Page 37 of Roommates
“It's that asshole who did this to you,” my dad said when I didn't react.
The asshole who did this to me? Did he mean...? No, he couldn't. I got up from my bed and stepped out into the hallway. “What are you talking about?”
But I heard an all too familiar voice from downstairs before he could answer.
“I promise I'm not here to cause trouble. I only want to talk to him.”
Adam? How the hell was Adam here? I'd never even given him my address, as far as I could remember. But that was definitely his voice I heard from downstairs. I wouldn't mistake it in a hundred years.
I glanced at my dad, but he only shrugged. “If you don't want to see him, you don't have to. I have no problem kicking his ass out the door, but your papa insists it should be your choice.” From his tone I could tell that he clearly didn't agree with that last part, but he'd lost the fight the way he lost most of them.
“Leave Adam alone,” I told my dad. “He hasn't done anything wrong.”
“You're never going to convince me of that.”
“He didn't know who he was sleeping with, okay?”
“If that's actually true then he must be stupid. What alpha doesn't notice when—”
“Cut it, Dad. The only mistake Adam made was to believe me. I'm not going to blame him for that.”
My dad huffed. “Fine. Do what you want. But if you need me to tear his—”
“Dad!” I interrupted him before he could go into graphic detail about just what he wanted to do to the alpha I loved. “Just stay here.” I shot him a glare, and then I went down the stairs to see if I could get this situation under control—and to see what exactly Adam was doing here when he should be at his game.
Oh God, he's missing his game...
Maybe my dad was right and Adamwasstupid, because he shouldn't be here right now if he was still invested in his future.
And yet there he was, one foot inside my parents' house as my papa held the door open.
“Adam...” I had so many questions, but his name was the only thing that came out. Not in a million years had I expected him to follow me. Especially not after our last conversation.
He turned and stared at me and something inside my heart squeezed painfully. I'd never seen him with such large bags under his eyes, not even when he got up between 4 and 5am every morning in preparation for football season. Had it really only been a little over twenty-four hours since I'd seen him? “I need to talk to you,” he said. “Please let me talk to you.”
“Okay.” How could I deny him that request?
My papa retreated from the door. I wasn't sure exactly where he went—I wasn't paying that much attention—but after a few seconds Adam and I were by ourselves. My parents were still aroundsomewherethough, and relative privacy wasn't enough for me. Without thinking too much about it, I quickly slipped into my shoes and grabbed Adam by the arm to lead him outside with me.
“Let's go for a walk.”
Adam followed without protest. The sun hadn't quite gone down, but the sky was dark with the promise of rain and it seemed that no one else besides us wanted to brave the weather. Still, I couldn't help but check my surroundings carefully before opening my mouth again. The habit of secrecy was so deeply ingrained in me that even now, the slightest chance of being overheard made me feel like my mouth was being held shut by forces greater than me.
“Are you okay?” Adam asked.
I glanced at Adam. How could he be concerned overmywellbeing whilehelooked likethat.“I'm fine,” I said, even though I knew he wouldn't believe me. It was just easy to say. Easier than any of the other words that spun around in my head.
“Could you be honest with me?” Adam asked after we'd walked a few steps. “I can see that you're not fine.”
I licked my lips. Honesty. I owed him that now, didn't I? After everything? “You don't look fine either,” I deflected.
Adam slowed his pace, eying me intently. “Did you really expect me to be fine?”
My stomach turned into knots. Of course Adam couldn't be fine, and this was all my fault. All because I'd acted recklessly. I could hardly even look at him now. “I'm sorry,” I said, turning my gaze to the pavement at my feet instead. We were walking along an on old road, with several fine cracks in the tar. I followed one of them with my eyes, imagining how, over the years, it would turn wider and wider and become an ugly hole in the street if someone didn't fix it soon.
Only then Adam interrupted my thought process by gently tipping my chin up with his fingers. “You don't have to be sorry,” he said. “I understand why you did what you did, and I don't think it's too late to make this right, if we just stick together.”
“You still want to stick with me?” Slowly, my stomach unknotted itself, but I still felt like I'd eaten stones for breakfast. Just because what I wanted seemed within reach didn't mean that there weren't still obstacles separating me from it, or that the dream I was seeing wasn't going to vanish into thin air the moment I tried to grab for it.
