“Well, call us if you need a ride home, alright?” She kissed the top of my head. Her and my father walked toward the exit.

“I can’t believe they won,” Sophie said. “I thought for sure Axel was going to throw a few more passes all wonky. Although, I do suspect that he was trying to hit the kissing booth.”

Yeah, that made sense. He thought of himself as my big brother. He was probably trying to ward off potential dates or however Jacob had put it. And normally the thought would have annoyed me. But I was internally panicking. “Sophie, I need to tell you something.”

“Tell me in the car. This is the one party of the year I like being on time to. It’s my favorite one.” She hooked her arm through mine as we walked out of the stadium.

This party was usually my favorite of the year too. After the first game of the season, the football team always threw a party in the woods behind Jacob’s grandparents’ home. My grandfather technically had a home on that street too. But he lived in the city now. The house had remained untouched for years. Like some kind of museum. I didn’t have a ton of memories at the house my father grew up in. The only thing I really remembered was his old treehouse.

There was something fun about visiting the treehouse after a few drinks. And imagining what shenanigans my father and his friends used to get up to when he was my age.

But I didn’t want to think about any of my dad’s shenanigans tonight.

Or my mom’s.

Seriously...how had I become an exact mini-me of her without even meaning to?

“Sophie, I really need to tell you something,” I said as we climbed into her car.

“Were the kisses really so bad? I really thought once we got started you’d be into it.”

“No, they were fine.” I pressed my lips together.

“It’s okay that we didn’t find your kiss thief. We’ve narrowed it down to ten guys. That’s a big deal. You can make out with the rest of them at the party.”

I’d narrowed it down to one. And suddenly a drifter didn’t sound as bad as the truth.

Sophie pulled the car out of the parking lot.

I should have told her the truth before she’d gotten behind the wheel. If I told her who the mascot was now, she’d probably accidentally swerve into oncoming traffic and kill us. Or maybe she’d do it on purpose.

So I just let the silence stretch between us as we drove to the woods.