“Hey!” I call out as I approach. “This is a nice surprise.”
Adam quickly puts his phone away and looks up, but I’m not greeted with the usual wide smile I’m used to seeing. Instead, there’s a scowl on his face and he looks behind me before meeting my eyes again. When I reach him, I lean in for a kiss, but mistime the moment due to him turning slightly so get his cheek instead. Weird, but I go with it, because something is clearly bugging him. I also notice he’s dressed in pants and button-down shirt with a tie, so it’s obvious he’s come straight from work.
“Are you by yourself?” he asks by way of greeting, which throws me a little.
“I was watching the game with Millie, so I’m sure she’ll be out shortly?” I reply, but it comes out as a question because I’m really not sure how to take his demeanor.
“I need you to come with me,” Adam says quickly, while looking over my shoulder again. His tone is off, and he seems agitated and I’m instantly on guard with worry.
“What’s happened, is everything okay?” I ask and also look over my shoulder at the doors to the arena. People are starting to leave and I’m sure Millie will appear shortly.
“No. Everything is not okay. I need you to trust me and I need you to come with me. Now.”
“Okay, well, I need to wait for Millie; she’s got my things,” I tell him.
“Leave your things!” Adam replies, his voice rising. My worry turns into defensiveness as the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Something is clearly wrong.
“Adam, what’s going on?”
“Look, you need to move into one of the dorms so we need to go and talk to the admin office and see if we can get you a room.”
“What the hell?” I say, completely shocked at Adam’s out-of-the-blue request. “I’ve got a place to live, why would I want to move?”
Adam rubs the back of his neck, pacing as he does so, before placing his hands on his hips and answering me.
“Because, Thea, I don’t trust that Rose guy and I don’t want you anywhere near him. He’s moody and clearly has anger issues. Not to mention the fact he looks at you like some kind of predator. You’re not safe around him and I’d feel fucking better if you kept your distance.”
My mouth drops open in shock and I’m momentarily speechless. He surely can’t be serious about this. I thought we covered this last time we were together and yet he’s bringing it up again? I take a step back to put some space between us while I process the meaning behind his words. My shock turns to anger as his words sink in. Who the hell does he think he is, telling me what I need to do?
“You’re not serious about this Adam, are you? I thought we discussed this. I’m happy at the house. I’ve got a nice room, I’m living with my brother, and we have a good arrangement between us. Why in the hell would I need to move out? Besides, Kyler is hardly ever there—not that he’s a threat in any way at all. I’m not sure why you think he’s a, what did you say? A ‘predator’? But I can guarantee you he’s not. And he certainly doesn’t have any anger issues.”
“Everything okay, T?” Millie calls out from behind me, keeping a short distance to give us some privacy. I quickly nod to her before turning my attention back to Adam.
“Tell me Adam, what makes you think Kyler is threatening?” I continue.
Adam laughs once, without humor, a sneer forming on his face. It’s a side to him I’ve never seen before, and it’s not one I particularly like.
“What makes him so threatening?” Adam seethes, the words coming out low, sharp, and disdainfully. “Maybe it’s the fact he was at the town council meeting yesterday when he wasn’t invited to attend. Or maybe it was because he caused a scene in front of everyone by acting out, interrupting at every opportunity, and then walked out, embarrassing his family. Or maybe—just maybe—it’s because hethreatenedme, calling me all kinds of abusive names, getting all up in my face and physically assaulting me.”
Adam’s words shock me into silence, and I cross my arms over my chest in frustration. Sure, Kyler can be a bit moody, but I find it hard to believe he would assault anyone. Would he? If anything, he’d defend someone if they were in trouble—the injuries he endured as a result of the fight at the bar are proof. But then, why would Adam lie? My head starts to spin with Adam’s words as I try and correlate them to Kyler’s personality. Could it be true? Surely not—there is no way Jude, Nolan and Devon would be friends with someone like that, let alone share a house with them. I rub my forehead, willing away the impending headache threatening to appear. I’m so confused right now, and Adam’s agitation is not helping.
“Adam, are you sure you’re not mistaken?” I ask him, trying to keep my tone calm.
“NO! I’M NOT FUCKING MISTAKEN!” he roars. The gruffness gives me a sudden, racing heartbeat. I take a small step back, but Adam notices and moves toward me, grabbing hold of my arm as he does.
“I’m not telling you again, Thea, you’re coming with me, and we’re getting you out of that goddamn house!”
“No, Adam. I’m not moving into dorms. Whatever happened at the meeting with Kyler sounds like it was out of character. He’s not a threat.”
“Why the fuck are you defending that little shit?” Adam bellows, his face contorting with anger. “I’myour boyfriend. You should be listening tome, be onmyside and respectingmywishes!”
“And I’m my own person and you should be respectingmine!” I yell back.
Adam doesn’t reply, instead pulling me behind him again, this time with more force and I try and release my arm from his grip, unsuccessfully.
“Adam, stop,” I say as I dig my heels into the ground to provide some kind of resistance, to no avail. “Stop, Adam, you’re hurting me.”
“I suggest you do as she says, buddy,” a deep voice sounds from behind me. Adam stops abruptly and I stumble into him a little before getting my balance and turning around to see Nolan standing by Millie. For anyone who didn’t know him, you’d think he was standing casually about to engage in a run-of-the-mill conversation. But to those who are close to him, you’d see he was on guard, arms by his side with hands fisted; feet apart and ready to move at a drop of a hat if needed to step in to calm a situation. In this case, my situation.