Kissing the Shy Guy - Stephanie Street Page 0,30

kissing and forget about everything else.

"I feel bad. For what Josh did to you. And Laura." He reached up and ran his fingers through the long part of his hair on top. "I just—" His hand dropped down around my back again, and he shrugged. "Tell me what I can do to help."

That wasn't what I'd been expecting him to say, but it was exactly what I wanted. Dare I ask him to be my new partner? I was certain he hadn't meant that exactly when he'd offered to help. But would he do it anyway? Or would he think I was taking advantage of him because he'd just kissed the daylights out of me?

He had one hand around my back and the other tangled with both of mine in my lap. "There is one thing you could do," I told him.

Adam's brows furrowed when I bit my lip, stalling. Could I really do it? Ask him to devote hours and hours to rehearsing with me? Not to mention flying to New York to compete in just a few short weeks?

What other choice did I have? None that I could think of. "I need your help to win the scholarship."

The furrow between his brows deepened. "What do you mean?"

I raised one brow. Adam stared at me for a second then leaned back, his eyes wide.

"You want me to compete with you? Are you out of your mind?"

I shifted on the bench, facing him and propping my knee on his leg. "No. I couldn't be more serious. I've been thinking about it. It's all I've been thinking about. You're my only hope of winning. I know it."

Adam dropped his head into his hands and snorted a laugh. "Did you just pull a Help me, Obi-wan Kenobi. You're my only hope on me?"

Reaching out, I pulled his hands away from his face, amazed and exhilarated by how comfortable I was touching him. "I thought you said you grew up watching musicals?"

Adam glared at me but didn't pull away. "Everyone knows Star Wars. Guys don't watch Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at sleepovers!"

I was going to have to beg. "You can sing. I know you can, I've heard you. You're familiar with the scene. You told me yourself you've seen the movie. You know the words to the song."

A battle raged in his eyes, and it gave me hope. "That's not enough. I don't dance." His expression turned severe. "At. All."

I frowned. Really? The guy was in a rock band. "I'm sure—" I began, but he cut me off, shaking his head.

"No. You're not sure, but I am. I cannot dance. I've lived most of my life with seven women, if you include my mom. If it was possible to teach me to dance, they would have found a way. I promise you." He spoke fervently.

An extremely adorable vision of Adam's mom and sisters teaching him how to dance flitted through my mind. I would have loved to see that for real!

"Well, that's—," I started again, but he interrupted me. Again.

"And acting? I'm not an actor." He tore his hands from mine to rake them through his hair, making it stand on end. How could this guy have been right under my nose all this time?

Adam couldn't be any more different from the drama guys I'd surrounded myself with for the last four years if he tried. He was quiet, calm—almost soothing to be around. He should have been boring, but instead, he was mysterious. I found myself wanting to know everything there was to know about him.

And that was on the inside. On the outside—whew! What girl didn't want her own Danny Zuko? Maybe Adam wasn't a greaser, but he rocked the black leather jacket. When I'd seen him sitting on his motorcycle, he left me breathless. I thought I was going to faint dead away from lack of oxygen to my brain.

Every second I spent with him solidified what I already knew—I needed him. I wouldn't win the competition without him. Which brought me back to my original problem—how to get him to help me? I'd heard him sing. He played the guitar. He was gorgeous and perfect for the role of Tony. I pictured the scene in my mind, the one from the movie with Natalie Wood. I'd watched it with Melly. We'd both fallen in love with the story and the music.

But it didn't have to be done the way they'd done it in the movie. There were other