Page 17 of Bookworm
“All hell broke loose,” Adam muttered sullenly.
“Obviously,” I said, looking around at the wreckage.
With a sigh, he looked at me. “Do I really have to go over all this again?”
For the first time since I arrived, the weight of what Adam went through really registered on his face. The sag of his brows. The constant frown at the corners of his pouty, full lips. The worry lines etched across his forehead. The poor guy had been through it. And it was a wonder he hadn’t been fired immediately. Something I suspected had to do with him doing a favor for the head of his department in the first place.
“What if I tell you something humiliating for me, too?” I offered.
I wasn’t sure why I offered that. Maybe it was because I couldn’t stand seeing Adam so defeated. He’d always had a quiet confidence in high school. Even though he wasn’t necessarily the coolest or the sportiest, he knew who he was. And everyone in our high school respected him for it. He was popular for being him.
He didn’t try to hide his love of reading like I did before I’d moved to Maple Grove. People liked Adam for Adam.
So, I wasn’t used to seeing him so defeated.
It was unnerving.
The frown on his face lifted with curiosity into something that wasn’t quite a smile… but also no longer frowning. “You don’t get humiliated. In all our years together, you were never embarrassed aboutanything.”
I snorted and shook my head. “Are you joking? My entire teenage years were me basically trying to find myself. Trying to embrace who I was and not be ashamed or hide those weirdo nerd-girl pieces of myself.”
He blinked, seemingly surprised. “You were always so confident, though. Always up for adventure.”
I rolled my eyes. “Being up for adventure and the life of the party was just another shield to hide behind. Besides, whatabout you? Everyone at that school loved you. For God’s sake, you made a summer reading book club become the cool kids table! I mean, who does that!?”
He laughed and pushed his sleeves higher to his elbow. “I guess so. But I just thought you were too cool for everything. Even when we were together, you pushed me to find more adventure. Be more spontaneous.”
I smiled at him. “And you pushed me to focus inward and find the same joy in the quiet moments.” My heart pounded in my chest as his assessing gaze swept over me, leaving gooseflesh in its wake.
“We were a good team back then,” he whispered, eyes traveling to where a bit of hair had slipped free from my ponytail and tickled my cheekbone.
Adam took a step forward, pink tongue darting out to wet his lips and lifted his hand to brush the hair back behind my ear.
It was tender. Sweet. The same thing he’d done dozens of times when we were teenagers.
But we aren’t teenagers anymore.
And maybe that was a good thing judging from the way my nipples puckered against the soft cotton of my blouse.
Which left the question: if I had the opportunity for a second chance with Adam, would I take it? The boy who crushed my heart. The boy who didn’t choose me. The boy who didn’t stand up for me.
Had anything truly changed? Would his dad still see me as the unworthy, uneducated city garbage that wasn’t good enough to date his son?
Probably. People like Elijah don’t usually change… not that drastically.
And even if he did change, Adam and I had barely spoken to each other since I arrived. I wasn’t going to just fall into his arms and beg him to kiss me because he touched my hair.
I wasn’tthatdesperate.
Or at least, that’s what I told myself. Over and over again as I stared into his bright eyes.
Get it together, Harper!I had a job to do. A really hard job. One that required my focus and not getting distracted by cute boys who I knew could kiss so,sowell.
I took a step backward, my foot catching on the leg of the chair beside me, throwing my balance off.
With a shriek and flailing arms, I tumbled backward, going down in slow motion.
Adam’s expression morphed from a quiet attraction into pure panic and he lunged for me, grabbing my waist and trying to catch me before I hit the floor.
