The words were said nakedly, honestly, and sincerely, and they ripped straight through the armor I’d thought I’d built up when it came to Dare. Turns out those calluses were actually paper maché.

I swallowed, my throat so tight it was like breathing through a reed. Any notion that I hadn’t played too loudly went right out the window. “You heard me?”

“Your voice.” He didn’t smirk or smile. There was no teasing or flirtation. “It—words can’t do it justice.”

My heart soared, taking flight before dropping back into my chest. Now it was my turn for the lobster impersonation. “It’s not a big deal.” I shrugged. “You heard me play and now you’re, what? You’re everywhere whenever I turn around.”

“Sorry for trying to make a new friend.” He dropped his back against the wall, staring out at the lockers across from us like he believed every word he’d just said.

“It’s the last two months of senior year. I’ve been here for three years, Dare. Why now?” I spread my arms wide at my sides.

“Maybe I didn’t see you before.”

A sharp sound came from deep in my chest. “You wouldn’t be the first one.”

He turned his head, his gaze colliding with mine. The gray of his eyes radiated regret.

I couldn’t look away.

“I’m sorry for what I did, Bay. I’m sorry I snapped at you like that. It wasn’t right. I fucked up and I’ll make sure people stop calling you TNG.”

And just like that, it evaporated. The weight I’d carried in my chest. The conflict when it came to him was wiped away with a two-sentence declaration. “You’re forgiven.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

The grudge I’d held felt silly in the light of day; it was anger I harbored for something he didn’t even remember. “We’re so close to graduation and I’ll leave here and never look back, so it doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me.” A flash of intensity in his eyes.

My breath came out shaky. “Absolution granted, and I’ll be okay. Don’t worry.”

His lips tightened and he give me a grim nod. With his hands shoved into his pockets, he stared down at the floor. “What about the song?”

“I don’t even know if I can finish the song, so you might be waiting on that one for a long time.”

“Why not? Why can’t you finish?” He said it like he was actually worried I wouldn’t finish a song I’d played around with on my back steps.

“Why are you so interested?”

“Why are you evasive?”

Under the Dare spotlight, I squirmed. Why did he have to be the one to see me? Couldn’t it have been someone a bit less dangerous to my sanity?

“Is the boredom getting to you? All the easy lays already conquered and now you’re looking for a challenge?”

His smile was back now, a cocky set to his jaw. “That’s the second time you mentioned sex around me. Why does it keep coming back to that with you? Something tells me you’re thinking about sex a whole lot more than I am.”