“All right.” I slipped into it. It was soft and smelled like him, a faint hint of peppermint. We made a quick stop at a gas station for coffee, and on the ride back, I relaxed against his body, resting my cheek on his shoulder and closing my eyes.

I wondered where Elise was, if she was having fun.

Pushing her out of my mind, I focused on Jack, how warm and strong he was in my arms. How kissing him had felt, our bodies brushing gently in the water, his skin like silk against mine.

We must’ve been gone for at least a couple hours, but when we got back to Summer’s house, the Pink Caddy was still sitting by the mailbox in a long string of cars.

I wasn’t ready to say goodbye and he didn’t look like he was either. He took my hand and we walked to the swings on the playground by the tennis courts.

“I haven’t done this in forever,” I said, kicking hard to go higher. “Did you ever jump off as a kid? I was always too scared.”

“Oh yeah,” Jack said, laughing beside me, keeping pace. “I sprained an ankle that way.”

“Really?” I turned to look at him, half laughing, half impressed.

He nodded, his smile mesmerizing.

We kept going for a while until we got bored and climbed up the jungle gym to lie on the highest platform and look at the sky, our knees touching. He asked me if I thought there was anyone out there in the vast expanse of the universe, if I ever felt small, and I told him that his life mattered, that he mattered.

Then Jack kissed me under the stars, and my heart felt like bursting. I closed my eyes and curled onto his body.

“We smell like lake,” I said.

He laughed, then sniffed my hair. “You’re right.”

“Hey!” I elbowed him.

“But in a good way. Very earthy.”

“Earthy? You mean like dirt?”

“Shhh,” he said, kissing me again. Then in a mock sexy voice, he whispered in my ear, “I’ve never met anyone like you before—so beautiful and so . . . aromatic?”

I laughed and he kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes again and we fell into a lovely silence. I was almost asleep when he nudged me. “Remy.”

“Yeah?” I said, rubbing my eyes.

“Tonight’s been magical,” he said softly. “I haven’t felt like myself in so long.” His words reminded me of what he’d said earlier that night, about how he wasn’t the same person he used to be.

“What do you mean?” I rested a light hand on his cheek, fingers brushing his hair.

He hesitated, looked unsure.

“You can tell me,” I said.

“I don’t want to make things weird.” He turned away from me to stare at the sky. “People don’t know how to deal with me when I—”

My hand slipped down his arm to find his. “Tell me.”

He kept his eyes on the stars as he began. “My grandfather passed away last year,” he said quietly. “We were really close.”