I wanted to tell her about it. Wanted her to be there to go through this massive project with me. But I couldn’t risk her involvement. I’d locked up the site’s origin so well I didn’t think anyone would be able to trace it, but still. I was taking a big enough risk pulling something like this at Wilmont, over Principal Tanner. Plus, I’d promised Dean I wouldn’t tell anyone, and I expected him to do the same. Fewer people involved to get burned if we got caught.

Which I had no intention of doing.

Ever.

Besides, no one could even write in.

“Yes,” I finally admitted. “We have a bet between us. I was working on my end of it.” I sighed. It felt good to at least tell her a half truth.

“Ohh,” she said over the roaring crowd. Wilmont had just scored. “I love this so much! What are the terms?”

I pressed my lips into a line, shaking my head. “I’m sworn to secrecy.”

She stomped her foot. “That is so unfair!”

“It’s techie stuff.” I laughed, the tension breaking within me. “It would bore you.”

“Anything with you and Dean working together or against each other or whatever is so not boring.”

“Why are you so obsessed with the time I spend with him?”

“Because,” she said. “He’s a good guy. And you deserve to be around a good guy who gets all that intricate wiring you have tangled in your pretty little head.”

I grinned, rolling my eyes.

We’d thought Brandon was a good guy, too.

A cold chill raced down my spine. The same deep iciness that built a wall around my heart, forbidding me from even thinking of Dean that way.

“You really can’t tell me?” she asked.

“No. It’s no big deal. Just something between us.”

A massive grin slid over her face. “Sounds romantic.”

“Platonic. Promise. He’s a friend. That’s all.”

A gorgeous, delicious-smelling friend. And this challenge was bringing us closer, despite being in opposition. Maybe it would be good for me. To get to know him beyond the halls of Wilmont, beyond our normal exchange of hacker-only info. It could be nice…having him as a friend.

Something I’d never really entertained before, because Brandon dominated all my free time, ensuring I barely had time to hack, let alone get closer with someone else.

“Fine,” she said, her tone completely understanding. “That’s a start, anyway.” She winked at me, her focus returning to Jake on the field.

I didn’t see the plays or touchdowns. I didn’t hear the cheers of the crowd around me. I was in my head, contemplating my next step with the website, wondering how many hits Sabrina’s post had gotten me, wishing I could ditch the game and check but at the same time grateful that I couldn’t.