Page 18 of Single Glance

My jaw tensed, and I resisted the urge to look at Hadley. I didn’t know if she’d want Victoria to know she’d gone to the game tonight, so I shook my head. “Nah, but it’s all good. We had a lot of fans cheering us on.”

“I’m sure you did.” She beamed at me before looking over my shoulder. “Oh my God, Hads! I’m sorry, I didn’t even see you behind Cam. How’s your night going?”

I glanced over my shoulder, and the moment I did, I regretted my lie. Hadley’s smile was tight as she looked at Victoria. “Fine. Nothing special.”

“Well, this actually works out.” Victoria smiled up at Adam. “We have something we wanted to talk to both of you about.” She walked over to the porch, Adam’s arm still around her shoulders. “Come on, I’ll make some coffee.”

As they walked inside, Hadley stormed past me, not even sparing a glance in my direction. Guilt gnawed in my chest as I watched her walk through the doors, trying to remember the oath I just made.

I needed to stay away from Hadley McKay.

No matter what happened next.

FOURTEEN

“So…” I asked. I shifted uncomfortably on the living room couch. Victoria rushed us inside, saying we needed to talk about something. Annoyingly vague. “Are you going to tell us what’s going on?”

Victoria glanced at her boyfriend as she snuggled next to him on the couch. I did everything in my power not to glance over at Cam, who sat on the other side of me. I was still trying to figure out what happened outside, how we ended up pressed against his truck, half a second away from jumping each other’s bones.

Did we suddenly slip into an alternate dimension? One where Cam and I not only got along, but actually wanted each other? Don’t get me wrong—I appreciated a handsome man with the best of them, but Cam had never been an option. I’d never let my mind wander too far, knowing we’d never be more than passing acquaintances.

At least, until today.

From him helping me during my meltdown to the way he tugged on my lower lip, Cam had planted himself at theforefront of my mind, and I couldn’t pry him out of it, even when he’d lied to Victoria about me going to the game.

I understood why he didn’t tell her—it was probably the same reason I hadn’t told her when we were texting earlier. Still, it stung when he lied. He seemed embarrassed about spending time with me.

Victoria’s voice snapped me back into the present. “So I told both of you earlier that Adam got a part in this new movie.”

“Congrats again,” I said. Adam took a step away from acting a couple of years ago, after an incident with a stalker left him reeling. It took a lot to get him to even look at a script again, much less audition for a role. He’d finally stepped back in front of the camera last year, taking on a smaller part that required him to only be gone for a couple of weeks. Despite being a smaller, independent film, it had done well and brought a lot of attention back on Adam. Last we spoke, he had a ton of project offers, but nothing seemed to interest him. I was thrilled he found something interesting.

“Thanks, Hadley.” Adam clasped her hand in his. “I’m really excited. It’s more of an action role than I originally expected, but it’s got a really strong script. There’s just one problem.”

“It’s filming in Australia,” Victoria finished for him.

If there had been a single cricket outside, you would have heard it chirping. Cam and I both stared at the couple in silence, unsure of what to even say. My silence broke first. “Australia like the continent?”

“I think it’s a country,” Cam whispered at my side.

“It’s both,” I bit back, holding my hand to quiet him. “And no one was talking to you.”

Victoria chewed on her lower lip, glancing over at Adam. “This might not be such a great idea.”

Adam squeezed her hand. “Yes, that Australia. And normally, I would say no. I hate the idea of being away from home for that long, but I’ve always dreamed about working with this director, and the script is pretty great. I can’t pass that up.”

“No, of course not,” I said. “When do you leave?”

“Next week,” Adam answered. “I have to go to LA for a month for rehearsals and coordinating the stunts with the team, and then I’ll leave from there to head to set.”

“How long is filming?” Cam asked.

“At least six weeks.”

“Six weeks?” I gasped. I looked over at my best friend. She was trying to hold back tears, but I saw how much she was dreading this. While Victoria knew traveling was part of the deal when she started dating Adam, it didn’t make these long stretches any easier. But she would never stand in the way of his dreams, supporting him every step of the way. I moved over to her side and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. “What are you going to do, Tori?”

“I’ll be okay,” she said. “It’s not that long, and luckily, we’re going to FaceTime every day. But three months is a long time to be apart, which is why we wanted to talk to both of you.”

My spine instantly stiffened as I peeked over at Cam, who looked at Victoria with the same uneasy expression.

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