Page 15 of Not You Again
Carly shivered. “Terrifying.”
Adam waited a beat. “I don’t even know how to respond to that.”
“You can add my fear of cows to the list of reasons why you hate me,” she said.
He cocked an eyebrow. “Hateis a very strong word.”
“So you just mildly dislike me, then?”
“I don’t dislike you,” he said. “Why would you say that?”
“So, you don’t hate or mildly dislike me.” Carly didn’t wait for him to respond. “You’re just deeply unfriendly?”
“Something like that.” He smiled.
And then, instead of going back to perfectly acceptable silence, she began to make small talk. She’d never been great with the quiet. “Where do you go during the day? The last loop was the first time I’ve seen you in town.”
“I go to my parents’ house,” Adam said. “They have a big piece of land. I can be there on my own.”
Carly often daydreamed about the place she used to love being on her own—her studio apartment in Burbank, where she could eat boxed macaroni and cheese straight from the pan while editing a screenplay on the couch.
“Where do you go?” he asked. “To your dad’s?”
Her dad had an apartment close to town, but she didn’t like to spend time there. The air still smelled like his Head &Shoulders shampoo and the Old Spice deodorant he favored. The handful of times she’d opened the door and walked in, she’d become so overwhelmed by the feel of him there that she’d had to run outside and take big gulps of fresh air.
“I go all over. Into town. Anywhere that isn’t a cow pasture.” Ahead of them, the dirt turned into concrete, which signaled they were getting closer. “I’m not all that good on my own, as it turns out. I’m not used to just floating. I like having something to do, thanks to my ADHD.”
She’d accidentally revealed that detail; it was something she didn’t really want Adam to know. Intellectually, she knew that there was nothing to be ashamed of, but she was also deeply aware of the stigmas that often surrounded her diagnosis. She cleared her throat of the self-conscious feeling that had knotted there.
Adam didn’t seem to notice, though, as he popped up the front wheels of the chair so they could land safely on the sidewalk.
They were at the top of Main Street. Carly wasn’t sure how she’d fill the time until the loop reset, but at least she’d have a lot of people-watching readily available.
She had to give Adam some credit for helping. He certainly didn’t owe her anything. “Thanks for the help,” she hesitantly said.
“Sorry I tackled you,” he said. “I imagined we would kind of fall away from the car safely, versus me just pinning you to the ground.”
And then the memory of him on top of her, of his weight over every inch of her... She unexpectedly tightened her knees together. She was horrified. Downright baffled by her body’s betrayal. Had her hormones no shame?
All right, fine... Adam was attractive. In a hot alien kindof way, with the shock of hair, and the glowing vampire skin, and the pointy cheekbones and the full lips, and the height and the surprise biceps. But he was stillAdam the Asshole, despite helping her up and getting her medicine and making sure buzzards didn’t peck her to an impermanent death.
So the sooner she got away from him, the better.
“Guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said. But would she? Hadn’t her whole purpose this morning been to avoid him? So she added, “I mean, if this ishellthen I will see you tomorrow.”
His lips tightened into a familiar line. “Right. Bye, then.”
As he turned to leave, the sound of shattering glass pierced through the air. The last thing Carly clocked was Adam ducking down next to the wheelchair. And then the world went dark.
Chapter 6
Adam
A loud pop rang in Adam’s ears as he crouched next to Carly and covered her head with his hands. The sound was quick, over almost as soon as it happened, but he brought her into him to protect her from whatever the noise was.
He noticed the closeness. She noticed the closeness. It was way too much, and Adam pulled back. When he glanced up, there was a store window that had been destroyed, and a few feet in front of it was a group of people carrying large rocks.
“The Chaos Club,” Carly said softly. “Total adrenaline junkies. One time I saw them walk into the Candy Depot and eat until each person vomited.”
