Page 12 of Crave

I swallowed. “Yeah.”

“That was all about sexual tension?” she screeched. “You were hot for each other this whole time and I had no idea!”

I grabbed for her hand but she snatched it away, glaring. “Please, listen, Elle. I know you’re pissed. I know you feel betrayed. I’ve been wanting to tell you forever but it was like everything happened at once. I always had feelings for Adam but I couldn’t understand exactly what they were. And I did love Max. That was never a lie. I feel differently about both of them.”

Elle moaned and rubbed her temples. “I’m trying here, Landon. But I’m freaking out big time.Big time.”

“Can I explain? Tell you the whole story?”

She nodded.

I launched into my re-telling of our relationship, leading up to Max’s cheating, and the night we spent together. I glossed over the intense, obsessive parts of our sex life and the idea I may be in love. That could wait till the next time. Finally, I left off from yesterday, when we spent the night together again and decided we’d launch our relationship in public.

“I need rum in this Coke,” Elle announced. “A lot.”

“No one else knows except you. Not Gabby or Daisy or any of the guys.”

“Why didn’t you trust me enough to tell me earlier? I could have helped you sort things out. I feel kind of…hurt.”

This time, I grabbed her hand and refused to let go. “Elle, I love you. You are the sister I never had. I swear to God, I was so confused, I couldn’t confess the secret because I didn’t even realize how deep my feelings for Adam went. It wasn’t until Max cheated that I realized the truth. Neither of us were prepared for this. Sure, maybe we figured we’d blow off some steam with a one-nighter. But it’s more than that. It’s more than anything I’ve felt before.”

“Holy crap. Are you in love with him?”

I tried to deny it but fell silent. “I don’t know,” I said honestly. “He’s leaving for LA and I have to filmDumped. We’ll be apart for a while. I figured we’d wait to see what happened and then tell the group. We don’t want to hide longer than that. It may give everyone a chance to reset after Max and I broke up.”

Elle stared at me hard, searching for my face. “Does anyone suspect?”

“Not yet.”

“Max is going to lose his mind, Landon. So are the rest of the guys. This may not go well.”

I groaned and buried my face in my hands. “I know. But maybe Max will get a new girlfriend and it won’t be as bad,” I said hopefully.

Elle rolled her eyes. “Doubtful. He thinks if he’s cool for a while, he can charm you back into his bed.”

“Never going to happen.”

“Can I ask you a serious question?”

“Anything,” I said.

“Is this all really worth it? What if you just sleep together until you both leave? Maybe it will be out of your system. Maybe you’ll fall for someone onDumpedand he’ll fall for some groupie in LA? Maybe you don’t have to blow everything up?”

The idea of Adam hooking up with anyone made me want to scream, but after last night’s physical proof of how we belonged to each other, I believed in him and our vows. “I don’t think so.”

“Oh, my God. This is serious. I’ve never seen you react this way about a guy before. I can’t believe I didn’t see any of it.”

“Maybe you were too busy banging Coop all over town in public?” I teased, desperate to get back on good footing again.

She narrowed her gaze. “I’m still mad.”

“Sorry. Elle, I need you. Because I have another question that’s been bothering me. Adam asked me to go to LA with him instead of filming the show.”

“What!”

“I know. He’s not that sold on reality tv for furthering my career. Said he’s afraid they’ll make me look dumb and I’ll regret having that stigma forever.”

Elle tilted her head, considering. “He’s not entirely wrong,” she said bluntly. “Every time I take a role, I know there’s a certain way they want me to be. If you’re going to be the gorgeous, dumb blonde on a hook-up, that’s the way they want to slant the story for more viewers.”