‘I love you, too. Can we please watch the rest of the film?’

Apparently not. Fifteen minutes later Adam’s parents came home and plonked themselves down on the other sofa, the only acknowledgment that I was there a quick ‘All right?’ followed by a request for us to make ourselves scarce. So, I ended up in Adam’s bedroom anyway.

‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ he whispered, his breath hot against my skin as I batted his hand away for the second time. ‘You’re irresistible.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ I asked, pulling back.

‘It means you’re so beautiful, I just want to touch you.’ He ran one finger across the skin above my jean waistband, causing goosebumps to spring up like ripples in his wake.

‘And kiss you.’ He pressed a soft kiss just below my ear.

‘And you want this more than you want to respect me?’ I asked, the pressure making my voice brittle.

Adam was the one to pull away this time. He sat up, running one hand through his messed-up hair as he leant back against the headboard. ‘If I didn’t respect your boundaries we wouldn’t be together.’

He looked down at me in a way that made me feel like a child.

‘You don’t respect me when you don’t trust me to kiss you and touch you without tensing up because you think I’m trying to trick you into something I know you don’t want.’

I couldn’t speak, because I knew if I opened my mouth then I’d start crying, and I’d feel even more like a stupid girl who couldn’t handle a serious relationship.

‘I wish you could stop believing what your parents think about me and make up your own mind.’

‘That’s not fair!’ Too late, the tears came anyway.

‘Really?’ He arched one eyebrow. ‘Because I’m getting kind of sick of being judged for something I’ve not done.’

‘My parents don’t judge you. The dating rule is because they care about you.’

‘I wasn’t talking about them.’

‘Then I don’t know what you’re talking about!’

‘I’m talking about you not taking us seriously. Not taking me seriously. I’m used to everyone else thinking that I’m some kind of deadbeat who can’t be trusted. I wanted to believe you were different.’ He shook his head. ‘Like, I hate this sneaking around, not being able to tell your parents we’re together. But maybe for you that’s a really convenient excuse to keep us a secret, because you’re ashamed of going out with a dropout.’

‘That’s not true!’ I curled away from him, wrapping both arms around my knees. How had he flipped from being so nice to sounding as if he couldn’t stand me? ‘Why are you taking this personally?’