Page 48 of To Hate Adam Connor

The way she said it…God, she infuriated me.

“Like I said, have a nice evening, Lucy.”

I walked away from her. I walked away and it didn’t feel right.

You must really be itching for a fight, Adam, I thought to myself as my steps slowed down. As if the first round with Adeline hadn’t been enough, I was going to spend some more time with this crazy one. In a car. Where I couldn’t escape.

When I looked back, Lucy was exactly where I’d left her. Her face was tilted up to the sky, her eyes closed. Moonlight looked good on her. Her features looked soft, her slightly pink lips inviting. My feet took me back to her.

“Do you want me to go in and get your friends?”

She opened one eye and gave me a defiant look. “No.”

I tilted my head and waited for an explanation that never came.

“Okay then. Would you—”

“You can leave, I’m fine.”

“Would you like to leave with me?”

Both of her eyes opened, and she seemed to consider my offer for a moment. “Yes,” she said finally. “Yes, please.”

“Would you like me to drop you off at Jason’s place or somewhere else?”

“Jason’s. If it won’t be too much trouble for you, I’d appreciate that.” The fight seemed to have left her and her shoulders dropped a little. I wanted to put my arms around her…close my eyes, put my arms around her, and just breathe.

I shook my head. “You want me to wait while you let your friends know you’re leaving?”

“I don’t want to bother them. I’ll text Olive on the way.”

“My car is this way,” I said, motioning to the row of cars with my head. She followed me without a word.

I managed to avoid the paparazzi by taking the long way back home. A shot of a strange woman in my car would’ve given them too much ammunition.

The car ride was unexpectedly silent. I kept glancing at Lucy, but she kept her focus on the road. I noticed her rubbing the back of her hand on her dress, so I reached out and grabbed it to have a look.

“Hey,” she protested, trying to pull her hand from my grasp. “What are you doing?”

“Keep still for a second.” Her knuckles were all red. “You need to put ice on this.” We stopped at a red light. Unconsciously, I ran my thumb over the bruised part. “Where did you learn to hit like that?”

She grunted. “It wasn’t a good hit. I didn’t even break his nose.”

“Oh, so that’s what you were aiming for.”

“Well, yeah. Why else would you hit someone? I wanted to see some blood.”

On top of everything else, she was bloodthirsty too. Strangely, it suited her.

I let go of her hand and forced myself to put it back on the wheel. “Are you ready to tell me what was going on in there?” I asked. “Things got out of hand with Jake?”

“Jake? His name is Jake? You know him?”

“Jake Callum.” I frowned and glanced at her as the light turned green. “You don’t know him?”

“Oh yeah, I let him force his tongue down my throat because he was Jake Callum. Did it look like I knew him to you?” She angrily smoothed down her dress and then mumbled to herself, “I knew I recognized him from somewhere.”

“How should I know whether you care to ask for a name before you start making out with a guy?”

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