Chapters (47)
- Cover
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- 2 Months Later
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Books by Kasie West
- Back Ad
- About the Publisher
I stared at the mask in his hand, at the drink in mine, then looked up at him again. “If this is how you realized you felt this weekend, why didn’t you call me? Text me? Come over?”
“Because one, you asked for space and I was trying to respect that. And two, I got my phone taken away for leaving Saturday morning when I was supposed to be grounded. The only time I could’ve snuck over to your house was after my parents were asleep and I figured you were in big trouble so I didn’t want to make it worse. I’ve been worried about you all weekend.”
It all made sense. But something still didn’t sit right. The thing that had made me think he was walking away for good. “Why did you erase all our chats?”
“What . . . ?” He looked at me, confused for a moment, then realization came over his face. “Oh! Online! I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how that would look. I erased those Friday night when I got home because I’m handing over the mask and social media accounts to Amelia. I didn’t want her to have access to all our private conversations. I saved them all.”
My defenses melted, replaced with sheer relief and happiness. “You saved all the chats?”
He smiled a little. “Of course. You didn’t think I’d save them? I saw you spit a piece of gum in the trash three weeks ago and I saved that.”
I felt the look of disgust on my face before I realized he was joking. I hit his chest. We were good for each other. He saw through the crap other people couldn’t and balanced out my driven personality with his relaxed one.
“Too soon?” he asked.
“No, you timed that one just right. Well, that and you are pretty charming.”
He started to laugh but then realized what I’d said and his smile softened. “Really?”
I nodded. “Yes, really. You were right. I need people in my life.”
“People?”
“You. I need you.”
He smiled. “Same.” His eyes darted to my lips. “I want to kiss you.”
“Then do it.”
“Is that a challenge?”
I shrugged, took a big sip of my drink, and walked away, trying not to laugh.
He cut me off before I’d made it two steps, wrapped one arm around my waist, and pulled me into a kiss.
“You are about to crush my Slurpee,” I said against his lips.
Without pulling away, he took the Slurpee that was smashed between us and dropped it in the trash that happened to be to my left at the end of the row of lockers. I gasped and was about to protest loudly when he covered my mouth with his and pulled me closer.
2 Months Later
I lay on my back in the lake, staring at the sky, which was a clear blue. Lazy clouds drifted by.