“Let’s switch it up today,” Ginny says smoothly, then turns to her brother. “Can you stay and help Rea with a problem she’s having?”
She doesn’t give him any time to answer before she herds the rest of the group away from us.
Adam places his tray down in front of me. “Is it okay if I sit?”
Instead of answering, I motion for him to have a seat.
He opens a bag of chips as he stares at me. “A problem, huh?”
“Not really. She knows about last night and is trying to give us time to talk.”
He nods slowly.
“I’m so sorry. I feel awful about the entire thing.”
“I told you, it’s fine. Though I probably have to tell Dr. Salco the truth. As much as I want to win, I wouldn’t feel right about getting the scholarship based on a lie.”
“You’re a good guy.” Somehow that makes me feel worse. “Blame me. Tell her I had food poisoning, or that I had too much to drink.”
“I’m not throwing you under the bus. I could have stopped you and I didn’t.”
I’m not sure a force of nature could have stopped me, but I appreciate him saying so. I even feel a little better now that I know he doesn’t hate me.
“I forgot that you went to high school nearby. What was Janine like?” he asks between bites.
“Smart and dedicated. She’s always been really competitive and driven. Her parents were hard on her to do her best and get good grades.”
“You two were close?”
A stab of guilt makes me look down at the table. “Yeah. We were.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing, really. We’re so different. When we got to Valley, we started running with completely different groups of friends and we lost touch. I met Dakota and we became inseparable. Plus, she’s been dating Sean forever, so she spent a lot of time with him.”
“Makes sense. She’s tough. We’ve been competing for years.”
“Yeah, about that. She’s my age; how is she already graduating this year?” It’s been bugging me since last night. I knew she was premed, but I never imagined she was the person Adam was competing with.
“I think she said she came to Valley with like thirty hours of college credit. Plus, she’s always taking big course loads, and she’s taken classes every summer. She’s intense.” He shakes his head. “If we weren’t always competing, I might even admire her for it.”
“Right. Yeah, I’d forgotten that she took a bunch of college credit courses during our senior year of high school. Meanwhile, I was partying and getting stoned with friends.”
“A stoner? Really?” His gaze narrows and he smiles at me. The first real smile I’ve seen since before I told all his professors we were engaged.
“For a short time. It wasn’t really my thing, but I gave it a shot.”
He doesn’t respond at first but keeps smiling at me to the point I feel a blush creeping up my neck.
“Thank you for last night. Seriously, you were amazing. Everyone loved you. And I’ll take care of everything.”
Everything being my big, fat lie.
“You’re welcome,” I say. “So, it’s over? Now you just wait to find out who won?”
He gets that panicky look from last night. “I still have to give a speech.”
“Right, the speech. What do you have so far?” I am desperate to move this conversation away from last night even if it means making small talk about his speech.
“Nothing.”
“Are you going to wing it? Because I feel like I should warn you, Janine is a pretty good speaker. She was valedictorian of our class and had students, parents, even some teachers in tears with her graduation speech. She doesn’t come across as someone who could command an audience, but the girl can perform when the pressure is on.”
“No, I know. We’ve done group projects together before. She’s great.” He blows out a breath. “I don’t love talking in front of people.”
“You’re afraid of speaking in public?” I ask, maybe a little too accusatory. “But you’re team captain. I’ve heard about your amazing pep talks in the locker room and on the bench.”
“That’s different.” He shrugs. “And I prefer my phrasing to yours.”
I roll my eyes. “No one loves talking in front of people.”
“You do,” he points out. “You’re unbelievable. Getting up on stage and putting yourself out there. That’s so much harder than yelling at the guys to pump them up. You’re fearless. I admire that.”
“Me? Fearless? You’re joking, right?”
“The way you worked the room, talking to people, making them believe we were this bomb couple, and that I was some incredible guy they should all get to know—it was inspiring. You had me believing it you were so good.”
“That’s because I wasn’t acting. Not really. Exaggerating, yes. But make no mistake—I was terrified.”
“I don’t understand.” His hazel eyes hold mine.
Maybe it’s more punishment or maybe I’ve just reached the point where nothing could be scarier than last night, but I decide it’s time. Way past time.
“The story about how the first time I saw you and it took my breath away, how I had a crush on you for years…”
He stares blankly. Okay, apparently, I’m going to have to spell it out.
“Adam, I have had a crush on you for years. A really bad crush. So last night, it was scary for me—not because I was in a room full of strangers but because I was telling my story over and over again. Except with a much happier ending than the reality. And, look, I don’t want this to make our friendship weird. It’s why I haven’t told you. Well, that and I’ve chickened out a dozen times.”
He doesn’t blink for a long time. He drops the bag of chips to the table and leans back all while looking at me like I’ve grown two heads.
Yep, more punishment.
A slow smile spreads across his face at last. “You like me?”
9
Adam
Reagan has a crush on me? A bad crush? What does that even mean? And why does having a crush on me make her look so nauseated?
She nods, shrinks a little in her seat. “Did I make it weird?”
“No, but now I want to kick myself for not figuring it out. Seriously?” I can’t help the grin spreading across my face. “You are always so quiet around me…”
“I’m quiet because you make me nervous. I get this total body lock up around you. I can’t think or talk. It’s sort of humiliating how into you I am.” She screws her eyes shut and then peeks out, opening one and then the other.
“Why? I think it’s fucking awesome.”
“You do?”
I’m not sure why she looks so surprised. “I admit I’m stunned, but hell yeah. Last night was…”
“A disaster,” she says.
“I was thrown when you told Dr. Salco we were engaged, but before that… I was having more fun than I’ve had in months.”