I love these nights.
I love these guys.
Kissing Sutton was a reset. At least that’s what I keep telling myself. Coming home, participating in this isn’t a struggle, but it was before. Finding the energy. Finding a reason to laugh.
“No.” Madeline grabs Dawson’s hand, dragging him to the front of the group. “You are supposed to do it like this.” She demonstrates a dance move that feels more advanced than whata third grader should be doing. Maybe she should add dancer to her career list.
Beck is next to me, hands on his hips, uncoordinatedly gyrating. I bark out a laugh.
“Watch it, Carmichael. You’re not much better.”
“Watch this.” I circle my hips, take a crack at a move I saw on Jaxon’s social media.
Jaxon is the best dancer out of all of us. He doesn’t know that we’ve seen his secret social media account where he dances and lip-syncs to trending songs. Shirtless, in the campus parking garage, when the rink is empty. He has thousands of followers and the comments on his posts are probably why his ego is always inflated.
“No wonder you haven’t won Sutton over yet,” Beck jokes.
“All that matters are my moves in bed,” I tease, but change the subject. “Have you thought about putting her into dance classes?”
“Yeah, but Mads wants to try soccer next.”
We were finally dismissed from dance class when Madeline yawned. It was already past her bedtime. Beck carried her up the stairs to his room—she sleeps over enough that he has a trundle bed for her.
Dawson and Chase are in the kitchen making a second dinner. Jax flops onto the couch next to me. “Where did you go after the game?” he implores.
I shake my head, declining the beer he hands me.
“Nowhere.”
“I tracked your location. You were at Elliot and Sutton’s.”
“Then why’d you ask?”
He’s a sad puppy, has been since he got home. I could see through the mask he slipped on when he walked through the door and noticed Madeline. “Wanted to see if you’d tell me thetruth. I don’t get what’s going on, Cooper. Why won’t you tell me why you went there?”
“Oh, it was nothing, Mom had sent me something I was supposed to give them,” I lie.
“What was it?” His tone is stern, inquisitive.
“What is this? Twenty questions?”
“No, because you won’t even answer more than five questions, and when you do, I know you’re lying.”
“Fine, but promise me this stays between us.”
Jaxon raises his pinky to me. I loop mine with his and then I tell him everything.
TWENTY-FIVE
SUTTON
It’sas if the universe is Team Cooper. I go to start my car the next morning, and the engine sputters. Now, I may know nothing about cars, but from the noises and smell drifting from my hood, I can surmise that I am not driving my car today. Probably a week at best.
Meave’s art show is tonight in Chicago. I wanted to be early to surprise her, but instead, the surprise will be her little sister and biggest fan no-showing.
“This can’t be happening,” I mutter to myself, dropping my forehead to the steering wheel. Disappointment tugging my patchwork jacket tighter around me.
I run through the list of options in my head.
