Page 71 of Lucy Loves Him Not
Adam plopped down on the couch. I took my place by his side and grabbed a shake from his hands. “My brother, Dylan, and I used to try and make our own peanut butter shakes. It was a disaster.”
“Really?” I took a sip of chocolate goodness.
“Oh, it was bad. It’d be the weekend, late at night. This was back before high school. We’d pull out the blender and throw ice cream, peanut butter, and chocolate syrup in there, sometimes a banana, to make it healthier?—”
“No milk?” I grinned, imagining an awkward, pre-teen Adam laughing in the kitchen with his brother filling a blender with ice cream.
“Barely. These shakes were thick. We could barely drink them. One time we put actual peanuts in there when we were low on peanut butter.”
I cackled. “You guys should make them again next time you’re together.”
Adam sighed. “Yeah, maybe.” He rested his hand on my leg and I inched closer to him on the sofa.
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“It’s been a couple of years.” His mood dropped. I could feel him wrestling with how much more to share. “We don’t really talk the way you and your sisters do. I’ve told you that.”
“I know you don’t. But…do you want to?”
“Gracie looks at you like you make her world make sense. Olivia and you talk like best friends. I can’t even get Dylan to text me back sometimes. Wouldn’t be shocked if he forgets I exist sometimes.”
“I doubt that.” I rubbed his arm lightly. He leaned into the touch.
“I know I forget to think about him sometimes. I never call. It’s a bad habit like thinking I’ll start drinking less caffeine someday, but I never actually do it.”
“You shouldn’t compare you and Dylan to my sisters and me. You and Dylan can have your own thing. You won’t be starting from scratch. You have a history there.”
He took a long sip of his shake.
“Send him a picture of your shake, tell him it’s not as good as the one you guys made with the bananas and peanuts.” I gave him an eager shove. “If he doesn’t reply, then fine. Nothing new. But for all you know, he’s been feeling the same way you do.”
Adam hesitated. My instinct was to push, but instead, I put my milkshake down and used both my hands to bring his face close to mine. “He’d be lucky to be close to you, Adam.”
He slipped his hands behind my head, his fingers getting caught up in my hair. “For research purposes, I think we should kiss again.”
“That work ethic.” I giggled as he pulled me onto his lap—my new favorite spot in the entire world. We kissed ourselves breathless.
We didn’t watch the movie.
We kissed and talked for hours and hours until I saw a glint of pink out the window.
I was sitting across from him, my legs curled up in front of me. “Adam, what time is it? Is the sun rising?” I’d been so immersed in Adam that I hadn’t checked my phone in a while. I found it and checked the time. 6:24 a.m.
I held my phone out to Adam. He burst into a laugh, grabbed my ankles, and slid me toward him, burying his face into my neck. “The most distracting woman alive,” he murmured into my neck.
“We didn’t get any sleep!” I said, ignoring the shivers down my spine.
“I wouldn’t have been able to sleep anyway, knowing you were just steps away.” His lips met mine again.
My body was wired on our electricity, fizzing under my skin, hot in my abdomen. “I would’ve dreamed of this,” I said between kisses.
“You’re all I ever dream about lately,” he said, agonized.
Twenty-Six
Mom
The mosquitoes are terrible here. There’s no service. It’s HOT and I’m sore. I know Liv can be there for a few days, but I’m coming home early anyway
