20

Adam

These Girls Fuck With Your Head

That wasn't a good enough apology. I didn't make it a habit to apologize—it creates the wrong standards—but even I knew that.

"I don't need you to show off your muscles during my talk." Piper sighed. "This is hard enough. And nobody even showed up…"

She cast a wistful look to the door window, to the couple of people who even bothered to come, and I'd never felt like a bigger asshole in my life.

Piper bit her lip. "Adam, you get the rest of the day off."

"What?"

"Go away," she said, her voice low. "Go do whatever you want. Just keep a low profile."

My babysitter was giving me my own leash, and I had no idea what to do with it. I almost started to argue against it. I'll be on my best behavior . I won't ruin the rest of the presentation. But Piper held a hand up against the door. I wasn't allowed inside.

This was exactly what I wanted, wasn't it? I should've punched the air in relief and skipped down the hallway, whistling daisies. Instead, I was frozen to the floor, gazing down at this girl who didn't want me around.

"You need to come for the formal," she said.

I hesitated. "Piper, what am I supposed to do?"

"I don't care, Adam."

Oh.

With a click, the door closed behind her, and I watched in the little window. She crossed the room to her desk and offered an apology to the class. Then she disappeared, no doubt to ask about that asshole, probably seeing if he was okay, like he deserved that. I stared at the empty window and shoved my hands in my pockets.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" I muttered and made a one-eighty, walking down the hallway of a shit university on a shit day.

No one else was out there, and Zariah and June had their own stuff to go to. I was by myself for a couple of hours. No restrictions. I could've done anything I wanted. Hell, I probably could've gotten plastered and cleaned up before the formal or done some crazy shit under the radar. As long as there weren't any photos, I could do anything.

I didn't know why I found myself back in my room.

Our room.

With all her glittery, sparkling stuff on her side. I picked up one of her plush penguins off the desk and held it in my hand for a moment. I ruined her presentation. How could she bounce back from that? And everybody would be talking about it. If anything, it'd probably make the bleacher bunny picture a hot topic again.

That's the girl. A guy got bodied during her presentation.

Yeah, have you seen the photo?

With a curse under my breath, I pelted the penguin to her bed and laid down on mine, staring up at the ceiling.

I wanted to talk to somebody about this. Try to sort some things out. I wanted to talk to anybody about this.

That wasn't true - I wanted to talk to the one girl in the world with startling gray eyes and a deep hatred for my guts, who wanted absolutely fuck all to do with me. But she'd lock the door if she saw me coming.

I ran a hand over my face, pinching the bridge of my nose while I took my phone out of my pocket. I could call Ryan, but he probably wouldn't pick up his phone. If I wanted to talk to him, I'd have to call Kassie, and with how shitty I felt, I would no doubt tell them both about the dumb classroom shit.

They'd both be disappointed.

Fuck that.

"These girls are going to find a way to fuck with your head ," I remembered my high school coach saying. " Nothing's more important than football ."

My gaze wandered away from the ceiling and towards the bed next to me. Piper had brought her own comforter, turtle pattern stitched on, and there were photos tacked on the wall like we were camping here long term. Photos of her parents and traveling photos, most of them recent. The ones on the right side had to be from the resident assistant training. She looked happy in those photos. She looked really happy.

A hell of a lot happier than she does with me.

I shook my head and scrolled through my phone. Xavier had put in a list of parties and the best bars around here, which sounded about as fun as a root canal. He also typed in his cousin's address, where he would keep the Clemenza for the weekend because he didn't want it accidentally scratched on campus.

He only brought the car along to show off. What a dick.

But…

I frowned, mulling it over. The Piper Fontaine situation was a real one. One that was starting to affect my head. This tension between us needed to end once and for all.

With my arm behind my head, I thumbed through my contacts, a long list of hot girls separated by what college they attended. I found the perfect one and brought the phone to my ear.

The ringing ended. I grinned. "Hey, Nevada—"

"Oh my god, Adam. It's Nevaeh."

Is it? Shit.

I drew back my phone and closed my eyes. "Sorry about that."

"Adam, you are not supposed to hit me up anymore," Nevaeh reminded me., irritated. "Seriously, I have a boyfriend now."

"Yeah, I know. That's why I called."

She groaned. "Lose. My. Number."

"No—no, not like that." I gazed up at the ceiling, thinking it through. "You can keep something quiet and you have a boyfriend. Great attributes. Are you still in contact with—damn, what's her name—your old roommate? The one with the nose piercing?"

" Amanda? "

"Yeah. Amanda."

"She's…gay, Adam?"

"I know. That's why I'm calling."

"I am hanging up ."

"Nevaeh, this has nothing to do with sex." I slipped out my wallet from my back pocket and thumbed through the dollar bills. "Do you two want to make five hundred bucks? Each?"

There was an audible pause over the phone. "Adam, this is a weird call."

"I know it's a weird call," I confirmed. "I just need you two to show up for something tonight."

"Show up for what?"