the hockey season is officially over, Adam is a bit more aware of what you’re doing as well. When you decide to bring it up, you can tell he’s angry, but trying not to show it.

“I just…don’t get it,” he whispers.

“That’s the whole problem, Adam,” you reply. “You always brushed off my concerns about not having the same support system here. I just…don’t feel like I belong here.”

“Did you ever consider that this is your fault?” he accuses.

He snaps his mouth shut, but the damage is already done.

“I think I should go,” you whisper. “I don’t think this is healthy for either of us.”

“Look, babe, I didn’t mean it,” Adam says, desperate to try and fix things.

“Oh, so you decided to just say it out of nowhere?” you ask.

You can feel the tears welling up in your eyes. Immediately, you feel ashamed feeling sad over something you knew might happen. Adam reaches out to you, but you shrug him off.

“I’m headed to Julia’s for the night so we can both cool off, okay?”

He just nods and watches you leave. When you get to Julia’s, she immediately knows what’s going on and wraps you up in a hug.

“So, how bad was it?” she asks softly, as she leads you to the couch.

“He told me it was my fault,” you whisper. “And I guess it kind of is, but I don’t know if he realizes how hard it is, you know? I don’t want to leave Adam; I love him so much. Like, I decided to stay in Canada for him, you know?”

“Look, I think some distance will do you two really well. I mean, things were good when the two of you weren’t living together, right? So now that you’re both all up in each other’s business, it could change things.”

“Yeah, they were. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try. But I’m going to talk to him tomorrow, though. Tonight, I just want to watch some cheesy movies and maybe get a bit tipsy.”

“You’re lucky I just stocked back up on wine,” Julia jokes.

~ ~ ~

When you go back to your place the following morning, he isn’t there. You just assume that he decided to go hang out with some friends last night. So, you take this as a perfect opportunity to call your mom and explain what’s going on.

“Well, if you think that’s what’s best for you, then of course you can come home,” she says softly.

“I just feel like I failed,” you groan.

“Look, I know it’s hard right now and that things didn’t work out how you imagined them, but it’ll be fine.”

“I know, it’s just…I know that things will be weird with Adam now and I hate that I’m going to lose him.”

“We all lose people that are important to us. Maybe one day you can fix things, but it’s important to put yourself first before your relationship with him.”

“Yeah, I get it,” you sigh. “God, I don’t even know when I’ll be able to leave. I have to find a job and everything.”

“Don’t worry about that, honey. Just come back and we’ll figure it out. No need having you stay in a place that isn’t healthy for you.”

You start tearing up. “Thank you, mom.”

“Of course, honey. Now, let’s start planning your trip back.”

~ ~ ~

When Adam comes back a couple of hours later, you’ve already booked a moving truck to come in a week and a half. You and your mom knew that if there wasn’t anything making you pack up and leave him, you never would.

“Look, I’m really sorry, I should have thought through what I’ve said,” Adam whispers as he sits next to you on the couch. “But I still think that maybe things can get better for you here. I don’t want to lose you, y/n.”

“Adam, I love you, I really do. It’s just…this isn’t home for me, you know? I have some friends, but I just feel like I’m floating through my life here. I can’t have that. I want to actually live my life and not just have things pass me by because I can’t bring myself to break up with you,” you explain.

“Y/n, we can make this work,” he pleads.

“You’ve known this was an issue for months now, Adam. What have you done to make it work? Absolutely nothing. Every time I brought something up, you just shrugged me off like it was nothing!”

“Because it is nothing,” Adam accuses.

You suck in a breath and then stand up. “This is what I can’t fucking deal with. I think it’s best we part ways. I’ll pack up my stuff and go to Julia’s.”

Adam purses his lips and nods stiffly. “Fine.”

“I’m sorry,” you whisper.

~ ~ ~

Packing is a somber experience. Adam avoids you like the plague the couple of days it takes you to put everything in boxes. Julia helps you pack everything up between both of your cars and bringing it to her apartment. You feel so exhausted and you’re not sure how you’re going to make it through the next couple of weeks.

Julia is a lovely roommate, making sure that you don’t mope around the apartment too much. She’s there with junk food and wine when you have to put in your notice to work, which breaks your heart more than leaving Adam. Knowing that you won’t get to say goodbye to your cohort of students is hard.

“They’ll understand. They’ll hurt and be mad, but they’ll get it. Besides, you’ll come up here to visit me, right? You can visit them then.”

“Yeah, I know,” you whisper. “God, I’m going to miss getting drunk on this couch, you know? I don’t know what I’ll do at home.”

