Page 80 of Notice Me, Jameson Hart

“If.”

“When,” Rita says firmly. “Mark my words, Kevin Pryor. By the time school is back in session, we’re both going to be in relationships.”

The thought makes my heart take flight. Jameson and I, Rita and Robbie. Adam and whoever he’s secretly pining for,if anyone. Our quirky little family is growing, becoming more complicated, but perhaps also happier.

“Come on,” Rita says, standing and pulling me up. “Let’s walk off these snow cones. I want to stop by the arcade and win something from the claw machine.”

“Those things are rigged,” I remind her.

“Everything’s rigged, Kevin. The trick is playing anyway.”

When I get home,I find Adam in his room, hunched over his laptop at his desk. His door is open, which I take as an invitation to enter.

“Hey,” I say.

He glances up, and something in my expression must give me away because he immediately closes the laptop and swivels his chair to face me. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” I close the door behind me. “Can I talk to you about something?”

“Sure.” He points at the edge of his bed, and I sit down. “Is this about Stanford? Because I swear I’m going to tell Robbie?—”

“It’s not about that, not entirely. It’s about Jameson.”

Adam’s expression shifts, becoming more guarded. “What about him?”

“I think he was going to tell me something important at the beach. Before Tyler showed up. And again at Tyler’s party, but Robbie nipped that in the bud by dragging him onto the dance floor. And I know you think I’m reading too much into things, but Adam, he kept touching my hand and said it was the best afternoon he’d had in a long time.”

“Kevin.” Adam holds up a hand, stopping my rambling. “Breathe.”

I take a shaky breath. “I’m falling for him. And I think maybe he’s falling for me, too, but I’m not sure. It’s driving me crazy.”

Adam studies me intently, causing me to squirm under the pressure. “I owe you an apology.”

“What?”

“The other week, when I told you to back off, that Hart was just being polite…” He shakes his head. “That wasn’t fair. I was projecting my fears onto you.”

I blink at him, confused. “Your fears?”

“About Stanford. About leaving. About everything changing.” He leans back in his chair. “I’ve been so scared of disrupting our lives that I tried to keep you from taking any risks too. But that’s not right or fair to you.”

“Adam—”

“No, let me finish.” He meets my eyes. “You deserve to be happy, Kev. And if Hart makes you happy, then I’m all for it. He’s a good guy. One of the best, quite frankly. He’d be lucky to have you.”

My throat grows tight. “You mean that?”

“Yeah, I mean it. You’re my little brother. All I want is for you to be happy.” A small smile tugs at his lips. “Plus, if you two date, maybe you’ll stop mooning over him during practice.”

“I don’t moon!”

“You also apparently sing love songs while watching him catch footballs.”

Heat floods my face. “Rita told you?”

He laughs at my mortified expression. “Relax. It’s kind of adorable, in a way.”

I throw a pillow at him, which he dodges easily. “Thanks for the pep talk.”