12

Piper

Projecting

How do I keep putting my foot in my mouth?

It was bad enough trying to think of something to say, it was worse having eyes averted and grimaces shared. What part of my comment was wrong? It spun around in my brain, but I honestly couldn't think of the reason.

"I'm going to get some—a drink," I blurted out.

Nobody said anything, or I didn't give anybody a chance to say anything, as I headed to the counter, thinking the conversation over. Was it something I did?

When I dated Thomas, that'd been the best part of having a boyfriend. After we'd go out to dinner, I'd ask him what wrong thing I said and he was immediate with all fifty answers.

Asked where someone had bought the hummus from, asked how much the sweater had been, and asked for directions when I could've googled it, Thomas was always prepared with the list of things I'd embarrassed him with. I'd honestly relied on it so much. I felt raw without him.

"Can I get a—?" I stopped myself at the bar and gazed up at the menu again. "Can I get a caramel nonfat latte?"

The waitress—a redhead with her hair pulled up in a ponytail—reached over to take my card before another hand pulled mine back and held out his own. "It's on me, Sloane."

Adam stood right next to me, offering a wry smile. Of course. Here comes the joker to make fun. What else had I been expecting? I gave a heavy sigh and hung back from the counter.

"That was kind of unfair. Sorry about that," he murmured.

"What did I do?" I pleaded, my voice low. "What did I say?"

He gave me a curious look. "You didn't do anything, Piper. That was me. You already signed the NDAs, I should've brought you up to speed. There's a couple of things you need to know. Do you know about King?"

"King?" I glanced over Adam to take a look at the table. The defensive end sat in a chair that dwarfed underneath him. He was that big. He nodded along to something Kassie was saying and I turned back at Adam. "I know about King. Defensive end."

"Not that. I mean about him and June."

"They…just beat a new follower record?" I frowned.

Adam gave the kind of sigh that comes when a kid tells you the wrong answer to a math equation. Dipping down to me, he cast a wide gaze around Gianna's, making sure we weren't being listened to. The closer he came to me though, the more my heart thudded in my chest. He smelled good. He smelled super good.

"They're in a fake relationship," he muttered.

I stopped. "What? No, they're not."

"Yeah, they are."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because she's been going steady with a guy since high school." Adam laughed, careful to keep his voice low. "Look at them, Piper." He nodded back towards the table. "I haven't met June's guy yet. He's on the housing committee. So I'm sure you'll see him."

My mouth fell open. " What? "

I had to get a look because that would somehow prove him wrong. There was no way King and June Basil were in a fake relationship. They were another example of the perfect couple from Marrs University! I had plenty of their posts saved, homecoming queen and football player, a cliché. How could they be faking it?

But the more I studied them, the more my heart sank.

Across the table, Kassie ran her fingers through Ryan's hair while she chatted with them, her and Ryan embarrassingly close. Borderline inappropriate. First and only love, kind of embarrassing. It made me want to avert my eyes.

But King and June…?

They were two feet apart like somebody stuck a ruler between them. June was practically glued to her phone and King relaxed in his chair, never even looking at her.

My heart settled somewhere at the bottom of my stomach and I pressed my lips together to keep my face from falling any further.

"She always leaves the games early," Adam explained. "Practices too. You'll see it."

Against all evidence, I jutted my chin out. "That's not the truth. I don't believe it."

"Oh, really?" Adam gave a low chuckle and leaned against the counter. His eyes searched my face. But he wasn't just amused with the situation. That faded away. His jaw tightened as he turned from me again. "There's something my high school coach used to say. You should hear it. He's a hardass, but he knows his shit."

I had the distinct feeling I didn't want to hear this.

"People are going to take advantage of you. It happens," he said softly. "You have to be on top of it. And to be on top of it, any time someone says something, you play a game. The game goes, every time someone tells you something, you think, what do they get from telling me this? If they're lying, what do they gain?" His usual smug demeanor was gone. "Tell me, Piper. What do I have to gain?"

I didn't know. What did Adam have to gain?

"A laugh?" I suggested, an edge to my words. "Maybe you're messing with me? Like usual?"

"The joke would've been stale by now." Adam shrugged. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this. Maybe I'm just trying to prevent you from getting hit with another bullet. I don't know."

I hesitated. "Another bullet?"

"Relationships. Love. All that crap. None of it matters, ice princess. It's not real. You have to protect yourself from the distractions. That's what my high school coach always said."

My eyebrows furrowed, and I gazed up at the linebacker, puzzled. "Um…are you okay?"

Adam's eyes flickered back to mine. "What?"

"Well…it kind of sounds like you're projecting," I pointed out. "Adam, as your resident assistant, I'm a little concerned about you."

"What the hell?" He scoffed. "I'm not projecting."

He could say anything he wanted. I didn't care, but where his posture was usually loose and fast, leaning against something, an easy smile on his lips, now he couldn't be further from that against the counter. His shoulders were stiff. It was like watching walls rising in real time.

This actually bothers him.

"Besides, it doesn't matter," I said. "I mean…if June's in a secret relationship with some other guy, that means this secret guy is willing to be quiet about it for her benefit. Like he loves her so much, he's prepared to be on the sidelines for it. Waiting for her. That's love. If anything, you're discrediting your own theories."

"Discrediting…?" Adam blinked. "That's all you got out of that?"

" And King is probably waiting for the love of his life to sweep in…it's like a Shakespeare play or something!"

Adam gave me a long, irritated look. "Congratulations. You got the opposite of what you were supposed to get out of that."

"Have you tried talking to someone about—?"

He shook his head and stalked away from the counters, heading back to the table, content to ignore me.