Mayhem

Adam nods, letting the syrup soak in before he adds a second layer, just like I do. It makes me smile. “Yeah,” he says, “you’re coming to our show that Saturday.”

“I am?”

Shawn laughs, and Adam smiles, sliding his shades up onto his head. “Yep. You’ve even got a backstage pass.”

“Just one?” I’d really like to bring Dee with me, and maybe Leti.

“Or fifty. How many do you want?”

I chuckle and sip my coffee. If Adam wants me to go with him to Mayhem, I’ll be there.

I exchange numbers and hugs with the rest of the band before Adam drives me home, reserving my biggest hugs for Shawn and Mike. This trip would’ve been so awkward if it weren’t for how awesome they both are. I’m glad Adam wants me to keep hanging around once in a while, because if he didn’t, I’d definitely miss them.

We’ve been on the road for a while, the wind blowing through my hair—which I’ve left down for the first time in days—when Adam says, “So I managed to not pin you to the bed and have my way with you last night.” My throat closes, and I stare over at him. His shades are back down, and one side of his mouth is curled up in a sexy smile. “Are you proud of me?”

I half chuckle, half choke. “Yes, Adam, I’m very proud of you.”

“Because friends don’t sleep with their friends, right?”

Okay, now I know he’s just giving me a hard time. A really, really, really hard freaking time. “Right.”

“I mean, not that much sleeping would’ve been going on, but—”

“Adam!”

“Right.” He chuckles and pulls a cigarette from his pack, lighting it. “So do you think I’m going to pass this test tomorrow?”

“I think you’d better.” After all the studying we’ve done? If he doesn’t pass, I’m going to use our French textbook to beat him senseless.

“You don’t think we need another late-night tutoring session?”

As appealing as that sounds, I’ve been psyching myself up for saying goodbye to Adam all morning, and I feel like I need to pull the Band-Aid off before I lose my nerve. He’s said he’ll keep in touch, but once we’re back to real life and he’s swamped by all of the pretty, familiar faces that follow him around every day, I wonder how long it will take mine to fade from his memory. Now that I’m no longer Peach from Mayhem—and I’m just Peach, the girl who won’t sleep with him—he really has no reason to give me the time of day.

“Nah, I think you’ve got it covered,” I say, forcing a smile at him. “I have faith in you.”

“Careful, Peach,” he warns, glancing over at me. “Famous last words.”

I roll my eyes. “Faith or not, if you don’t pass this test, those are going to be your last words.”

Adam chuckles and rests his elbow on the door. “You’re kind of a violent little thing, aren’t you?”

“What can I say, you bring out the worst in me.”

He gazes over at me again, the seductive look in his eyes making me blush again. “Do I now?”

I distract myself by fumbling my phone out of my purse and checking my messages. Dee texted me to tell me that she misses my annoying face and to remind me that my daisies will “wither and DIE” if I don’t water them regularly. I snicker and move on to Leti’s text next.

Dee said you might wanna stay with me this week?

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit.

Leti’s text is a giant red flag. Dee wouldn’t have messaged him unless this business with her RA has gotten serious. I chew on my thumbnail as my useless brain tries to devise some type of game plan. I can’t go back to Dee’s, but I don’t want Leti to run into the same problems. And his roommate kind of gives me the creeps . . . Ugh. This is such bullshit. I wouldn’t even be in this position if it wasn’t for Brady. And now he has our two-bedroom apartment all to himself.

There’s really only one choice.

When we get close to school, Adam asks me where to, and I tell him to take a right. “But this isn’t the way to the dorms,” he notes, his eyebrow lifting in question.

“I know.”

“Where am I taking you?”

I sigh, running my clammy palm over the cold leather of his armrest. “Dee’s RA gave her a notice that I can’t stay there with her anymore. So I guess I’m going back to my apartment.”

“To your ex . . .”

During the car ride, I’d told Adam the basics on Brady—that we dated for three years in high school, that we moved here together, that I never suspected him of cheating until that disastrous night at Mayhem. Adam had been uncharacteristically silent, listening without saying much.

“Yeah,” I answer. Our apartment has two bedrooms, so I guess I’ll just stay in my old room.

He stares ahead for a long time, and so do I. “Are you sure?” he finally asks me.

Hell no I’m not sure. But I don’t really have any other options, now do I? “Yeah, I’m sure.”

Chapter Twenty

I SIT IN Adam’s passenger seat nervously wringing my hands in my lap until I bite the bullet and grab my backpack from the backseat. The trunk is popped, so I’m just going to grab my things and head in. I turn toward Adam, prepared to say my final goodbye, when he opens his door and gets out.

Okay . . . this is not how I planned this going. I had a clear vision in my head. I’d smile, nod, say I had fun, then tell him I’d see him in class on Monday. Thirteen words, tops. “Thanks.” “I had a lot of fun this weekend.” “I’ll see you tomorrow.” I recited them in my head a hundred times on the way here so that I wouldn’t go blank or stutter when it came time to say them, but then that jerk had to go and get out of the damn car.