“Is he trying to piss me off?” Sofia glared at Leo as he sat, more interested in whatever was on his cell phone than our conversation.After bowling we’d gone to Cindy’s Grill for something to eat, but the whole date had gone from bad to worse.Sofia had won at bowling, which only sent Leo spiraling into an even worse mood. Eli got pissedat him and the two of them had a heated discussion on the ride over here, and Sofia wanted to leave.But I’d begged her to stay, hoping that we still might salvage the night.I was rapidly losing hope though.“Dude.” Eli elbowed his friend in the side and Leo winced.“What the hell was that for?”“Poppy asked you a question.”“She did?”“You’d know if you were listening—”“Okay, I’m done.” Sofia shot up. “I’ve tried, I really have. But I’m done. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” She gave me a small smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes.And I got it, I did.If our roles were reversed, I would have wanted to leave too.“We’ll give you a ride home,” Eli said

Relief flowed through me and I nodded. “Can we go for a ride?” “Yeah.” She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Okay.”“Ready to talk about it?” Poppy asked.We’d gotten ice creams from Sprinkles before I’d driven us down to our spot down by the lake.“Pittsburgh doesn’t want me.”“Oh, Aaron, I’m sorry. I know how much you wanted to go there.” I shrugged. “It’s no big deal.” The lie gnawed at my insides.“Is that why we’re eating our body weight in ice cream sitting out here?” A knowing smile played on her lips.Fuck, she was beautiful. All that long dark hair and thick dark lashes that framed her big green eyes. Everyone thought she was all her mom. But whenever she looked at me with that intense gaze of hers, I saw her father.Something I’d spent years trying to ignore, only to remember twice as hard whenever my thoughts wandered into less than innocent places.“Oh God, do I have sauce on my face or something?” She blushed, grabbing the sun visor and pulling it down to check the mi

In time, my feelings for Aaron would fade into the background. And I wouldn’t look at him and feel the ground shift beneath me. Feel the butterflies take flight in my stomach, my heart pounding inside my chest.“Listen, do you want—” Aaron’s cell phone started blaring and he muttered something under his breath, grabbing it from its holster.“What?”“Yeah, she’s with me.” He turned to me and mouthed, ‘Sofia.’ “No, we’re not—Sofe, it isn’t any of your business. Yeah, yeah, okay. Bye.”He hung up and exhaled a long breath.“Everything okay?” I asked, aware that once again things felt tense between us.Sofia wouldn’t make a big thing about us hanging out together, but she would have questions.Sure enough, my cell vibrated and a faint smile traced my lip at her predictability.Sofe: What’s going on?Me: Aaron wanted to talk, so we’re talking.Sofe: Together… alone… in his car?Me: One point to you!Sofe: I want details. ALL the details later.“Let me guess. She wants to know what’s going

The five of them grinning at me when they spotted me. I waved sheepishly, searching for her.The second I found her, I wished I hadn’t.Poppy wasn’t seated with our families. No, she was with Eli. But what had I really expected after our talk last night? I’d practically pushed her into his arms because it was the right thing to do—the only thing.Above a couple of playful kisses when we were younger and the stupid sex pact we’d made the summer before tenth grade, there was a reason we’d never crossed that line.Still, it felt strange watching her with another guy. Watching her laugh and hang on his every word.Especially when I knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end of those smiles and that laughter.Fuck.“Bennet, get over here,” someone yelled, and I jerked out of the trance I’d fallen under.“Hey, what’s going on?” Ezra asked as I moved into the huddle while Coach Macintosh ran over a couple of plays.“Nothing, why?”“You were just standing there, staring at the bleacher

Aaron nodded. He still hadn’t looked twice in my direction. I didn’t expect him to rush over to me, especially not since I’d been with Eli at the game. But after last night, I at least thought we had cleared the air a bit.Apparently not.My heart sank.I’d stood out here for almost forty minutes waiting to see him and he couldn’t even look at me.So much for friends.“You coming?” he asked Ezra who was whispering something to Ashleigh. Uncle Cam looked ready to jump in between the two of them but Aunt Hailee held him back with a knowing smile.“Yeah, we’re coming.”“We’ll meet you there?” Ashleigh said to me and Sofia.“Uh yeah, sure.”Sofia glanced at me and I shrugged.“Just behave, all of you,” Dad said.I kissed him and Mom goodbye and followed Sofia over to her car. “I guess we’re riding on our own then,” she huffed as she ducked inside.“Looks like it.” I climbed in and buckled up.“Are you meeting Eli there?”“He’s going to be there, yeah.” I stared out of the window.“And wha