Nick shut his eyes and sighed. “Gay. I’m g*y.”

“See? Brave.”

“I’m not—”

Adam kissed him. Gently, his mouth moving slowly against Nick’s. He pulled away before too long.

“Thanks for listening,” he said quietly.

“Thanks for telling me.”

“You boys need anything else?”

Nick started. The older waitress was there beside the table.

He hadn’t heard her approach. Worse—he hadn’t felt her approach. Would she say something? He should probably start disentangling himself from Adam. His voice wouldn’t work and his face felt like his cheeks were going to burn clean off.

“No, thanks,” Adam said. He sounded amused.

She ripped a piece of paper from her pad and set it on the table. “You two are just the cutest ever.”

Nick froze. She didn’t care. They’d been head to head at this table, and she hadn’t batted an eye.

Adam winked at her. “Sounds like someone’s looking for a tip.”

“Here’s a tip,” she said. “Don’t flirt with old married ladies when you’ve got a sure thing in your arms.”

“Am I the sure thing in this scenario?” said Nick.

“I don’t know,” Adam said. “Are you?”

The waitress laughed and left them with the check.

“She didn’t care,” said Nick softly. “I know it’s stupid, but I thought—”

“What, that people would come out with pitchforks? Flaming torches?”

“Maybe.”

Adam kissed him on the cheek. “You’re adorable. People surprise you sometimes. Especially when you give them the chance.”

The words hit Nick hard, the way words you need to hear usually do. He held them in his head for examination later.

When they walked back to Adam’s apartment, he reached out to hold the other boy’s hand. And Nick didn’t care one bit who saw.

CHAPTER 8

Quinn stretched her leg against a tree and shivered. She slid her fingers across the face of her iPod, looking for a playlist to suit her mood. The strip mall parking lot was tempt-ing, but off limits thanks to that dickhead Tyler. The lot looked empty under the halogen lights, but that didn’t mean anything.

She’d stay right here at the edge of these woods, where she could see without being seen.

She didn’t have any transportation, so it wasn’t like she could go anywhere else. Her brother was out tonight—but her mom wasn’t.

Quinn was waiting her out. She could sneak back into the house after midnight. Her mom usually wasn’t conscious that long.

She’d hoped Nick would want to go out tonight, but he’d mentioned he was meeting Adam to “study”— sure—and Quinn didn’t want to get in the middle of that.

She wondered if he was avoiding her after that stupid, stupid kiss. She blushed now, remembering. What had she been thinking?

You were thinking that he was really your boyfriend, instead of a pretend one.

Her phone chimed. She checked it. Becca.

Please. Talk to me. I’m sorry.

Quinn rolled her eyes and shoved the phone into her bag.

A branch snapped somewhere off to her right, and she froze, her eyes searching the darkness.

Nothing. Whatever.

She found Adam’s audition song, melodic R&B with a driving beat.

Then she threw herself into the routine.

The ground was uneven here, and she had to watch out for branches, but she had sound in her ears and cold air on her skin.

One of her favorite things about dance was that she could do it anywhere.

Her body was getting stronger from working with Adam, but she still had miles to go before she’d reach his level. Her turns needed more balance, and she still missed the beat in the more complicated moves. When Adam had first asked her to be his partner for his audition piece, she’d been ready to laugh it off.

She had no real professional training, no expensive dance clothes or private instructors or anything to bring to the table other than raw talent. But even after he’d convinced her, she hadn’t been ready for his work ethic. His intensity.

Adam wasn’t f**king around. He wanted this scholarship.

And the stronger Quinn got, the more she realized she wanted him to get it, too. She didn’t want to let him down.

She wanted to accomplish something, for once in her life.

She spun too fast and landed hard, stumbling. Damn. She used the slider on her iPod to back the song up a bit, then launched herself into motion.

The stars whirled above her, bearing witness to her dance.

She wished Nick were here to feed power into the air. She could feel it when he did that now, driving energy into the music until she couldn’t help leaping higher and moving with every beat.

She tried to find that same energy now, without him, but the woods were empty, the wind’s only power the ability to keep her cold.

Wham. Something slammed into her, and the music died instantly. Quinn hit the ground before she realized she was falling.

Then the earbuds were yanked free of her ears, something snapped at her waistband, and footsteps were tearing away through the underbrush.

Wtf?

Then she got it.

“Come back here!” she screamed, running after the thief.

She’d saved every penny for months to buy that iPod. “Stop!

Stop! ”

Her assailant had a pretty good head start. This had to be a guy, from the size and the way he moved. He bolted into the street without looking. Quinn followed.