“Am I ever gonna be invited to sleep over again?”

“If you think I asked either of my parents that, you are out of your damn mind.”

“I am out of my damn mind,” I say, fiddling with her bracelets. “I dumped the most popular guy in school and tomorrow everyone’s gonna know it’s because I’m—I don’t know what I am.” I look at her. “Is that okay? That I don’t know? It’s just—there hasn’t been another girl, ever. I don’t know if I’m bi or if it’s just you or if there’s even a difference, but I don’t really want to own a label until I know.”

“No labels at all?” she asks, arching one of her thick, perfect brows. “How about ‘girlfriend’?”

Girlfriend. It feels so different in Jasmine’s voice than in Chase’s, and it ripples down to my toes. “I can work with ‘girlfriend.’”

“Good.” She cups my face in her hands and kisses me. “Now take me to that graphic novel section you so carefully crafted and tell me more about this hot roommate character.”

“You sure you want me to spoil the ending?” I ask as I lead her to a more private spot to, uh, definitely look at books and nothing else.

Her palm is exquisitely warm as it squeezes mine. “I think we’ve both waited long enough to turn the page in this story, don’t you?”

Acknowledgments

All books are a challenge in their own way, but if I’m being honest, this one was the closest thing to an easy ride I’ve ever had, and that’s unquestionably due to all the people I had in my corner for it.

To my editor, Vicki Lame, thank you for your keen editorial eye and every minute of seeing this book through. Big thanks also to Jennie Conway for your incredible work, kindness, and enthusiasm; Angelica Chong for your greatly appreciated assistance; my dream of a publicist, Meghan Harrington; designer Kerri Resnick and illustrator Claire Allison for an absolutely killer biconic cover; production pros Lauren Hougen, Cathy Turiano, and Anna Gorovoy for getting this book into tip-top shape; the fabulous marketing team of Alexis Neuville, DJ DeSmyter, and Brant Janeway, and everyone involved in Creative Services, Sales, and the School & Library teams for all your magic in spreading the word. It’s no small task to get this all done during a global pandemic, and I couldn’t have asked for a better place to do it.

To DongWon Song, thank you for loving this book the way it was and still pushing me to make it better in the best ways before finding it the perfect home.

To my agent, Patricia Nelson, thank you for holding my hand all the way down.