I sighed, wishing like hell she didn’t think she had anything to make up for. I’d told her as much. Maybe I should’ve tried a little harder these past weeks to make it perfectly clear that she had done nothing wrong. We’d gone on more non-dates each weekend—sometimes to her work to code, sometimes to a movie, others just to grab food and chill at her house. Easy. Fun. Refreshing.

I’d almost asked her a few times to help me uncover who Ask Me Anything was, but in the end, I’d always swallowed the urge. I wouldn’t rope her into this mess. Exactly the reason I’d kept her in the coding room when she’d been hell-bent on giving Tanner a piece of her mind after we’d witnessed the blackmail on Jesse. Anything I could do to keep my two favorite girls—Tessa and Amber—off Tanner’s radar was worth it.

My fingers hovered over the keys, wondering where this newfound sense of adventure had come from. Was it me? Was it all the time we spent together? A little bit of warm pride shot through my blood—the thought that I had anything to do with bringing Amber out of her recent darkness…but no, she didn’t need me to do that. She was strong and standing all on her own. The girl didn’t need anyone, but those who were in her circle were lucky as hell to be there.

NightLocker: Definitely

NightLocker: Where are we headed?

PixieBurn: You’ll need to pack an overnight bag

She typed her response faster than I could blink. And the words she’d typed? Knocked the breath right out of my lungs.

A whole night with Amber?

A slew of images rushed through my head—all of them hotter than the next.

Lock it up.

I shook off the images and focused on the one thing that mattered.

This was her way of saying she trusted me.

I couldn’t ignore the way my heart filled at the thought.

I caught my breath and set my fingers on the keys.

NightLocker: Is that so?

PixieBurn: Don’t get too excited

NightLocker: Too late

PixieBurn: Don’t make me regret inviting you

NightLocker: I don’t even know where we’re going

PixieBurn: It’s a surprise

NightLocker: Now you’re just copying

PixieBurn: Nope

PixieBurn: Mine is SO much better

I grinned. All earlier frustrations forgotten and replaced by beautifully torturous new ones.

This girl.

She was coming back to herself. To the playful, feisty banter I knew her for before. Though she’d never been this flirty before.

Thanks to him.

And I wasn’t at all sad about it now. But I couldn’t let her get away with it that easy.

NightLocker: Hard to top arcade and food trucks

PixieBurn: I will top it

NightLocker: I’ll be the judge of that