Page 89 of Once Upon a Boyband
A wave of embarrassment washes over me, which is silly. I’ve never hidden my fandom from Adam. I told him I wrotefanfictionand admitted to kissing his poster before I went to bed every night. Nothing in this room should surprise him.
Still, imagining what it must feel like for him to see it like this all at once, in all its pink and sparkly glory, makes me feel foolish in a way I never have before.
“I know it’s a lot,” I say.
“It’s definitelysomething.”
“I’m going to tell my mom she needs to redecorate,” I say. “She can turn the room into an office or something.”
He nods. “Good idea.” His expression shifts the slightest bit. “Pack up the past for good.”
His words give me pause. What does that mean? Pack up the past for good? And what on earth happened in the past twelve hours to shift his thinking so completely?
“Adam, please tell me what happened,” I say.
He shakes his head. “I just need to get home. Clear my head.”
I want to protest, to beg him to stay with me, but I wouldbe asking him to stayfor me,and I’m not sure that’s what he needs. It’s definitely not what hewants.
So I swallow my protests and nod. “Okay. If you’re sure you’ll be okay.”
“It’s going to be better now,” he says. “The drama, the attention. We won’t have to deal with that anymore. No more feeling like spiders are crawling all over your skin.”
Even though I’ve been stressing about the attention all day long, his words don’t bring the relief I think he wants them to. Not if saying them means he’s quitting.
But I know Adam well enough to realize we aren’t going to get anywhere trying to have this conversation tonight, so when he stands and holds out his hand, I let him pull me to my feet, then I gather up Goldie’s things.
Sophie and Mom stand side by side in the kitchen, backs to the refrigerator as we walk through to get Goldie’s food and bowl. I load everything into the bag Adam packed it in this morning—was it really just this morning?—and hand it to him before crouching down to say goodbye to Goldie.
A beat of awkward silence passes before he takes a hesitant step toward the door. He pauses and looks over at my family. “Sorry to come and go like this,” he says. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
Mom manages a tight smile and Sophie blinks and nods, but neither of them say anything.
I follow Adam to the front door and out to his SUV. He opens the back door for Goldie, who jumps right in, then turns to face me, hands tucked into his back pockets.
“When are you coming home?” he asks.
“Tomorrow? I think? I have to work on Monday.”
Adam nods, then holds my gaze before lifting a hand tomy face. “Six seconds,” he whispers, then he presses a lingering kiss to my lips.
As soon as he pulls back, he lets me go, then climbs into his car and drives off into the darkness.
I sigh and sink onto Mom’s front stoop. His six-second goodbye kiss was a gift after everything else—a message that says he’s still in this with me.
But I still don’t like feeling so helpless. Whatever is hurting him, I want to help. I want to make this better for him.
I pull out my phone and text Freddie.
Laney
Sorry to hang up so quickly. Adam actually showed up here.
Freddie
For real? Did you talk to him?
Laney
