Page 56 of Her Greatest Adventure

Addie’s gaze turns sharp on the brunette, dangerously so. “What are your names?”

“Luna.”

“Lily,” the first girl says softly.

“Right. Well, Luna, respectfully, if Noah wanted you to know about his personal life, he wouldn’t feel the need to have a separate personal account. So, no, I will not be giving it to you.”

“So, you admit there is one.”

It’s me that says, “Yeah. There is. Now, please drop it.”

Slowly, the girls look at me, surprised, as if having missed me entirely. I can’t blame them for not noticing me when Adalyn is right there.

“Cooper White,” Lily whispers to herself, quickly glancing away, face an even deeper shade of red. “Maddox’s best friend.”

Adalyn kicks me subtly beneath the table, rolling her eyes when I look at her. I wink before looking back at Lily.

“Do you want me to take a photo of you and Addie?” I ask.

Nodding erratically, she shoves the phone toward me. “Please.”

As if we’ve all had the same collective thought, we don’t give Luna any more attention. Clearly, she’s not as nice of a person as her friend.

Adalyn stands and wraps her arm around the nicer of the two, and I quickly snap a few photos of them, knowing one would never suffice in girl world. Amelia taught me that.

“You’re even more beautiful in person,” Lily tells Addie once they break apart. “I just wanted to say that before we left. Sorry if that’s weird.”

I chuckle when Adalyn flushes a soft pink. “Thank you. You’re gorgeous.”

“Oh God. Thank you,” Lily whispers, grinning. Slowly, her eyes land on me, her curiosity obvious. “Are you guys together?”

“Cooper’s my husband,” Adalyn says instantly. A beat later, her eyes go wide, as if realizing what she’s just exposed. “I’m kidding!”

Lily blinks repeatedly, looking incredibly taken aback. I touch my tongue to the back of my teeth before stepping in.

“We’re filming something for her page. A husband-and-wife prank.”

Adalyn winces, a silent apology in her eyes. I shrug a shoulder, playing it off.

“Right. Well, I can’t wait to see the video. Thank you so much for taking a photo with me,” Lily says, clutching her phone tight to her chest. If she didn’t buy my terrible attempt at a cover-up, she doesn’t show it.

“You’re welcome,” Addie says.

“Come on, Luna.”

I step to Adalyn’s side, and we watch Lily grip Luna’s arm and drag her away. The smirk on the second girl’s face is enough to make my stomach curl.

“Why do I have the sinking feeling that we’re going to wake up tomorrow to a thousand phone calls from our families?” Addie asks me.

I ghost a hand over her back, selfishly needing to touch her. “I do too. I suppose we need to get our story straight.”

22

COOPER

My dad wastesno time in calling me the next morning. I step onto the balcony, softly brushing past Adalyn as she tries to calm a frantic Oakley over the phone. She looks beyond exhausted, and I know she barely slept last night, tossing and turning until well past 2:00 a.m. I was doing the same, an uneasy feeling churning my stomach until I thought I’d have to sleep on the bathroom floor.

The news broke early this morning. A viral tweet featuring a very zoomed-in, grainy photo of Adalyn and me, her hand in mine as I kiss her knuckles. The tweeter drew a circle around Adalyn’s ring finger, over the tattoo we share.

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