Page 22 of Sky Full of Stars

“Please don’t say that,” he holds up a hand. “It’s okay, but it was a nice kiss.”

I bite my lip and look at the door.

“Goodnight, Jenna. I’ll see you in the morning,” he smiles.

I watch him walk away, his hands tucked in his pockets. Am I completely insane? He is a nice guy and he’s here, in the flesh. Adam is words on a phone. I don’t even know where he is. I’m totally screwed.

There is no message from Adam, so I decide to sit down with Elle’s book and carry on reading. I’ve always liked her books. When I say she writes mildly erotic romance, it can be steamier than that, sometimes downright filthy. I’d just gotten to one of those parts before we left Indianapolis. Getting comfortable on the bed I start reading. My head goes to the kiss. But it’s not Kevin kissing me in my mind. I’ve only seen Adam’s face once. It’s not exactly hazy, he’s hard to forget. And his hands on my back both times he touched me were big and strong. I put the book down and let my hand lower to the waist band of my jeans, eyes squeezed tight, thinking of his hands. I go lower, inside my underwear, moving my hand where it needs to go. I tip my head back, imagining it’s him and he’s here and it doesn’t take long before I clench around my fingers, lost in the moment.

Then my phone pings. I cry out, both in surprise and satisfaction. I lay back and laugh. It’s been a while since I did that. My hair is in disarray and my heart pounding. I wonder if I should tell him what I just did, but my cheeks burn at the thought, we are so not there.

Adam: Ten minutes to go and I’m still struggling

I get off the bed and go to the bathroom, washing my hands, looking at myself. It’s plainly obvious on my face what I just did.

Me: It was a thought-provoking question… sorry

Adam: That’s why I like talking to you, you make me think, you don’t ask stupid questions everyone else has already asked me a million times before

Me: I don’t mind if you need longer

Adam: No I said by the end of the day, so…okay, here goes…I’m eighteen years old. I live in White Plains, normal sized home, garden, front drive with a basketball hoop. My mom, dad and sister are inside. I’m shooting hoops with my dog, Blaze. Don’t underestimate how good my dog was at that sport, Slugger. Sure his shots never actually went in but boy could he dribble.

I smile at the visual. This isn’t what I thought he was going to tell me.

Adam: It was the day before my life changed. Not in a bad way, what happened after has been amazing, I like my life, despite how busy I am, but that day was the last normal one. I argued with Keira, my sister over the TV. She wanted to watch some reality shit and I wanted to watch the baseball. Crazy, I know but we only had one TV in our house. I won, in case you’re wondering. She was little, she couldn’t reach the remote. Dad swatted me on the back of the head and turned it off though. She called me a very rude name under her breath. I laughed, then she laughed and we were friends again, just like that. I haven’t seen Keira in almost three months. We talk on the phone but it’s not the same. It’s a pretty unexciting memory but the next day I went to a meeting and my life changed.

I sat on the bathroom floor, my back leant against the wall beside the shower stall. I couldn’t help but wonder how his life had changed so much that a memory like this meant a lot to him.

Me: Thanks for sharing that, it’s very sweet

Adam: It was sappy as fuck, but it was good to remember, thank you for that

Me: You’re welcome. Goodnight, Adam

Adam: Sweet dreams, Slugger

My suitcase caught up with us in Dallas thankfully. Kevin didn’t try anything else and we moved passed it without too much awkwardness. I spoke to Izzy regularly about how the tour was going and how Ada was doing. I was glad to hear she was responding well to treatment. I talk every other night to Brooke and every time I do, I think of telling her about Adam, but always hold my tongue. What I have with him is private. I couldn’t stop thinking about his words and not just the story about his family. When he said ‘you don’t ask stupid questions that everyone else hasn’t already asked me a million times before’

Maybe he interacts with a lot of people in his job. Maybe he didn’t really mean anything by it and I’m reading too much into it but I am really confused about what his job could be. And what happened when he was eighteen to completely change his life. I imagine all sorts of things. Without knowing anything but his first name I can’t look him up, even though part of me thought I wouldn’t do that anyway, I want him to tell me who he really is.

Adam texted periodically but told me travel was so tight right now he’d contact me when he could. I never made first contact, I always waited for him. He knew my schedule but never elaborated on his.

We had been through Dallas, Phoenix and were finally headed to LA. I couldn’t wait to get to the beach. The tour had been so successful, Elle was considering hitting Europe far more seriously. I missed home, it was hard to find anywhere to train while on the road, all I’d managed to do was go to hotel gyms and keep up the conditioning and weight work. I needed to box. I researched boxing gyms in LA, and managed to find something that could work, I was really looking forward to it.

The hotel in LA is much fancier than any of the others, we decided to have some luxury on our last stop before we flew back to New York. We had a free day before the final book signing so I went to find the boxing gym.

The owner was a nice guy, buff, young, clearly interested in why I was there, but I just wanted to box. It was an old school gym, the way I liked it with well used equipment that looked as if it had been a long time hanging there and seen many fists. I spent two hours giving everything I had to the bag and felt amazing when I left. I strolled along Santa Monica Beach to the pier.

Taking off my workout gear to reveal my bikini, I lay on the beach for a while, propped up on my elbows, watching people going by. It is beautiful out here by the ocean but I am missing home. For the first time since we set out, I am looking forward to it ending.

A text from Adam surprises me.

Adam: Almost time to go home

Me: You read my mind

Adam: Homesick?

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