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“Wouldn’t dream of it. You’re twenty-one years old,” Adam said with a smirk. “You’re reckless, you’re adventurous. Don’t worry about stuff spilling on the floor. That’s my job.”
“Oh. That’s why you’re here?” I asked and tried to sit down. Adam wrapped a hand around my waist before I could.
“That’s the floor, ice princess. You have a nice dress on.”
“I forgot.”
“Okay, come on, over here.” Adam led me over to a few of the barstools. “Sit down.”
“We need another drink.”
He raised his eyebrows. “I don’t think we do.”
“How about we get one and figure it out when we have it?”
“Solid plan,” Adam complimented me, which was so incredibly nice until I had the sneaking suspicion that he was making fun of me. It was either instinctual or because he was snickering. One or the other. He leaned back against the bar again. “You can bounce back, Piper. Trust me. I did.”
A soft laugh escaped me, tapering off when I realized he was serious. “You did what?”
“I bounced back.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s the same thing you’re going to do.”
“What do you mean, bounce back?”
“I had a…similar thing happen.”
Staring intently, I realized Adam was a hundred percent serious. I frowned. “I don’t understand.”
For a moment, he watched me, and I realized he was just about as sober as I was. Shower Sex didn’t just get to me. Adam was tipsy. Slowly, he nodded. “I only saw you at a high school party once, sophomore year, because I wasn’t on the football team spring semester.”
I didn’t laugh anymore. “What do you mean?”
“Simple explanation.” Adam smiled without humor. “I got kicked off the team.”
Stunned, I blinked, trying to put it together. That didn’t make any sense. How could he play in college without the high school credentials? Was he messing with me?
“You?” I blinked. “You got…?”
“The only team I wanted to be on was varsity,” he said, dropping his voice low. “And I got that jersey. Every teacher told me I should’ve tried out for JV. You get more playing time with them unless you can prove yourself.” He cocked his head back. “But my high school coach knew I could hack it. I got on varsity with Ryan Cross—this dumbass I’d known since third grade. But with varsity, we weren’t just friends anymore. We were brothers. And for the whole semester, we were tough shit. Only sophomores and we were running that school. Our team dominated the playoffs in December.”
A hard lump hit my throat. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like this story.
Adam sighed, amused at some joke I didn’t understand. “I had a pretty bad accident in January, during an unscheduled practice on the field.” He reached down and tapped the side of his leg. “Tore a bunch of stuff, turned my patella so bad, I had to slam it back in place before the ambulance came.”
My hand went back to my mouth. “You—you hit your bone back into place?”
“It’s easier than looking at it.”
Oh my god. I’m going to be sick.
“That’s…” I gaped. “That’s…”
“I haven’t told anybody this in ages,” he admitted. “But—ah—my high school coach said if I called the ambulance, I wasn’t on the team. That if I wasn’t man enough to grit my teeth through it, I couldn’t play ball.”
“What?” My voice wobbled. “Are you serious?”
“Yep.”
“That’s the…he…the coach you always…mention…?”
