Page 42 of Bad Crush
“Oh, uh…” Nothing like being put on the spot.
“You haven’t talked about it, huh?” Rhett grins. “You know what might cheer me up?”
“What?” Adam asks. He steps closer to me, almost as if he’s trying to reassure me with his presence.
“If you wait another three weeks to make it official. I’ll be fifty bucks richer and, really, what’s another month?”
The bet. Of course. Rhett is the most competitive guy of the group. It probably would make him feel better. Boys are strange.
“We’re not jumping into anything,” I say. Adam and I haven’t talked about it, but I think that’s true. It’s true for me. While being Adam Scott’s girlfriend sounds amazing, he was just telling me how he needed to switch things up and get out of old patterns.
“Except each other’s beds?”
Adam’s phone alarm goes off. “It’s time,” he calls loud enough that Heath and Ginny can hear.
“Let’s go.” He shoves Rhett. “You keep talking, and I’m going to forget about your broken heart and get pissed at you for saying shit like that to my—”
“Your girl?” Rhett grins. “You were going to say your girl, weren’t you?”
Adam’s mouth pulls into a straight line. I link my arm through his. “Come on, you two. I think I know where they are. Dakota mentioned something about finding a good hiding spot near the library.”
“I gotta take a piss.”
“Now?” Adam complains.
“I’ll be quick,” Rhett promises and jogs toward the nearest building.
When he disappears inside, Adam turns to me. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. I expected it. Though not from Rhett.”
“I guess we should have talked about what to say. It’s my fault. Any time I’ve hung out with a girl this much, she’s been my girlfriend.”
“It’s okay. Really. You don’t owe me any explanations. I’m perfectly content not labeling this and hanging out. You want to break your routine, and I just want to spend more time together.”
“That’s the thing, though. I’m not sure I’m okay not labeling it.” His lips come down to meet mine, and his hands circle my waist. His face is cold, but his mouth and body are warm, and I snuggle in closer to both.
“I’m back.” Rhett falls in beside us.
He’s opening another beer when I pull myself away from Adam.
“How many have you had tonight?” Adam juts his chin toward the can.
“Don’t know. Not enough. Maverick promised there was a point in which I’d forget everything, including my name, but I still know it. Rhett. R-H-E-T-T.”
“Are you drunk?” I ask through a laugh. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Rhett drunk. Sure, he drinks when we all hang out, but it’s never altered him in any way I could tell.
He winks at me and keeps on spelling his middle name and then his last name. Well, this is new. I don’t even think he’s looking for Maverick and Dakota. I’ve been his partner more than anyone else, and I can say without a doubt he takes it far more seriously than the rest of us. He gets off on the competition.
Speaking of the competition, we’re the last group to find Mav and Dakota. It’s been over thirty minutes of us searching when we hear whispers and find Ginny, Dakota, Heath, and Maverick crammed together underneath a table outside of University Hall.
“Finally.” Maverick stretches out his legs. “Cramp. Fuuuck. I have a cramp.” He holds his calf and cries out.
Everyone else is laughing as he dramatically curses and rolls to his side. Adam crouches down beside him.
“Massage it,” he instructs. “Try to stretch out your leg again.”
“Fucking hurts when I do that,” Mav complains.
