Page 40 of Once Upon a Boyband
“Laney, please wait.”
Adam catches my hand, holding it with a gentle firmness that brings me slightly back to earth. I let him tug me back to the bench, where he drops my hand and wraps both palms around my shoulders. He’s wearing a bright red baseball cap, frayed around the edges, and blue flannel over a white t-shirt. It’s how I’m used to him looking. How he’s looked all these months he been coming into the office, all the times I’ve imagined him in my mind.
“This doesn’t change anything,” he says softly. “I’m still me. I just…have a slightly more complicated job history.”
I huff out a laugh. “That’s one way to put it.”
His lips lift in a tiny half grin that makes my heart pinch, because suddenly, I see it.
IseeDeke.
Honestly, I have no idea how I didn’t see it before. The similarities are so obvious. Those intense blue eyes and thick lashes, his cheekbones and the pronounced curve of his upper lip. I stared at Deke’s sixteen-year-old face every day for three years, every time I walked into my room. I can see that face now, or at least a shadow of it, hidden inside this manlier version, but he really does look different.
“It’s why you wear the beard,” I say, and he nods.
“I like the beard, but yeah. It covers a lot.”
The beardisa good disguise. And the hats and the flannel and the height, but now that Iknow,there’s no denying it’s him. I feel ridiculous for missing it. For talking to him all this time without thinking, even once, that he looked like Deke Driscoll. He even told me his last name, and I didn’t get suspicious, didn’t make any kind of connection.
But then, why would I? Why would it ever occur to me that Deke would behere,of all places?
“Can you sit here for one more second?” Adam asks. “Let me take care of Freddie, then we can talk.”
When I nod, he quickly stands and runs down the stairs, saying something to Freddie too quiet for me to hear. While I watch, the only thing I can think about is how, when I drove over here, the hope in my heart was that I might be around long enough to see Adam and get the goodbye I wanted at the end of our date. Thenext timehe promised.
If Freddie hadn’t shown up, I might have.
And then I would have kissed Deke Driscoll.
Adam and Freddie make their way up the stairs together, where Freddie says a quick hello to Sarah and gives her a hug. Over his shoulder, she meets my eye and makes a face like she can’t quite believe what’s happening.
It’s a small thing, but it goes a long way to making me feel better about my own reaction. She’s Deke’s sister—Adam’s sister? I’m not sure how to think of him now—and she’s still freaking out? Maybe I can give myself a pass for the number of minutes I’ve spent mute, staring at the wooden slats of the porch, trying not to throw up.
Freddie offers me a hesitant, “Nice to meet you, Laney,” before he disappears inside, then Adam gestures for Sarah to follow.
“No way,” she says once the door is closed between us and Freddie. “Not until you explain to me why he thinks Laney is your fiancée.”
I raise my hand. “Yes, please. Me too. I would also like to know the answer to that question.”
Adam sighs. “I can explain toyou,” he says, looking at me, “butyouneed to go. Either inside with Freddie or out to the barn or anywhere that isn’t here.” This last part he delivers to Sarah with an older brother firmness that makes her scowl. They stare at each other, some kind of wordless communication passing between them until Sarah finally caves. “Ugh, fine. I think I'll go check on the dogs,” she says pointedly. “It will probably take me a very long time.”
And then, finally, I’m alone with Adam.
Alone withDeke.
The first thought that pops into my head is utterly and completely ridiculous. If, by some miracle, I really do find myself in a position to kisstheAdam Deacon Driscoll, I will never—and I meannever—admit how many times I kissed his poster first.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Adam
Freaking Freddie Ridgefield.
This is not how I thought Laney would find out about my past.
Now, it looks like I kept it from her, like I didn’t want her to know. And the fiancée thing...I did not expect that to come back to bite me. But I should have known. I should have expected Kevin would tell Freddie, at least, if not Leo and Jace.
That doesn’t explain how Freddie figured out where I live. Property records? A private investigator? He has the resources, so I wouldn’t put it past him.
