Tame the Beast (Ever After #1) (23 page)

“I’m still figuring it out.” she lied. Over the last few months, Clara realized how much she enjoyed helping Adam with his papers. The grateful look on his face was well worth the work. She was thinking of becoming an editor. But admitting that could raise questions she didn’t want to answer.

Ryan didn’t push the topic. Instead, he eased into asking what her plans were for the summer. To her surprise, he was not the type of guy to go out and party every night. He preferred to catch up on world events or hang out with friends … sober.

They chatted like old friends. There were no hidden innuendoes or flirtatious banter. It was comfortable, and Clara’s wounded heart wondered what it would be like to have a guy like him by her side. He was definitely easy on the eyes, but she knew it was a silly notion. Clara had tasted what it was like to be desired with such intensity it would haunt every potential relationship to come.

Damn him
, she thought.

Clara forgot about the time until Mrs. Evans, the head librarian, approached their table to tell them the library would be closing soon.

“I’m so sorry,” Clara replied. “Lost track of time.”

Mrs. Evans smiled warmly as Clara packed her things and headed for the door. Ryan remained by her side. He even offered to carry her books, but she politely turned him down. She didn’t want to lead him on. Not when she was shamefully comparing him to another man. She would have to get Adam far from her mind before she even thought about someone new. It was only fair.

To her relief, Ryan didn’t ask for her number. Instead, he handed her a slip of paper with his, saying she could call him anytime. Clara smiled up at him, appreciating what he was doing. It was no secret that something had gone on between her and Adam. She was sure the entire student body knew, including a few teachers. But Ryan didn’t pounce the moment Clara was back on the market like so many of the females did to Adam. Instead, he waited for an opportunity and put the choice in her hands.

For a moment, Clara considered telling him she would call, but decided on “I’ll see you around.”

Ryan nodded and they parted ways. Clara slipped his number in the front of her notebook for safekeeping. She was a building away when Adam stumbled out of the shadows.

“What the hell, Adam?” she said as she clenched her chest. Her heart was racing from the sudden realization that she was not alone on the dim pathway towards the dorms. “What are you doing out here?”

His speech was just as clumsy as his feet. “Rose said you were here. I-I wanted to talk, but when I got here, you were already talking to someone else.”

“Are you drunk?”

“No,” he lied and failed at keeping his towering body from swaying. “You seeing him now?”

There was an edge to his voice that annoyed Clara to no end. How dare he be angry that someone else was interested! Wanting to cause him the same amount of pain he’d caused her, Clara said, “What if I am? You no longer get a say. You forfeited that when we broke up.”

Adam’s head slumped in shame. Part of her wanted to run to his side, but she forced her feet to remain still.

“I’m sorry,” he said. He sounded like he was on the verge of breaking. “I’m so sorry. I know I don’t deserve to be forgiven or anything, but I just wanted you to know that.”

Clara lifted her chin and held onto Adam’s hazy stare. She told herself she wasn’t going to forgive him, but seeing him again made all those emotions come flooding back.

“I can’t do this,” she said as she tried to scurry around him.

“Wait.” Grabbing her arm, he tried to hold her in place.

His touch was too familiar. In the last few days, her mind had replayed the addicting feeling of having his hands on her. Now it felt like a thousand volts rushing through her. It took a great deal of pride to keep from falling back into his arms.

“After finals,” he began, “the guys and I are having an end of the year party at my place. I know the last thing you want is to be near me, but I couldn’t have survived this year without you, so I wanted to invite you anyways. Rose is coming, and the guys miss you. So I promise to stay out of your way if you do come.”

Clara tried to remain composed as his words set in. Wiggling out of his grasp, she said, “I have to go.”

His face fell, but she refused to let guilt wrap itself around her. Turning her back, she commanded her feet carry her as far away as possible. Tears swelled up in the corner of her eyes, causing the objects in her path to blur together. She couldn’t forgive him. Not because his betrayal was beyond second chances, but because she’d forgiven him the moment she had confronted him at the Spring Festival. And that broke her pride more than any unfaithfulness could.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Adam gazed down at the party from the banister of the second floor. Music vibrated off the walls. His mother was gone for the weekend, making a trip to Benson to speak with his Uncle Jeff about the direction Adam’s future was headed. Right now he felt like his future was going right down the shitter. Sure, Jeff was impressed by Adam’s determination at the office, and thanks to Luke, he would pass his finals, but for some reason, he couldn’t be happy about it.

