I lay here, indulging in the physical contact between us. I thought I would never be a person who enjoyed cuddling and holding someone, but with Hunter, it feelsright.I’m supposed to be the one to wrap my arms around him and hold him tight. Protecting him from the world. If only there were someone to protect him from me.
23
HUNTER
Aclean break between me and Adam would have been easier if I hadn’t pushed our boundaries this morning. He was still sleeping, and I was already cuddled up to his side; it shouldn’t have been bad to put my head on his chest. I could have blamed it on seeking out comfort while I was sleeping.
It was a lie, though, and that’s my instinct now. To lie. To protect me, to protect Danielle, and even in a messed-up way, to protect Adam. I don’t want to cause the downfall of their relationship just because I’m desperate for attention.
That’s all this is, I’m needy for someone to look at me andchooseme. Someone who goes out of their way to pick me. And that’s not Adam. It can’t be Adam, because he already chose Danielle.
I can’t believe I asked him if he would break up with Danielle. What right did I have to do that? Danielle is my friend, and she doesn’t know that I want them to break up so I can have Adam to myself.
I shouldn’t be attracted to him; we have nothing in common. He’s rich, smart,and straight.All I would be for him is anexperiment, a curiosity he needs to get out of his system before he graduates college and he and Danielle get married. And have three kids with a white picket fence.
I’m going to go on my date with Thomas tomorrow night and forget everything about Adam. Adam who? Danielle’s boyfriend. That’s all he will be known as from this moment on.
“You okay?” Adam asks, and I’m startled out of my internal turmoil.
I glance up, and he’s looking at me with furrowed brows through the rearview mirror. His left eye looks darker today than usual, or maybe it’s the fact that I’ve seen it up close enough to be able to notice the two different colors. I bet Danielle has noticed it too.
Not helping.
I clear my throat and nod my head. “Yeah, fine. Just tired.”
“Do you want to stop somewhere and get coffee? There’s a good coffee shop in the next town we go through.”
We’re still about an hour away from campus, so how would he know that?
“I looked it up before we left, different coffee shops along the way just in case you needed to stop.” My heart thumps loudly in my chest. In caseIneeded to stop.
“Oh, okay. Sure. Okay.” I mentally facepalm because I turn into a bumbling idiot when I’m trying to prove that his presence doesn’t affect me.
Danielle is asleep in the front seat with her headphones tucked into her ears and an eye mask covering her eyes. She has no idea the hurricane passing through me, all due to her boyfriend.
Adam swiftly takes the next exit and maneuvers through the early morning traffic to pull into an overcrowded coffee shop. The drive-through line is wrapped around the building, and there are no parking spots in the lot.
“We can go somewhere else,” I offer while Adam makes another loop around the parking lot. He shakes his head, the stubborn jerk.
Finally, a car backs out, and Adam pulls into the spot. I keep a chuckle from bursting free at the thought of another car swooping in and stealing it before Adam has a chance. That would be karma, right?
I get out of the back and stretch my legs, letting the afternoon heat wash over me. Danielle gets out of the car, and we follow behind Adam while he leads us into the busy coffee shop.
“They’re supposed to have some of the best coffee,” he remarks, holding the door open for me and Danielle. The flood of cool air causes goosebumps to break out on my arms. Adam rubs my arms with his palms briskly, and I glare at him over my shoulder. He shrugs his shoulders like there’s no problem.
Danielle is ahead of us, getting in line. “Knock it off,” I hiss at him, trying to school my features the closer I get to Danielle. She’s scanning the menu, and the electric music coming from the speakers is a nice reprieve from the hard metal we’ve been listening to since we left my parents’ house.
Adam gets in front of me and Danielle while we’re still skimming the menu.
“Can I get a water bottle, and he’ll take an iced lavender oat milk latte. Danielle, what do you want?” Danielle rattles off her order while I stare at Adam in shock.
“I’ll wait in the car,” I say. Looking at Danielle, I add, “Can you grab my drink for me?”
“I’ll get it for you. Are you okay, Collins?”
I nod and go out to wait by the car.
I sipmy coffee and watch as the highway and trees fly by, letting the audiobook in my ears soothe me until I feel in control again.
