The Libby Garrett Intervention (Science Squad #2)

by Kelly Oram

  Adam scoffed. “That’s the problem right there. He shouldn’t have to get past his issues with your looks. If he were the right guy for you, he wouldn’t have any issues with your looks. He would love you for exactly who you are, and he would be proud of that. He doesn’t deserve you, Libby.”

  Not wanting to get in a fight with Adam right now, I lay back on the couch and glared at the ceiling. I understood what he was saying. It was a romantic notion, but it sounded like a dream. Nobody was perfect. Nobody was going to love every single thing about the person they dated. That was an unrealistic expectation.

  “But he deserves a chance, doesn’t he? If he’s really willing to change, then he deserves the chance to try.”

  Adam shook his head once and scoffed again. “Guys like him never change.”

  At that, adrenaline wooshed through me, filling me with rage. I sat up and gave Adam my version of Superman’s laser eyes. Maybe I couldn’t burn a hole in him, but he’d sure as heck know I was trying to. “You are such a hypocrite. Isn’t the twelve-step program all about changing yourself? Wasn’t the point of my intervention to make me see what I was doing wrong and then give me a chance to make up for my mistakes? If I deserve a chance to make things right with my friends, then why doesn’t Owen? I finally called him out on all his horse pucky. I finally gave him an ultimatum, the same way my friends gave me one. And now he’s trying to change. Judge him all you want, but you have to respect his efforts, or you are nothing but a sexy package full of feces. You can’t decide to help me and then judge him.”

  Adam’s jaw clenched again, but this time it didn’t unclench. He stared back at me with as much heat in his eyes, and I had fire in mine. Shoving to his feet, he walked across the room to the small set of employee lockers. He looked like he was considering slamming his fist into them, but instead he whirled around and leaned against them. His hands sliced through his hair again.

  “You’re missing the whole point of this, Libby! No one is trying to change you. We’re trying to help you get back to the person you are on the inside. The person you are in your heart. Addiction changes people. It makes them slaves to it and turns them into something they aren’t. If you take the addiction away, and the person can clear their mind, they can get back to themselves. Owen’s not the one with the addiction. Owen is who he is. In his heart, in his core, he is a selfish, shallow player. He might try to get things right with you, but he won’t ever completely change. They say a zebra can’t change his stripes for a reason. You can’t change the person you are inside. Not really. You are a person worth fighting for, worth trying to help, and worth giving second chances to. He’s not. He’ll just end up hurting you again.”

  I wasn’t sure if I believed him or not. I didn’t like to think that Owen was unsavable. He didn’t have everything completely together, but he wasn’t a totally bad guy. He wasn’t unredeemable. He just didn’t understand what was really important yet, that’s all. Owen was immature. Once he fell in love with someone, he’d see that there was more to it than looks and what his friends thought. No. Adam was wrong. People can change. Maybe it’s rare, but I believed it was possible.

  Folding my arms to match Adam’s defiant position, I huffed. “I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree on that one.”

  Adam’s eyes narrowed. “So what are you going to do, then? Are you going to take him back? Go out with him? Did you already? How did you respond to his text?”

  I shot to my feet, pissed off now beyond rationality. “No!” I shouted. “I didn’t take him back. You want to know what I did when I got that text? I deleted it. I wanted nothing more than to answer him and go out with him, but I didn’t. Instead, I went and found someone to distract me. Someone I knew would help me remember why I was trying to keep away from Owen. Someone who was fun, and who liked me, and made me feel good about myself. Someone who made me stronger as a person. I asked him to help me skate, and I had an amazing day that ended with a mind-blowing kiss. And in the end, I didn’t regret ignoring Owen. By the end of the night, I didn’t even miss him.”

  Adam’s eyes flashed with shock, and then, in an instant, all of the anger left him. His face softened into that emotionally overwhelmed look he gets sometimes.