Julia snorts. “I’m sure you’ll find someone back in Seattle. You made friends with me pretty quick.”

“It’s because we both didn’t know what we were doing. We bonded out of pure confusion.”

“Okay, that’s true, but you’re great at making friends.”

“My current situation would beg to differ,” you joke.

Julia just smiles, and then runs her hands through your hair. “You’ll do good, babe. You were made to do more than live with a shitty boyfriend.”

“You’re the best,” you whisper. “I think it’s time for bed.”

Julia laughs and helps bring you back up to the guest room.

~ ~ ~

Moving back home was hard. You and Julia sobbed as you packed up the last of your things in the moving truck. Leaving her was worse than leaving Adam, something you never thought could be possible.

“Well, don’t forget about me, Julia,” you whisper.

“You know I couldn’t,” she replies softly, before wrapping you up in one last tight hug.

When you get back into the truck with your mom, she gives your hand a tight squeeze before starting up the truck. It’s silent for a little while, until you’re well out of Winnipeg.

“So, you’re finally out. How does it feel?” she asks.

“I…think I’m happy. Or maybe it’s just a relief. I’m not sure yet,” you reply. “I haven’t even talked with him since I left our house. Which I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at, you know?”

“It still hurts, though. You thought he might try to talk to you.”

“Yeah, not like it would have really changed much. But…I thought we could try being friends or something. But that’s hopeful thinking, I suppose.”

“I don’t know if you’ll ever be friends again, but it’s probably for the best.”

“Yeah, I know. Like I know it was kind of my fault for not really trying to settle in and everything, so I don’t blame him for not talking to me. It’s just…weird. I really thought it was a forever type of thing.”

“Well, you’re still young. You’re only 23, y/n. There’s still so much time left for you to find things to explore and learn.”

“Ugh, you’re so right. It’ll just take me some time to get used to, I suppose.”

“Now that you’re coming back home, maybe you can start studying for the GRE next year. I know you wanted to originally wait a couple of more years to do that, but that was when you were with Adam. Maybe you can go sooner now and not worry about finding a long-term job back at home.”

You just nod as you look out the window. She’s right on the dot about why you were waiting. But it wouldn’t hurt to apply next year and go back to school the year after that. It’ll give you more experience in actually trying to settle into a new place away from home because as much as you love it in Seattle, you don’t want to stay there forever.

~ ~ ~

Two years have passed and you’re packing up to move to Eugene. You’ve been accepted to the University of Oregon in their Ph.D. program for cultural anthropology. It’s strange, packing up your life again, but it feels good to be free again.  

Your mom hugs you as you finish packing up your car with everything you need to move back to school with. She’s a bit teary eyed, but you can tell that she’s proud of you. When you first moved back to Seattle, you never expected to be this happy about leaving everything behind, but you are. There’s something freeing about finally being able to pick up the pieces and move on. You’re moving to a new place and you can make a fresh start again.

Other things have changed too. Julia had grown a tentative friendship with Adam after you had left. Both were worried about you when you had left, but he never felt comfortable talking to you right after the breakup, so he heard about what you were doing through her. She never really talked to him until you gave her the okay that things wouldn’t be hard on you if they became friends.

It was through him that she met Brandon Tanev and they hit it off immediately. Remembering him from the couple of times you met him while you lived in Winnipeg, you know that they’re a good match for each other. You were expecting it to be weird, but you’re just happy that Julia has found someone.

The drive from Seattle to Eugene only takes you about five hours. You’re moving in with two people you met over on Facebook who were looking to add one more roommate to their house. The three of you clicked right away and you were excited to be finding people you liked.

It’s weird meeting them in person, but Sam and Vera are extremely kind. It puts you at ease when they help you bring your boxes to your shared house without asking if you needed help. Your room is small, but not too cramped. Even if it was tiny, it’s nice living close to the university.

“So, I know you’re here because of school, but any other reason you decided to come out here?” Vera inquires over dinner.

“I guess I just decided I needed to try and be independent again. Last time I moved away from home, I think I was too dependent on my boyfriend to make everything better for me,” you explain. “It was pretty toxic, if I do say so myself. We weren’t very kind to each other.”

“Oh, is that why you were in Winnipeg?” Sam asks. “I saw that you lived there for a little while on your Facebook.”

“Yeah, it was, on top of going to school as well. But that was a while ago and I promise I’ve gotten better since then,” you reply.

“Don’t worry, we have a pretty open line of communication, so we’ll let you know if something is up,” Sam says. “But we’re happy you’re here! It’s good to know that we won’t have to find a cramped apartment to live in.”

You snort. “I’m glad too. It’s nice to be in an actual house.”

