The laugh that ripped from my chest was full and snort-worthy and all the things I usually tried to tone down in public, but there was no possible way. Not with the look on Dean’s face—his eyes wide, a slight color to his cheeks as he swallowed hard. Then, a low growl, this rumble in his chest that stopped my laugh in its tracks, all kinds of other tingles rippling over my skin.

“Fucking Sean,” he grumbled under his breath.

I grinned. “I haven’t heard this Nero song before,” I teased.

He tilted his head, sparing me a glance before focusing on the road again. “No?” he asked. “This is totally my jam,” he said, his tone mocking of what I assumed was closer to what his little sister sounded like. He bobbed his head to the beat, rolling his shoulders.

Two seconds. That’s all it took Dean to recover. He was so quick.

Another chuckle and I was dancing in unison with him. “I can see why,” I said over the music, grinning ridiculously when he started dramatically mouthing the words.

By the end of the song my sides hurt from laughing so hard. Watching this incredibly hot guy belt out Taylor Swift—clearly a prank from his older brother—was the perfect medicine for my earlier misstep. It was almost enough to make me forget what had happened.

Almost.

But once he pulled into my driveway and turned the volume down on another Taylor song, I was plunged right back into the embarrassing moment like no time had passed. I parted my lips, shifting in the seat to face him.

“Thank you again,” I said instead of apologizing like I wanted to.

“This was fun, right?” he asked like he needed the reassurance as much as I did.

“The best. Seriously.” I tried to convey with my eyes how sorry I was to have ruined it at the end.

The car, filled with his scent, seemed to shrink around me as we simply looked at each other, trying to communicate without speaking. Though it was hard to know what he tried to tell me when his eyes were so gray in this muted light.

“Well,” I finally said, reaching for the door. “See you,” I finished, cringing as I turned to open the door. Super-clever sign-off.

“Amber?” The use of my real name over my alias froze my movements.

My stomach hit the floor—he was going to say he wouldn’t see me on Monday. That I shouldn’t bother coming to Code Club anymore. That after tonight, he realized I was too damaged, not worth the effort to even be my friend, let alone more.

“Yeah?” I asked, barely finding the courage to turn back around and face him.

He pressed his lips together, a battle raging in his eyes. Reaching across the seat, he gently touched my shoulder, the caress firing up nerves I didn’t even know I possessed.