Jace Dawson is the last person who I should be entrusting with my secrets, and yet I can’t seem to lie to those slate-colored eyes. I risk a glance up, and there’s no sign of the god-like persona Katie described yesterday in the soft look he gives me. The tree branches shelter us from the precipitation plummeting from the sky around us, and it feels as though we’re the only two people who exist under their green canopy.

Self-conscious, I tighten my ponytail and nod toward the path.

“Ready?” I ask, trying to dispel the intense moment. Jace nods, and we set off at an easy jog, side by side.

We run in silence for a while, until I finally ask, “What’s Fulton?”

Jace gives me a sideways glance. “As in the Fulton Football t-shirt you’ve never seen?”

I try to contain the grin his words elicit, but don’t do so very successfully. “Maybe.”

“It’s from my high school team. The town in Nebraska I’m from is named Fulton.”

“Oh,” I reply. “Is it a big town?”

“No, it’s tiny. Only a few thousand people live there.”

“Were you a big deal there, too?”

Jace sends me a smirk that suggests the answer should be obvious. I roll my eyes.

“Do you miss it?” I ask, curious to hear more about his upbringing.

“Yeah, it was hard to leave and come here,” Jace replies. “My family is pretty tight-knit.”

“Do you have siblings?”

“Yeah, I’m one of five.”

I look at him in surprise. “Seriously?” I pictured him as a fellow only child.

“Yup. I’m the oldest, and then Mike is next. He’s a junior in high school and thinks he’s the shit.”

I laugh, and Jace glances over at me. “Wonder where he might have learned that,” I speculate.

Jace scoffs. “Then there’s Max and Alden,” he continues. “They’re identical twins and are starting high school next year. Claire is the youngest. She’s only eight.” A fond smile forms on his handsome face as he talks about his younger siblings.

“What are your parents like?” I wonder, eager to learn more about his family.

“They both grew up in Fulton and were high school sweethearts. They planned to go to college together, but my grandfather died right after graduation, so they got married and stayed in Fulton to help my grandmother run the family farm. She passed away right after the twins were born, so they decided to stay for good. My mom runs the farm stand and my dad oversees most of the farm operations.”

“I’m sorry about your grandparents,” I tell him.

“Thanks.”

“Your parents sound pretty amazing,” I remark.

“Yeah, they’re great. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, but they still made sure I had all the football equipment I needed and that I could go to all the best camps, even with all the other stuff my siblings needed. There’s no way I would be here otherwise.” A brief flash of uncertainty crosses his face, but it quickly disappears as he turns to look at me. “What about you?” he asks.