Chapter 27 Adeline
Adeline POV
I cross the imaginary finish line a split second before him, and I drift to a stop near the water tower, laughing as I kill the engine.
Percy pulls up beside me, pulling off his helmet. His eyes are bright and sparkling with life. This is my favorite version of Percy, the wild, boyish version.
"You cheated," he accuses, though he’s grinning.
"I won, and you know what I think?" I grin back at him.
"What do you think?"
"That you're a sore loser." I stick my tongue out at him, and he bursts into laughter as he parks his bike and walks toward me.
"Okay, you won," he accepts, stopping in front of me. "So, what are you going to do about it?"
"I don't know," I say, leaning back against my bike so I can see his beautiful face properly up close. "I will have to think about it."
Percy steps closer to trap me between his body and my bike. The heat radiating off him is better than the sun. He rests his hands on the bike on either side of my waist, leaning down until our faces are inches apart.
"Adeline, baby. I need to tell you something." He says seriously.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"We leave for Italy on Friday. For a week, we have to pretend. We have to stand up there while Richard and your mom get married, and we have to smile and act like we’re just family."
"I know," I whisper. The thought makes my stomach turn, too, but I still reassure him. "I can do it."
"I know you can. You’re good at hiding." The way he says it implies that he doesn't really like it.
"I know." I shrug. "What do you really want to say, Percy?"
"I don't want to hide anything about us, not from anyone and definitely not between us."
He reaches into his leather jacket pocket. For a second, I panic, as I remember Mason’s ring box, except Percy doesn't pull out a ring. He pulls out a key, a simple silver key on a plain ring.
"This is the key to my penthouse," he says. "And the key to the private elevator at the office. I want you to have both." He holds it out in front of me, but I only stare at it like it'd burn me.
"Percy..."
"I don't want to just be your secret," he says fiercely. "I don't want to be the guy you sneak around with. I want to be the guy you come home to. I want to be the one you call when you’re scared and the one you race to when you’re happy." He takes my hand and presses the key into my palm, closing my fingers over it. "Be my girlfriend, Adeline, for real. No more hiding under boss or step-sibling bullshit. I want you to be my woman, my girlfriend."
My heart hammers against my ribs as I take in the full meaning of what he's saying. He's asking me, Adeline, to be his girlfriend.
"You want to make it official?" I ask, my voice thick with emotion. "Knowing everything you know? Knowing I’m a mess?"
"I told you," he says, leaning his forehead against mine. "I love the mess. I love the Ghost. I love the lawyer. I love you, Adeline. Every version of you."
I look at him and see the sincerity in his eyes. I see the future he’s offering me. It's too good to pass on, so I nod and whisper. "Yes."
"Yes?" He repeats as if he can't believe I'd ever say yes to him. Past Adeline would have found an excuse to hide.
"Yes, Percy," I repeat, surer and more confident this time. "I will be your girlfriend."
He lets out a breath he has been holding, and a relieved smile breaks across his face.
"Finally," he murmurs. "I get the girl." He said, and I chuckled. When he kissed me this time around, it was a sweet and assuring kiss. I feel every emotion in that kiss. I wrap my arms around his neck to pull him closer to me.
We stand there as the sun goes down, just kissing and loving on each other in the middle of nowhere, wrapped up in each other.
"Does this mean I get a raise?" I murmur against his lips.
He laughs so deeply that it vibrates against my chest. "Don't push your luck, intern."
"I love you," I say again, just because I can. Just because I don't have to hide it anymore.
"I love you too," he says. "Now, get on your bike. I owe you dinner."
"You sure do."
I climb back onto my bike, tucking the key safely into my pocket right next to my heart.
I rev the engine, feeling a surge of pure, unadulterated joy at how perfect my life is right now. Mason is gone. I have the job. I have the man, and for the first time in my life, I’m not waiting for the other shoe to drop.
As we ride back toward the city lights and into his garage, I let myself smile genuinely.
Percy is off his bike before the kickstand is even fully down and pulling me into his arms the second I park mine.
"Dinner," I remind him breathlessly as he kisses down my neck.
"Order in," he murmurs against my skin. "I’m not sharing you with a waiter tonight."
We order Chinese and eat it on the floor of his living room, talking until the food goes cold. We talk about everything until late at night, when we find ourselves tangled together in his sheets. After our second round of lovemaking, Percy’s phone buzzed on the nightstand, and as he was in a good mood, he decided to ignore it because it could be work.
"If anyone is trying to reach me for work this late, then it can't be good, and I don't want my mood to be ruined." He said, ignoring it a second time. The phone buzzed relentlessly until he could no longer take it, and he chanced a glance at his screen.
"It’s Richard. It has to be an emergency." He said as he hurriedly sat up. The worry was obvious on his face.
I sit up, pulling the sheet around me, a sudden spike of anxiety piercing my happiness. Was this the other shoe I wasn't even waiting for? "Is it Mason? Did he leak something?"
"He can't," Percy assures me, picking up the phone. "Hello? Richard?"
I watch Percy’s face and try to deduce some sort of hint from his expressions. Maybe anger or disbelief. Instead, his expression shifts to confusion and then amusement?