My foot slipped on the ladder and I started to fall. But a strong hand clamped around my wrist, holding me in place. I quickly regained my footing and stared up at...my past.

I cursed under my breath. “You scared the crap out of me, Axel.”

“What? Were you expecting someone else?”

Actually, when I’d heard the deep voice, I’d thought it might be my kiss thief, lurking in here waiting for me. But I didn’t dare say that out loud. “No, I was expecting no one.”

He stared down at me. “Well unfortunately I’m here. And like I said. No girls allowed.”

I laughed.

He smiled.

I didn’t think the no girls allowed sign was the sign I’d been asking for. But I was very aware of the fact that I’d felt the treehouse calling to me tonight. And that Axel had been sitting in here the whole time. I tried to shake away the thought, but it was impossible when I was staring up into his blue eyes. “Help me up.”

He pulled me up into the treehouse, abandoning his no girls allowed policy pretty quickly.

“What are you doing up here?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Thinking about our project.” He put his hands behind his head and leaned against one of the old wooden walls.

“You were up here thinking about our coding project? Instead of celebrating your victory?” It was very unlike him to be thinking about homework on a Saturday night.

He shrugged again.

“Dreaming of princesses and princes, huh?” I scooted forward to see the wall of pictures. I smiled at my dad, Uncle Rob, Uncle Matt, and Uncle Mason all looking young and ridiculous. The four of them had stayed friends their whole lives. I wanted that to be true for the four of us too. But our four was a lot more complicated than theirs.

“Something like that,” Axel said.

I turned to see him staring at me.

“I figured I’d also run into you,” he said. “You come here every time we throw this party.”

“Am I really so predictable?”

“Not recently.” He leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. And his gaze fell to the number 18 on the varsity jacket I was wearing. “Because I certainly didn’t expect you to be wearing Jacob’s jacket tonight when you showed up here.”

I felt the weight of it on my shoulders. What did Axel want from me? It just so happened that number 18 liked me and number 10 didn’t. I placed my hand over the number on my sleeve as I folded my arms across my chest. “I told you that I liked him.”

“Do you also like August Ward?”

I opened my mouth and closed it again.

“And Billy? And Ryan? And Henley...”

“I didn’t kiss Henley.”