“Yeah?” I said. “And?”
“And”—he laughed—“I don’t envy them. It doesn’t compare to our thing.”
“Yeah, we’re untouchable,” I agreed, since we used my master key on weekends. (“Should we leave her a note?” Luke had joked before we left Jennie’s study room one night, and I will admit, it felt different going there for student council meetings now.)
Luke relocated from his chair to his bed, leaning against the wall. “How was the game?” he asked. “The Twitter was blowing up.”
I grinned. The Twitter was our team Twitter account:@BexleyBoysPuck.It was Emma’s creation; she posted our schedule, any injuries or line-up changes, and live-tweeted all our games.I hope you’re hungry, Tabor!was one of today’s tweets.Because it’s another Carmichael Sandwich! 3–1 #BBVIH.
We ended up losing 5–3.
“It got pretty chippy,” I told Luke. “You should’ve seen Nick wreck this one guy. The boards actuallyshook…”
He nodded along as I recapped the hip-check, then asked, “Was your family there?”
“Yeah,” I said. “All the parents were, I think. They had this big tailgate before the game.”
“That sounds cool…” Luke said, and it looked like he wanted to say something else, but he didn’t. My stomach started to churn a little, so I changed the subject.
“Where’s poker tonight?” I asked. There was a midnight poker game every Saturday night in Brooks—PGs only. I’d bought Luke a legit cash box off Amazon because the jar he had for his “winnings” wasn’t cutting it anymore.
“Dave Taylor’s room,” Luke said, and smirked. “And your guy’s feelinggoodtonight.”
“Is he?” I arched an eyebrow. “Tell me, what will you do with tonight’s haul?”
“Buy my boyfriend dinner,” he replied right away, no hesitation.
I laughed and rolled my eyes. “Oh, come on, you’ve footed the bill at Pandora’s plenty.”
“No.” Luke shook his head. “I’m not talking Pandora’s. I’m talking anicedinner. Bistro, or the Bluebird.”
“But we can’t go there,” I said, feeling the back of my neck heat up. “It’ll seem like we’re on a date.”
Luke sighed. “Well, that’s the point. We should go on a date. Arealdate.”
I didn’t say anything. Instead, I imagined Paddy or someone showing up at our table.Ooh, what do we have here?they’d say, and the rest of Bexley would know within the hour.
“It can’t be like this, Charlie,” Luke said gently. “It can’t be like this forever.”
“I know,” I told him, heart hammering. “I know, I just need a little more—”
But before I could addtime, I heard the business center’s door open. Nick and Paddy were both standing there when I spun around in my chair. “Aw, how cute,” Paddy said, grinning and shaking his head. “Iknewthere was someone.”
Meanwhile, Nick looked like he wanted to punch me.
I glanced down at my iPad—Luke was dead silent. His mouth was in a straight line, and he reached up to adjust his glasses. I didn’t know what to say. There was this buzzing noise in my ears.
“Come on, Charlie,” Paddy came farther into the room, grabbing his own chair. “What’s happening? Passionate reunion with Dove?”
“Seriously?” Nick stayed in the doorway. “We need redemption tomorrow, and instead of getting sleep, you’re talking toDove?”
“No, it’s Sage,” I said quickly, then winced. Why was I still doing this? “Sorry, I sort of lost track of time…”
Paddy smirked. “Sure you did.”
Now sweating, I ignored him and looked on-screen to see Luke staring at me. “Nick’s right,” I said, heart so clenched I could barely breathe. “I should go.”
You don’t have to tell everyone at once,he texted later, after I’d brushed my teeth and gotten into bed.But start with Nick, and soon. Please.
