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"I don’t tell people about it because I think…" He placed the cover on the box of cookies. "I think people think if my parents and I have a conversation, everything could be fixed. And I know you and your parents are close. And believe me—it’s—it’s fucking great."
He took a deep breath and a cool breeze washed over us.
"And I know you see the bright side of everything and all that stuff. And it’s one of my favorite things about you. But—uh—I don’t think it’s in the best interest to—you know—reconcile. It’s shitty to say. I get it. They’re my parents. I know I should be—"
“They can kick rocks,” I said, my voice a little shaky.
Adam glanced over with his eyebrows raised. “What?”
Anger rang through my words. “To put you through that when you were a child is inexcusable. They treated you like a pack mule. And I don’t care if you never, ever want to speak to them again.”
My breathing started coming out harder and faster. Angry tears welled up, and I hurried to brush them away.
“You didn’t deserve to be treated like that.” My voice was thick. “Nobody should ever treat you like that ever again. Ever.”
I had never seen Adam look more shocked. He seemed unsure of what to say or what to do. He was frozen in place.
But I knew exactly what to do.
I threw my arms around his neck and pulled the six-foot-four football player down for a hug, squeezing him tight. There wasn’t anything better I could give. There wasn’t anything I could say. But I wanted Adam to know that even if his parents were out of the picture, he still had people in his corner.
He still had me.
But Adam didn’t move.
77
Adam
The Hug
Piper hugged me.
I couldn’t move an inch while she buried her face against my chest, holding me tight. She was hugging me, and I felt like a complete fucking moron because I didn’t know what to do. I’d hugged plenty of people before. More people hugged me after games than I even hugged them. But this was different. This was Piper. This was my ice princess.
Do something, dude.
I reached down and wrapped my arms around her, engulfing her in an embrace. Part of me still couldn’t believe it. Piper, in her G-rated way of speaking, said my parents could go fuck themselves. And here she was, hugging me tight. Like I was the one who needed to be looked after, not her.
I held her and, too soon, it was over. She pulled away, with a hand on my chest, gazing up with those gray eyes sparkling in the lights of the city.
My heartbeat slowed down. I could feel it throughout my body. It’d be so easy to grab her chin and tilt her head up, catching her lips for another kiss. But that wasn’t why I told her the story.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said,” I said, my voice low.
Her fingertips drew along my chest. “What you said?”
“Ice princess, I said you weren’t my friend. And that’s not true.” I moved away from her. If I could get some distance between us, I’d avoid doing something stupid. Something to ruin everything. “Piper, you’re my—my—” Nothing really captured how I felt about her. “Friend. A good friend.”
“Friends,” Piper echoed.
“Yeah. Yep. Good…buddies.”
Fuck me. This is painful.
But what was even more painful was the idea of pushing Piper away again. It’d been horrible without her. I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize her being in my life. Nothing would shove her out. Not even how badly I wanted to kiss her and touch her.
I wanted to keep her in my life even more. Even if it meant I was going to die from blue ball syndrome.
