“If you insist.”
“I do.”
She gave me a final, strange look just as Aria, Sierra, Delilah, and Elowen approached. She noticed them and then instantly gathered her stuff and slid off the bleachers. “See you, Em.”
“Oh, okay. Bye.” I gave her a little wave.
“Rude,” Aria said. “You’d think we had the bubonic plague, the way she acts. Honestly, Em, I don’t know why you bother with the Benders. First Xander and now her.”
“She’s smart and funny and nice.”
And real.
Elowen rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
The girls settled around me to watch for the crew. Aria was there for her boyfriend, Rhett. Elowen was there in her never-ending quest to get Orion’s attention. I was there for Tucker.
Theoretically,I thought, and—like every science word in the English language—it made me think of Xander. Though nowadays, nothing was needed to make me think of Xander, because I was already always thinking about him.
Harper had been right; over the past six weeks, we had our tutoring sessions, but when Xander wasn’t cramming calculus theoremsinto my brain, we talked about everything. It was so cute that he could rattle off the most complicated facts about quantum mechanics yet had never seen a single episode ofFriends.He was adorable in so many ways but also just plain hot. And he had no idea how it drove me nuts when he pushed his glasses up higher on his nose or rolled up a sleeve to reveal one of his perfect forearms.
But it would only be a matter of time before he got bored with me—if he wasn’t already. Harper was smart and talented. They made more sense. Hence, my grand plan to pair them up. But it was shockingly painful that she agreed, proving I was a dummy after all.
“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever, Em,” Delilah piped up from my right. “You’ve been so absent lately. Spending all your time beingtutored.”
I sighed. I’d been avoiding this conversation that I knew had been brewing. “That’s because I need the help.”
“Poor Tucker,” Elowen said from my left. “He’s going to get lonely without you.”
“Careful, Em,” Aria said from behind. “If Orion doesn’t come around, Elowen might just snatch your man out of sheer neglect.”
Elowen snorted delicately. “Please. I wouldneverdo that to Em, and she would never do that to Tucker.”
“Exactly right,” I said.
But that was a lie. There was nothing between Tucker and me and never had been. Only my desire to please my dad.
I should just break up with him. Now. Today. Another baby step toward living my own life.
The thought gave me an actual shiver of fear at what my dad would do if I caused that kind of “turbulence” right before the election that was now just around the corner.
“Here they come,” Sierra said, sitting up eagerly.
The boys’ boat was coming around the Bend. My gaze latched on to the first seat, the bow seat, to find Xander. But though the guys were dressed identically in their long-sleeved practice unisuits withmatching goggles—the small, iridescent kind that swimmers wore—I could tell immediately it wasn’t him. He was at the stern of the boat, facing Dean. The rest of the crew were lined up behind him.
“Ugh, Rhett was right,” Aria groused. “The coach switched him and Xander. Now Rhett’s the bow and Xander has the stroke seat, which is onlythe most importantseat on the crew.”
I suppressed a smile that was full of pride, conscious that Delilah was beside me, taking mental notes on everything like a reporter for TMZ.
“Oh my God, I can see why you guys are so into crew,” Sierra said. “How sexy isthat?”
We all shut up and watched as the guys came speeding through the water, the boat cutting the dark blue like a knife. They rowed in exact unison, arm muscles perfectly cut under the tight latex, shoulders and biceps flexing, their faces each wearing the same grimace of determination.
They’re so fast. They’ve never been this fast…until Xander. My fiancé.
A crazed laugh nearly burst out of me, but I caught it in time.
“I mean, look at the way they move,” Sierra said, then bit her lip.
