Flawed Perfection (Beautifully Flawed, #1)

Chapter Twenty Nine

Thursday was boy's night out, so even though Tara invited herself to the photo shoot I was glad she came and kept my mind occupied. I was even happier when she remembered she left some of her clothes the last time she came over. I wasn't used to spending the night alone anymore, and I knew Adam was too exhausted after whatever he did on Thursdays to come over. Tara took away my obsessive thoughts about where Adam was with "his boys". I trusted Adam, but it bugged me that we'd known each other almost our whole lives, and I'd never realized he did this almost every week. Plus, Tara's girl talk was actually growing on me.

"So what's the first thing you're going to do tomorrow with Bobby gone?" Tara asked, smirking over the top of the pillow she was hugging.

I looked up at the ceiling, pushing my tongue into the corner of my mouth. "Leave the apartment holding Adam's hand."

"Aww! You're too cute—you're blushing so much right now!" Tara said. "So...has the L word been mentioned at all?"

"You mean love?" I asked. She nodded, and I shrugged. "He hasn't said it."

"Does that bug you?" Tara asked, moving up the bed and resting her head in her hands.

"We haven't been dating that long."

Tara blinked at me a few times before she sat up and crossed her legs. "You've known each other since you were five!"

Her points were valid, but I wasn't sure. He did just admit his feelings for me recently. "Maybe he doesn't love me yet."

Her eyes widened, and they were green against her grey sweatshirt. "Oh! Bullshit!"

"What?" I asked as I picked at the frayed edge of my sweatshirt sleeve.

"You don't think he'd know if he loved you?"

I let the breath I was holding out slowly. "It doesn't mean he wants to say it."

"He is Adam," Tara said. "I doubt he's ever said the word before."

Our eyes locked on each other, and we both nodded in unison. I hadn't realized how tense my muscles became until that moment. I sank into the bed, relaxing.

"Probably not. Honestly, I don't think I've even heard him say it to his parents," I said.

"Really?" Tara was interested now.

"Nope, they have a rough relationship."

"Speaking of which, I haven't seen your parents lately?" she asked.

I grabbed a pillow from next to me and put it over my stomach, playing with the edges with it. As bad as it was, I didn't really miss Mom. I did miss Dad, though.

"Eh, my mom is busy with her new job, and my dad, well...I think he's kind of upset I flipped out on the Beckersons'. He's very proper, you know?"

"I would've loved to see it," she said.

I shook my head. "You wouldn't have—I made Bobby super upset."

"I could've comforted him...and that would've sped up this whole process of us both getting the booty we wanted," Tara said and her wiggling brows made me laugh.

"Yeah, it's all about the booty," I fired back as I leaned back against the headboard.

A pillow suddenly struck me in the head. "Stop thinking about it! I know you've done it in this bed, but God, keep those thoughts kosher while I'm sitting on it!"

Leave it to Tara to turn something, or anything, dirty.

I snatched the pillow up and chucked it at her head. "You're the one who told me all about tainting every surface in Adam's apartment!"

"It was a fair warning!" she said as she grabbed the pillow from the air and smacked me with it.

Then it was on. A full blown pillow fight ensued only stopping when a whistle came from the doorway.

"I, honest to God, thought this sort of thing never happened in real life!" Adam said, and his tone was laced with amusement.

We both turned and dropped our pillows when we saw him. At least we were both fully dressed, so it wasn't a full blown guy fantasy.

"I thought you'd come home and go to sleep," I said as I hopped down off the bed.

"I was going to, but then I heard some very distinct squealing and was wondering what my girlfriend was up to," Adam replied with a smirk. "I'm glad it wasn't what I thought it could be."

"Ha!" Tara jumped down as well. "River would never cheat on you! She hasn't stopped talking about what you guys are going to do with Bobby gone for a whole weekend."

Adam's eyebrows twitched, and his lip ring pulled ever so slightly in his mouth. "Really?" he asked.

Tara shrugged. "Something about holding hands where everyone can see."

"Oh," Adam said, and his eyes went down to his feet as he tipped onto his toes and back again.

"God! You two are such perverts!" Tara replied as she slipped past Adam into the living room.

Adam's eye rose to mine and there were dark circles under them. His hair was still damp with sweat, curling out over his forehead. I wrapped my arms around his neck. "You look exhausted."

He nodded. "A bit."

"Tara's sleeping over," I said.

Adam's lips curled at the edges, dimples forming in his cheeks. "I kind of got that picture."

"I can take the couch!" Tara said to us as she came out of the bathroom.

Adam leaned down and kissed me. "I had my boy's night, so you can have your girl's night."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"We have all weekend to hold hands," he replied before winking and turning to leave.

"Behave!" he said to Tara, pointing a finger at her.

Tara stopped, put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows. "Really, Adam?"

Adam's shoulders rose and fell as he laughed. The smile on his face as he closed the door behind him left me breathless and wishing I could drag him back in.

"Where does he go?" Tara asked as she flopped on the couch with a bag of chips and a soda.

I sat down with her and took the bag, throwing some chips in my mouth before answering, "Not a clue."

She chugged her soda and burped before turning to me crinkling my nose. She smiled wide.

"We should so stalk him one Thursday and find out what his dirty little secret is...Oh! I forgot you're his dirty little secret!"

"Where's that pillow when I need to biff you with it?" I shot back.

Tara sat forward and pulled the throw pillow from her back and waved it in my face.

"Mine...all mine!" She taunted me, sticking her tongue out as she pulled it away from my grabbing hands.

"I figure he'll tell me what he's up to when he's ready to."

Tara narrowed her eyes before shrugging and grabbing the chips back. She was fixed on the TV now, and my thoughts drifted back to what Adam had been doing. There were only so many things you dressed semi-casual for and then still ended up sweating your ass off...There wasn't any I could think of at the moment I'd be okay with.

"What are you getting?" Tara asked as I stood.

"Ice cream."

I needed it now.