Even worse is the fact that I’m still excited for it to be just me and Kincaid, nobody left at the park now but one other couple doing their own thing, and some girls I don’t know sharing a cigarette. Kincaid’s gaze finds me, anchoring us as he does circuits, taking the half-pipe a couple times, then slows when he sees me walking toward the trees, turning on my own flashlight. I’m hearing Ivy’s words: Anything you don’t want an audience for, take it into the woods.

He meets me there. It’s like no time has passed; we lock together, him covering my face and throat in kisses in a way that confirms everything, kills every doubt, but his hands are icy, startling. “Holy crap,” I say, “you need gloves.”

“No, I don’t.” I jump as he glides his hands up under my shirt, across my back, hugging me to him, but it takes only a second for our temperatures to blend. It feels good to be able to give him some comfort, and we stay like that for a moment. The congestion’s still there, a slight rattle in his chest. I say, “Can I ask you something?”

He doesn’t speak right away. “Probably.”

“When did you figure out I liked you?”

I can feel his smile in the dark. “A while ago.”

“Smug bastard.” He laughs, and I don’t want to do this, ruin the moment, and expose Bree’s secrets, but I don’t see any other way. “Do you know Bree likes you, too?”

A beat passes. “She does?”

“Yeah.” I go slow, not wanting to open the vault door more than a crack, displaying all the details of how we obsessed over him, how he was almost all we talked about. “I feel bad. She doesn’t know—” I gesture between us. “I don’t know how to tell her.”

He pulls back a little, looking down at me. “I never hooked up with her.”

“Yeah, but she liked you first.”

Another pause. A slight shrug. “Act like it’s no big and do what you want. She’ll get over it.”

“Have you met Bree? Or, like, the world?” He snorts, pressing his face against my head. “No. I’ve got to suck it up and tell her. I mean, she put herself out there for me. She didn’t have to be so nice.” I hesitate. “I probably never would’ve even met you if she hadn’t asked me to come hang out.”

“You would’ve.” He holds my chin. “Told you, Clarabelle. No mistakes.”

“Uh-huh.” I stand on my tiptoes, kiss him. His beard’s coming in a little, right on the verge of scratchy. “Well. Grasshopper has to go home now.”

“Sensei’s going to walk you.”