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“See? Brave.”
“I’m not—”
Adam kissed him. Gently, his mouth moving slowly against Nick’s. He pulled away before too long.
“Thanks for listening,” he said quietly.
“Thanks for telling me.”
“You boys need anything else?”
Nick started. The older waitress was there beside the table.
He hadn’t heard her approach. Worse—he hadn’t felt her approach. Would she say something? He should probably start disentangling himself from Adam. His voice wouldn’t work and his face felt like his cheeks were going to burn clean off.
“No, thanks,” Adam said. He sounded amused.
She ripped a piece of paper from her pad and set it on the table. “You two are just the cutest ever.”
Nick froze. She didn’t care. They’d been head to head at this table, and she hadn’t batted an eye.
Adam winked at her. “Sounds like someone’s looking for a tip.”
“Here’s a tip,” she said. “Don’t flirt with old married ladies when you’ve got a sure thing in your arms.”
“Am I the sure thing in this scenario?” said Nick.
“I don’t know,” Adam said. “Are you?”
The waitress laughed and left them with the check.
“She didn’t care,” said Nick softly. “I know it’s stupid, but I thought—”
“What, that people would come out with pitchforks? Flaming torches?”
“Maybe.”
Adam kissed him on the cheek. “You’re adorable. People surprise you sometimes. Especially when you give them the chance.”
The words hit Nick hard, the way words you need to hear usually do. He held them in his head for examination later.
When they walked back to Adam’s apartment, he reached out to hold the other boy’s hand. And Nick didn’t care one bit who saw.
CHAPTER 8
Quinn stretched her leg against a tree and shivered. She slid her fingers across the face of her iPod, looking for a playlist to suit her mood. The strip mall parking lot was tempt-ing, but off limits thanks to that dickhead Tyler. The lot looked empty under the halogen lights, but that didn’t mean anything.
She’d stay right here at the edge of these woods, where she could see without being seen.
She didn’t have any transportation, so it wasn’t like she could go anywhere else. Her brother was out tonight—but her mom wasn’t.
Quinn was waiting her out. She could sneak back into the house after midnight. Her mom usually wasn’t conscious that long.
She’d hoped Nick would want to go out tonight, but he’d mentioned he was meeting Adam to “study”— sure—and Quinn didn’t want to get in the middle of that.
She wondered if he was avoiding her after that stupid, stupid kiss. She blushed now, remembering. What had she been thinking?
You were thinking that he was really your boyfriend, instead of a pretend one.
