50

Piper

Miles Away From Anything He's Sent Me

I returned to the notes, hurrying to write down the next slide before it disappeared. That wasn't a problem with the speed our presentation crept along. It was like watching a driver go ten miles an hour on the outer loop. The slowest meeting in the world.

My phone buzzed.

a-dam fine man: i wont be a dick

a-dam fine man: promise

I gazed at the message for a beat too long and went back to my notes.

Adam could single-handedly be the most annoying person in the room, and he excelled at it. He could get an Olympic medal in it. But sometimes, he could be so…thoughtful. And he wasn't doing it for brownie points, and he wasn't doing it to make up for something like Thomas used to after he screamed at me in the car.

Adam could be just so sweet. Effortlessly sweet.

"You have a mandatory time of six hours to volunteer at the rodeo," the presenter reminded us, jolting me out of my thoughts. "But if anyone wants to sign up for additional time, you can pick up a limited number to cover one of your overnight shifts at the dorms."

Everybody perked up at that.

I hadn't had my first one yet, but it was just around the corner. And I'd gladly take another shift at the rodeo instead of an overnight shift though. It was a no-brainer.

Everybody started pulling out their phones to sign up when another text popped up.

a-dam fine man: crawfish boil this weekend with the guys

My fingers stilled on the keys, but I bypassed his message and scanned through the volunteer shifts.

"What are you guys doing?" I whispered out of the corner of my mouth.

"Bull-riding assistant," Zariah instantly said, clicking on her phone. "All the rodeo guys are hot. I'll ride one of those bulls."

June sighed. "I can't volunteer, I work the whole thing. You should do the petting zoo though, it's a lot of baby animals and cute kids."

"No hot cowboys at the petting zoo," Zariah pointed out.

"There's a drawback to everything," I teased. "I guess I have to grin and bear it."

"More hot cowboys for me."

I giggled and the presenter continued once everyone signed up for their shifts. But I didn't put away my phone. Adam's text disappeared, but it was still in the back of my mind.

This upcoming weekend was parents' weekend. And mine were super excited about it. My dad had called me the day before to figure out what he was supposed to back from home, my favorite snacks, a few other blankets, and pictures from the family. But the thing was, telling Adam hadn't…happened yet.

I started typing and deleted it.

Okay. What do I say?

My parents weren't on social media. They had no idea about any of this, especially Adam himself. Half of me was scared about what my parents would say about Adam. The other half wondered why I was scared.

I typed up another message to Adam and backspaced again while June went to the front of the room to give her part of the PowerPoint presentation.

Oh my god. Why am I freaking out about this?

"Who are you texting?" Zariah whispered next to me and I fumbled with my phone.

"Nobody," I blurted out.

Leaning forward with her eyebrows raised as far as they could, Zariah gave me the longest look in the world. The kind of look that cracked people under pressure. And I was a plushie stuffed animal, not up to the task. She shifted forward, still staring hard, trying to get me to break, and it was so hard not to give in.

Why can't I just tell her it's Adam?

A wicked grin tugged up on Zariah's lips. "Oh, I see."

No. Please don't see .

"And we have Zariah Contractor to help talk about outreach," June announced.

Zariah's grin disappeared, and she threw a suggestive glance my way before getting up to take her place by the projector.

I breathed out a sigh of relief. Finally, I could text Adam back and end the conversation. I needed to focus on the meeting.

Piper Fontaine: You're texting a lot for someone who should be doing homework.

Okay. Done . Pointed message sent.

a-dam fine man: listening to a textbook at the gym

I rolled my eyes.

Piper Fontaine: Sure.

Piper Fontaine: You're not just goofing off?

a-dam fine man: nope

The picture popped up in an instant, as fast as anything else he'd sent me, but this was miles away from anything he'd ever sent me before. Adam was sitting on one of the exercise machines, legs stretched out, all relaxed and comfortable, with a Romans t-shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants that hugged his thighs and his calves.

My eyes widened.

Everything about him was muscle.

He wasn't even flexing and his arms were a dream, the sliver of his thick biceps poking out from the sleeves. And his hands. Oh my god, I knew how big his hands were. I'd felt them around my throat, on my hip, trailing down my thighs. Adam had effortlessly played my body, holding me up, pinning me back against him.

My breathing labored with the memory.

I had nudes that were less erotic than this. The self-confident pose, lounging on the exercise machine that seemed too small for him. My six-foot-four football player looked so hot.

My football player?

"Did you see what Adam—what in the hell? " Zariah hissed at me. She notched her knee on her chair, dipping down close to me. I yanked away my phone without a second to spare. It fell down to my lap, and Zariah and I said our apologies quickly to the people around us, settling back to sit for the presentation.

But I could feel her eyes burning a hole in the side of my skull.

"Adam did what?" I whispered out of the corner of my mouth.

"Who the fuck sent you that? "

I hurried to shake my head. "What'd Adam do?"

She showed me her phone under the desk and I caught just a glimpse of a screenshot of the football team's group chat.

Ryan #2 Cross: if you don't bleed on the track what's the point

ryan cross 13: More laps!!!!!! Run another mile!!!!!

Ryan 35: guys come on if you speak you aren't going hard enough

Ryan Cross: SOMEBODY BETTER TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON

Ryan Cross: WHATS GOING ON

4-a-cross: more laps bros! More laps!

Zariah shook her head. "Adam had everybody change their names to Ryan's and they're psychologically torturing him right now, but I could not care less, Ms. Piper Fontaine." Her voice dropped. " Who the hell sent you that? "