“Oh, hey!” Rachel said all of a sudden. “I never said congrats on getting into Harvard, Flynn. That’s so fantastic!”

Noah shifted ever so slightly. I only knew because I felt his knee bump against mine, but it was almost an imperceptible motion. “Thanks. We’re checking out the campus in a couple of days.”

“Didn’t your cousin work at Harvard?” Lee said.

Rachel nodded. “Yeah! He loved it there. He was just working in one of the dorms for a while, but he said everyone was really great, and the campus was really nice.”

Noah nodded. It was the indifferent, uninterested nod that was so typically Flynn—the badass persona Noah put out to everyone at school. I poked him with my foot below the table.

His dad seemed to notice that Noah had gone quiet and said, “It’s an amazing opportunity.”

“Exactly,” I added hastily, hoping my voice sounded reassuring. “You’d have to be crazy to pass it up.”

Noah just looked at me.

Despite June talking to me about Noah going to Harvard at the end of the summer, I deliberately hadn’t brought it up with him yet. We’d been having such fun, and it wasn’t exactly like we’d had much time alone to talk about it.

I got the feeling from the look he gave me then that we really, really did need to talk about it.

I stole a glance at Lee, tearing my eyes from Noah’s impenetrable gaze. My best friend shot me a sympathetic smile. I wished again that Noah were as easy to read as his brother.

“Lemon sorbet?” the waiter said, suddenly appearing with armfuls of carefully balanced plates.

“That’s me.” Rachel put up her hand a little.

I looked at Noah again as desserts were handed out. I felt like I had to say something to break the tension between us.

In the end, I settled for “How’s the food? It looks good. I should’ve ordered something.”

“Here.” A fork was suddenly pushed right in front of my face, a lump of cheesecake and gooey, delicious raspberry sauce on the end of it. “See for yourself.”

I raised my eyebrows slightly at Noah, who was giving me a tiny smirk, one that tugged at the corners of his mouth, acting normal and ignoring the awkward atmosphere left by the college talk. I felt my cheeks warm up but leaned in to take the bite.

I made an appreciative noise—the kind you make when food is melt-in-your-mouth, oh-my-gosh delicious, which made Noah grin at me. I swallowed and bit back a laugh. My eyes crinkled with a suppressed smile.