Page 189 of Most Valuable Players
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The next dayI corner Adam outside of his last morning class. He gives me a half-hearted smile that tells me everything I need to know about how he’s doing.
“What are you doing here?” he asks as he wraps me into a one-armed hug.
“You didn’t respond to my texts.” I extend both arms around his middle and squeeze tightly.
“Sorry.” He doesn’t bother offering an excuse.
“It’s okay.” We walk down the sidewalk slowly. “Have you talked to Mom or Dad since you got back?”
“Not yet. Mom called while I was in class.”
It’s a weird switch of roles for us with me worrying about him, but I want to be there for him the same way he’s always been for me. I nudge him. “It’s going to be okay. I know it won’t be the same, but they’ll still be here for us. Plus, you’ve got me.”
He grins.
“Anyway, the real reason I came to find you was to see what you were doing tonight. We need a night out. A fun night with all our friends to let loose and forget about parent drama.”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Let me see what’s going on tonight. It is a Monday night after all.”
“Monday is a perfectly good day to drink. Live a little, bro.”
“Bro?” He hitches the backpack higher on his shoulder. “You sound like Heath.”
We get to his car and he quirks a brow as I open the passenger side door.
“I mean, since you’re going home anyway, can you give me a ride?”
He shakes his head. “Get in.”
At the apartment, I walk back toward Heath’s room. He’s sitting at his desk in front of his laptop.
“Hey,” I say cheerily as I enter.
One side of his mouth pulls up. “Hey. Did I forget we were hanging out?”
“Nope, thought I’d surprise you. I didn’t hear back from you last night after your hockey stuff.”
“Yeah, sorry, I crashed.”
I go to him and he swivels to make room for me on his lap. “Let’s go out tonight.”
“It’s Monday.”
“Why does everyone keep using that as an excuse?”
He chuckles softly.
I take a deep breath. The girls are right. I need to make sure we’re on the same page. “Also, I have something I want to talk to you about later.”
He stiffens under me. Okay, that was probably not the smoothest. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing too crazy. A proposition if you will.”
God, now he probably thinks I want to chain him to the bed and peg him.
His phone pings on his desk, Maverick’s name flashes on the screen with a text. “All right, sure. I’ll text you later. I’ve gotta check on Maverick. He didn’t make conditioning this morning. He’s got the flu or something. He hasn’t been by all day.”
I stand to let him up. “Well, then he really must be sick.”
