Adam stares down at me, licking his bottom lip. Shit. He knows exactly what he’s doing. “I wanted to kiss you. So I did.” His gaze lifts from my lips to my eyes. “No need to throw a tantrum. Most girls would be . . . well, they wouldn’t be storming around the city in the middle of the night.”
“Well I’m not most girls!”
Adam chuckles. “No, you’re definitely not.”
Wow, what the hell is that supposed to mean?! I glare at him and start walking again, the cement beneath my feet receiving the brunt of my anger as my flip-flops tromp against it.
Adam jogs to catch up. “I meant that as a good thing!” I glare at him out of the corner of my eye, and he’s nervously raking his hand through his hair. “Can you please just stop so I can talk to you?”
“We’ve been talking.”
“No, we’ve been arguing . . . which is just . . . strange. I don’t really do this that often . . . I’m no good at it.”
I walk a few more steps before I growl and very angrily sit my ass down on a bench in front of a closed barber shop. “Fine. Talk.”
He sits down next to me. “I . . . I didn’t mean to assume that you wanted to . . . you know . . . hook up or anything. But it was an honest mistake.”
“I’m not interested in being one of your one-night stands, Adam.”
“Well . . . technically . . . you’d have me for three.” The corner of his mouth quirks into a smile, and when he turns his head to look at me, his bangs tumble over his eyes, but he quickly swipes them away. Why is he so damn adorable? And irritating!
I glare at him. “Do I seem like that kind of girl?”
He pauses for a long time, and then he says, “Truthfully, you’d be surprised by some of the girls that want that type of thing. Not all of them fit the stereotype you have in your head.”
Okay, fair enough. I sigh and ask, “Would you seriously sleep with someone for something as stupid as French tutoring?”
Adam grins at me and shakes his head. “Is that what you’re mad about? It’s not like that was the only reason.”
I probably shouldn’t ask what I ask next. “Then what are the other reasons?”
“I thought you wanted me to . . .”
“So you’d sleep with someone just because they want you to?”
He nervously rubs his palm over his thigh, staring at his knees until he makes eye contact with me again. “Do you really want me to answer that?”
I let out an irritated growl, still not exactly sure why I’m so worked up. “Look, I was mad because you just assumed I’d want you in my pants. But whatever. You said you’re sorry, so . . . fine.”
Adam frowns. “Do you want me to take you home?”
“You can’t. You have a show tomorrow that’s like ten hours away from school.”
He shifts toward me. “If you want to go home, I’ll take you. So just answer the question.”
I study his unreadable expression, and then I say, “No. I don’t want to go home.”
He smiles softly and seems to let out a deep breath. Then he settles back into the bench and plays with the threads over his knee for a few seconds before looking at me again. “Okay, so don’t get mad at me for this . . . but I just think we should be clear. If I tried to kiss you again, you’d get mad?”
I can’t help laughing at his ridiculous question. But when I try to answer it, I realize it might not be so ridiculous. Would I get mad? I have absolutely no clue. Probably, but it would really just be because I’m mad at myself for letting him cloud my better judgment. Adam is bad news. He’s a mountain of bad decisions wrapped in a beautiful package, and I hate the effect he has on me. And I love it, which I hate. “Yes,” I finally say. “So don’t, okay? I just want to be friends.”
“Friends . . .” he says, like he’s testing out the concept.
“Friends.”
He stands up and holds his hand down to me. “Okay. We’ll be friends.”
Chapter Twelve
ADAM WALKS ME back to the bus, opening the door for me so I can climb inside. The minute I step into view, Shawn pushes himself off the bench seat and walks over to me with a cheek-to-cheek grin on his face. “Can I . . . Can I just—” He abruptly pulls me in for a tight hug and starts laughing again. “Self-respect.” His body shakes against me as his laughter gets louder, and then he sighs. “Oh my God, that was so great.” He pulls away and smiles down at me. His jaw is dusted with day-old shadow, his forest-green eyes warm when he says, “I think I love you.”
“Hey!” Mike shouts from where he’s sitting on the floor playing video games with Cody. “I called her first!”
“Technically, I called her first,” Adam says from behind me. When he walks past, he swoops in to plant an exaggerated smooch on my cheek. I blush and wipe it away, but I’m smiling when he looks back at me with a grin on his face. “Want something to drink now?”
I’m about to tell him “sure” when the bus door opens and Driver steps on, followed by a group of girls who look like models for Hoes-R-Us. Driver leads the five of them on board without introductions, but the girls don’t seem to mind. They immediately flock to Adam, swarming him as he waits for my answer.