The rest of dinner is fairly casual and they both send you off to unpack your necessities while they clean up the dishes. No matter what, you think you’ll settle in just fine here.

~ ~ ~

Three years into your program and your life has never been better, if you do say so yourself. Sam and Vera have become your best friends, besides Julia. Life here has been great and you’ve been thriving. You still have three years left, depending on how well your research goes, but you’re excited to finally be starting that part of your degree.

You’re also in an amazing relationship with your current boyfriend, Max. The two of you met your first year in your program. He’s studying linguistics in the same department as you and even though you never really were fond of that particular subfield, Max still made it sound amazing. After six months of knowing each other, the two of you went on your first date, and now two and a half years later, you’re happier than ever.

Julia is also getting married this summer to Brandon and you’re going to be the maid of honor. Of course, Adam is going to be Brandon’s best man, but you figure that everything should be okay now. It’s been five years since the two of you broke up and that’s given the two of you enough time to heal from old wounds.

“Are you sure it’s not going to be weird?” Vera asks. “I mean, I know you think everything is going to be good, but you guys haven’t talked in five years.”

“That’s exactly why I think it’s going to be fine. We’re both adults now and surer of ourselves. At least, I am, anyways,” you answer. “Besides, even if I wasn’t okay with it, I would suck it up for Julia. I can’t just not show up to her wedding because I want to avoid Adam.”

Sam purses her lips. “Yeah, we know. But if anything goes wrong, we’ll kick his ass for you. Or…I guess Max can since he’s going to the wedding.”

“I’m sure he’ll be enough of a deterrent for Adam,” you reply. “And it’s just for a few days. The most contact we’ll have is when we walk down the aisle.”

“I bet those were words you never thought you’d say,” Sam jokes.

“No, they really weren’t. But I promise it’ll be okay,” you say, reassuringly.

~ ~ ~

When you and Max get to Winnipeg, it feels like nothing has changed. It feels like you just left. All of this makes you feel nostalgic, but having Max besides you makes everything feel better. The two of you are staying in a hotel near the wedding venue, which is where everyone who travelled in is going to be. There’s a small chance that you’ll run into Adam there, but Julia told you that she placed the both of you as far away from each other as possible.

For that, you’re feeling grateful. When the two of you get to the room, Max hugs you tightly.

“What’s this for?” you ask.

“Dunno, just feeling happy, I guess,” he replies. “Weddings always make me happy.”

“Even though you don’t know the people getting married?”

“They matter to you, so they matter to me.”

“You’re such a sap,” you reply, as you pull out from his hug. “I know we’re having a moment and everything, but I really want dinner.”

Max snorts. “Of course you do. Where do you want to go?”

“There’s a great sushi place not too far from here, if I remember correctly.”

“Let’s get going, then.”

~ ~ ~

The first time you see Adam is at the wedding rehearsal the following day. Well, rehearsal is a loose term, considering that everyone is only quickly running through what the reception will look like. It’s more of a time for everyone to reconnect.

He’s here by himself, which surprises you a bit. You’re fully expecting him to have a girlfriend. Maybe she just can’t make it today and will be at the wedding tomorrow. As much as you try to avoid him, he manages to see you right as you throw away your trash.

“Hey, y/n,” Adam greets.

“Oh, hey, Adam,” you reply. “It’s been a while.”

“Yeah, definitely. What have you been up to?” he inquires.

“I’m over in Oregon working on my Ph.D.,” you answer. “I only have three or four years left. I’m just starting the applied part of my degree, so I’m not sure how long that will take.”

“Oh, that’s nice. Here with anybody?”

“Yeah, I’m here with my boyfriend, Max. What about you?”

“No, I’m not dating anyone right now. But I’m happy for you,” he says.

“Yeah, right back at you. It looks like you’re holding up pretty well on the Jets.”

He nods. “It’s felt good the last couple of years. I’ve really fallen into a good groove.”

“I can tell,” you reply. “We’ll have to catch up later. I told Max I was just tossing my garbage.”

“Oh, yeah, no worries. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

When you get back to the table, Max raises an eyebrow. “How did it go?”

“Not as bad as I was expecting, to be honest. Although it has been five years, so I guess we’re both pretty far removed from it all.”

“That’s good,” he replies. “So, when do you think is an acceptable time to leave? Not that I’m not having fun, but I feel like I need to save up energy for tomorrow.”

“I’ll just tell Julia we’re headed out and then we can go back to the hotel.”

Max nods and kisses you lightly. When you walk over to Julia, she hugs you tightly.

“I’m so glad you could come,” Julia says. “Were things weird with Adam?”

