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Growing up, Jace was used to coming in third place after his brothers. Carson was older and took to sports like he was born with a football clutched in one hand. No one could compete with that. Jace got used to coaches’ disappointment that he only had average talent, just like he got used to friends who paid more attention to Lucas. He was the effortlessly outgoing one. Quicker to smile and joke around. Quicker to flirt. The one that girls gravitated to.

But not Marlowe. She’d only had eyes for him.

Had she really not realized how much he missed her after they broke up? He supposed that was his fault. He’d figured that a clean break would be easier for both of them, but it hadn’t been easy at all. He spent more than one night that winter scrolling through pictures of the two of them. He’d even thought of telling her he wanted to get back together. But where would that have left either of them? It would have just made everything harder when he left for college.

He dragged his thoughts away from the past. No point in dwelling there. Marlowe had accepted his apology and hopefully things would be fine between them now.

When Jace reached his family’s house, Lucas’s car was parked in the driveway. Probably hanging out with Carson. The two had resurrected some of their old PlayStation games that stoked their competitive natures.

Jace climbed out of his car and headed inside. As predicted, Lucas and Carson sat in front of the TV in the family room playing Madden NFL.

Carson, one of the Broncos’ best offensive linemen, understandably hated losing to Lucas. He leaned forward on the couch, thumbs moving fast over the controller. “No, no—cut to the left—” He snapped the ball and groaned. “No one runs a route like that. What idiot coded this?”

On-screen, the receiver drifted the wrong way and the pass fell, incomplete.

Lucas chuckled maniacally. “Your tiny little men are no match for mine.”

“Hold on,” Carson muttered, jabbing a button. The game froze mid-animation, players suspended on the field. “This is garbage. All your little men are trash.”

Who said the Clarks didn’t know how to have fun?

Lucas tossed his controller onto his lap and turned to address Jace. “I thought you were getting your hair cut today so you could talk to Marlowe.”

Jace ran a hand over his hair. “I did.”

“How come it looks exactly the same then?” Lucas shook his head. “You totally chickened out and didn’t talk to her, didn’t you?”

“I not only spoke to her,” Jace said, “we went to the café next door to eat. We’re also going to Legends on Friday night.” He smiled, perhaps a bit too triumphantly.

“Uh huh,” Lucas said, his voice full of disbelief.

Carson stretched out his shoulders. “So has Marlowe managed to stay on the right side of the law since high school, or was she just warming up for bigger stuff?”

“I don’t know,” Jace said. “Those aren’t really questions you ask on the first date. Maybe I’ll casually bring up her criminal record on Friday.”

“I wasn’t asking you.” Carson jerked his chin toward Lucas. “What did you find out about her?”

“She’s clean,” Lucas said. “No arrests, no warrants, not even a speeding ticket in the last five years.”

“That’s good news,” Carson admitted.

Lucas nodded. “So then I had a friend run her name through the internal database.”

Jace folded his arms. “I’m pretty sure your police friends aren’t supposed to run checks on random people.”

“It was for a good cause,” Carson said. “The cause being that she’s dating you.” He gestured to Lucas. “Did you ever run a background check on Jennifer?”

“Of course,” Lucas said. “The woman apparently doesn’t believe No parking signs apply to her. She’s had three violations in the last year.”

Seriously, he’d done background checks? “Parking in LA is hard,” Jace said. “And I’m not surprised Marlowe’s record is clean.” He grinned just to be obnoxious. “Because you have to get caught for anything to go on your record.”

Lucas raised his eyebrows in question. Perhaps that statement had been too out of character.

“I’m just joking,” Jace said. “Marlowe learned her lesson in high school.”

“She did,” Carson agreed. “And that lesson was: if she batted her eyelashes at you, you’d take the rap for her.”

Jace headed to the stairs, lifting his hands in mock frustration. “You guys are just determined to dislike whoever I date.”