Flawed Perfection (Beautifully Flawed, #1)

Chapter Sixteen

I sat in the car staring out the window trying to figure out a way to force Adam to tell me what he wanted to talk about. His face flashed in my mind, and I knew from the thin line of his lips and the fog in his eyes he would never tell me. It was a look the Beckerson boys shared, and it was one that always sent my stomach on a rollercoaster. It meant they were hurt and wouldn't tell me why. But with Bobby I always knew what it meant—Adam was another thing. I never knew what that broken look meant when he gave it to me. My mind drifted from Adam to Bobby and back again as Tara sat huffing at my silence. Halfway to the restaurant I couldn't take it anymore.

"What's wrong?" I finally asked.

Tara's eyes formed narrow slits as she glanced at me and then back at the road before asking, "Are you going to mope like this the whole time?"

"I told you I wasn't really up to this tonight," I said.

It was true I told her that, but I hadn't told her why. My lips burned with the reminder of the kiss. It didn't matter why; I should be acting like such a bitch.

"I'm trying to help you get over Adam," Tara sighed.

I glanced over at her, and her lips were pulled down. She really was trying, but she always was.

I managed to smile, and I nudged her. "After years of trying you're still up to that trick?"

She smirked over at me. "I'll win eventually."

"And why are you so set on me getting over Adam?" I asked.

She shrugged, hands drumming on the windowsill to the song on the radio. "Don't get me wrong—if he finally realized how perfect you are for each other I'd be fine with it...I just want to make sure he wouldn't treat you like everyone else he's dated. He's a player."

"I know. I've known him my whole life."

"Don't get mad at me, please. I know you know him better than anyone else—"

"I do."

"Right, so do you really want to wreck your friendship if it doesn't work out?"

I looked down at my hands. I didn't, but we couldn't go on like. I needed to forget that kiss and what it meant to me but obviously not to Adam. I just wasn't sure it was possible. How could something I dreamed about for years turn out to screw everything up so badly.

"I think it's already getting there," I replied.

"Was that what that was about back there?" she asked as she put her hand on my leg and squeezed.

My voice was weak as I replied, "I think I'm losing both of them."

Tara glanced over at me again, and that evil returned to her eyes. I knew something dirty was about to come out of her mouth."You can't lose Bobby, then I'll never have my fantasy come true!"

"That'd be a tragedy!"

"Here we are," she said as she patted my leg one more time before parking.

"Is that them?" I asked.

I pointed to the two Bobby-bodied boys standing at the door of the restaurant.

She nodded. "Hot, right?"

All I could hear was Adam saying Cro-Magnon.