Everett Adler, Everett Adler, Everett Adler.
“You’re glowing,” I murmured.
“What?” Ev’s lips quirked up. He was lying on his stomach, his head resting on one of my pillows with me propped up on an elbow. Yes, he’d made the predictable comment that he liked the “view.”
I didn’t blame him; I liked my view, too.
“You’re glowing,” I repeated. Two setting sunbeams streamed in through my far window, making his body gleam in the light.I slowly walked two of my fingers down his spine. “Sleepyhead,” I said when his eyelids flickered shut. “You’re sleepy.”
“Mmm,” Ev replied. “You’re tempting me.” He readjusted my pillow. “Your bed is heaven, and I have everything I need right next to me.”
My stomach swirled, realizing something.
I have everything I need right next to me.
“I think…,” I whispered after a moment. “I think it’s okay if I move.”
Ev’s eyes snapped open. “Grace.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s okay if my parents really want to move. I know this is myhouse,and it’s full of so many memories, but losing it doesn’t mean I’m losing myhome.” I leaned down to kiss his shoulder blade, a lump forming in my throat. “You’re my true home, Ev. You and Isa and James.” I swallowed. “No matter where we move, you’re not going anywhere.”
Ev shifted so he could wrap me in his arms. He understood, like he always did. “Don’t give up on your presentation yet,” he whispered. “Still make that PowerPoint, all right?”
“Are you kidding?” I said incredulously. “This PowerPoint is going to be thePowerPointof all PowerPoints! Amasterpiece.The color scheme, the bullet points, the special effects—”
I dropped off, my ears pricking up and pulse heightening. “Did you just hear that?” I whispered. “The noise that sounded like…”
“A car pulling into the driveway,” Ev said, quickly nodding.
Taking a shallow breath, I slipped out of bed and creptover to my other window—the one that overlooked the front lawn. Sure enough, my parents’ Mercedes and Audi were in the driveway, and they were both slamming their doors shut. Back from drinks with the Vermont People. “They’re here!” I screeched. “They’re back!”
Complete chaos ensued. Ev leapt out of my bed, and we both started fumbling around for our clothes. My heart was going a million miles a second, pulling on the pajamas I’d abandoned this morning and flinging today’s outfit in the direction of my hamper.Your shirt’s on backward,I almost alerted Ev, but there was no time. As he pulled on his chinos, I shot another glance at the window; my mom and dad still in the driveway, just looking at our house. Admiring it, hopefully?
“You’re gonna have to go out my other window,” I told Ev, running across my room to open it for him. He could climb down the rose trellis and safely drop in the side yard. “It’s sturdy, I promise.”
Ev raised a doubtful eyebrow. “I never thought I’d be a sneak-out-the-window type of guy,” he said before lifting a long leg over the windowsill. Distantly but not distantly enough, I heard thebingof the front door. My parents were officially in the house.
But I couldn’t let Ev leave yet. “I support you,” I said once he was balanced on the trellis. “Later, talking with your mom about the new medication. You can do it.”
“Hello, Rooney!” my mom exclaimed downstairs.
Ev gave me a small smile. “Thanks, Grace,” he said. “It’sthe right decision.” He nodded resolutely. “I just hope this one helps.”
“I’m always an optimist.” I kissed him. I kissed him quick, knowing we had time for slow later. This was only the beginning. We had forever to go. “I love you, Ev.”
“I love you, too, Grace.” He grinned, and then carefully climbed down the trellis. We shared a thumbs-up once he’d jumped to the ground, and I watched him take off for his house, only a mile away. His hair rippled in the sweet May breeze, the waning sunlight painting him golden.
“He’s going to marry me,” I murmured to myself.
My heartbeat thumped along with my parents’ steps on the stairs. Their voices were gibberish to me as I turned my fan and audiobook back on before flying back into bed and pulling up my twisted sheets.Okay, okay,I thought.Everything’s good, everything’s covered—
But then I spotted it.
My condoms, still sitting atop my desk.
Fuck!
It was a small box—a tiny one, even—but also was the type of thing my parents would automatically notice. “So I gave her Mara’s number,” I heard my dad saying in the hall. “It might be easier for Dani to make friends if she’s involved in something like Girl Scouts…”
