Page 45 of My End

But instead, I turned and headed to the kitchen.

The kitchen was mostly quiet since it was between breakfast and lunch. I pulled open the fridge and grabbed an apple. I wasn’t really hungry, but I needed something to do.

“Tilly.”

I jumped and spun around.

Adam leaned against the far counter, with half a sandwich in one hand, and his eyebrows raised like he knew exactly what I had been doing not even a minute ago.

“Holy crap, Adam, don’t sneak up on people.”

He shrugged. “Didn’t sneak. I’ve been here. You just didn’t notice.”

I frowned. “You just eat sandwiches and stare at people?”

“It’s one of the perks of working for Boone.”

I snorted and took a bite of my apple. “Riiight. Living the dream.”

He stared at me a beat longer and chewed slowly. “You and Jake… something going on there?”

I nearly choked. “Excuse me?”

He didn’t look away. “Don’t play dumb. I’ve seen the way you two orbit each other.”

I shook my head. “It’s not like that.”

He raised a brow. “You sure about that?”

I crossed the room and leaned against the opposite counter, trying to find something casual in the way I leaned back. “He’s Boone’s guy. Just another guard.”

“Mmhmm,” Adam murmured. “And I’m a backup dancer for Taylor Swift.”

I smiled despite myself. “You don’t have the legs for it.”

Adam grinned. “I don’t care what y’all do. Just be smart about it.”

“Smart how?”

“Jake’s got eyes on him. You know Boone. He doesn’t like surprises.”

I swallowed hard, the humor gone now.

“Is he in trouble?” I asked quietly.

Adam’s expression didn’t change. “No one’s in trouble yet.”

Yet.

That word echoed too loud in my head.

“Thanks for the warning,” I said.

“Wasn’t a warning,” he replied and tossed the last of the sandwich into his mouth. “Just advice. Free of charge.”

He rinsed his hands and headed out of the kitchen without another word, leaving me alone with a racing heart and more questions than I had any right to be asking.

Jake had been kissing me like he couldn’t help himself, but this last time, he had walked away like he hadn’t just rearranged the gravity of my world.