27

Piper

You Haven't Seen Angry

It was hard enough to put on the dress, but it was a complete nightmare trying to take it off without Zariah and June. I hobbled into the bedroom, trying to tug down the zipper, half an inch by half an inch. Part of it was because of the dress itself. Part of it was because I was literally so angry, it was hard to keep my hands from shaking.

"Do you need help?" Adam asked from the doorframe.

I jumped. I hadn't even realized he was there. But there he was, the Marrs Manwhore. The one who yanked me into the pool, set off the fire alarm, and now looked calm and collected with his arms folded over his chest like nothing happened.

How did he look so good after everything? I was positive I looked like a drowned cat, but Adam's hair glistened and he certainly didn't have makeup running down his face.

"No," I snapped.

"Fine."

"Fine."

Okay, maybe I did need help with the dress, but I wouldn't ask Adam for help in a thousand years. My fingers grasped the zipper again, and I sighed in relief, pulling it down.

My phone buzzed on the charger.

The zipper flew out of my hands, and I almost kicked the nightstand in frustration. The screen lit up, and it took one look to confirm who hit me up.

To Be Blocked: bitch

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes. He always had the astonishing gift of texting at the right time.

God knows I wanted to block him. But there was a box of my things at his place, with my favorite CDs, and pictures of my family, and my prized stuffed animals. Until I gathered up the courage to head back there and pick them up, I couldn't delete his number.

And when is that going to be? At the millionth humiliating text message?

The shower started and I jerked up, staring at the wall. Adam was seriously taking the first shower? Our bathroom barely had enough hot water to wash our hands, much less for showers. And I couldn't take Zariah's and June's. Not after everything I'd put them through tonight.

I snagged my zipper down and stumbled out of my dress, wrapping a towel around my body. Ready to finish this, I set my jaw and strode towards the bathroom.

"Adam," I snarled. "Get out of the shower."

"Not tonight, ice princess." His voice was way steadier than mine was.

Not tonight?

We did practically everything tonight. We broke a billion rules and half a billion common sense ones. And he was talking to me like a child? Like I was the unreasonable one. It drove me up the wall like nothing else had.

"Get out of the shower," I repeated, my tone just as icy as his favorite nickname. "There's only enough hot water for one, and I'm not taking that from nice people like Zariah and June , who don't pull fire alarms as a joke! Out. Now! "

"By the time they return, the hot water will come back."

"I'm not taking that chance—get out."

"Piper, I have shampoo in my hair."

I could've laughed. "Am I supposed to care?"

"In the morning, I'll call my coach, and we'll switch you out with somebody else," Adam said, all professional. "You won't have to worry about this ever again. Because I think we want to fuck each other so badly, it's affecting our decision-making skills. And that's not healthy, ice princess."

I stared at the shower curtain, beyond words.

Did he just say I want to sleep with him so desperately, it was messing up my brain?

"That might be the most ridiculous thing you've ever said," I managed, stunned. "And you could win a competition in that."

I squeezed my eyes shut. It didn't matter. None of this mattered. I just needed to take a shower, go to sleep, and never think about Adam Russell ever again.

Whatever. If Adam wants to be difficult, I'll shower in the girls' room.

I tried the doorknob. Blinking slowly, I tried it again. But I didn't burst out of the bathroom like I wanted to. Nothing happened at all except for a faint clicking sound.

"You've got to be kidding me." I grabbed the doorknob with both hands, trying to yank it open. "Oh my god."

Adam poked his head out of the shower. "Is it locked?"

"Get back in the shower! Don't worry about it!"

"You locked us in?" Shocked laughter rocketed out of him. "Are you serious?"

I pressed my forehead against the door, without the patience to think this through. My hand went to the pockets that didn't exist. The only thing I had on was a towel. No pockets, no phone, no way out.

I thumped my forehead against the door. "Please tell me you have your phone."

"Ice princess, you pushed me into a pool. It's drying on the bed, I'm lucky my phone's even working after that."

"And…" Dejected, I gave a look at the rest of the bathroom. "You didn't bring in a towel."

"On the bathroom counter."

I glanced back. "The place we're locked out of?"

"Hey, I didn't lock it."

"You're saying that like I purposely locked us in!"

"Piper, you're getting upset—"

"You haven't seen angry," I hissed and started pacing. "Oh my god, you're the one who messed up tonight! You're the one who should have to shower in cold water, and move their stuff, and get kicked out of events! Why is it that every time you get a consequence, it's just dumped on somebody else?!"

"This is your problem," Adam said, like it was a gentle reminder.

I was so close to throwing my towel at his head. But I couldn't. So I did the only thing I could think of and closed my eyes and yanked open the shower curtain.

"My problem right now is going to be fixed when you fix the door," I said, eyes shut as tight as could be.

"Piper, you live by all of these little rules because you think that's how life works. You think—hey—if I don't do this and I don't do that and I don't even think about this, everything's going to be fine, and I'm going to get rewarded for the behavior," Adam said softly. His voice echoed against the shower walls, making it harder to tune him out. "But that's not how real life works."

"What would you know about real life?" I muttered.

"A lot more than you know."

"You're a football player. Everybody caters to you."

There was a pause.

"If you just…loosened up a little, you wouldn't get so disappointed. None of this matters as much as you think it does, ice princess."

With my eyes still closed tight, I frowned, trying the game that Adam had taught me at Gianna's .

What is he gaining by saying this?

"Why are you telling me all of this?" I asked suspiciously.

For a few seconds, Adam paused, and I could taste the hesitation, heavy in the air. His words were careful. "You remind me a lot of…me. Back in high school." A beat passed. "I feel very…protective of you."

By yanking me into a pool?

I made the crucial mistake of opening my eyes to tell him to get to fixing the door. I didn't mean to. It was a natural instinct, but that instinct was a costly one. I got a full sight of Adam Russell, completely naked.

Water dripped down his face, clean and fresh in the light. His muscles…oh my god. A sculptor perfected them. They weren't crazy defined like the bodybuilders in the gym commercials, they were real and thick and hard to look away from. Hard muscle. Well-earned muscle.

My pulse raced. My mouth dried.

And then my eyes flickered down even lower.

His cock .