  I was still angry, but I managed to speak my next words calmly. “You asked for honesty, and I gave it. Don’t get all bent out of shape with me because the truth isn’t what you want to hear. Yeah, maybe I’m not completely over Owen. Maybe I feel hope when I see him working so hard to win me back. What girl wouldn’t? Maybe I want to believe he can change, because I cared about him. Pathetic as that is to you. Despite all his flaws, I truly cared about him. Maybe it’s stupid, but this is hard for me. You’re the one who warned me it would be. I’m not perfect, but I’m doing my best.”

  Adam shut his eyes for a moment, and when they opened again he crossed the room to me in three short strides. His hands gently clasped my cheeks, and he stared down at me with a new kind of fire in his eyes. This wasn’t anger. This was passion. “I’m sorry.”

  He packed so much power in those two words that they shattered my defenses and dug their way deep into my heart. He smoothed my hair back off my face in an action so tender I closed my eyes and leaned into his hand. My anger melted away.

  “I’m an ass,” he said suddenly. I opened my eyes again, surprised. He met my gaze with a self-loathing smirk. “I’m a short-tempered, emotional ass. And I’m way too biased when it comes to you. There’s a reason I didn’t want to agree to this at first. I get too worried for people I care about, and I act before I think.”

  I stood there, trapped in his apologetic gaze with my face clutched in his soft hands, and felt myself warming from the inside out. Our fight was forgotten.

  “Yes, the truth wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but I shouldn’t have yelled at you for it. Of course this is hard for you, and of course you aren’t going to be perfect at it. I know that. And I admire your courage and willingness to try. I admire your strength. You’re doing a great job. I’m sorry my personal feelings got in the way of my better judgment. I’ll try to do better next time.”

  His thumb brushed my cheek, lingering just a second too long every time it neared the corner of my mouth. The feeling was completely Lucky Charms (magically delicious). Then his hands slid back into my hair, and he pulled me to his chest for a hug. I melted. Utterly and completely melted in his sweet embrace. If this was what an apology from Adam Koepp was like, then maybe I didn’t want him to do better next time. I might even have to start picking fights with him just so that we can make up more often.

  “Am I forgiven?” he whispered.

  I sighed a contented sigh and wrapped my arms around his waste, hugging him back. “You’re forgiven. And I’m sorry I yelled, too.”

  We held each other a moment longer, and as much as I didn’t want to break the silence, I knew Adam needed to get back to work. “So, Coffee Man, if we’re done fighting, will you please open your present now?”

  Letting go of Adam took all of my willpower, but I released him and reached for the gift bag I’d set on the table. When I placed it in his hands, he looked down at it as if it might bite him. “You’re supposed to open it,” I teased. A giggle escaped me. He was adorable sometimes.

  He frowned at me, but not because he was unhappy. It was as if he simply couldn’t understand, or accept that this was for him. “Why did you get me a present?”

  As cute as he was, the moment was sort of heartbreaking. Had no one ever given him a gift before? I’d always had the impression that Adam didn’t receive a lot of attention, but this seemed deeper somehow, and it made me doubly glad I’d done this. I tried to play it casual, since he looked so insecure at the moment. “Why not?” I shrugged. “We’re friends now, right? And, thanks to you, I talked my dad into handing over his credit card for a shopping spree. I saw this and thought of you.”

  Gulping, he continued to stare at the gift. “Um…thanks.”

  He pulled the tissue
paper out of the bag with excruciating slowness, but eventually he grabbed the sweatshirt inside and unfolded it. “To replace the one you gave me,” I said softly. “When I saw it, it reminded me of your tattoo sleeves, which are inktaculuar, by the way.”

  Adam glanced at his arms and then held up the sweatshirt. It was black with a wicked white and silver art decal covering the entire thing. It was also a couple sizes smaller than his old one. It would fit him better. I hoped he was okay with that.

  I waited while he examined the gift, praying that he liked it. I really, really wanted him to like it. He looked up at me and mumbled, “This is awesome. Thank you.”

  An unexpected wave of insecurity hit me. “I know it doesn’t mean the same to you as the other one, but—”

  “Yes, it does.” He spoke with startling force, and I snapped my mouth shut. That was the only response I had time for before he grabbed my hand. “There are only two people in my life who have ever done something this nice for me. It means more to me than you know. And it’s perfect. Thank you, Libby.”