“Good turn out,” Luke said from beside him.

Adam nodded his reply. Half the student body was there, drinking their way through the many kegs and bouncing from room to room. He should have patted himself on the back but instead, he sulked. Sulked as he looked down at the future and the empire he would rule alone.

When he’d seen Ryan Winters talking to Clara in the library with that hopeful look in his eyes, it took everything Adam had not to storm in there and throw Ryan through the shelves. He’d never hated the guy before. In truth, he barely knew Ryan aside from the few classes they’d taken together.

She deserved better, Adam told himself.

Ryan Winters was better. He didn’t have some family name everyone feared, or worse, envied. Ryan was a nobody, and yet he had everything. Soon he would have Clara, and Adam could only blame himself.

“Are you even listening?” Luke cut through his thoughts.

“What? Yeah.” The tone in his voice lacked conviction. To avoid Luke’s doubting stare, Adam sipped his drink. The taste of whiskey hit his tongue first, followed by the perfect mix of bitters and a sweet hint of simple syrup. An old fashioned. Strong, just the way he liked it.

“You analyzing it?” Luke asked with a cocked eyebrow.

“It’s a good drink.” Adam attempted sarcasm, but Luke saw right through it.

Fortunately, Luke turned his attention to the people on the first floor and said, “Two o’clock. Brunette. Thoughts?”

Adam’s hazy gaze searched the room before settling on the petite woman Luke motioned to. She was pretty, but Adam liked them taller, roughly five-six. With warm brown eyes. “Not interested.”

“I didn’t mean for you,” Luke said as if Adam was the most oblivious guy in the room. “Come on. Where’d my wing man go?”

Adam’s attention snapped to his friend. “What about Rose?”

“Please, she’s one argument away from dumping my ass. It was fun, but the chase is over.”

“Then why not end it?”

The lines on Luke’s forehead crinkled. Adam was sure his friend’s confused stare had everything to do with the fact that Adam never cared about relationship statuses before. It was always Adam who encouraged Luke to walk,
or run
, away from anything that would bind him to one woman. But that was all B.C.

Before Clara.

The thought of her and Ryan Winters sent him gulping down his drink. If his thoughts continued going down that dark path, Adam would need a refill long before the ice melted.

Following Adam to the nearest wet bar, Luke said, “Oh come on. You know how it is. I can tell Rose is done with me but why end it when she’s still putting out?”

Something ignited the anger within him, and before Adam could process his actions, Luke was pinned against the wall.

“What the hell?” Luke asked.

Seeing the confused shock in Luke’s eyes was enough to make Adam snap out of it. “Sorry. I just …” He sounded unsure, even to his own ears. Hearing the weakness in his voice added to the anger in his next words. “Just end it.”

Storming out of the room, Adam replayed his actions. That was Clara’s best friend Luke was talking about. The level of disrespect in his friend’s voice pissed Adam off to the very core, which didn’t make a lick of sense. Luke was his closest friend. Adam knew him better than anyone, even Deacon.

Luke talked a big game, but he was classic Casanova, not a player. He knew how to gently let a woman go in such a way they could maintain a friendship after it.

Sort of.

Many still looked at Luke all doe-eyed, but there were no jealous cat fights or rumors about how Lucius Conroy was a self-centered, arrogant ass who used women for his own pleasure and then tossed them aside without a single apology or plausible explanation. No, that title belonged to the king himself.

If Luke was talking a big game about hooking up with some brunette before ending things with Rose, it meant he was actually hurt by Rose’s loss of interest. He was just too stubborn to admit it aloud.

King Beaumont,
Adam mused as he stormed down the stairs, rudely bumping into the students around him. They didn’t care about his home. They would trash it in the name of an epic end-of-the-year-party. King Beaumont, seducer of women and continuous fuck up.

A low, humorless chuckle rolled into his drink.

