Page 84 of My Cosplay Escape
He pulls away. “We can’t do this.”
“Why not?” I say in a voice so rough I hardly recognize it as my own. “We both want to.”
Adam is out of breath. “I can’t kiss you and pretend that you’re someone else under the mask. It’s not fair to anyone.”
I pull him back to my lips. He’s found the hinge of my jaw and kisses it until I shudder. “And I can’t kiss you and pretend that I’m someone else too?” I ask. Although it sounds more like begging.
Adam squeezes me tighter. He has a hand on my back and one on my thigh. “I’m seeing someone. A real person.”
I move my hand from his heart to low on his hip. My tongue is thrusting against his. Goldfish, I’ve never kissed anyone like this. I’ve never wanted to kiss anyone like this. “Everyone wears masks, Adam.” I whisper the words. “Some are just easier to see.”
He groans against my lips. So I focus on his neck. I am at a clear advantage, as his is not buried under vinyl. I nip at it gently with my teeth. In an alternate universe, the one where I am not a liar, liar, pants on fire, I find the courage to take off my mask and tell Adam the truth.Hey. It’s me, Sarah. I’m really into you. I have all kinds of feelings for you, but because I screwed up so badly at my first rodeo, it’s easier to just hide behind this mask and make out with you.
“Sabine?”
I must have frozen. I lean in for more kisses, but he pushes me gently back. “Why are you here?”
“I missed you.” Fudge brownies. Is that even true? My face flashes red. I don’t need forty-five minutes of rowing followed by some intervals to get to the bottom of that one. It’s a lie. I’m here because I don’t want Adam to find out my secret. I’m here because I’m scared of what would happen if he did.
Adam’s eyes narrow to slits. His lips—swollen and rimmed in berry-red lipstick—tug into a frown I don’t like.
I slide my feet back to the ground. “I don’t see you much at work anymore. When I do, you hardly look at me. One kiss in your car hardly seems worth that level of avoidance.”
I’m back beside him, making out gently with his neck. “But I could be wrong. Why don’t you ask this real person of yours what she thinks? I’m sure she’ll be wondering why you’re covered in hickeys and lipstick.”
“No, Sabine. Just… no.”
Adam insists on driving me back to the escape room before he disappears.
Stacey is waiting for me, arms folded across her chest. “You didn’t tell him.”
“I tried, but… You’re not going to rat me out?”
“No. But I’m done covering for you. By the way, you better figure out something to say to Mike when he gets back from starring in his play.”
I freeze. “What?”
“Mike and your double left together the night she filled in for you.”
My phone pings. A text on my real-person number.
Adam: Okay. You win. But I can’t stop thinking about you. Brunch tomorrow?
Chapter Twenty-Three
Gwen isn’t returning my calls.
So I text.
Me: Every time I go into work, I have to do the walk of shame for a make-out session I never had.
Gwen: Honey, you were doing some sorta walk of shame without my help.
Me: Just. Why? You made out with a dude in clown makeup. Scary, psycho, Badpun clown makeup, but still.
Gwen: He had nice arms.
Me: What about Tony?
