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“Nope. I couldn’t waste a golden opportunity.”
He walked in a circle, turning away from me, part laughing and partly embarrassed for sure. I felt a little bad.
He jingled his keys. “I could leave you here, you know.” A light danced in his eyes.
“I’m resourceful. I’d find my way back.”
“I’ll lock you out of the house.”
“No you won’t.”
His cheeks colored deeper. Ha! I knew he wouldn’t. He wanted me here.
The realization hit me in the chest. Adam did want me here. He’d been very accommodating pretty much every moment since we’d reunited. Or whatever this was. I’d told myself his niceness served as his way of apologizing, of making sure I had measurable amounts of fun so my vacation wasn’t a total bust.
But maybe it was more. He was acting a little too sheepish, a little too insecure.
In equal parts, I itched to bolt and to hug him. Bolting would be dumb—I’d end up at his door anyway to fetch my stuff. Hugs would lead to things I wasn’t ready to admit I wanted.
Because I wanted hugs. And maybe more than hugs.
“Hey.” I swung my arm toward him, in a wide, giving-him-plenty-of-room attempt at contact. “Sorry if I went too far.”
He laughed softly, seemingly recovered. “No, you got me good. For once.”
“Oh, give me a break. I’ve gotten you tons of times. Remember when I told you Hulk and the Muppets were doing a movie together? You totally believed me.”
“Well, yeah. It’s believable. Why the Muppets haven’t teamed up with Marvel for a summer blockbuster is a tragedy.”
I snickered. I missed this. For a fleeting moment, it was as if no time had passed. Though we both knew, time had changed us.
The thought cycled through my mind. We’d each changed on our own. What did our changes mean for us? Together? Noah nailed it. I had work to do here. But unlike the career I’d planned every inch of for the past decade, I couldn’t pin down what goal I was reaching for with Adam. This was uncharted territory.
8
Adam
Thank God she didn’t have a boyfriend. I’d never been so relieved about anything since the time I convinced my parents to take back their Christmas gift of tickets to the year’s hottest musical theater production. I took a home improvement store gift card instead. Look, some people love musical theater. I was not one of them.
While I was practically walking on the lake water itself after spending the day with Jillian, I felt kinda bad for diverting her attention. “If you want to head back and get your car situation sorted, I’m for it.”
She fluttered a hand in the air. “Today is a wash—the car can wait.” She slowed as her gaze landed on the food trucks ahead of us in the carnival downtown. “Does that say tacos al pastor? I love a good pork taco.”
True to what I knew about Jillian, her focus lasered in on the sight of enticing food. She’d probably planned her trip around this festival to begin with, intending to spend this time with her college friends. All women, I was happy to note.
Gah, stupid ego. Just because she didn’t have a boyfriend didn’t mean she was up for second chance at…us.
Jillian grabbed my arm. “Taco or burrito? You used to be a burrito guy, but I don’t know anymore.”
“My brother used to wrap me like a burrito. In a sleeping bag. Against my will. As for food, I always preferred those open-faced tacos.”
“A tostada?”
I demonstrated with my hands. “The taco part is flat like this, and all the taco stuff is dumped on top.”
“A tostada. You’re describing a tostada. This food truck has them.”
We headed toward the ¡Hola Taco! truck and got in line for food. Kids and families swarmed the street. I moved closer to Jillian to keep out of people’s way. My arm grazed her back. I adjusted instantly to give her the space she needed.
