Free Remembering Us by Stacey Lynn

thought he’d be in some place nicer, but he said that his dad has insisted he learn to live like ‘one of the small people,’ so he gets a feel for what it’s like to be an ‘average Joe’ before he starts defending criminals. Yes. His dad said that to him. Our parents are peculiar people to say the least.
    “Yeah, probably, since I don’t know how to get there.” I toss my water in the trash and grab my purse.
    “Not a problem. What’s your address?” he asks, pulling up a GPS app on his phone.
    Well, shit. I have no idea.
    “Umm. Hold on a second.” I rush back inside and find Preston wiping down the glass dessert container. “Hey Preston, do you know my address?”
    Heat suffuses my cheek and neck. This is so embarrassing. If she notices my mortification at having to ask the stupid question, she doesn’t say anything.
    She scribbles it down on a business card and hands it to me. “Want me to call Adam and have him come get you?” she asks as she glances at the door. Tyler is standing out there, proud as always with his hands in his front pocket, his back straight, and every article of clothing completely wrinkle-free. “Who’s the stiff?”
    I shake my head. “Just an old friend.”
    “No probs. Just call me with the number on the card whenever you want to come back.” I thank her, and right as my hand is on the door, she calls my name. She has a wide grin on her face, not caring, or maybe not noticing, how strange this entire night has been for me. “I’m really glad you’re back.”
     

     
    “You know that kiss with Britnee meant nothing, right?”
    I don’t know anything right now. There’s no way Adam can expect me to think straight when his lips are pressing against my neck, his hips are pressing me into the wall, and his hands are moving torturously slow up and down my arms. The bumps that are igniting all over my skin feel so hot that I think I might explode. I don’t even remember how I got here. All I remember is Adam pulling Brendan off me in the parking lot and carrying me to Zander’s car before throwing it into gear and driving full-throttle down the interstate until we pulled into the hotel.
    Not a word has been spoken out loud but plenty has been said with our eyes.
    I drop my head back against the wall and moan when his tongue darts out and licks against my collar bone, the soft spot of my flesh right behind it, and then up to my ear.
    “Adam,” I moan. I think. My hands grasp his hair and I don’t know if I’m trying to pull him closer or push him away. My brain is fuzzy and my legs have turned to mush. There’s too much emotion. Too much of everything in the room right now.
    He pulls back and clasps his hands at the back of my neck, tilting me up so I can’t look away.
    He pierces me with a gaze so serious I think he could melt a block of ice. It’s now that I remember what he asked me, what happened in the hallway at his fraternity’s formal, and what I did shortly after.
    How is it that he can turn me into such an emotional basket case? Will I always be this way around him? Crazy for him? Needing him so desperately that the thought of another woman’s hands or lips on him can cause me to do the unthinkable? Because oh my shit – I kissed Brendan and told him to take me home. If going home with that dickwad doesn’t classify me as mentally insane, I’m not sure what would.
    “You know I didn’t kiss Britnee, right? You know that was her.”
    I close my eyes and see him in the hallway pressed up against her, his mouth on hers. “You kissed her back.”
    “It just took me a second to realize what she was doing. That’s all though. You know that, right? You have to know that.”
    Britnee’s wicked smile flashes through my mind, and for the first time tonight, I’m able to breathe. “I know.”
    “Now tell me why you ran from the table in the first place. Tell me what freaked you out at the thought of making love to me tonight.”
    I hate it when Adam