“I didn’t talk with him for too long, so not really. But I think we’ll be okay, Julia. We’re all adults here, so an old breakup won’t come in the way of your happy day.”

“I know it wouldn’t, but I still worry a bit, you know? The two of you haven’t talked in all of that time you’ve been gone.”

You shrug. “I think that was the right decision, though. It would have hurt us more if we kept talking or tried to reconcile through texts or phone calls.”

“That makes sense. It’s weird, though, seeing the two of you together but not together.”

“Makes sense, I guess. But things are good with Max, so I doubt there’ll be an ‘us’ again.”

Julia just hugs you again. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Have some fun tonight.”

You laugh and shake your head. “I really think we’re just going to watch a movie and fall asleep way too early, but thank you for the encouragement.”

~ ~ ~

The following morning is extremely hectic. Max is still back at the hotel, and will be until the wedding starts. But you’re at the venue helping Julia get ready. Or, rather, making sure that Julia’s mom, Emma, doesn’t become too overbearing. You know that she only wants things to be perfect, but it can be a bit much. Hell, you’re not even the one getting married and Emma is stressing you out beyond belief.

“Okay, ladies, we only have an hour left!” Emma exclaims, a bit of panic seeping through.

“It’ll be fine,” you say to Emma, pulling her off to the side.

“I know,” she whispers. “But you know how I get.”

You laugh. “You’ve done an amazing job so far, and it’ll be beautiful.”

She gives you a quick hug. “Always the practical one.”

“I try to be.”

The rest of the lead up to the wedding passes by quickly. When you get to the beginning of the aisle, you see Adam. He smiles at you hesitantly. You smile back and walk over to him.

“How are you feeling?” you whisper.

“Not too bad. Excited for the ceremony to be over.”

You raise an eyebrow at that.

“Look, it’s just the same thing every time. It’s not like I’m not happy for them, I just get tired of the same thing over and over again.”

“I’m telling Julia you said that,” you joke.

Adam lets out a fake gasp, which makes you laugh a little. Before you can continue your conversation, the music starts up, signaling that it’s time for the two of you to walk out. Adam is right, though. Ceremonies can get a bit boring and while you’re happy for Julia, you spend more time staring off into space than you would care to admit.

Once Julia and Brandon walk down the aisle, you’re relieved. The reception promises to be relaxed and fun. It isn’t until you get seated that you realize Adam is going to be at the same table. Julia said that there might be some table changes at the practice reception, but you didn’t realize she would put Adam at your table. It’ll be fine though, you’ll sure it will all be okay. You can tell Adam is a bit surprised as well when he sits down.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that we would be at the same table,” he says, apologetically.

“It’s fine,” you reply. “I guess this means I can introduce you to Max.”

Adam’s eyes flicker over to Max, and gives him a small smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, right back at you,” Max replies, a bit awkwardly.

Conversation takes an awkward pause as a few other people get seated at the table.

“So, how long have you guys been together?” Adam asks.

“Two and a half years,” Max answers, looking over at you and smiling. “We met in our intro class for the Ph.D. program we’re in.”

“Oh, that’s great,” Adam replies. “What are both of you hoping to do after you graduate?”

“We’re hoping to go into research somewhere and then hopefully teach at a university or community college. But it all depends on where we can get jobs. Finding one teaching job is hard enough, but two would be near impossible,” you explain. “We’ll work it out, though. There’s still a few more years.”

Adam nods. “I’m glad for you both.”

“Thanks,” you whisper.

Conversation flows easily after that, catching each other up on everything that’s happened the last few years. Adam had been in a long-term relationship, but they had broken up only a few months ago. He didn’t say why and you didn’t want to push, he looked heartbroken talking about it. Only a few minutes later, Julia and Brandon come back out to the reception and announce that dinner is going to be served. After eating and sitting through several speeches, the two of them have their first dance.

The music picks up after that, and you and Max decide to only stay for a few songs. Your flight out the next morning is bright and early. Adam stays at the table, stating that he doesn’t have anyone he wants to dance with. You shrug it off, thinking it’s not your problem anymore.

The rest of the night is amazing, and when your alarm goes off the next morning, you groan as you shut it off. Both you and Max get ready in a haze and barely make it to the airport on time. Thankfully, neither of you have anything going on the next few days, allowing the both of you to rest.

~ ~ ~

After the wedding, it seems to open the door to you and Adam talking again. It’s weird, and it feels wrong talking to him again, but you know that it’s just as friends. Max is well aware of it and he has no issue with it, stating that the two of you are both well removed from anything romantic and that he’s sure of your relationship with him.

