3

“Get it together, Poppy,” I chided myself in the mirror. “You’re being ridiculous.” Laughter in the hall caught my attention and my heart ratcheted at that voice.

His voice.

Aaron Bennet.

One of my best friends.

My…

I shook those thoughts out of my head.

Crap. He and his friend Cole were right outside the bathroom, laughing and joking.

“I thought we were hanging with everyone for Ashleigh’s birthday?” Cole asked.

“Yeah, we can, for a little bit,” Aaron said. “But then I figured we can invite some people to your house and chill.”

“Dude, it’s Monday. We have an early practice tomorrow.”

“So? We’re seniors now, Kandon.” Aaron chuckled. “We’ve got to make the most of it while we can. Besides, I heard Madison say she wouldn’t mind getting to know you better.” “I’m not interested in Madison,” Cole said.

“Why the hell not? She’s hot as fuck.”

My breath caught and I clapped a hand over my mouth.

“You hook up with her then.”

“Maybe I will.” Aaron snorted, and thankfully, they moved down the hall so I didn’t have to listen to anymore of Aaron’s bullshit.

I gripped the edge of the sink, my eyelids fluttering. Was I really hiding out in the Bennets’ bathroom? How pathetic.

There had been a time I could tell Aaron Bennet anything. But things had changed lately. Maybe they’d been changing for a while.

We weren’t kids anymore.

We were seniors. Aaron was one of Rixon High’s beloved football players and I was the coach’s youngest daughter.

Besides, I was dating Eli now. Sweet, kind, caring Eli. And he liked me.

Which was more than I could say about Aaron.

My heart clenched.

Aaron didn’t care about me. Not the way I cared about him.

I’d loved him for as long as I could remember, but I would never be more than his friend.

And it was time I accepted that.

“There you are. I was looking for you everywhere,” Lily said when I rejoined the party.

Music blasted out of speakers somewhere, drowning out some of the chatter while the men huddled around the grill and the women fussed over the copious amounts of food. Because when the Bennets, Chases, and Fords got together there needed to be enough to sustain the appetites of three grown men, plus six teenagers and their friends.

“What’s up?” Sofia joined us.

“Nothing.” I forced a smile. “Something smells good.”

“My dad’s secret marinade. You know how seriously he takes his role as grill chef.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s a shame Kaiden couldn’t make it.”

“Yeah,” Lily replied. “But things with the team are intense.”

“You’re okay though, right? He’s making time for you?”

“I’m fine. More than fine.” A coy smile played on her lips. “He makes me very happy.”

Lily and Kaiden were the real deal. I’d watched my sister blossom over the last twelve months. Gone was the shy, anxious girl she used to be, replaced with a young woman who knew what she wanted and fought every day to make those dreams a reality.

“First you, then Peyton,” Sofia said, referring to my sister and Ashleigh’s best friend. “And now Ashleigh. It’s got to be our turn next, right, Pops?” She flashed me a grin.

“Uh, yeah,” I murmured, my stomach dipping at her knowing glance.

Sofia knew how I felt about her brother. It was an unspoken thing between us. But she didn’t push.

Because Aaron didn’t feel the same—he never had.

A trickle of awareness went through me and I knew, the way I knew the sky was blue and the grass was green, that he was behind me.

“We’re heading out,” he said.

“Already? But it’s still early,” Sofia said.

His eyes burned into the back of my head, but I didn’t look at him. I couldn’t.

“Yeah, we have plans though.”

“What plans? And why weren’t we invited?”

He chuckled. That deep rumble of amusement that always made my stomach dance. “We might have shared space in the womb, Sofe, but that doesn’t mean we have to share everything.”

“Ew, gross.”

“See you tomorrow,” he said.

“Guess we’re not cool enough for you now you’re captain of the football team,” she called after him, and I finally peeked over at his retreating form.

Cole glanced back, shrugging a silent apology.

Sofia tsked. “It’s totally gone to his head. He’s like a different person.”

“It happens to the best of them,” Lily said, and she and Sofia broke into a conversation about the team’s chances for the season.

But I was too busy watching Aaron walk away. Wondering how we’d gotten to this point. Was he really so clueless that he didn’t know how I felt?

Or had he simply decided to ignore the elephant in the room?

Either way, it was too late now.

I was dating Eli. And he was flirting and kissing cheerleaders at every turn.

As far as I was concerned, he was free to sow his wild oats wherever he wanted.

Aaron

COLE WAS PISSED AT ME.

He sat across from me on the opposite side of the firepit, beer in hand, glowering at me while the rest of the guys from the team goofed around.

“Come on, Kandon, one smile won’t kill you.”

His eyes narrowed. “What’s going on with you?” he said.

“What? Nothing.” I sipped my beer, staring at the flames dancing above the pit.

“You’ve been like a different person since the start of senior year.”

“I haven’t—”

His brow arched, and I swallowed the words on the tip of my tongue.

He wasn’t entirely wrong. Things had been different since school started back. But we were seniors now, and I had a lot riding on this season.