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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"It was his fault
really,
she had run out
of things
to dream."
~atticus

Adam

Salem was exactly how I remembered her to be.

Her lips were soft. When she kissed, it felt like she pushed herself away as if she was scared to actually enjoy herself in the moment.

Given her history, I'm not surprised.

She liked to grab my hair. I'm not sure if she knew how much I liked it, but she acted as if she did. Salem Dawn also had a way of ending any romantic moment with a flutter of her eyelids, with her brown eyes sparkling toward my blue ones.

I had waited almost two years to truly have her in my arms again. Through Britt, through broken friendships, through everything, Salem was always on my mind.

How stupid was I?

I went on this savior trip, trying to help Salem when all I needed to do was love her: love her despite her flaws and actions. Britt left me for another guy and it was all because I put my attention on Salem. It's always been Salem. Why didn't I just accept that?

We both were too stubborn for our own good.

I knew that by kissing Salem I would face repercussions backstage. Hunter hadn't wanted to break us up but we kept insisting. This was the second time I went off-script with Salem, but it was my only chance.

I really screwed things up. Kyle and I both did.

I was just surprised Salem decided to kiss me back, but I left her no other choice. I trapped her back into this storyline because I wanted to fix things. She said she liked this group, and we liked her until we didn't.

There were talks of putting the belt on her until we broke up. Maybe I could still get her the belt.

There I was, helping again. God, I was pathetic.

When Salem and I broke the kiss, I turned back toward Kyle. The last time we were in this position, he had been angry. He wanted this job just as bad as I did and I almost took it from him. This time, he was the one who gave me his blessing.

We both had to deal with the consequences after we turned our backs on Salem Dawn.

The program had ended, there was no need to play in front of the cameras anymore, so the five of us went backstage with Salem's eyes on the ground. Her hands were shaking, so I tried to grab one, but she moved to the other side of Bobby.

She hated me.

"Adam!" Hunter's voice rang. "In my office, now! You too, Salem!"

He was even angrier than I thought he'd be.

"I'm coming with you guys," Kyle spoke, volunteering himself and potentially hurting his career for us.

I shook my head. "No, Kyle. This is on me."

I had hurt his career enough already. He deserved to make it big, he still didn't hold nearly as many accolades as he should have based on his talent and skill. I had been in the way of that. I always was.