I ended up having to Facebook-message Lucy to pick me up and drive me back to the mall to get Mandy’s car. I didn’t tell her anything, and she didn’t ask any questions.

   When I get back to the house, I hear Jake and Julie in the backyard. I look through the gate and see her holding a baseball bat. He’s pitching balls slowly at her, encouraging her while she laughs. He’s trying to make up for it.

   He should. He’s an asshole.

   I’m lying in bed when I hear tapping at my window. I get up, open it, and without saying a word get back into bed.

   Once I’m under the covers, I feel the bed dip next to me and hear him place something on my nightstand. My phone.

   “I called Logan.”

   “Good.”

   “He didn’t tell me anything, though.”

   “Good.”

   “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

   “Have you quit being an asshole?”

   “Yes.”

   He tries to get me to flip over so I’ll look at him. I turn to face him, and he brushes the hair out of my eyes. “I’m sorry, Kayla, for what I said about Megan and the way I acted. I don’t know what came over me. The thought of you and Logan, or of anyone else . . . It just—”

   “Jake, stop.” I sit up so I can see him properly. “Logan saw me buying a pregnancy test.” Jake’s eyes bug out for a second before I reassure him, “I’m not.” I wave my hands in the air. “I just thought I was. I was late, and he saw me buying a test. I panicked, and he took me to see his dad, who confirmed I wasn’t. I had to pick up Julie from her friend’s, so he took me to get her because Mandy’s car was still at the mall. Julie’s friend lives one street over from him, so he drove home to pick up his gear before he was going to drop us off at the car. That’s when you came in and acted like an asshole. Asshole!”

   He’s silent. I continue. “He was going to meet you at the cages after he dropped us off. He was just there for me, that’s all.” I pause for a minute. “Wait . . . He didn’t tell you?”

   Jake’s shaking his head, taking it all in. “He said it wasn’t his story to tell, and if I wanted to know I had to hear it from you.” He blows out a breath, puffing out his cheeks. “Fuck, Kayla. I really am an asshole. I was a dick to both of you. And I scared the shit out of Julie. Why didn’t you tell me? Was that what last night was about?”

   “Yeah. I didn’t think about it until we were leaving the mall, then I wigged out and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t tell you because I wanted to be sure first. I didn’t know what I was going to do if . . . you know.”

   “So you’re not—for sure? Like, 100 percent?”

   “Yeah, Jake.” I nod. “I’m sure.”

   He breathes out a heavy sigh, and we sit in silence for a long time. “Can I stay with you tonight? Please, Kayla?” he barely whispers.

   I scoot across the bed and lift the covers. He takes his T-shirt off and gets in. We hold each other, not wanting to let go—not even for a second. We look into each other’s eyes intently.

   Talking without speaking.

   Feeling without touching.

   “Jake?”

   “Yeah?”

   “It’s just you. It’s only ever been just you. It will always only ever be just you.”

   He kisses me—a quick kiss on the lips. But it has the passion of a thousand kisses and holds the power of a thousand promises.

   “So much more-than-a-lot,” he says before we fall asleep in each other’s arms.

TWENTY-SEVEN

JAKE

   After that night of the pregnancy scare, or whatever it was, Kayla and I have been a little off. We still talk and are close, but it’s, like—I don’t know—like our planets aren’t aligned or something. I was an asshole to all of them. I apologized to Logan, and he gets it. But still, I feel like a dick. I should have been there for her. Instead, I went all Neanderthal on her and fucked it up.

   I finish at the gym with Logan, Cam, and Dylan. They’re meeting up at some club tonight—one of those where you can get in at eighteen. Dylan’s cousin is the bouncer, so we’ll be able to get drinks, too—no problem. Obviously, they invited Kayla to come with us. I don’t know if she’ll want to, but I do know I’m not going without her.

   I head to her room as soon as I get home. “It’s open,” she yells out after I knock.

   I walk into her room. She’s lying in bed with Lucy’s e-reader. “Hey,” I say shyly, not looking at her. It’s bad enough that things have been off between us, but her lying in bed like this . . . I don’t know if I can handle it.

   “What’s up?” She hasn’t taken her eyes off her book. She and Lucy really are book best friends, whatever the hell that means.

   I clear my throat, because, truthfully, her lying in bed is making me nervous. “The guys are all going out to this club tonight, and they wanted to know if we’d come?” It comes out like a question.

   She puts her book down and looks at me. “Jake, I really don’t feel like it. You can totally go, though.”

   I’m still standing by the door. I haven’t moved closer to her—it’s too damn tempting. “It’s cool. Honestly, I’d rather just stay with you,” I tell her, because it’s the truth.

   She smiles a small smile and seems to change her mind. “I have two chapters left; then can we go?”

   I smile and nod.

   Then we just look at each other.

   No one says anything.

   I realize I should probably leave her to her reading, but I don’t want to go. She must somehow know this, because she rolls her eyes slightly and lifts the covers on one side.

   It’s an invitation.

   And I’m sure as shit going to accept.

   I know a huge grin is plastered on my face, but I don’t care. I walk over to the bed then realize I’m still in my gym gear. I probably smell like sweat-covered asshole. “I think I should take a shower first,” I tell her.

   “Okay,” she says and continues to read.

   I get in and out of the shower in 1.3 minutes flat. As I’m drying off, I remember that I don’t have any clothes.

   Shit.

   I can’t get back into my sweat-covered-asshole clothes, so I put the towel around my waist and think. If I leave this room, I can go down the stairs and outside, then through the house to my room . . . But if my parents and JuJu are home, then I’ll have to explain why I’m stepping in from outside in nothing but a towel. I could climb out the window, jump between the roofs, and hope that my window is open. This sounds like a better plan, unless my neighbors see and call the cops because a frickin’ creeper is on the roof of the house in nothing but a towel.