Adam caresses my jaw with his thumb, staring down at me with bedroom eyes. “Kissing you.” The desire in his voice causes a surge of heat to flood my entire body, thickening the haze in my head.
“Why are you kissing me?”
“Because . . . um . . .” He tilts his head to the side and looks at me curiously. “Okay, I think I’m confused . . .” His hands slide down my neck, over my shoulders, and then drop back to his sides. I immediately ache for them to be back on me, but that is such a bad idea. This isn’t what I came on this trip for. “Don’t you want me to?”
Dear God yes.
I mean—No!
My eyebrows furrow and I cross my arms over my chest as I stare up at him. “Why would you think I want you to?”
“Well . . . you saved me from getting kicked out of French class . . . and you made up this whole tutoring lie . . .” And that quickly, any desire I’d been feeling is blown to bits.
“Oh my GOD,” I say, in utter disbelief. “You think I did that because I want to . . . to have sex with you?!” When he just stares at me like he’s still confused as hell, any doubt I had vanishes. I’m angry, and beyond embarrassed, which makes me even angrier. “I can’t BELIEVE this!” I shout. The room is suddenly way, way, way too freaking small for the both of us, so I slip around him and open the door, stepping into the hallway. “You thought—oh my God, I can’t believe you thought that!” I whirl on him, and he’s just standing in the doorway with wide eyes, like he doesn’t know how to handle me. “And you were going to do it, too! Christ, Adam, you were going to sleep with me for French lessons? For tutoring?” When he doesn’t deny it, I take a step toward him, pointing at his chest. “Please! Get some damn self-respect.”
Loud laughter suddenly fills the lower level of the bus, and I realize that the rest of the guys have been on board for I-don’t-know-how-long. I storm away from Adam and jog down the stairs, shooting them an irritated look, but they’re all laughing so hard they barely notice me. Shawn is on his back on the gray bench seat, holding his hand over his stomach as he completely loses it. Mike is on his knees on the ground, his arms wrapped around himself as he keels over laughing. Cody is wiping his eyes with his palms as he laughs so hard he cries, and Joel is clapping him on the back, laughing so hard he sends himself into a coughing fit.
“Self-respect,” Shawn chokes out in the middle of his laughter.
Ignoring them, I push open the door to the bus and step outside. I can’t believe that this entire time—the car ride, the concert, the past thirty-six freaking hours—Adam thought I was just some groupie trying to weasel my way into his pants!
“Hey, uh . . .” His voice comes from behind me, but it only prompts me to start walking. I don’t even know where I’m going, just as long as it’s away from him. “Hold on!” he says as he jogs to keep up with me. “What the hell are you so mad about?”
I ignore him and keep walking.
“Where are you even going?”
“Away!”
Adam doesn’t say anything else, but he falls into step beside me. And then we’re just walking together through the dark parking lot. I have no idea where I’m going. Adam pulls shades from his back pocket and slips them on, messing up his hair and staring at the ground as we walk past a group of people who probably just left the show.
When we reach the sidewalk, I pause and stand beneath a street lamp as I wait for the crosswalk sign to tell me it’s okay to keep running away from my embarrassment. No one is standing near us, so I turn to Adam and blurt, “I do NOT want to sleep with you!” I swat at a bug that flies in front of my face, making contact and knocking it straight into another hemisphere.
Adam gapes at me for a second, but then an irritating smirk curves his lips. “Really? I mean, are you sure?” Okay, now he’s just intentionally being obnoxious.
I let out an exasperated sigh and turn away from him, crossing the street.
He starts laughing and chases after me. “I’m kidding!”
“I don’t think you are!”
“Oh, come on. I really am!”
“Really?! Because it really seems like you think everything with a vagina wants to sleep with you!”
“Well, not everything with a vagina . . . I mean, lesbians, nuns . . . that’d just be weird.”
I roll my eyes and keep walking. We’ve walked two blocks when Adam says, “Anyway, I don’t know why you’re so pissed I kissed you. You wanted me to.”
I stop walking and spin to face him. “I did not!” Okay, so maybe I kind of did, but still, he had no way of knowing that. And I didn’t really want him to. It’s just . . . I mean . . . he’s Adam freaking Everest!
“Then why did you kiss me back?”
“I didn’t!”
“You definitely didn’t stop me right away.”
“I was in shock!”