I step between him and the girls. “Hiding out over here?”
“Just didn’t feel like chatting.”
“Right. Of course.” That includes you, dummy. “I’m just grabbing a pitcher for the table and then I’ll leave you be.”
“Stay. I don’t mind talking to you.” He leans forward to speak to the girls on the other side of me. They’re standing instead of sitting on the stool in front of them. “Can we grab that seat?” he asks. Then, without waiting for their answer, pulls it closer.
The brush of his shoulder against my arm and the scent of his body wash does funny things to my stomach.
“Thank you.” I sit and place my glass on top of the bar. “Is everything okay?”
“Tired, have a lot on my mind. Basically, I’m shit company tonight, but the guys wouldn’t let me stay home.”
“Anything I can help with?”
“You’ve already helped.” He tips his head toward the girls on my other side. They’ve turned their attention to another broody-looking guy at the bar.
“Using me to avoid girls again?”
“Not my intent, but also not a terrible idea.”
“Is it really so awful having so many girls vying for your attention?”
“No, of course not. I love girls and attention. Falling into something new would be as easy as breathing. It’s my cycle. Trying to break it is much harder. Plus, I really do have a lot going on. Seems unfair to bring someone into that. And I suck at hookups.”
“Maybe the next girl you date will be the one.”
“Maybe.” He snorts.
“You don’t sound convinced.”
“I’m not sure of anything anymore.” He takes a long pull from his beer. “Maybe the one is a myth.”
“I don’t think I ever said it, but I’m sorry about your parents splitting. That’s tough.”
He nods. “Are your parents divorced?”
“Never married, but I’m not close to my parents like you are with yours.”
“I didn’t know.”
“I don’t talk about them much.” I shrug. “Dakota’s more family to me than anyone else.”
He smiles. “I get that. You two are close.”
“So, what else is going on with you? The thing with your parents happened months ago so that can’t be the only reason you’re over here brooding.”
“It’s this scholarship for medical school. They’ve narrowed it down to me and one other person. We have to go to these two events with the committee before they decide.”
“Nerve-wracking.”
“Yeah, no kidding. And if I wasn’t already worried, I told the head of the committee I was bringing a date. And you know how I feel about those right now.”
“Couldn’t Ginny go?”
“No, I already tried that. Heath’s friend Lincoln is coming into town tomorrow night and they made plans. And I got a tip that the committee might be looking for someone who’s settled down.”
“Settled down? You’re in college. Seems a little old-fashioned.”
“Right? I know. It’s probably not a big deal, but—”
“You don’t want to risk losing because of that.”
“I need that scholarship.”
“But you also really don’t want to go on a date right now.”
“Exactly.”
“I’m struggling to feel sorry for you on the dating front,” I say. He cuts me a playful glare. “I’m sorry, but just pick someone you trust and try not to make too big of a deal of it. It’s just a date.”
Slowly, he nods. “Yeah, you’re right. Fuck. Thanks for listening to me bitch and moan and then telling me to get over myself.”
I smile. “Is that what I did?”
“You did, and I appreciate it. Do you want to order a pitcher and join the group?”
“Sure.”
We make small talk while the bartender gets the pitcher. I thank her and stand. I thought he’d meant we’d both go, but Adam doesn’t move from his stool. “Aren’t you coming?”
“Nah. Go have fun. I’m gonna finish this beer and then grab a ride home. I’ve got a date to find. Thanks, Rea.”
I pause, then finally force my feet to move. So much for seizing the day. Looks like I’ve seized it for someone else.
I’m still up, sitting in the living room long after we get back from the bar. Dakota’s in bed, so I keep the volume low on the TV. I’m only half paying attention anyway. My thoughts of Adam are interrupted only by my worries about the play. Cast announcements are in a few days and I don’t have a good gut instinct about it.
A light knock at the door pulls me from the TV. It’s so faint I think it might be at the guys’ place until it comes again.
I get up and walk to the door quietly, then peek out the peephole to find Adam on the other side. Dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt, his feet are bare, and his hair looks like he’s been running his fingers through it.
I glance down at my outfit, decide there’s no time to change, and open the door. “Adam, hey. What are you doing here?”
“I wondered if I could talk to you? I know it’s late. Did I wake you?”
“No. I was up. Come in.”
He pads in a few steps and stops. Adam Scott is in my apartment. I can count the number of times he’s been here on one hand and never when it was just the two of us.
“Can I get you something to drink?” I ask and we stand awkwardly in the space between the living room and kitchen.
“No, I’m good.”
“Okay, well then, do you want to sit?”
I get a glass and pour water from the tap, mostly to give myself something to do. Adam sits on the couch next to the spot I just vacated.
“Were you studying?”
“No.” I take a seat and fold my legs up underneath me. “I’m a night owl. Late-night TV is like comfort food for me.”
“I prefer ice cream.” He rests his hands on his knees. “I apologize for barging in, but I couldn’t sleep, and I had an idea. What if you were my date to the mixer tomorrow night?”
“What?” I spill the water, curse, then set it on the coffee table. “Are you serious?”
Excitement and disappointment take turns soaring through my body.
“I was. I’m second-guessing myself right now though,” he says with a small laugh. He leans forward. “But hear me out. We had fun the other night and you’re the best actress I know. Those girls totally bought it. So, we do that except somewhere nicer with all my professors.”
“I’m the only actress you know, and that wasn’t exactly an Oscar-worthy performance. Playing flip cup and giving you a few flirty looks isn’t the same thing as fooling a scholarship committee.”
“We don’t have to fool them. You will be my date.”
I hesitate. The water I just drank sits heavy in my stomach. “I don’t know.”
“Maybe it’s a dumb idea. I just thought of all the girls I could take on a fake date, you were the only one I trusted with the job. You get me, get what I’m going through.” His eyes are sincere and vulnerable.