LeAnn shoots me a sympathetic look as she ushers Kennedy away, and I move toward Kingston, gripping his face in my hands to check on him. But he flinches and pulls away. It hurts. It cuts so damn deep, I think my insides are shattered, but I just drop my hands. “Kingston. It’s okay.”

“I can’t believe that just happened. Fuck.”

“She’s not going to say anything. I promise.”

He doesn’t look sure. In fact, he still looks pale and terrified. I did that to him. I put him in this situation. I knew better, knew we were getting too comfortable. But I did it anyway. “She’s vindictive. She’ll tell everyone.”

I can’t allow myself to be hurt by his fear of being outed when he’s not even gay. When this whole thing just started to give me some experience. So, I try to push past those feelings. “We’ll tell everyone she’s lying. No one else saw anything. They all know how she is.”

“They’ll come at you, Camden. You’ve never had a girlfriend.”

“So?” I feel defensive and can’t hide it.

“So we’re fucked,” he says, the anxiety in his tone frightening me because Kingston doesn’t worry about anything.

“Let’s just go back to my place, and it’ll be okay,” I say.

“I think I should probably go to my house tonight. Let it all settle down.”

That fucking hurts. Slices right through me. But I agree and drive him to his house before going to my lonely, empty bed. Hating myself for putting him in this position.

I was almost out of here. Why the hell did I have to tell him? Why did I start this whole thing?

I was almost in the clear.

30. Camden

THIRTY

CAMDEN

I can’t get Kington’s fearful look out of my head. I had to work yesterday, and he didn’t call me. He didn’t text. He didn’t come over. It’s the first time in a long time I’ve gone an entire day without talking to him.

I’m afraid he hates me, that we’ll never be friends again, and that it’s all my fault. Although, part of me feels betrayed. Maybe I don’t have the right to feel that way, but he didn’t say anything. He just stood there. And then he didn’t want to come over, and I haven’t talked to him.

Everything feels off and wrong. When I walk into school on Monday, I don’t see him, even though my eyes search for him everywhere.

I spot LeAnn first, and she comes to me, giving me a hug that I fall into. My heart clenches tight, and everything feels like it’s going to spill over in that moment. “It’s going to be okay,” she soothes, but I know it isn’t.

She has to know that too.