Always Adam

Chapter 44

I follow Brett's gaze and turn. A cute girl with short blond hair is standing next to an average size boy with the same color hair. Brett swims towards them and climbs out of the pool. I follow. I grab the towel Brett brought out for me and wrap it around myself. I watch as Brett kisses the girl. I look at the boy. He gives me a smile. "Carly this is my girlfriend Jenna and my friend Justin who also happens to be Jenna's brother. We all met at Arizona State." I say hello to them both. After our introductions I excuse myself to go change. I slip out of my swimsuit and put on a pair of jean shorts and white tank. I hang my suit in the bathroom and make my way back outside where the three of them are talking.

We talk easily while waiting for Brett's parents to show up. Pam arrives home first and goes all crazy with how grown I am and hugs me for like ten minutes. Then she cries. "You look just your mom. I miss her so much. She was like a sister to me. I can't believe how long she's been gone." I listen to her ramble on for way to long before Gary finally comes home. Not that I didn't like her talking about my mom, but it took all I had to hold my shit together. Gary deposits the pizzas on the outside table and looks at me. He briefly pales. "Doesn't she look just like Izzy?," Pam says when she sees his reaction. He nods. "It's like looking at a ghost."

Brett takes drink orders and we all take a seat at the outside table to eat. The boxes are passed around and I grab two pieces of pepperoni when they make their way to me. I get hit tons of questions while we eat. I fill them in on living with Ted and Donna. I show them pictures of Teddy and Olivia. I don't think Donna kept in touch with them, so they don't really know a lot about me. I tell about growing up and my school. I tell them about Mike and Julie. I sugar coat the trouble I got in and tell them about my new school, my apartment, and my new friends. I leave out the part about Adam. I show them pictures of my house. I tell them about my first year of college. They learn a lot about me while we eat.

I learn that Brett and I will be working at the company three days a week. That gives me four days of fun. Since Brett has worked at the company in the past, he gets the honor of being my boss. Not only do I get to learn the ropes, sit in on a couple meetings, but I get to hang out with Brett all day and I must admit he's a ton of fun. I could have easily fallen for him growing up if I had lived here. He's hot, sweet and very funny. I can tell everyone he encounters at the company loves him. He's going to make a great addition to the company and possibly an awesome boss one day.

While watching Brett work on some simple spreadsheets, my thoughts wonder. What did I plan to do once I graduated college? The whole point of my business degree was so I could work here. Take my rightful place. Did I want to move to Scottsdale and live here? What about my friends back home? I couldn't imagine my life without Nat, Ava and Mike. My mind briefly stumbles over Adam. I tell myself no. No thoughts of Adam. "It's funny I majored in business to be a part of this company, but I can't see myself leaving my friends to come here. Does that sound stupid?" I ask Brett as he saves the spreadsheet and emails it to someone name Art. "Business is a good major regardless of where you end up. So, no it's not stupid. You can still live there and be a part of the business. We have a few people who work out of state and just use zoom for meetings and such."

I think about what he said as we make our way to Sandy's office. "I can't help wonder what my life would be like if my parents hadn't died. Do you think we can do a drive by where I used to live sometime?" We reach an office that says Sandy Winters. "Sure. We can take a drive past one day," he says as he knocks on the door. "Come in," a woman's voice says. Brett opens the door and we walk in. "Hey handsome," she says with a smile. "Who's your sidekick?" "This is Carly Harris. Her parents started this company." She looks me over. "So, you are the famous Carly Harris. I heard you existed," she jokes. I smile. "I didn't know your parents, but I do know everyone loved them. Sorry for your loss," she tells me. "Thanks. It was so long ago I really don't remember much about them." We make small talk for a few minutes and then she hands an envelope to Brett. "Nice meeting you," I say as we leave her office.

The day passes by fast. It doesn't take long for the Sheldon's house to feel like a second home. I feel like I gained a brother with Brett. After a few days both Jenna and Justin seemed like old friends to me. We made a nice foursome hanging out and doing things. This evening we are at a local go cart park. Brett and Jenna are in line ahead of us. I glace at their hands holding each other. I miss that. Brett leans down and gives Jenna a kiss on the top of her head. "Disgusting isn't it," he says. I smile. "It's sweet." I fight down the lump that has formed in my throat. I won't go there. I take a deep breath and focus on Justin. He's cute. He should be my casual fuck. I'll need to work on that.

After I kicked all their asses at the go carts, we head over to the putt putt course. This was not my game. "Let's do teams," Justin suggests. "Me and Carly against you two," he adds before I can tell him how bad I suck. "You are going to regret this," I laugh. "Come on you rocked those go carts. How bad can you be?" he asks. "Oh, you'll see." I grab a putter and follow them to the first hole. I sigh thinking how bad this was going to go. The first hole I needed to get the ball through a small hole under a clown's body. "I'll go last," I volunteer. I watch as all three of them get the ball through the hole the first time. I groan. I hit the ball and it bounces back. I hit the ball again and it bounces back again. Jenna giggles. I shoot her a friendly glare.

"Here," Justin says coming up behind me. He wraps himself around me and takes my hands. "Like this," he says showing me how to swing. "You're hitting it way to hard. You're not trying to kill it." His hands are warm, and he smells good. I watch as he helps me hit the ball. It goes right through the hole. I spin around and hug him. I'm laughing and he's smiling. He has a nice smile. "I can't believe it went in." We walk around the clown to find the hole the ball needs to end up in. When it's my turn, Justin helps me with my swing. The ball goes in. I give him a high five and he pulls me to him for a hug. I'm thinking it won't take much to make Justin my casual fuck.

Justin continues to help me and when the game is over Jenna pouts. "It's not fair you won. Carly sucked and only did good because you helped." We're walking to the car. "It's just a game Jenna. It's not like you lost a bet. "She's so competitive when it comes to me. Always has been. I say she's just pissed because I came out first." Jenna flips him off and jumps up on Brett's back. She wraps her legs around him and he piggy backs her across the parking lot. He looks at me. "Want a ride," he asks. I'm about to say a ride on what when he clarifies. "A piggy back ride." I shrug. "Sure." He leans down so I can jump on. I wrap my legs around him and he hurries to catch up to Jenna and Brett.