We each grab two or three containers and follow Jenna into the two- story dining room off the kitchen. When all of the dishes have been set out on the table, we take our seats. The table is black and stretches thirty feet in length. There is enough seating for twenty people. Since it's just the four of us, ivory and cerulean-colored China plates have been set at one end. Warren takes his place at the head of the table, Jenna on one side, as Colton and I settle opposite of her. Everything is family style, and we all dig in, helping ourselves.Warren and Jenna pepper me with surface level questions throughout the meal. They tease Colton every chance they get. They talk about the upcoming game next weekend and how they're looking forward to cheering him on. If I weren't watching Colton so closely, I wouldn't have noticed the barely perceptible tightening of his jaw. I can't help but wonder what that's about.Jenna turns to me. "Hopefully, we'll see you there."Admittedly, I've

With my arms folded behind my head, I stare at the ceiling as everything from tonight crashes around inside my brain. If there's one thing that I hate, it's thinking about Candance. She's like Beetlejuice. Say her name three times and she magically appears inside my head, taking up residence like an unwanted squatter.And that, on top of everything else going on, is the last thing I need or want.The woman abandoned me when I needed her most. She walked away without ever looking back. There's a giant void in her place. It's one Jenna has diligently tried to fill.Everything softens within me as I think about my stepmother. Truth be told, she's so much more than that. She's the mother Candance never could be. Or, more to the point, never wanted to be.I'm not embarrassed to admit that I love Jenna. I appreciate everything she's done for me over the years. Driving my ass around town before I had a license. Helping me with homework when I didn't understand something or needed

This night has swerved a direction I could have never predicted when I saw him standing outside the fine arts building this afternoon. Even though I've done everything possible to keep Colton at arm's length to avoid developing feelings for him. It's been a losing battle from the very beginning. If I hadn't realized it when we talked in his room, I do now.There is something undeniable between us. There always has been. I'm tired of trying to fight the attraction. I'm tired of fighting the feelings that are still there. Or denying they exist in a feeble attempt to move on. I can't do it any longer. I have no idea what will happen between us or how this will ultimately end. For all I know, it could be badly. What I do know is that there is relief in finally accepting the situation.I place my palms on his naked chest, slowly sweeping them up, needing to feel the sinewy strength that lies beneath. I rise to my tiptoes until my lips can brush across his. My hands drift from h

F*ck.Why did I agree to this?Why did I even reach out in the first place?Why couldn't I have left well enough alone?I was perfectly fine living my life.Well...maybe perfectly fine is something of an overstatement, but it was all good.I sit behind the wheel of my BMW in a parking space on the street in front of the coffee shop somewhere in the middle of where we both live. It's about an hour away from school. The only other person who knows I'm here is Alyssa. I couldn't bring myself to tell Dad or Jenna. They probably would have tried to talk me out of this. Maybe not Jenna. I think she would understand. But Dad?He definitely would have. He loves Jenna but he's salty about how Candance just walked out of our lives without ever looking back.As I stare at the cream brick and the worn wooden sign that hangs over the door, I'm kind of wishing I would have given them the chance to change my mind.I don't want to be here. And yet, I can't bring myself to turn the key in the

It's past two and I still haven't heard from Colton.I wish he would, at the very least, shoot me a text. Or give me a quick call. Anything at this point. I just want to know that everything is all right.That he's all right.As I push through the lobby door of the apartment building and hustle down the cement walkway, I slide my phone from my pocket and peek at it for the umpteenth time in the last thirty minutes.I really wish he would have let me come with for moral support. He shot that idea down pretty quickly when I had offhandedly mentioned it. I could have sat in the car and waited for him.Ugh. I sound like a needy girlfriend right about now. And you know what? We're not even going out.It's just...I feel like after all these years, Colton is finally allowing me a glimpse into who he truly is as a person. I'm only beginning to understand him. What I'm most afraid of is that this meeting with Candance is going to somehow close the door on that and we'll backpedal. I