I slide down the tree and drop to the ground. The binoculars knock against my chest. I grab my shoes and tights and hurry across the field back to the road. I don’t look back, but I swear I can feel Will’s gaze on me the whole while I’m walking away and long after he’s out of sight.

It doesn’t matter what Will says, there’s nothing he can do to stop me from loving Gavin.

2

Jessie

I drop a two-foot-high stack of romance books and old romcoms from the library onto the thick wooden table top.

“Oh no, she’s finally going off the deep end,” says Veronica.

It’s Monday, and I’m meeting my friends at Juliet’s Wine Bar for our weekly girls night out. They’re at our usual table, a scarred oak plank piece with comfy upholstered chairs and votive candles. The wine bar is crowded and the hum of happy conversation and laughter fills the air.

Veronica and Chloe already have some red wine poured from a bottle and Ferran has a bubbly white. There’s a tray of cheese, crackers, and fruit. I pull out a chair and plop down. Ferran grabs an empty glass and pours me some of the red wine.

I grin at Veronica. She’s the least romantic person I know. When Miss Erma told her the name of her soul mate, she ran. We may disagree on the importance of romance and romcoms, but I still love her.

“You won’t believe what happened today.” I smile at my best friends and gesture at the stack of books on the table.

“You got rid of the damaged books and nabbed enough goodies for a weeklong romance binge?” asks Ferran.

“Shoot me, shoot me now,” Veronica says.

“Hey, you got It Happened One Night. Nick hasn’t seen that yet.” Chloe eyes the titles on the sack. “We watch movies after the baby’s asleep and then reenact the sexy scenes. We did Ghost last week. I had no idea clay was so hard to get out of—”

“Um.” A flush spreads over my cheeks at the visual.

“Have you done a Spiderman reenactment yet, that upside-down kiss?” asks Ferran.

“How do you think Nick got that sprained ankle last month?”

Veronica snorts and chokes on her wine. I pat her back.

Chloe winks. “Kidding. Just kidding.”

“She’s not,” Ferran says in a loud whisper.

Veronica wipes her eyes. “I love you, Chloe. We should do a new card line—kinky stick figures doing it.”

Chloe shakes her head and rolls her eyes.

I can’t stand it anymore.

“You guys,” I say. I wait until they’re all looking. “I saw Miss Erma today.” I put a whole book’s worth of meaning into those five words.

Chloe’s eyes widen. Erma is her great aunt and Chloe spent her life eating up Erma’s romantic legacy.