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“Tonight?”
“Movie night,” Zariah sang, dabbing the paint on the wall.
I blinked. “Movie night?”
“Ryan rented out the rooftop theater for us,” Kassie said. “It’s going to be super fun. Cowboy movie for the rodeo. Lots of food, lots of drinks—”
“Ugh. I don’t ever want to drink again,” I mumbled.
“Adam’s bringing the sodas,” Kassie finished, with a knowing look my way.
Of course, Adam would be there.
The rest of my day included classes and programming study groups. But I needed to talk to Adam. And I wanted an actual conversation with him. Not pretending like nothing happened.
“Hey?” Kassie bumped her shoulder with mine and dropped her voice. “Can you swing by six o’clock? Help me set up?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Of course.”
75
Adam
Too Far And Too Heavy
With boxes of soda under my arms, I flashed my student ID to the security guard. I had to drive to the grocery store after class. But it wasn’t like I had something else going on anyway.
I fucked it up with Piper.
I tried to push past the shitty feeling that kept me zoning out in class and made me slow around the track in the mornings. All the effort to keep her from finding out, wasted. Piper found out. And I’d blown up in her face about it.
Great. Just fantastic.
The lobby was busy, and I pushed past the crowd to hit the elevator. Some people tried to call me. Adam Russell this. Marrs Manwhore that. I ignored all of them and pressed the elevator button again. If I could go back in time and stop the fuck-up, I’d do it in a second. If there was anything I could do to stop Piper from finding out, I would’ve taken that chance every time.
“Goddammit,” I muttered under my breath.
“Hey!” Kassie slid up next to me with her backpack in hand. “What’s up?”
“Illustrator-in-Chief.” I nodded and stepped inside with her.
It took me a second to realize what was wrong. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen Kassie without Ryan or Ryan without Kassie or the two of them not making heart-eyes at each other and grossing out everyone in a ten-mile radius. But the elevator doors shut. No Ryan.
I frowned. “Where’s Ryan?”
“Oh, he’s…uh…” Kassie cleared her throat and waved her hand. “I talked to Piper.”
I couldn’t help it. I straightened up, unable to hide my interest. “What do you mean? What about?”
“The rodeo.”
The rodeo?
I tried to keep how much it impacted me out of my voice. The last thing I wanted in the world was for Kassie to connect how much I needed Piper. I had to stay casual. “What about the rodeo?”
“We were volunteering at the park,” Kassie told me as the elevator rose to the top floor. “Piper said she’s real into the whole cowboy aesthetic. I’m talking, that’s what gets her heart pounding, you know? Big hat, belt buckle, boots, everything. Isn’t that interesting?”
Cowboy aesthetic? Really?
