Chapter 22
Adam
I couldn’t help the fact I kept looking at my phone. I knew it was rude, but I hadn’t heard from Tara all day. Even though she agreed to try to be friends with River again, she wasn’t putting in an effort. I understood she wanted to be with her family today, but when I suggested we do something New Years to honor Bobby, she balked at it.
She came up with something snide, and I rolled my eyes.
I nodded to whatever Dad said and looked down at my phone again. My body felt heavy. I shouldn’t have left Tara to deal with her first Christmas without Bobby by herself. Then again, last Christmas was her first with him.
And last.
I shifted on my feet. Worrying over Tara had made me do something stupid.
I’d mentioned the storage facility River’s stuff was in. West looked like I’d punched him in the gut. I glanced around the room, and my eyes landed on him standing with River. His arm was wrapped protectively around her waist with his fingers in the front of her jean’s pocket. He towered over her, but as she looked up at him and smiled, it seemed they were a good fit.
My chest tightened, and I coughed as I looked away, reminding myself River and I were never a good fit. My eyes drifted back to my phone again.
“Adam,” Mom said, and it shook me from my Tara-worry-induced-stupor. “When did you meet West, anyway?”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Awhile ago. Right before we went on tour.”
“Just some random tattoo artist?” she asked, blinking as she raised her glass of wine to her lips.
I shook my head. “West’s the best on the East Coast. I figured if I was going to honor Bobby, I should do it properly.”
“That’s sweet.” Mom’s lips lifted, and I blinked hard as her hand moved to the arm covered in tattoos. I flinched, and she looked down at her glass of wine before walking away.
I closed my eyes. Mom was being nice, and I’d fucked it up. Typical.
“Don’t worry about it,” Dad said as I opened my eyes. “She knows she has to make up for what she did.”
I rubbed the back of my neck, watching as Mom mingled with West’s relatives. She seemed softer than before, but I didn’t know that I could trust she cared.
“How are you doing being around her?” I asked, looking up at him. He looked so much like Bobby.
Dad laughed before taking a swig of his beer. “I’m not around her much anymore. Makes her more tolerable.”
“Ah,” I said, taking a sip of water.
“How’s life on tour?” Dad asked.
“It’s good. I know it’s not for everyone, but seeing my fans singing our songs is amazing.”
Dad cleared his throat. “Better than teaching?”
There wasn’t judgment in his tone, but my muscles still stiffened. “It’s different.”
We stood in silence for a moment, both our eyes moving around the room.
He broke the silence. “I’m sorry…for what I said about you being a teacher.”
My jaw went slack, and he locked his gaze on mine, blue eyes trained on me, begging me to forgive him.
“Life’s too short to do something you hate. So I just hope whatever you do, no matter what it is, that it’s what you want from life,” he said, and I shook my head before pulling him into a hug. “I love you, son.”
As I pulled away, my eyes found River. She smiled at me, and I returned it.
“Thanks, Dad,” I said, and it was the first time I’d called him it since we’d started talking a few months prior. His body relaxed.
“I hope you can forgive your mom someday, too.” He put his hands up when I tensed. “I’m not saying now. Hell, I’m surprised you forgive me. I see this as the first step in mending our relationship…or creating a relationship we never really had. Your mom wants that, too. “
“She said that?” I asked, looking over to where she stood talking to River. River’s mouth was tight, and I knew she still had a hard time being around her.
Dad’s shoulders lifted. “She’s here, isn’t she? With her actions speak louder than words.” My brows went up. “Well, technically her yelling is pretty damn loud.”
The tension broke, and we laughed. “I should probably go talk to West.”
Dad nodded. “About that bomb you dropped in the car?”
I cringed, and he squeezed my shoulder.
“He’s a good man. He’ll understand,” he said, and I inhaled through my nose as I made my way over to where West stood with River. “You got a second, man?”
“Sure.” He leaned down and kissed River’s forehead before following me over to where the drinks were. I grabbed myself another water and tossed him one. I knew that while he drank, he didn’t drink more than one of anything. He’d already put his Scotch on the rocks down, hardly having touched it. “What’s up?”
“I feel like I need to apologize,” I said and West’s lips pursed as he shook his head. “No, I shouldn’t have mentioned the whole storage thing.”
West tipped on his heels. “Why did you keep it?”
The simple letter in my wallet seemed to have a life of its own. Keeping that was probably worse than the stuff in storage.
“I couldn’t get rid of it.”
West inhaled through his nose, nostrils flaring. It wasn’t the answer he wanted, but it was the truth.
“I always figured we’d come back together in some way or another. There’s a lot of memories there, more from our friendship than our romantic relationship. When we split I lost more than my girlfriend, I lost my best friend. And I’d already lost my brother. I just couldn’t.” I locked eyes with him. “I hope you take it for what it is. She’s a part of who I am.”
“I get it.” West looked over his shoulder at her, a smile twitching on his lips. “She’s easy to love.”
“I appreciate you being cool about all of this. I don’t think I would be if I were in your place,” I said, and West’s eyes flashed, cutting into me for all the things I did in the past.
He knew what I’d done. Even if he hadn’t known me personally, he knew my lyrics that he’d engraved on my skin. They were constant reminder River had been damaged from it.
His voice was deep, at a register only I could hear when he finally responded. “I won’t let River drown for me…or you ever again.”
The words knocked into my chest, and a weight planted itself there as I nodded. I looked at River, an easy laugh floating off her lips as she talked with Dad and West’s mom.
“I’ll hold you to that,” I replied.