I glanced at the back door, wondering when Jacoby would show up, or if he already had and noticed I had company. Either way, I wanted to hurry up and get this over with so I could see him. Normally, I would want to immediately tell Dave what all had just happened, but for some reason, Jacoby was the only person I wanted right now.
And these morons were preventing that.
“Okay, so what’s the plan?”
“As you know, there’s an event scheduled for tomorrow,” Ty said, taking over the conversation again. “It’s the grand opening of a local restaurant that Nicole and her husband, Trent, are investors in, and everyone has been invited to attend.”
“What about Adam, though? Hasn’t he said that he doesn’t want any part in the show?”
“Yes, but just stick to the narrative that Adam has managed to get the weekend off from training and came to surprise you. You don’t want to cancel on the girls, and he doesn’t want to give up what little bit of time he gets with you, so you guys decide to go together.”
This plan was far from foolproof, but at least I wasn’t the one who came up with it. If it backfired, then someone else would have to deal with the fallout, because I refused to take on that responsibility on top of everything else that came along with being Tiffany. “Well, it sounds like you thought of everything. What can go wrong?”
“Nothing. Nothing can or will go wrong.” The way Ty said that made it sound like a threat, except there was no way it would’ve been aimed at me. He couldn’t have possibly thought that I would be the one to expose Tiffany’s secrets. After realizing how much it would hurt others, not just my sister, I abandoned that ship.
Not much else was said before Ty stood and made his excuses to leave. I got up to walk them to the door, but when Adam remained seated, I pointed to him and asked Ty, “He’s not staying here, is he?”
“Well, it’s his house.”
I opened my eyes so wide in shock that I could feel the air quickly drying them out. “Yeah, but… I’ve been sleeping in Tiff’s bed. I have all my things in there.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure that out together.” We were talking about Adam like he wasn’t even there. Meanwhile, he continued to watch, as if we were talking about somebody else. It was very strange to say the least. “I suggest you take a little time to get to know him so that you don’t show up on his arm yet act like he’s a total stranger.”
“I’m going to start demanding bonuses every time something else is thrown at me.”
“Do I get to deduct from your pay every time you throw something at me?” Adam’s expression remained neutral, though his tone was light and teasing. Maybe this guy wasn’t as much of a box of rocks as I’d assumed.
I walked Ty out to his car in the driveway, closing the door behind me so that Adam couldn’t overhear our conversation. It was clear that Ty was opposed to discussing anything while Adam was at the house, but unfortunately for him, he didn’t have a choice. I followed him to his car, which was parked behind a truck that I assumed was Adam’s, and cornered him.
“This has got to be the worst idea I’ve ever heard. Worse than having me pretend to be my sister. Please tell me this wasn’t your genius plan.”
He glanced over my shoulder at the house behind me, likely ensuring that we were completely alone before speaking. “It wasn’t. Tiffany came up with it. I told her my concerns, which I’m sure are the same as yours, but she assured me that it would be fine. I guess she thinks that Adam will blindly defend her, so even if something is said, he’ll stop it before it spreads.”
“Wow, she’s an idiot.”
He shrugged and raised his brows in a it is what it is expression. “Just do what you can and let whatever happens happen. If Serenity says something, let Adam take the lead; don’t get involved. Basically, let Serenity look like the idiot on camera.”
Once again, I had to keep my mouth closed to make Tiffany look good. If she just stopped doing crummy things to good people, then no one would have to pretend otherwise. But no…that seemed to be an impossible request.
When I returned to the living room, I wasn’t surprised to find Adam exactly where we left him. I wasn’t too sure about this guy. Aside from the one funny comment he’d made, he seemed to be a bump on a log. Maybe he’d suffered from too many concussions. That would at least explain why he was with my sister.
“I’ll take the guest room; it’s really not a big deal where I sleep.” His voice was so deep it practically rumbled throughout the room.
I didn’t know what else to say other than, “Thank you.”
“You’ve got quite the arm…have you ever thought about playing baseball?”
I wasn’t sure if that was a jab or a joke, but based on his smirk, I assumed it was the latter. “Nah. I wasn’t any good until I moved into this place. The amount of times I’ve had to defend myself against intruders is enough to make anyone good at throwing things.”
His concern showed in his furrowed brow. “What do you mean?”
“Well, between you and Ty, I really should look into self-defense classes.”
“Yeah, it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea.” There was laughter in his words, yet his lips barely curled. I began to wonder if this man was even capable of smiling. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if he couldn’t.
