AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Breakfast had been fine. Even driving had been fine. But now she was realizing that it had all lulled her into a false sense of security.
Daniel had grabbed her hand. When he did, she couldn’t form a single sentence—not even a thank you. But she could easily agonize over how stupid she must have looked, needing her fake boyfriend to hold her hand in a busy Target so she wouldn’t get lost.
By the time they got out and were walking to the car, her ears were ringing from all the noise.
“How was it so busy on a weekday morning?” Daniel grumbled. “Shouldn’t more people be at work?”
“Vacation town,” she muttered. Her head was pounding.
“I should have just stayed on the island and bought a more expensive one,” he said. “Sorry for dragging you out in this.”
She climbed into the passenger seat. “It’s fine.”
It wasn’t his fault. She was the one who’d gone with him, even though her brain wasn’t working with her. She should have bowed out. She leaned her head back on the headrest and tried to calm down, but her brain felt like static.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” It was a lie, but how else could she explain it in a way that didn’t make her seem . . . crazy.
Amelia could feel his eyes linger on her for a moment, and she wanted to shrink away from his gaze.
“I have a headache,” she admitted as she rubbed her temples. “It just happens sometimes.”
Daniel nodded, staying silent instead of forcing her to keep talking. She leaned her head against the window of the car with her eyes closed, and he drove them back to the condo in silence.
Everything was louder and sharper. Her mind ran too fast and she couldn’t focus.
Usually, her medicine would help her with this, but as she thought about it, she realized she hadn’t taken it yet. It was hours after her usual dosage time.
No wonder she was struggling. Damn it. It was the first thing she needed to do when they got back to the condo.
They pulled in thirty minutes later, and Amelia barely waited for the car to be parked before she dashed upstairs. “Amelia?” John asked. “What are you—”
“Forgot my medicine. Daniel doesn’t know about it, so zip it.” The words rushed out of her, and she went to their room and took it as quickly as she could.
When she turned, she could see John’s pursed lips, and she knew he definitely had something to say about Daniel not knowing about her ADHD.
But, thankfully, he kept his mouth shut.
Daniel walked into the condo, looking at her with concern.
“I just needed to take something for my head.”
John’s eyes widened at the lie, but she ignored him.
“O-okay,” Daniel said. “But you can tell me if I did anything wrong. I can handle it.”
John gestured to Daniel, eyes wide. She could read the message clear as day. He’s nice. Why aren’t you telling him?
But she’d never told him the real ways others had reacted to her ADHD. How even her best friend in college had mentioned the way the medications she took could be abused. How the one person she was supposed to trust the most completely betrayed her.
No. She couldn’t do it again. Not for a real boyfriend, and especially not for a fake one.
“Mom said we were going to a taco shop for dinner,” Amelia said. “Are you going?”
John rolled his eyes at her obvious aversion, but he didn’t outwardly question it. “Maybe. Probably. Are you bowing out?”
“No, I’m fine. My—I mean, the medicine will do its work.”
