“Crystal,” I say, adding a salute for good measure.
I make my way over to Madison and Lenni, trying to pretend I couldn’t care less that I have four days to figure out my life.
“What was that about?” Lenni asks when I arrive at their table.
“Oh, just my adviser being pissed at me because I’m not sure if I want to go to Spain anymore.”
“What?” Madison’s eyes go wide. “Lenni, you actually convinced her to stay?”
“I wish I was that persuasive. Apparently that’s a power only Reeve Dalton possesses.”
“Heconvinced you to stay?”
“What can I say, I’m a sucker for a good dick game.” I wink.
Madison laughs.
Lenni smirks but shakes her head. “Tell us for real. I knew you weren’t feeling super enthusiastic about Spain anymore, but I didn’t know you were talking to your adviser about it.”
“It’s only a thought. I’m just not sure what’s over there for me anymore.”
Lenni glances at Madison before refocusing on me. “So is this a Reeve thing or not?”
“It’s both. It’s getting hard to remember why I even wanted to go to Spain in the first place. I don’t want to give up what I have with him for a big old question mark. Of course,” I add quickly, “I don’t know what’ll happen after graduation or if Reeve even considers us being together a possibility, but I know what he feels for me is real. What we both feel is real.”
Madison nods enthusiastically, always a believer in love andhappy endings. Meanwhile, Lenni has on her poker face. “So you’d follow him wherever he ends up?” she asks.
“I’m not saying that. But we could be on the same continent, at least.”
She leans forward on the table. “But you’d have a conversation with himbeforeyou give up on Spain to make sure he wants what you do, right?”
“Yes, Mother, I’d have a conversation with him. We’re not there yet, okay? It’s just an idea I’m playing with.”
Lenni sits back. “Okay, sorry. I just worry.”
“Don’t. I’m handling it. I just need a little more time to think it over.” And to decide whether that conversation Lenni’s so eager for me to initiate is the best or worst idea I’ve ever had.
THIRTY-FOUR
jade
“We’re taking a field trip today.”
I open one eye lazily to see Reeve standing over me. “What’s that, like a sex act?” I ask groggily.
“Only if you want it to be.” He squeezes my thigh, jolting my ticklish nerves awake. “No, I told you we’d work on your Spanish today, and we will, but we’re going to take it outside.”
“Forget Spanish, I shouldn’t have even asked. You just got back in town, and I’m sure you’re tired. Let’s have a lazy Sunday.”
“I’m not tired. I feel amazing.” He’s fresh off another great game, and it shows. Last night, when he came over straight from the airport, it felt like the stress of the last few weeks had been lifted from his shoulders. “Besides, you’re the one who’s going to work hard today, not me.”
Our field trip takes us directly south of campus, onto a short stretch of highway, and then into a busy section of town lined with bodegas, barbers, pawn shops, and tiny restaurants. It’s a gorgeous and bright late-October day, the kind that could make even a football hater love fall. Reeve pulls onto a residential street, and then another where small, boxy houses sit ontreeless lots. He slows to a stop and leans over me to point at the house out my window. “That one’s mine.”
The house is a sun-bleached shade of teal that gives it a cheerful look despite the peeling paint, the overgrown grass, and the weeds sprouting thigh-high around the crumbling path leading to the front door. “This is your house? Where you grew up?”
“A real palace, ain’t she?”
“It’s cute,” I say as he pulls into the empty driveway and turns off the car. “Is your mom here? Because I’m really not dressed to meet parents.”
