Page 56 of Play Maker

Nestled inside sparkly white tissue paper sat a bracelet of shiny faceted beads the same colors as my hair. Interspersed between the beads were plain white letters spelling out#1bestie. Adam got me a bestie bracelet. My heart flopped over so hard I had to press my palm against my chest to take a breath.

Under the bracelet, I found a folded piece of notebook paper. Fleetingly, I wondered if it had come from his Wonder Woman notebook. I hoped so.

Sunshine,

So you never forget I was your first.

Adam

I should have realized right awayit was from Adam. He’d been the one who suggested I call Eva from my room. Gingerly, I slid the elastic over my wrist and admired the colors.

No one had ever given me a present like this before. One steeped in meaning and emotion. Mom’s were always trinkets that made her think of me. Sweet, but she got more out of them than I did.

Adam had picked out this bracelet for me to enjoy. Another first after he’d claimed so many.

The alarm on my phone went off, reminding me I’d run out of time to shower if I wanted to get in my visit with Eva before class. The bracelet glimmered at me, and I considered taking it off along with the shirt of Adam’s I’d stolen to sleep in.

Eva preferred video calls because she liked reading a person’s body language when she talked to them. It was almost as good as mind reading—her words—which meant she’d see my clothes and room. I ran my finger along the beads, then left it on my wrist while I changed. If she asked about it, I’d tell the truth.

I relied heavily on distraction and obscuring my face to hide my thoughts, but the whole point of the morning was to clear my conscience. I’d avoided her video calls up until now because I hadn’t been ready to talk about Adam, and one look at my face would have assured the topic.

With a deep breath, I sent her a video request.

Eva appeared on the screen drinking coffee out of a glass bottle in a gorgeous coastal themed living room. Her blonde hair was piled on top of her head in a wild topknot, and her skin glowed with a deep tan. She looked relaxed and happy.

I knew her parents were wealthy—hello, beach house—but she made it a point not to bring up money. Suddenly, the discrepancy between her life and mine smacked me in the face.

An uninterrupted wall of glass behind her showcased the waves crashing under a bright blue sky. The scene behind me in my tiny video looked sad and dark in comparison. I glanced around my bedroom and realized I’d left the heavy curtains closed after essentially moving into Adam’s room.

With a shake of my head, I leaned over to jerk the material aside, bathing myself in sunlight. Might as well give her a better shot at reading my mind.

Eva let out a contented sigh and smiled at me. “Hi, bestie. Miss me?”

Her question hit me with a visceral reminder of Adam asking me the same thing. The echo of his voice, warm with amusement, sent a shiver across my skin. This wouldn’t take long if everything made me think of Adam.

“It’s not the same around here without you, Eva.” The wistful tone surprised me. I really did miss her. She always made me want to smile, even if I didn’t show it on the outside.

“I’m sure you could find some trouble if you tried hard enough. Wrestle any mannequins lately?”

Case in point. The memory brought a flood of fondness for the day that changed my life. We’d met when she and Chloe had come into the shop looking for dresses. Chloe had wanted the one Mom put in the window, so I’d had to wrestle with Bertha, our best mannequin.

“No. The store is shut down for good. I hear the new cowboy bar is going to have a mechanical bull though.”

“Challenge accepted.” She took a closer look at me and set down her Frappuccino. “What’s wrong? Do I need to come back there and castrate someone?”

I frowned at her immediate and forceful defense, guilt hitting me with a strong backhand. I shouldn’t have waited so long to spill my secret. Would she react the same way if she knew I was actively trying not to think of Adam naked while I talked to her? Was I supposed to talk about it? The whole best friend situation was new ground for me.

“No, thank you. I can do my own castrating, disgusting as it is. Mom stumbled on a YouTube video once while making dinner, and I couldn’t eat beef for months after.” I paused, waffling about what to say.

Eva tilted her head and waited. She knew me well enough to sense when I needed a second to untangle my thoughts. I wanted to talk about my situation, and if I were involved with any other guy, I wouldn’t hesitate to share with Eva. But Adam was different—in so many ways.

I’d already told her about Rob and Shad. She’d probably have a unique take on the wedding and my potentially insane solution. I’d never seen her shy away from a hard topic, and she was fiercely loyal to her friends.

Fiercely loyal to me. She deserved the same treatment.

My fingers twisted together below the scope of the camera. “I’m having… feelings.”

“Emotional feelings orfeelings?” She gestured toward her lap.

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