Then it swings open almost immediately, and Drew’s standing there with the most stressed-out look on his face, which melts away just a little when he catches sight of me. Aw.

“Hey,” he says, but it sounds like it’s riding a sigh. “Let me just get my brother and then we can go.”

I expect him to invite me inside, but he doesn’t, simply slipping back in and closing the door with me still standing on the porch. A minute later, the door opens again, and he comes out, a nine-year-old version of him following behind.

“Noah, this is Jordan. Jordan, this is my boyfriend, Noah.” Despite it being all an act, the words flow casually off Drew’s tongue like he’s really falling into the motions, and I can’t help but smile.

“Hi,” Jordan says, but he doesn’t seem very enthusiastic about it. Actually, after spending the day with the kids at camp, this kid seems just about dead.

Drew calls our ride, and we all shuffle into the back seat. “You have an interesting house,” I say.

Drew winced. “Ugh, yeah. My dad’s just kind of like that.”

And suddenly I’m a little relieved he didn’t invite me inside.

“Do you guys, like . . . kiss and stuff?” Jordan asks.

Drew shoves his shoulder, a look of mortification on his face. “I told you not to say shit like that. What the hell?”

“It’s just a question.”

“It’s fine,” I say, and really, after camp, I don’t think there’s a whole lot any kid could say to catch me off guard. We sit in silence until we finally get out at the theater, and Jordan rushes ahead to get into the ticket line, and I can’t help but feel like Devin would know exactly what to say. Hell, he’d have Jordan swinging off his arm in an hour, and they’d be getting matching tattoos by the end of the night.

“I’m sorry about that,” Drew says as we make our way to the line.

“It’s fine,” I say. “I just wish I was better with kids.”

He smiles. “You’re perfect. Really. I told Jordan you offered to go to the movies with him, and he was thrilled. He’s just shit at showing it to you.”

That’s both kind of a relief and extremely nerve-racking. God, what if I disappoint him? That could have a terrible effect on my fake-but-soon-to-be-real relationship.

“Anyway,” Drew says, “things were getting super messy, so thanks for busting us out of there.”

“Your parents?” I ask.

Drew shrugs, but it’s pretty obvious that means yes. “I think they used to pretend to like each other for Jordan’s sake, but they’ve basically all but given up on that. Now it’s just a battleground, and they don’t give a damn who the casualties are.”