The Players (TP4)

17 - By Labor Day

Adam

Jack arrived early on Wednesday and they spent the entire morning planning for their client meeting. It was a large, difficult to please client. Jack was better with clients than Adam, so his presence would probably save the account. Adam was secretly glad he was back to working full time, even if he was doing most of it from Maine. At lunch, he felt a ball in his gut when Jack started talking about Maddie going back to work.

"I really want JP to stay home for at least his first year."

Although she didn't have a real career, Adam knew Nicole had always intended to stay home after Emma was born, but instead it had been Jack.

"Why would Maddie bother going back to work? It isn't like she needs to."

Jack sighed. "She likes her job and she's good at it. We have discussed the possibility of her working part-time. There's a lot to consider, but you can count on me. I might work more at night, but I won't let you down. My mother will be around to help."

"I'm coming up again on Saturday. I've... I've been taking Lana out."

Jack smiled. "Really! Do you like her?"

"Yeah, she's a great girl."

"She's a little young for you, but at least she's legal not like your last one."

Adam silently debated telling Jack he was still seeing Amanda. His friend wouldn't approve so he refrained from sharing. His brain told him what he was doing wasn't right and eventually, he'd make a choice, but another body part controled him. Every time he considered ending it with Amanda, he found himself inside her and not ready to give her up. His plan was simple, he'd have sex with Amanda and enjoy Lana's company without getting overly physical.

On Thursday morning, he and Jack walked towards the bank of elevators. Amanda was in the elevator and he could tell she would hold it from him. He shook his head and the door closed on her confused face.

Once inside his office, he texted her, I was with my partner and it would have been awkward when I pinned you to the wall and put my hand up your skirt and...

She replied, when can we meet in the elevator?

@6 then my house?

Jack stood at his door and said, "You're smiling was that Lana?"

"Yeah." He lied and covered it by texting Lana about their date.

Jack was probably halfway home when Adam met Amanda by the elevator on her floor. Once the door shut, he kissed her against the wall and reached up and skimmed his finger over her thong. The elevator ride was too short and there were security cameras. He figured he gave old Oscar the security guard enough of a show.

Amanda was quiet and he asked if she was all right. "Yeah, today was my boss' last day."

"I'm sorry. Have they hired the new one?"

"Not yet. Forget it, it'll be fine. Let's have some fun."

They went to the restaurant where she had handed him her number. "Which company do you work for?"

"Harris Kaplan Applications."

"Applications like apps?" he nodded. "Like games!"

He could lie, be vague, or tell her the truth. "Some, but mostly business applications."

She nodded, and he hoped the subject was over. It truly surprised him she hadn't googled him. He would prefer she didn't know about the Castleland deal. He didn't feel he owed it to her, to be honest about his financial situation. Other than things about her father, she had shared no secrets with him. They didn't have that trust, although it didn't pass by Adam he had already told Lana that he had money. He never knew relationships could be so different.

His night with Amanda ended in his bed. They were both sweaty and breathless. "I'll order you an Uber."

"Just a little longer, baby!"

"Tempting, but I have to get up early. I have a lot of work to do for a big client and Jack, you know who I was with yesterday, he likes to start early."

"I still think we could have had some fun in the elevator with your friend looking on." Her voice was sexy and suggestive. She smiled when she reached down to find him hard again. "Put a pause on the Uber."

Adam groaned. He wanted to respond to her Jack was a family man and if he saw her coming on to him, he would start freaking out about his own daughter. Adam didn't like to think about Rory and Amanda being closer in age than he and Amanda.

The forecast was for a warm summer-like weekend, so Adam arrived on The Point late on Friday night. He hoped Ryan didn't mind he was crashing again.

"I should start charging you rent." Ryan laughed.

"Wouldn't you need to pay some first?" Adam jabbed back.

Because Lana worked all day Saturday, he went to the beach with Jack and Emma and then spent the afternoon in the pool with Ryan. He could get used to this lifestyle and more than once he understood why Jack was so happy. Even without Maddie, he was certain Jack would have found peace here.

Ryan went out before Adam started getting ready for his date. He and Lana stayed on The Point. They walked up to the seafood shack and shared fried clams and fries. Then he bought her an ice cream. He had never seen anyone enjoy a cone like Lana. The way her tongue and lips savored the chocolate made him hard. He refused to think of Lana taking him in his mouth, so his mind went to Amanda. Amanda would probably suck some guy off before the night was over.

He leaned over and kissed her chastely on the lips and tasted her chocolate ice cream. "Delicious."

She smiled. It was sweet and innocent and he knew she was different. He planned to treat her special.

They walked on the beach and debated going up for a drink, but as they walked by The Beach House it was loud and crowded. Lana explained, it would be filled with tourists and locals who came for the night. "Most of the people I know from here stay away when it gets too crowded."

They sat on the beach and Adam felt like a teenager as they made out. He resisted the urge to pin her underneath him and grind his hard length into her. He opened her lips with his tongue and wanted to groan when she moaned. She tasted so good and her lips were tantalizing. She wasn't inexperienced. She hadn't come out and said it, but he had the sense that she had been in a long-term relationship and it had ended with her being hurt. She mentioned she hung out on the beach as a teen doing some things Jack feared Rory was doing. He just didn't think she was having sex on the sand with a sweaty high school jock.

In his mind, he had Lana on a pedestal of innocence and Amanda on a bed of passion. His image helped justified to himself why he needed both. Each offered what the other couldn't. He would keep Amanda a secret from Jack who wouldn't approve and strangely Ryan who had grown a conscience. His summer would be perfect. He would decide between the two by Labor Day. In the meantime, he refused to have guilt over living a little for a change.