Eleanor > Recent Status Updates

He smiles then, devilish and so sure of himself. "I'm gonna marry you someday, you know."
"What if I say no?"
He pulls his mask down, fixing it over his face. As he backs away, he winks at me. "You won't."

And at the end of the game, when they win in overtime, Adam looks at us, and he taps his heart three times.

Adam's palm touches my lower back, gliding up my spine, his thumb moving over the nape of my neck. "You know what I was thinking?"
"What?"
"We have five bedrooms, and only two of them are being used."
My chest rises and falls quickly. "Yeah?”
He looks at Lily, and when she grins at us, he grins too. "Yeah."

"Can I give you something to help you feel better?"
"I'd like that."
Two tiny, gentle hands cup my cheeks, and I close my eyes as Lily presses featherlight kisses across my nose. "There," she whispers. "Butterfly kisses." She turns to leave but pauses, smiling back at me over her shoulder.

Jaxon's chest heaves as Marchanbo slumps to the ice at his feet.
"Don't touch my fucking goalie." He tosses my mask at my chest.
"Here. Your face is too pretty for black eyes."

Something shutters in her eyes, a hesitancy that tames my hunger for a moment.
I rest my forehead against hers. "What are you afraid of, Rosie?"
"Losing you"" she whispers. "Connor's is the only love I've ever got to keep."
"You can keep mine. It belongs to you."
"Promise?"
"Swear it."

“Because I feel you everywhere, Adam, even when you're not here.”

I pull back, just an inch, Rosies trembling fingers on my face, mine buried in her hair.
"Hey, trouble, I murmur, and she grins.
"Hey, you."

"Dada!" Connor shouts when he sees me. He dashes over to me on unsteady legs, and I catch him in one arm, hoisting him up to me.
"Hey, little trouble."
He points at Rosie. "Big tubble."
"Adam," she whispers when I stop in front of her. "I-" I swallow her words, all of them. Whatever the fuck they were, I swallow them with my mouth on hers.

"Spin for me." The words are a quiet plea, and my heart slams against my chest when Rosie grins, lifting Connor in her arms and spinning in a slow circle, showing me my last name on her back.
Fucking perfection.

He slaps at the glass as I stop there. "Dada! Hi, Dada!" I chuckle, placing my gloved hand against the glass, on the other side of his. "Hi, buddy. I'm so happy you're here."
"Hockey!" He points at my stick. "Dada... pay... hockey?"
Rosie's so fucking breathtaking, sitting there in my jersey, I can barely hear Cara losing her shit over the fact that Connor's calling me Dada.

Connor wipes the tears from his face, sniffling. "Dada, Bear?" Rosie smiles softly, pushing his hair off his damp forehead.
"Trust me?" I ask her quietly.
She watches me for a moment, then nods. "I trust you, Adam."
"Fuck yeah, you do."
"Fuck yeah," Connor repeats quietly, and my smile falls.
"Oh shit. No. Oh fuck. Shit." I look to Rosie. "Rosie'"

Adam bars his arm across the entrance, stopping Brandon from following me as I race through the apartment.
"Don't fucking follow her."

"Get in the truck."
"You have to meet someone. You said it was important. Your publicist-"
"Canceled. Get in the truck."
"But -"
"Connor is a million times more important. There is nobody as important to me as you and that little boy, so for the love of God, Rosie, get in this truck before I throw you in it."

"Rosie," he calls as I start my trek down his driveway.
"I'll call you later, Adam."
"Rosie"
I stop, glancing over my shoulder. He stands at his truck, holding the passenger door open. There's a tic in his sharp jawline, veins popping in his forearm as he clenches his keys in his fist, anger radiating off him.

"Rosie!" Adam screams as professionals and students alike surround him, reaching for Bear. "I need Rosie!" He clutches Bear to his heaving chest, his eyes tearing through the parking lot, sliding right over me.
I shove my way through, grabbing Adam's face and pulling his tortured gaze to mine. "Breathe, Adam. Breathe, baby. I'm right here." Sapphire eyes settle on mine, red-rimmed and panicked.

"Is that Adam Lockwood?" someone wonders out loud, and when Adam jumps down from the passenger seat, his one-hundred-and-forty-pound dog limp in his arms, I'm already pushing through the door, running toward him.

Squeezing her to me, I kiss her head. "I think you belong right here."
"With you?" she asks, chin on my chest.
"Where else?"

"Because I want to give you whatever you need. I want you to know exactly where you stand with me, to see yourself exactly the way I see you. The way my heart races when I'm with you, when I touch you, when I get to just fucking... look at you?
I want you to feel that."

"Fuck" His brows furrow, and he closes his eyes, gives his head a tiny shake. "Didn't think it was possible." I press my lips to his, coaxing his eyes open. "What?" The pad of his thumb scrapes across my lower lip. "For you to get any more beautiful.”

"Jesus, listen to you. And you were gonna give them these noises?" He cocks his head, tsking.
"All yours," I barely manage, sinking my fingers into the curls at the nape of his neck, tugging his forehead down to mine.

My hands slip up his corded arms, over his wide shoulders, curling into his soft curls as I brush my lips across his. "Mostly, I just want you."
"I'm yours" he tells me.

Adam looks over at me, the same way hes been doing every thirty seconds, cobalt blue eyes alight. A gentle smile starts in the corners of his mouth before exploding into a cheek-splitting grin when he catches me staring. He reaches over, fingers spreading over my thigh, sliding achingly slowly up, up, up, until he reaches the hem of my dress and squeezes.
"Whatcha thinking about, pretty girl?"

"I like when you think out loud.
"A lot of my thoughts are about you" she admits.
I blow out a breath of relief and pull her into my chest. "Thank fuck, because all of mine are about you."

"You can't see the stars with your face buried in there, pretty girl."
She props her chin on my chest, grinning up at me. "I like this view best."
I chuckle, running a thumb over the dimple in her chin. "You’re the cutest ever."

Connor shuffles to his feet, rubbing his eyes with his fists, Cat tucked under his arm. "Mama, kiss?"
Rosie takes his face in her hands, pressing a kiss to his forehead, both cheeks, and finally his lips. "Good night, baby. Mama loves you" Connor reaches for me. "Dada, kiss?"
I plant a loud smooch on his forehead. "Good night, little trouble."

Rosie lays her cheek on my shoulder with a soft sigh, tucking her face into my neck, like I'm her safe space. I think she might be mine.
"You feel really nice,” perfect lips murmur against my skin. "Solid. Steady,” Another sigh. "Safe."
"I'll be anything you want me to be."

"It's easier," I mumble against his neck. "With you, it feels easier."
"I feel the same with you."

I take one step, then another, dropping five inches lower, then ten, and my fingernails bite into his shoulders. Strong hands squeeze my waist tighter, guiding me into him. When he sinks to the bottom, water kissing his chest, he pulls my limbs around him, letting me cling to him.
"Atta girl' he murmurs against my temple. "You okay?"

He sweeps his thumb over the dimple in my chin, coaxing my gaze open. Cobalt eyes lift to mine. "I wish I could tell you that you have nothing to be afraid of when it comes to swimming, too, but I don't know your reasons, and I won't undermine them. I want you to know, though, that you're safe with me. I won't let anything happen to you."
"You promise?"
"Swear it."

Something warm brushes my back, and two strong arms cage me in, large hands clasping the stone balcony wall on either side of mine.
"Pretty, huh?"
"Pretty doesn't begin to describe it," I breathe out.
Soft lips ghost the shell of my ear. "I was thinking the same thing."