  As if realizing he was being über intense again, Adam immediately checked himself. He let go of my hand and took a step back, letting out a long breath. “I really need to get back out there. He looked at the hoodie again before carefully hanging it up on the rack. “Thank you, Libby.”

  I managed a small smile this time. “You’re welcome.”

  After we walked back out into the shop and Adam dutifully took up his post at the register, I waited until there was no one in line and then came to join him. When Adam gave me a questioning look, I grinned at him. “Lucky you, you get to be graced with my magnanimous presence for a while longer yet, as Avery is, once again, my ride home and is not finished educating your sister.”

  That earned me a crooked smile that made my heart do a backflip.

  “So,” Adam said, “this Saturday’s your big dance, right? Did you ever find some poor shmuck to be your plaything?”

  I sighed. “No. But I found a date for Tara. How unfair is that?”

  Another crooked smile. Another flutter.

  “Maybe not fair, but it was very nice of you. And unselfish.”

  “I know. I’m completely sparkly like that.”

  Adam’s slightly-amused grin turned into a full-fledged happy smile, taking a few years off his looks. “Unicorn sparkly. I remember.”

  The boyish grin thing worked for him. It truly did. “Don’t mock the power of the unicorn, Adam. That is a serious offense.”

  “I would never dream of doing such a thing, Libby. I’m sure unicorn magic is serious business.”

  I wanted to keep a straight face—I swear I did. But I couldn’t. I have no idea how he accomplished it. “Okay, stop. Enough. My cheeks hurt. Were you serious about renting prom movies?”

  He nodded, adorable grin still in place. “Unless I can talk you into a good suspense/thriller, or even a horror.”

  I actually love horror, but I was not going to pass up the opportunity for an alterna-prom. “Not a chance. And I’m totally wearing my dress, so you’d better dress up nice, too. And you can’t smell like coffee.”

  Adam burst out laughing so loud that several of his customers looked our way. Avery and Kate watched us like we were a couple of lions on the Nature Channel in a show about mating season. They looked fascinated, and Kate looked slightly horrified at the same time.

  “For you,” Adam said, “I think I can manage a shower after work. But just so you know, I consider anything besides this uniform to be ‘dressing nice.’ I don’t own a suit or anything.”

  Okay, I know he yelled at me before for the dirty talk, but I couldn’t resist. “Your birthday suit would be totally acceptable.” I dragged my eyes slowly up and down his frame. “More than acceptable.”

  No lecture on self-respect this time. Oh no. I got the opposite. Silence. He stared me down with a clenched jaw and dilated pupils. His body leaned forward—probably of its own volition—and he cocked his head to the side, cracking his neck. “Don’t tempt me, Libby. I have less control than you think I do.”

  Those were definitely the wrong words to say to me. “Sounds promising.”

  I needed to get out of there right that second, or I was likely to hop the counter and jump him. I gave him a parting wink and called to Avery as I headed for the door. “I’ll wait for you outside. It’s getting a little too hot in here.”

  Adam

  I knew I was in trouble when Libby came into the shop with Avery and Grayson. I’d never seen anyone look better. I’d expected her to wear some short supertight shiny hooker dress, but she’d gone the elegant route. Her shoulders were bare with her hair twisted up, exposing her neck and a whole lot of her smooth, creamy skin. The sight of it made my mouth dry.

  The top half of her dress was black and hugged her frame, covering her tastefully, yet still low enough to make it hard to look away from her. Then the bottom of the dress fanned out at the waist with this pale pink puffy gown that fell to the floor. The middle where the two colors collided was covered in sparkly jewels that matched her shoes. She also had some of those sparkly things woven into her hair. She was gorgeous.

  Josiah slid up beside me, chuckling. “Go say hello.”

  After I came out from behind the counter to greet her, Libby grinned at my reaction and took a spin. “Hot, right?”

  I shook my head. “Hot is not the right word. Not even close. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Stunning.” Nothing seemed like enough.

  Libby’s smile grew. “Smooth, Coffee Man.”

