Emily's POV
"You're ashamed to be seen with me?" He looked genuinely hurt as he asked me that.
His words echoed in my head like a slap, cold and stinging. I turned to face him, my mouth agape.
"What?! No! Adam, it’s not that—”
He looked away, his jaw clenched as he focused on the road ahead.
I reached for his arm, gently. "Please, listen to me. I’m not ashamed of you. That’s not what this is. I just... I don’t want anyone from school to know about this. Not yet."
He stayed silent for a moment, fingers drumming on the steering wheel.
"Because it's a secret, right?" he said, his tone flat.
Before I could reply, my phone rang sharply, slicing through the tension like a blade. I glanced down at the screen. Amanda.
"It’s Amanda," I whispered, mouthing sorry to Adam.
He gave a slight nod but didn’t say anything.
"Hey, Mands," I answered, trying to sound casual.
"Emily! Were you just at Krystal’s Café? I swear I just saw you walking by with some guy."
My eyes widened. "Me? Nah. Must’ve been someone else. I’m home."
She paused for a second. "Huh. Okay. Anyway, I’m coming over later, yeah? We need to talk about Seb. You refused to call me afterwards.”
I swallowed hard. "Yeah, come by. We’ll talk."
"Good. I’ve got a TON of gists for you. You better be ready."
"Looking forward to it," I lied.
The call ended, and I slumped back in my seat.
"Can you take me home?" I asked softly.
Adam just nodded, not uttering a word. The silence between us on the drive was heavy, like thick fog we couldn’t push through. Every now and then, I stole glances at him, trying to read his expression, but he gave me nothing.
When we got to my place, I hesitated before stepping out. "Are you upset with me?"
He shook his head. "No."
I rolled my eyes and smacked his arm lightly. "Liar. You are. I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean it like that."
Finally, a faint smirk tugged at his lips.
"What would you have done if one of your friends saw us together, huh? You think they wouldn’t ask a million questions?" I nudged him again.
He sighed. "They would. And I guess I’d say we were hanging out. No big deal."
"Exactly," I said. "We’ve never really hung out like this before. It would raise eyebrows. And considering I just broke up with Seb, it’d be chaos."
Adam nodded slowly. "You’re right."
"Cool," he said with a wink. "Come on, let’s go in."
We stepped into my apartment, and the familiarity of my space helped ease some of the tension. I tossed my bag on the couch and turned to find Adam staring at me.
"What?" I asked.
He laughed, walking further in. "So, aside from tattoos and bowling, what do you plan to do tomorrow?"
I thought for a moment. "Maybe go thrifting. There's a vintage place downtown I love."
"As you wish, Princess," he said with a mock bow.
I rolled my eyes, laughing. "You’re ridiculous."
He stepped closer and without a word, wrapped his arms around my waist. I let him. His touch was warm, familiar. Strange how quickly I’d grown used to it.
We stared at each other, our faces inches apart. My breath caught in my throat as his eyes locked onto mine.
"You always look at people like that?" I whispered.
"Only the ones I’m about to kiss."
His lips were so close, I could feel the warmth of his breath. When I leaned in, the sound of the doorbell made me jump back like I’d touched fire. My heart thumped.
"Oh, crap," I muttered.
"What’s wrong?"
Before I could answer, a voice called out from the living room.
"Emily! I’m here!"
Amanda.
My eyes went wide, panic flooding my veins. I turned to Adam, who was just as frozen.