It isn’t until January that you see Adam again. With the All Stars game going on, he has a week of rest and insists on coming out to Oregon to visit you for a day. Sam and Vera are rightly hesitant about him coming to visit, but you do want to show Adam around. You decide to take him to a small café that you like to frequent when you want a break from school.

“So, how’s the new school year going?” he asks.

“It’s going well. I’m focusing more on research now, so it’s exciting,” you reply. “I’m focusing on homelessness in college student populations.”

“Oh, that’s…depressing,” Adam says. “But I’m glad you’re doing something that matters to you.”

“So am I,” you reply. “How are you feeling about the team this year? I know there’s been some big trades lately.”

“It’s weird, but I think we’ll hit our stride soon enough. We’re getting closer to a cup each year. And I really love the people I’m playing with, too. That always makes things better.”

“It really does. And I know you guys will get there soon enough.”

Adam smiles sadly. “I hope so. I don’t know how much more time I have, so I would like to get there before I retire.”

“You thinking of retiring soon?” you inquire.

He shrugs. “I’m not sure, but I know that it’s going to happen in the next few years more than likely. Like, I’m in my late twenties now, my body can’t hold out for much longer. And I don’t want to go out with a huge injury I’ll never recover from.”

“Makes sense,” you reply. “Any plans for what you want to do after?”

“I think going back to school would be nice. It might give me a better sense of direction.”

“That would be good. School has made a world of difference for me. It’s what helped me after our breakup.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it gave me something to look forward, instead of moping about it all.”

“You were sad about it?” he asks, looking confused.

“I really was. I never wanted to break up with you, Adam. But I don’t think I was ready to move away from home and in with you. It just wasn’t good timing for either of us, I think.”

Adam smiles softly. “I always thought you got over it right away, considering how things ended.”

“No, it definitely wasn’t a happy time for me. Not that I’m making excuses, but we were both pretty young and just jumped into moving in together without thinking if it was a good idea or not.”

“Yeah, that’s true. I’m just…it feels good to be talking to you again, y/n. It was weird not having you around.”

“I tried to forget you for the longest time, you know? Pretend that it never happened. I think it was my way of trying to get over it and not take full credit of what I did.”

“Well, we’re both well past that, I feel like. It’s strange, though, seeing how much we’ve both changed,” Adam comments.

“It is,” you whisper. “But I’m glad for it.”

Casual conversation continues on for a few more hours before Adam says he should be heading out.

“I wasn’t sure where this was going to end up, so I booked a flight for later tonight. I didn’t want to stick around if things got weird,” he explains.

“I guess that makes sense. It was good seeing you again, though.”

He hugs you briefly, before he heads out to his rental car and drives off. You sigh and rub your face a bit. It was good, but it still feels odd seeing Adam again.

When you get back to your place, Vera and Sam are immediately asking you how it went.

“It wasn’t that exciting,” you mumble. “We just got caught up on basic life stuff.”

“How weird was it?” Vera asks.

“I mean, not too weird? Like, we were able to hold a steady conversation. It’s just weird how much we both changed the last five years. We both grew up a lot,” you explain.

“Do you think you’ll keep up this whole thing?” Sam asks, slightly concerned.

“I don’t see why not,” you reply, shrugging. “It’s not like I want to get back together with him. I honestly don’t know what he’s thinking about it all, but I don’t get that vibe from him either.”

“If he tries anything, our offer of beating him up still stands,” Vera says.

You snort. “I really appreciate the offer, but considering that there isn’t even a professional hockey team around here, I doubt that we’ll be seeing much of him.”

~ ~ ~

Things with Adam only get better from there. The two of you are close again, but it’s not the same. It never would be, and that was honestly fine with you. When it’s time for you to finally graduate with your Ph.D., he flies out to watch you receive your diploma, as the Jets didn’t make it to the playoffs this year.

You could tell your parents felt hesitant about having him around, but they made room for him after seeing that you’re genuinely okay with him around. Max was a bit wary, but he didn’t say anything, knowing how important Adam is to you.

After your graduation, you meet everyone outside of the stadium. Adam hangs off to the side, letting your parents get too many pictures of you and Max together. He doesn’t say much, until you come up to him.

“So, you’re headed to St. Louis, huh?” he asks.

“Yeah, I got lucky with an amazing position at St. Louis Community College. I couldn’t say no and Max said he would try to find something there as well,” you explain. “It’s a great city and turning down a teaching job wasn’t something I could say no to.”

“Well, it is pretty great,” Adam says smugly.

You snort. “Of course you think it’s great. But what are your plans for the summer now? You’re thirty-one, now.”

