"Yes, Adam Collins. I’ll help you raise Adir. If that’s what you decide. If that’s what you need. I was ready to do that when you thought he was yours and I am willing now."
Adam stared at her, montarily thrown off balance. He had expected, questions or at least a little trying to shrug it off. Sothing to delay whatever they were talking about. But she just agreed—like it was simple. Like it wasn’t the most complicated, frightening commitnt they could ever make.
lanie leaned into him again as she placed her head on his shoulder. "I like you too much, rember? That includes the difficult parts of you. And the complicated choices."
Adam laughed under his breath, not because it was funny, but because she made it sound so easy. "You really an it."
"I don’t say things I don’t an," she said. "Besides, I like Adir too."
Adam tilted his head, a slow grin forming. "You like Adir, huh? That kid’s already trying to steal my spotlight. I don’t think I like it."
lanie smiled and rolled her eyes. "He barely talked to okay. He’s just clingy and likes to hug."
Adam stared at her and then gave her a scowl," Exactly. This is even more worriso. He is luring you in with calculated charm. And how many tis has he already hugged you? He’s t you thrice and already hugged you the sa number of tis! And if he lives with us, he will hug you even more.
She raised an eyebrow. "He’s four, Adam."
"And yet, sohow, still a threat." Adam insisted and lanie laughed, "That is beneath you, Adam Collins... the third ti we t... you almost kissed ... would have if I had not pushed you away."
Adam grinned at that. And leaned forward slowly," Did I? How did I almost kiss you? At most I hugged you and invaded your space..."
lanie gave him a look. "You don’t rember leaning in all dramatic after saving from slipping on the stairs? It was before Spencer returned"
Adam tilted his head like he was genuinely considering it and didn’t rember it. "Vaguely. But I think I was trying to see if you had a concussion."
"Oh please, a concussion without a fall?," she scoffed, poking his chest. "You were holding like I was about to swoon in your arms."
"Maybe I thought you would indeed faint. After all, I am too good looking. It was a risky move." He smirked. "And look—it worked. You’ve been obsessed with ever since, haven’t you?"
lanie laughed and shook her head. "Obsessed is a stretch. Mildly chard, maybe. Curious, for sure."
Adam leaned in and lowered his voice just a bit. "You kissed first, didn’t you?"
She raised both brows. "No, I absolutely did not."
"You hesitated."
"I was surprised."
"You lingered."
"I was processing."
"You looked at my mouth."
"It was the lip ring that kept distracting all the ti," she said, swatting his arm, trying not to smile.
"Mm-hmm." Adam grinned, his hand moving playfully at her waist. "So if I leaned in now... you’d be prepared?"
lanie narrowed her eyes at him playfully. "No. Because you’re annoying. And smug. And you think you’re cuter than a four-year-old who gives out hugs."
Adam smirked. "You admitted he’s clingy. I’m just... consistent."
"You’re impossible," she said with an exasperated shake of her head.
"And you’re still here," he said, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek.
She didn’t move away. "Yes, I am."
He held her gaze for a beat, as they rubbed their nose against each other.
"Good," Adam said quietly. "Because I’m not going anywhere either."
lanie smiled, then tugged gently on the collar of his shirt. "Shut up and kiss this ti."
And he did—no hesitation, no almosts.
"See?" he murmured. " As their lips parted slowly. No almost this ti."
lanie gave a soft laugh as her fingers brushed the edge of his jaw. "Took you long enough. I was starting to think you had a fear of follow-through."
Adam kissed her again before she could tease him more and he deepened the kiss this ti, his hand sliding from her neck into her hair, gripping it gently as he tilted her head to taste more of her. lanie responded imdiately, her body arching into his, her fingers tugging at the buttons of his shirt with urgency that betrayed how long this had been building.
She got two open before her patience snapped, and she simply pulled the fabric aside, her palms flattening against the bare skin of his chest. He was warm—solid beneath her touch—and she pressed her mouth to the line of his throat, feeling the subtle hitch in his breath.
Adam’s hands wandered beneath the hem of her top again, this ti sliding up her back, tracing the curve of her spine as she moved in his lap. Her thighs tightened around him, anchoring herself in place as his mouth found her shoulder, then moved slowly across her collarbone, kissing, tasting.
He pulled the shirt over her head, careful, like unwrapping sothing he wasn’t sure he was allowed to have. lanie t his gaze as it dropped, as his hands skimd her sides, reverent, possessive. He kissed her again, softer now, slower, like he had all the ti in the world.
She pressed herself against him, chest to chest, her breath warm against his neck as she nipped at his skin, her hands roaming over his shoulders, waist, the small of his back, morizing him with touch alone. He groaned softly against her mouth when her hips shifted again, a deliberate roll that made his grip on her tighten.
"Are you always going to want lon? Always like this?"
lanie looked into his eyes and sohow felt that the questions was important to him, so she answered honestly," Yes. Always. Like this or maybe even more."
Adam smiled then and rolled over, pulling her beneath him.
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