Sam and Silas chuckled, as did my dad who I hadn’t realized had followed us.
My dad still had his arm around my mom, and he was watching the spectacle in front of him.
My mom, on the other hand, was watching me.
Me and Amelia.
Fuck.
I looked away, hoping whatever was showing on my face couldn’t be seen, and turned back to Amelia.
She was now holding my dog and sitting in the dirt.
Which was about the time that I saw my shirt.
I looked at my mother and realized at the same time that she knew it, too.
Fuck.
“Nice shirt,” my mother said softly.
I licked my lips and studied the sky.
There were no clouds.
Like none.
The sky was so fucking blue that it was kind of hard to look at.
“Oh,” Amelia said. “I, uh, found it.”
Yeah, on my bedroom floor.
Son of a bitch.
If my mother didn’t suspect something before, she sure the hell knew something now.
She’d bought me that shirt for my birthday when I was seventeen, and I’d worn it so much that it was worn out, had stress holes, and was to the point where it probably needed to be thrown away.
Yet, I’d never done it because I loved it.
And she’d stolen it, worn it here, and now my mother knew that we’d slept together.
“Adam has a shirt like that,” Dad said. “He got it for his seventeenth birthday and hasn’t taken it off since.”
“Adam, I don’t know if you remember Amelia or not,” Sam said as he introduced her. “But I won’t let her steal your dog. I know how much you love her.”
Yes, King was a her.
I wasn’t sure what possessed the kid to name the dog that, but when I’d gotten him from the military family that was unfortunately deployed overseas and couldn’t take their dog where they were going, I hadn’t had the heart to change King’s name.
“She’s so cute!” Amelia chimed in, her face flushed slightly. “I’ve always wanted a Corgi.”
I had, too.
And I wasn’t really sure why.
“I kind of remember,” I admitted to Sam. “It’s been a while.”
That last comment was directed at Amelia.
And it was meant in a multitude of ways.
As in, it’d been a while since I’d seen her here. It’d been a while since I’d seen her in my bed, too.
Amelia’s lips twitched.
“You remember me?” she asked. “I actually kind of forgot about you. I can’t place you.”
“Jack and Winter are my parents.” I hooked a thumb in their direction. “I’m the one that went into the Air Force at seventeen.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh!”
The holes were lining up, and things were starting to make sense with her.
When I’d turned seventeen, I’d begged my parents to sign the waiver allowing me to enter the military early. And they’d done so.
Pretty much, every fucking person in my life wasn’t very happy with me going into the military so early. Especially since I had to get my GED to do it.
And the top two non-supporters were my parents.
But… desperate times call for desperate measures.
Amelia turned to look at me, and I saw the moment she realized who, exactly, I was.
“Ahh, the child disappointment.” She teased. “The one that ruined his life by joining the military early.”
Her brother pushed her over with a not-so-gentle push of his knee to the side of her body.
King was protected by the fall. Amelia, however, using her entire body to protect her, went sprawling onto the ground in the dirt.
I couldn’t help it.
I laughed.
“On that note,” Mom said, “how about we go inside and grab a drink. Leave these two alone for a few minutes?”
I.e., leave them alone to allow me to explain what had happened without everyone there.
Not like they didn’t know what happened.
The four of them left, leaving me there with Amelia still sprawled on the ground.
“I can’t believe he just did that.” She sighed, burying her nose into my dog’s fur.
Goddamn, I was jealous over my dog.
What a concept.
Looking over my shoulder, I glanced once to make sure that they’d made it inside, then looked back down at her.
“I can’t believe that you snuck out of my room, stole my favorite shirt, and then showed up here wearing it,” I replied.
She opened her mouth, closed it, then shrugged. “I… goodbyes are hard. And I had an exam that I forgot to take. It was due by four in the morning. No shitting. Seriously, I got home with about eighteen minutes to spare. I passed, but barely.”
My lips twitched. “You could’ve taken it at my place. All you had to do was wake me up and tell me.”
She blew out a breath, ruffling her hair, then sat back up.
King went with her, loving all the attention.
“I…” She paused. “I didn’t want you to kick me out.”
“I wouldn’t have,” I said simply. “I wouldn’t have let you in there at all if I didn’t trust you or want you to stay.”