Page 56 of Now or Never

“I just want you to have what you want,” he said, running a hand through this hair.

Her face softened into a surprised look that made him wonder whether anyone ever put her first. The thought caused a mixture of anger and sadness.

“I can get the tickets for you and Jae, if you’d rather,” he said, hoping she’d say yes to something. Anything.

The bus pulled up, red lights flashing, pulling their attention to the road for a moment.

“Okay.”

Adam snapped his eyes back to hers.

“Okay? Good,” he said with a smile. “I’ll get them and drop them off for you guys.”

“No. I mean, okay, as in we can go together,” she said.

Adam had to stop himself from jumping in the air. He couldn’t stop his smile from growing, though. “Cool,” he said.

Chelsea smiled, and he saw the dimples. She turned and jogged toward the bus, stopping just as Ben climbed down the stairs. He was wearing a backpack almost the same size as he was that bounced from side to side as he ran to Chelsea’s open arms.

Adam waved to Ben, and when he waved back, he wrenched his eyes off the two of them, turned, and walked back to his truck, pulling his phone out along the way.

seventeen

Chelsea pulled up the zipper on the back of her lacy black dress and turned. She took in her reflection in the full-length mirror of her hotel bedroom, assessing herself from all angles, and wondered what was more unbelievable, that she was in the fanciest two-bedroom penthouse suite downtown Toronto offered, or that she was going to the most talked about movie premiere with Adam.

Was this real life?

She picked up the macaroni bracelet Ben had made for her to wear that night and fastened it to her wrist. It was too big and half-covered in red fingerpaint, but it made her feel more like herself in the glamorous dress Jae had given her to wear.

She wasn’t really a glamorous type, but she felt a million times better knowing she was doing this with Adam. She had told Jae about Adam’s offer for the two of them to go instead of him, but Jae had insisted Chelsea go with him and wouldn’t take no for an answer. She even encouraged Chelsea to “jump Adam’s no-risk bone.”

She shook away her smile and slipped into her—Jae’s—shoes, grabbed her bag and took a deep breath, then walked out into the living room to meet Adam.

He was standing in the middle of the room, beer in one hand, remote in the other, watching sports highlights on TV. And he was wearing a suit.

He turned when she walked in and stared at her in his usual way. Which was fine because it gave her more time to stare at him.

His suit was navy and impeccably fit, with a white shirt and black tie. He’d gone to the barber while she was in her bedroom of the suite getting ready, and his hair was cut short in the back, longer up top, and perfectly styled, as if he’d spent the day on a photo shoot.

His neck looked delicious.

He cleared his throat. “You look beautiful, Chelsea.”

Friend.

He’s only a friend.

Don’t think about his bone.

Or how good jumping it would be.

“Thanks,” she said, trying for a casual tone. “You too.”

He set down the beer and turned off the TV. “The limo is waiting downstairs. We should get going.”

Chelsea nodded and headed for the door. They rode the elevator down in silence, took the three-minute ride to the premiere in silence, and stepped out of the limo onto the red carpet.

And then the world exploded.

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