Page 48 of Bad Crush
“She texted, but I haven’t responded. Adam told me to leave it alone.”
“Can I see?”
He unlocks his phone and slides it to me. My heart breaks for him when I see his contact name for her:Care-Bearwith a heart emoji.
That will suck to change.
The last text from her is a freaking novel but basically says she wants to see him in person and talk.
“You don’t want to see her?”
“I’m not going to change my mind. Is extending this out and telling her that in person really going to help anything?”
“I don’t know. She seems to think so.” I hand the phone back. “Can you even take time off to go see her?”
“No. She’d have to come here.”
“I don’t see the problem if she wants to make an effort; let her.”
“You think?”
I second-guess myself. “I’m probably not the one that should be giving advice on this. I’ve had exactly zero serious boyfriends.”
“Really?” His head cocks to the side, and his hair flops over one eye. He pushes it back. “That surprises me. And now you’re dating the guy that only knows serious. Weird how things work out.”
Speaking of Adam, he’s back in view. Standing at the opposite end of the table talking to some guys on the team.
“Why doesn’t Adam think you should see her? Did he say?”
“He never liked Carrie. They got off on the wrong foot freshmen year.”
“Why?” I laugh.
“Oh, it was a mutual dislike. She hated that I was rooming with the campus playboy—obviously that was her word, not mine. He was bringing chicks back to the dorm and—” He stops. “Shit, I’m sorry.”
“I’m well aware that Adam’s dated a lot of girls. It’s fine.”
“Anyway, I guess she was worried he was going to corrupt me or some shit. Adam and I are different. I love him, but…” He doesn’t have to finish that sentence for me to understand.
That’s not who I am either.
“He’s a good guy,” Rhett reassures me.
“I know. I’m a little worried he’s going to get sick of me in a few months, and I’ll lose him and the rest of you.” I laugh it off like I don’t believe it, but it’s a real concern.
“Never gonna happen.” He lifts his glass and waits for me to do the same, then clinks them together. “You’re stuck with us, Rea.”
As the night goes on, I chat with Rhett and Maverick, and a bunch of other hockey guys. Ginny pries herself away from Heath to hang for a while, too. The only person I don’t spend any time with is Adam.
He bounces all around the bar. He catches my eye once or twice and smiles, but otherwise we don’t interact.
I’m having a great time, but something feels off with him. Maybe he’s already sick of me. I don’t generally worry about coming off as clingy, but we do share all the same friends, so maybe this is him trying to make space? The later it gets, the more I worry that might be true.
“Where’s Adam?” Ginny asks as she and Heath get ready to leave the bar.
I nod in his direction.
“Is everything okay? I haven’t seen you two together all night.” Ginny’s brows pull together. “Do I need to get Heath to kick Adam’s ass?”
