LOGIN*Jace's POV*Ezra slid into the seat beside mine two minutes before the bell, dropping his bag on the floor with a thud loud enough that the girl in front of us turned around to glare."You're late," I said."I'm not late. Class hasn't started.""You cut it close.""I like living dangerously." He pulled out his notebook, glancing sideways at me. "You're staring again.""I'm not staring.""You're doing the thing where you pretend to look at your notes but you're actually just looking at me.""That's a very specific accusation.""I've had weeks to study the pattern. I'm basically an expert now.""On what, exactly?""On you." He said it lightly, like it wasn't a big deal, but I caught the way his ears went slightly pink right after, like he'd surprised even himself with how easily it came out."That's a lot of confidence for someone who spent three months pretending he'd never met me.""I was committed to the bit.""You were terrifying, is what you were. Full ice-cold stranger energy.""
*Jace's POV*I heard Logan before I saw him, his voice carrying down the hallway in that particular tone he used when he thought he was being funny."....still can't believe Ryland's actually into him. Like, the whole letter thing wasn't embarrassing enough the first time, now he's just...."I turned the corner and found him leaning against the lockers with two of his teammates, Ezra a few feet away pretending to dig through his bag like he wasn't hearing every word of it."....I mean, I get it, he cleaned up. Green hair, whatever. But it's still Monroe under there. Still the same guy who cried in a bathroom stall over a stupid letter."Ezra's jaw was tight, shoulders drawn in slightly, and something about seeing him fold himself smaller, even for a second, even after everything he'd rebuilt over three months, put something cold and sharp through my chest."Logan."He glanced over, grin still in place. "Ryland. Perfect timing. We were just talking about your boyfriend.""Were you.""J
Chapter 28 – QuietJace's POVI found Ezra on the school roof after last period, exactly where I figured he'd be, staring out over the parking lot like the answer to something was written in the traffic pattern."Heard Daniel came after you today," he said, without turning around."News travels fast.""It's a small school." He glanced back at me, unreadable. "What'd you say to him?""That it's not his call. Or mine, either." I crossed the roof, stopping beside him at the railing. "That it's yours."Ezra was quiet for a while, wind pulling at his hair, and I let the silence sit there instead of filling it with something clumsy."I'm tired," he said finally."Of what?""Of pretending I don't know exactly what I want." He turned to face me fully, something open in his expression I hadn't seen since the night in his room, the version of him that let the walls down instead of building them higher. "I've spent three months being someone who doesn't need anyone. It was supposed to make thing
*Daniel's POV*I found Jace by the equipment shed after practice, alone, shoving gear into a bag like it had personally offended him."We need to talk."He didn't look up. "Not really in the mood, Cross.""I don't care what mood you're in." I planted myself in front of him, close enough that he had to actually stop and look at me. "Stay away from Ezra."That got his attention. He straightened up slowly, gear bag forgotten, something sharp settling into his expression. "Excuse me?""You heard me.""I heard you. I'm just wondering where you think you get off saying it.""I get off saying it because half the school's talking about some hallway scene where you told him you 'like him' in front of an audience, and meanwhile I'm the one who's actually been showing up for him since day one." My voice came out harder than I meant it to, but I didn't back off it. "You spent three years making his life miserable. I don't care what's happened since. That doesn't just get erased because you decide
*Jace's POV*"You're doing the thing again," Mason said, dropping into the seat across from me at lunch."What thing?""The staring-across-the-cafeteria thing. You've been doing it for ten minutes." He followed my line of sight to the table where Ezra sat with Daniel and a couple of guys from the soccer team, laughing at something, green hair catching the light from the windows. "You know you two aren't actually dating, right?""I'm aware.""Are you, though? Because you've been climbing through his window for weeks, you broke a guy's jaw defending his honor, and as far as I can tell, neither of you has actually said the words out loud.""It's complicated.""It's not complicated. It's two people who like each other refusing to say so." Mason stole a fry off my tray, unbothered by my glare. "Meanwhile Daniel's sitting right there like he's got a real shot, because as far as the entire school knows, he does."My jaw tightened. "Daniel doesn't have a shot.""Does Ezra know that? Because f
*Ezra's POV*The wall between our backyards wasn't as tall as I remembered it being when we were kids.I stood at the base of it for a full minute, phone in my pocket, telling myself this was a mistake in at least four different ways before I finally found a foothold in the old ivy trellis and hauled myself up.I hadn't climbed this wall since I was maybe ten years old, back when the rivalry between our families was still just something our parents did on television and hadn't yet turned into something that governed every part of my life. Back then Jace and I used to meet right here, on top of this exact wall, and argue about whose side had the better tree to climb.I dropped down on the other side quieter than I expected, landing in the Rylands' backyard for the first time in seven years.His window was the second one on the left, same as always, light glowing gold behind the curtain. I found a low branch on the oak tree that grew close enough to the house and climbed it the same way