  “It’s true.” I forced my eyes away from her to smile at Avery. Avery was wearing purple and looked as cute as ever. “You look beautiful, too,” I told her as she lightly hugged me. “You’re a lucky guy, Grayson.”

  Grayson’s face brightened and he pulled Avery back to his side. I’d never seen a guy look more proud. “The luckiest.”

  They looked so good together all dressed up. And Libby looked so amazing. It was the first time in my life I wished I had a fancy suit to put on and cash to burn on dinner and dance tickets. Libby deserved a real prom night. I took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Are you sure you don’t want to go with them tonight? I don’t want you to miss your prom.”

  She glanced wistfully out the door at the limo waiting to take Grayson and Avery to the prom, but smiled as she shook her head. “Going stag just wouldn’t be the same, but it’s all right. I got to get all dressed up, my parents took a bazillion pictures, Avery and Grayson gave me a ride here in their limo, and I have a very sexy date for the evening. It may not be the actual prom, but it is definitely the next best thing. Especially since we aren’t going to miss out on anything promish.” Her smile turned devious and she handed me a DVD case. It had a bunch of high school kids on it and one word typed in big, obnoxious letters: PROM.

  “A Disney movie?” I flipped the case over to read the summary. It was one sentence long: A group of teenagers get ready for their high school prom. “Huh. That’s…” Horrifying.

  “We may not get to go to the dance,” Libby said, “but we will still experience the awesomeness that is prom.”

  It took a lot of effort to keep bile from rising up my throat, but I had no problem cringing. “Are you serious about this?”

  Libby and Avery both laughed while Grayson offered up a sympathetic grimace. “Good luck.”

  “Oh, we’re watching it, Coffee Man. And if you don’t have to work too early in the morning, we can do a double feature. I have a second movie all picked out.”

  My heart skipped a beat in panic. Was she serious? She couldn’t possibly be serious. “I have the day off tomorrow, but it doesn’t matter.” I held up the DVD. “I’m not going to survive this masterpiece of trash. There’s no way I could make it through two of them.”

  “Even if the second one is this?”

  She held up Carrie, and I laughed. “That is much better. Why don’t we just watch that one?”

  I tried to take the second movie from her, but sh
e snatched it out of my reach. “No way. This one, my friend, is your reward for suffering through the first one with me.”

  I sighed, but inside I was happy that she’d considered my chick-flick tolerance to some degree. Still, I could think of a much better reward for watching her stupid prom movie—especially with her looking the way she did. I’d told myself we couldn’t go there, but I was starting to forget why I thought that. “Okay, well I’m off in about twenty minutes. If you don’t mind hanging out, we can—”

  “Oh, hell no,” Grayson interrupted. His eyes were focused on the group of kids coming through the door. “No, no, no, no, no! Brandon! What the hell is that?”

  The group that had just come in was the rest of Libby’s science team. I’d hardly recognized them all dressed up in their formal wear. Grayson was gesturing to Brandon’s tux. I swear on my life the thing was powder blue and flooded at the ankles. Brandon tugged at the lapels of the monstrosity and pulled his shoulders back. Standing tall and proud, he smiled at Grayson and said, “This is cool. It’s vintage.”

  I laughed. The guy definitely had some balls if he was really going to show up at a social function with all of his classmates in that thing. Grayson didn’t find it as amusing. Slapping a hand over his face, he groaned. “No. It’s dorky. Extremely dorky. You’re my boy and all, B-Man, but I only have a certain level of geek tolerance. I’m not sure, even graduated, that I can be seen at school with you when you look like that.”

  Grayson was dead serious, but somehow the criticism wasn’t hurtful. Everyone, including Brandon, cracked up. Brandon patted Grayson’s shoulder. “News flash, Grayson. You’re a science major. You’re one of us geeks, and everyone knows it.”

  Grayson groaned again. “At least take the jacket off.”

  I wasn’t sure why such an amused smile crossed Brandon’s face, until he took off his jacket. I blinked several times just to make sure I was really seeing what I thought I was. Brandon’s white dress shirt was ruffled. RUFFLED.