“How’s school going?” Zack asked. “Are you ready to fling yourself off a bridge yet?”

“Just about. Sometimes I can’t believe I still have a year left. And then other times I can’t believe it’s only a year until I graduate and have to become a real adult.”

“Put it off for as long as possible,” Zack advised. “It sucks. Peter Pan was right all along.”

“Maybe I’ll just keep getting degrees until the scholarship money runs dry. So what’s up with you? I haven’t seen you since that night we went to the Library.”

“Same old, same old,” Zack replied, trying to act casual.

Lee shattered his attempt. “What happened between you and that guy? John or whatever? You a couple yet?”

“Yes,” Kira answered at the same time Zack said, “No.”

They looked at each other, and Kira smiled airily. “You are so.”

“Not officially,” he insisted.

“Yeah, because you’re avoiding it for some inexplicable reason. I mean, we hardly ever see you anymore because you’re always with John. What’s the deal? Is John not as great as you make him sound?”

“No, he is,” Zack said. “We’re just not there yet.”

“But why?” Kira pestered. “Come on, Zackary, you can tell us.”

Zack picked at the label on his beer. “It hasn’t been brought up. Not since our first—well, second date, technically.”

“Is that because you’ve been avoiding it? Or has John?”

Zack shrugged. “Little of column A, little of column B.”

“That surprises me. From what Alexa told me, he’s been trying to lock you down since day one. What changed?”

Zack answered without looking up. “That’s kinda what I wanted to talk about tonight. Things have been . . . different between us. Because of something I did.”

“Well, don’t leave us hanging,” Kira said, raising her beer to her full lips. “Spill.”

“Stop me if I seem like I’m making tonight all about me,” Zack said. “It’s been a while since we hung out. I want to hear about you guys.”

“Our lives are boring,” Lee piped up. He ran his fingers through his hair, and every strand fell perfectly into place. Zack felt a mild stab of hatred for him. “You’re the one with the mysterious job and the rich boyfriend. We want to hear what happened. Did you buy him the wrong color diamond or something? Or worse,” he feigned a look of mortification, “did you wear something off the rack?”

Zack laughed. “Definitely not the diamond part. I’ve never been more broke, and funny enough, it’s kind of John’s fault.”

Lee frowned. “How? Has your millionaire boyfriend been making you pay for dinner?”

“No, nothing like that. There’s actually . . . something I need to tell you about him. And me.”