“Thank you for reminding me how old I am,” Adam replies grimly. “Besides, you’re thirty-one now, too, so don’t make it sound like I’m the ancient one here.”

This just makes you laugh. “Well, maybe we can hang out if you hang around St. Louis long enough.”

Adam smiles softly at that. “I would like that. But I should let you get back to your family. Looks like they want to take more pictures.”

You hug Adam tightly one last time before walking back to your family. Things are relaxed for the rest of the day and when you head back to your house with Sam and Vera, you’re ready to pass out. Knowing that the next couple of days are going to be busy with last minute packing means you want to get as much sleep as possible.

As you start packing up the next morning, Sam and Vera join you. The two of them had finished their programs last year, but worked around Eugene until you were moving out as well. They had insisted that they needed time to focus on what they wanted to do.

“God, this is so weird. I can’t believe we’re finally moving out of Oregon,” Sam whispers. “We better still be friends.”

“Please, we didn’t suffer through the last seven years of our life together for nothing,” you joke.

Vera laughs. “Well, if we can suffer through my many breakdowns, I think we’ll be fine.”

“I hate how true that is,” Sam comments.

The rest of the day passes calmly, until Max calls you and asks if you can come over for dinner, saying he has something important that he wants to tell you.

“Do you think he’s going to finally propose?” Vera asks. “It has been almost seven years.”

You shrug. “I’ll keep you guys updated.”

Once you get to Max’s place, he looks sadder than you expect. This makes you concerned, as you don’t know what could be bringing this on.

“I got an offer from Stanford for an associate professor position,” Max says immediately, once you’ve shut the door.

“Oh,” is all you can think to say.

“I just…I want it so bad. You know how hard it’s been for me trying to find something I want to do in St. Louis.”

You sit down on his couch, processing this all. “Yeah, I know. And…you should take it, Max. This is an amazing opportunity. Like, that’s an amazing school.”

“It’s just…I don’t want to make you quit your job in St. Louis before you’ve even started. And you know how much I hate long-distance relationships. So, I think it’s best if we broke up.”

“I…yes, of course. That makes sense,” you reply numbly.

“God, this is so shit to do, especially since we were about to sign a lease on a place. But I was thinking maybe Adam or his family could help? I know that’s where he grew up.”

“I could ask,” you whisper. “I think…I think I’m going to go, Max. I need time to process this.”

Max just nods. “Sorry for making you drive all the way over here for this.”

You smile and head back to your place. Sam and Vera are confused, but let you go right up to your room. The second you close the door, you start sobbing. Things with Max were great, they really were. You thought that getting married to him was a real possibility. But you get the whole long-distance thing. It wouldn’t be fair to either of you to try and reroute your careers if your heart wasn’t in it.

A couple of hours later, Sam and Vera come into your room, bringing junk food and wine. When you explain what had happened, they don’t say anything, but hug you tightly. They stay with you for the rest of the night, making sure you fall asleep at a reasonable time.

The next morning, you’re not feeling great, but not as horrible as you were expecting. At this point, you know that you have to rethink your plan. There’s a place that you and Max were going to move into at the beginning of July, but without him there, you won’t be able to afford it. As much as it pains you, you’re definitely going to have to ask Adam for help.

He picks up after a couple of rings to his phone. “What’s up?”

“So, you know how I’m moving to St. Louis for work, right?” you ask.

“Yeeees,” he replies, unsure.

“Well, um, Max just broke up with me last night and I can’t afford the apartment we were going to sign the lease on without him,” you explain. “So, I was wondering if you know any people in St. Louis who need roommates? I know that I can try and find somewhere on my own, but I wanted to check with you first.”

“I have a place there that you could stay in,” Adam suggests.

“Adam, I can’t take your place!”

“Look, I’m not there for most of the year and I only stay there during the summer when I’m not off training. As long as you don’t mind me being there a few months out of the year, then we’ll be fine.”

You frown a bit, thinking it over. “I promise I’ll find somewhere as fast as possible.”

“Take your time,” Adam says insistently. “I know it’s going to take you a while to settle in to your new job and there’s no point in stressing about finding a new place at the same time.”

“Fuck,” you whisper. “You know me too well.”

“We have known each other for over a decade now,” Adam jokes.

“God, why is that the thing that makes me feel old?”

“It is weird to say out loud, huh?”

“I haven’t even thought about it, to be honest,” you reply. “But I think I’ll take you up on that offer. I hate to put you out, but it already took Max and I ages to find a place we could afford. Being a professor isn’t a lavish lifestyle, unfortunately.”

“You know I have your back, no matter what.”

