Page 92 of Faded in Bloom (The Seasons Change)

Avoiding his gaze, I nodded once. Adam slid from the bench to kneel in front of me. He took my hands in his and touched his lips to my knuckles, one by one. I looked at the saleswoman. She was focused on Adam, beaming at his romantic gesture. Nausea churned in my belly.

“Adelaide Zala Goodman.” My attention returned to Adam. His blue eyes lasered into mine. “Will you do me the honor of allowing me to slip my ring on your finger?”

My eyes were traitors. Twin tears trailed down my cheeks. Adam noticed. Of course he did. He’d barely blinked since he’d fallen to his knees. Reaching up, he swiped my tears away with his thumb.

“What’s that about?” he murmured.

“Nothing,” I rasped quietly.

Could I do this? Did I have much choice? My father would ruin The Seasons Change if I revealed Adam had lied. That we weren’t really engaged. That all of this was a farce.

Without thinking about it, I knew my answer. I would never allow other people to be hurt because of me. Iris and the band belonged on stage. They deserved their fame. No way could I screw that up for them.

“Yes.” I pushed my left hand forward. “I will.”

Adam pumped his fist, then he slowly slid the most beautiful ring in the world onto my finger. It fit like it was made for me, which only added insult to injury.

“Perfect.” He grinned at me, and it warmed the center of my chest, despite the hopelessness pushing at my edges. “It looks perfect on you, Adelaide.”

“Yeah.” I stared down at the ring and had to agree. The rose gold was warm against my skin, and on my long fingers, the diamond didn’t look too big. In fact, it looked just right. “I love it.”

“Yes.” He pumped his fist. “You have no idea how happy that makes me.”

He helped me stand then pulled me into his arms. I let him hug me, and I hugged him back. This was a show. It wasn’t real. So maybe I melted a little, but that was just to make it more authentic.

If things were different, if Adam could have loved me, this was how I would have wanted us to get engaged. Choosing the ring together, a quiet proposal, a hug I felt down to my bones. If this were real, it really would have been perfect.

It wasn’t, though. It never would be.

Adam took me to a casual Italian restaurant near our apartment building—hisapartment building. We’d been there several times together, enough that the hostess greeted us with a genuine smile and seated us in the booth she always did. Though, this time, Adam settled across from me instead of parking next to me.

Wine was poured and our orders were taken before Adam started his inquisition. Fortunately, his first topic wasn’t very scary.

“What are the classes you’re taking?”

I sucked in a breath and wrapped my fingers around my wineglass. “I’m taking music production courses. I have been since the fall.”

His brow dipped. “You’ve been lying to me all this fucking time?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because it was my thing and I didn’t want anyone to know. I didn’t think I’d ever stop working for my dad, so it was pointless, but I wanted to do it anyway. And I thought, if I failed, you’d be let down.”

He stared at me without moving or even blinking. The corner of his jaw ticced, then he inhaled deeply.

“I don’t like that. That’s absolute bullshit. I must've messed up somewhere along the way for you to believe that of me. For that, I’m sorry, Adelaide.”

I shook my head. “No. You don’t need to be sorry. It was my brain telling me those things, not your behavior.”

“I’m pretty cut up you kept that from me. Makes me think I failed as a friend for not even suspecting. I mean, I knew you were hiding something—”

“You did?” I’d been hiding a lot. A hell of a lot. And all I had was piles of bloody butterfly carcasses to show for it.

“Yeah, I did.” His exhale made the candle in the middle of the table flicker. “I thought you were keeping a boyfriend from me. Never would have guessed it was this. I think this is better. I wish you would’ve told me, though. I’d have cheered for you. I’d have been proud of you. No, Iamproud of you.”

“No boyfriend. I—”

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