I straightened slightly.“While Ever has been what?”
Adley folded her arms over her chest, looking at me like I was missing something obvious.“You really can’t be that clueless,” she said.“I didn’t even live here full-time, and I saw it every time I visited.”
I glanced at Mason.“Do you know what your hormonal girlfriend is talking about?”
Mason nodded.“Yeah, man.We’ve all seen it.”
I looked at Thorn.
“Saw it, man,” he said.
I let out a short laugh, throwing my hands up.“What the fuck are you guys talking about?”
Penny’s shoulders dropped like she was disappointed in me.“You’re an idiot, Jude.”She leaned in again, eyes sharp.“Ever has had the biggest crush on you since high school.”
Everything in my head stalled.“No,” I said.
“Yes!”Penny, Thorn, Mason, and Adley all said at the same time.
I stared at them, then looked away, then back again because that… that didn’t make sense.
I went over it quickly.
Every interaction.
Every time I’d seen her.
Talked to her.
Not talked to her.
Nothing about it had ever screamed that she liked me.
No obvious flirting.
No hanging around.
No—
Or maybe there had been.
And I just hadn’t noticed.
“How?”I asked, more to myself than them.
Penny huffed.“How did you not know?”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly.“I just… didn’t.”
That got me another round of looks.
The kind that said I was not helping my case.
Penny pointed at me again.“So why are you suddenly interested in her?”
I opened my mouth.Closed it.Opened it again because answering that felt like stepping into something I hadn’t fully sorted out yet.
“Because Ever isn’t interested in him anymore,” Adley said, like she’d solved a puzzle no one else had finished yet.