“And I appreciate you for that. I’ll let you get back to sleep, though. Sorry that I woke you.”

“It’s no problem. Just send me the details of when you’ll be moving over to me some time today.”

“Sounds good. Talk to you soon, Adam,” you say.

After you hang up, you walk down to the kitchen, where Sam and Vera are already making breakfast. They both look at you, curious, but you ignore the look for now. The thought of trying to explain that you’re moving into Adam’s house in St. Louis is too weird of a thought for this early in the morning. It isn’t until you start packing again that Sam brings it up.

“So, who was that you were talking to this morning?” she asks.

“I was talking with Adam,” you say. “I just…with Max breaking up with me, I needed to figure out somewhere to live, you know? And since he’s from there, I figured he could help.”

“What’s he helping with, then?” Sam asks.

“He’s offering for me to stay in his place there,” you explain. “It might be dumb to essentially move in with him again, but there’s no way that I would be able to find something in only a couple of weeks.”

Sam frowns a bit. “I hate that this is your only option. I know it’s been over seven years since the two of you broke up, but it just feels so weird.”

You shrug. “It does, but I know things will be better now. We’ve managed to be friends for the last few years, so I think we’ll be okay.”

“I hope so,” she whispers. “God, the last couple of days have been dramatic as fuck. Does this happen every time you move somewhere?”

“Thankfully, no. But whenever it involves a boyfriend, it seems to be overdramatic,” you joke.

“Well, I think we’ll all be okay.”

~ ~ ~

As you make the move from Eugene to St. Louis, you take your time driving there. You make several stops along the way and try to process everything that’s been happening. It’s wild that you’ve gotten a teaching job right out of university, because you know how hard it can be. Granted, it is at a community college, but you think it’ll help when you try to move on to teaching at a university.

And it’s weird that fate has brought you and Adam back together. Even when you first started talking to him again, you never imagined being in a place where the both of you felt so comfortable together again. Now that the both of you are in different places in your lives, you’re interested to see what happens.

When you get there, you see Adam’s car pulled up into the driveway. As you pull up, he opens the door and walks out to greet you. He looks older and more settled into himself. Aging has treated him very well.

“Hey, Adam,” you greet tiredly.

He hugs you as he says, “It’s good to see you again. I think your thirties are treating you well.”

“Please, like it’s been treating you any differently. Besides, it’s only been a month since you’ve seen me last.”

He just shrugs. “Feels less weird saying it since you don’t have a boyfriend anymore. Not that I’m like…happy that the two of you broke up.”

“I know what you mean,” you reply. “I guess it’s time to move everything in, huh?”

“Shouldn’t be too bad. It’s less stuff than last time we moved in together.”

“I’ve gotten better at the impulse purchases. Being a broke grad school student is no joke.”

“Well, that’s good to hear. How about we just move everything into the place for today and unpack tomorrow?”

“You don’t have to help me unpack everything.”

“I know. I just like to help.”

You smile. “Might as well get started then.”

Things are easy for the next couple of days. It doesn’t feel as weird as you were expecting it to be. Adam gives you more than enough space to do your own thing, but you’re still very aware of his presence. A few days after you move in, his mom insists on meeting up with you for lunch at a local diner.

“It’s so good to see you again,” she says. “I never thought I would see you again after the two of you broke up.”

“Yeah, this is definitely weird. But I’m just really grateful right now.”

“Adam is excited to have you back in his life, you know. I think he’s missed you more than he’s willing to admit to himself.”

“I mean, I missed him a lot as well. It was weird not talking to him after the breakup, but it served us both well.”

“That’s good,” she replies. “Now, tell me more about what you were doing over in Oregon. I love my son, but he doesn’t always do the best at remembering.”

The rest of lunch is just playing catch up with each other. It’s good seeing her again, and it’s even better knowing that you’ll have someone here to support you. Without Max being there to support you, you were really unsure of being in St. Louis essentially by yourself. Knowing that Adam’s family seems to be accepting you into their life is helping you cope a lot.

It isn’t until a week later that you go into the community college to meet your fellow staff. Everyone is super welcoming and you’re excited for the year to start. There’s no surprise when you see that you’ll be teaching two sections of introductory anthropology as your only courses. Being a new professor usually means getting the grunt work for a while, which is fine by you.

~ ~ ~

Settling into the new year has been easier than you were expecting. Having the whole house to yourself was weird, but it’s making your life so much easier. As much as you loved living with Sam and Vera, it’s easier to focus on doing class prep without anyone around. You do wish that Adam was around more, but you can only wish for so much.