But why was he the only one bearing the weight of the title? Didn’t it take two? Where were the torches and hunting party chasing after those little witches in their skimpy dresses and mountains of cleavage? No one cared what they did. The gossiping masses only sharpened their knives when the big game came out to play.

Adam wasn’t stupid. He knew the partiers around him were there for one reason. His name. They hung on his every action, ready to pounce the second he did something gossip worthy. It was the Beaumont curse. They would betray him just as fast as they accepted his invites to glamorous events or massive parties. He knew Luke and Deacon were his only true friends, and that sprung from a lifetime of building loyalty.

“Adam,” Corin called from behind him. With one solid slap to the shoulder, Corin was by his side, looking every bit like the leader of the hunting party. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“Why?” he asked without hesitation.

It was no secret that Corin reveled in the fact that he and Clara had split. If Adam didn’t know better, he’d think Corin had planned it himself. The guy’s smile was a lot broader than it had been in months.

“I was wondering if you knew when Clara was showing up?”

Adam gritted his teeth. Just the sound of Corin’s smug tone irritated him to the core. It was past midnight. They both knew the chances of Clara coming were slim to none. “Why would she show up?”

Mock surprise filled Corin’s face. “Oh? I thought Marcus said you invited her. I mean, I don’t know why she would after the way you fucked her over, but …”

Adam bit down on his tongue to keep from tearing off Corin’s head. The taste of iron filled his mouth. Corin was taunting him and Adam wasn’t going to bite. Corin let his words hang in the air, filling Adam with guilt, but the truth in them was enough to drain Adam of both the energy and desire to fight.

“But don’t worry,” Corin continued in Adam’s silence. “I’ll make sure she forgets all about you this summer.”

It was an arrow to the back. Adam’s eyes snapped to Corin’s. There was a glimpse of malicious excitement lingering beneath their dark surface.

“What do you mean?” Adam asked.

An arrogant smile was plastered on Corin’s face. “I didn’t tell you? My father is opening another Sander’s Sports and Co. right between Rouen and Kleinbrook. I’ve talked my father into giving Clara’s dad a job in management.”

Adam wanted to punch that smirk right off his face. He suddenly understood why Corin wanted to secure another year in the apartment. Mr. Sander had spent years building a name in sports equipment and top brand hunting gear. It was a smart business move expanding to smaller towns, especially those who spent most free time outdoors. “Congrats. But what does that have to do with Clara’s father?”

From what Adam remembered, Gorge Wright owned a small shop in Kleinbrook. Why would he give that up to manage a sports store?

As if sensing his question, Corin said, “His shop is going under. Has been since his wife got sick and they moved. I told you how our parents were the best of friends back then, right?”

Adam glared at the arrogance in his voice. It was an over-stretched truth meant to piss him off. Adam sipped at his drink. The taste of the whiskey was fading, watered down by the melting ice.

“Well,” Corin continued, “it was just too easy to remind the old man about Gorge. A few phone calls were made, and I’ll be damned if the old coot doesn’t take the position. It would be stupid not too. And just think how grateful Clara will be.”

“You’re an idiot if you think she’ll throw herself at you just because you got her dad a better job.”

Burning with irritation, Adam pushed past him, sending Corin stumbling into a group of partiers. There was no way Adam was going to stand there and listen as Corin shove his idiotic plans in his face. Why was Corin so obsessed with getting Clara anyways? The guy had failed years ago. Why did he think anything would change now? In fact, he’d only seemed mildly interested until Adam had set his sights on her.

Now there wasn’t just one guy after Clara, but two. The thought of anyone having her the way he did brought out a very possessive side of him. He didn’t care if it was chauvinistic. Clara was
his
. He didn’t want some other guy being something better for her. He wanted to be that something better.

The phrase about knowing what was good before it’s gone came to mind. But it was useless. She was gone. Even outside of the library, she could not wait to get as far away from him as possible.

Out of all his screw ups over the years, this was the one he felt the most guilty about. It was a defeated feeling. Adam had the sudden desire to kick everyone out of his home. Their happy presence was like nails on a chalkboard. He was steps away from the front door when it opened, bringing new guests with it.