The first time Adam comes back after leaving during August is during his bye-week in December. He says that he feels too old to be going off to party in Cabo or wherever the younger guys are going this year.

While the time he’s here isn’t necessarily awkward, it feels like the two of you are flying off to some new uncharted territory. The two of you have plenty of late nights together, talking about the smallest of things that have changed over the years. You’ve gained more independence and confidence in yourself and Adam has learned to be a bit more empathetic.

When he leaves, something has changed in your dynamic with him. While you won’t say that you’re falling in love with him, you feel like you could be hurtling in that direction. Living in his place isn’t necessarily helping either.

By the time January rolls around, you’re more prepared to spending a full week with Adam. Things are similar to last time and everything comes to a close halfway through his time back in St. Louis. You’re both a little more drunk than either of you were expecting, which probably helps in the long run.

“I’m so happy that you’re back in my life,” Adam whispers. “I didn’t realize how much I missed you until we started talking again.”

“I’m glad things are back to normal again,” you reply.

“If things were normal, we would be dating again.”

This hangs in the air for a brief moment.

“Well…I suppose we can make things truly back to normal. I wouldn’t be opposed to that,” you comment.

“Are you saying…that you wouldn’t mind dating again?” Adam asks, hesitantly.

“No, I really wouldn’t. It’s been nice being close to you again.”

Epilogue

A few years later, you finally got a professor job at the University of Missouri in St. Louis. You’re overjoyed that you’ve found a great job in the city. Adam has decided to retire and move back in full time with you. He’s still unsure of what to do, but you’re slowly convincing him that going back to school would be a good idea.

“Look, you can try out a couple of classes and see how it goes,” you suggest.

“Are you just saying that so I can take one of your intro classes?” he asks.

You laugh. “Maybe. I’m just saying that maybe classes could give you a new type of happiness outside of hockey.”

He smiles and kisses you lightly. “I think what would make me happier is if you married me.”

“What?” you ask flatly. “Are you serious?”

He shrugs. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I mean, I feel like it’s the right time for us.”

“I thought you hated wedding ceremonies.”

“When did I say that?”

“At Julia and Brandon’s wedding, when we started talking again.”

“How do you even remember that?” he asks, genuinely confused.

“I remembered it so I could make fun of you one day.”

Adam snorts. “I can’t believe I want to marry you.”

You smile smugly. “Oh please, like you would have it any other way.”

[antoineroussel-archive]

Can’t think of a player or a team so how about the oldest fic you have for the plot or scene thing

Ooo! I’ll give you two for the price of one!

The oldest that I haven’t abandoned all hope for is a friends-to-lovers Adam Lowry fic, the doc was created on 19 July 2019.

Madison tilted her chin so that she was looking him in the eye. She wasn’t intimidated by how he was essentially towering over her; it was hard to be intimidated by someone you had seen in the morning, hungover and mumbling into a glass of water while still wearing a beer stained shirt from the night before.

“Stop telling people I’m your girlfriend.”

“I never told anyone that,” Adam argued, shaking his head.

“When you tell someone you have a girlfriend and then point directly at me, you’re telling them that your girlfriend is me.”

He blinked once slowly and then blinked hard. “That wasn’t a sentence.”

“How much have you had?”

It wasn’t hard to guess the answer, given the loose yet confused smile on his face.

The oldest that I have abanonded, was a Charlie Coyle fic created on 12 December 2017 before he went to Boston

“What are you doing, Max?”

“My Uber app thinks this is my home. All I want to do is go to bed. Tonight was awful.”

“The wedding?”

“I mean the wedding was nice but everyone was asking about you. No one is ever going to forget that I bagged a Wild player but no one knew that we broke up, right? And they all know that it’s not a game day because the wedding had to be on a free day or nobody would be at the wedding, so they all know you weren’t busy and they wanted to know why you weren’t with me and it was so bad having to tell everyone that I fucked up the only good thing that had ever happened to me. They all said ‘I told you so’ because everybody knows that you can do better. Except for Gran. She asked how you were but also wants you to know that you lost the best thing that ever happened to you. You didn’t really lose me though because I still love you and I don’t know how to stop. I’m unloseable.”

“It’s nearly three.”

“I know and I’m so tired. It’s also really cold out here.”

Charlie sighed, his whole-body slumping, as he stepped aside and let Max in. She held onto the doorframe as she stepped up and felt herself teeter when she only had one foot on the ground. She heard Charlie’s sharp inhale and prepared herself for his hand to make contact with her body, but it never came. She planted the other foot and steadied herself, wishing that Charlie would help her balance.

Send me a player (or a team) and if I’m writing a fic about them, I’ll give a) a snippet or b) the plot