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“Theo!” Tommy called, slamming into the rink wall. Behind him, the bride and her bridesmaids were zipping around in knee-length dresses while the groom and some of his groomsmen chatted over near the arcade. The rink smelled like popcorn and pizza and the antiseptic spray they used on the roller skates. It wasn’t really a scent anyone would associate with weddings, but Itasca’s options for wedding receptions were limited to the country club, church basements, and SkateNation. Most of the time people didn’t bother to roller-skate at the reception, they just danced out on the skate floor, but tonight, apparently, everyone was skating. And even though Harper’s cousin hadn’t invited any of them directly, generally everyone in Itasca usually showed up to every wedding reception, invite or no. Everyone just came after the dinner had been served, if there was one, and no one particularly minded. Theo hadn’t even had to dress up for this.

“Awww, you shouldn’t have,” Tommy said, trying to grab for the gift.

“It’s for Aves,” Theo said, jerking it out of Tommy’s grasp. He knew what he was opening himself up to, but also didn’t see any way around it.

“You guys are already to the gift exchanging point?”

“I’ve bought you Christmas gifts before,” Theo pointed out.

Tommy looked around exaggeratedly. “I don’t see mine anywhere,” he pouted.

Theo punched Tommy’s shoulder lightly. “Haven’t bought yours yet, asshole.”

Tommy lumbered through the small gate between them, almost falling over as he went to sit down at a booth. “Things with Avery must be going well then, huh?” Tommy observed.

Theo sat down across from him, throwing a look over his shoulder to be sure Avery hadn’t arrived yet. “They’re good.”

“I’m glad you finally went for it, bro.”

Theo swallowed hard. He never should have gotten drunk that week Avery left for orientation, and he definitely shouldn’t have said, well, everything he said to Tommy that night. “That’s not really what happened. We’re just together now, that’s all.”

Tommy cocked his head to the side. “You mean you haven’t told her yet?”

Theo sent another desperate look around the room, relieved that Avery was nowhere in sight. “There’s nothing to tell her.”

“You’ve been in love with her for over a year, and you think that’s nothing?” Tommy’s eyebrows hit his hairline.

“I didn’t—I never said that.”

“Yes, you did.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You said, and I quote, ‘I’m fucking in love with my best friend, what the fuck am I going to do?’”

Theo didn’t remember his words from that night exactly—he was several drinks deep by that point—but that probably was more or less what he said. “I never said it had been over a year,” he protested ineffectually.

Tommy cleared his throat. “Did you forget the part where you said ‘I’ve known since homecoming’?”

Truthfully, he had. Again, several drinks in. He had suspected as much, but his memory of that night was so patchy he didn’t know for sure. “Okay, but—”

“No, no buts,” Tommy interjected. “You know how Avery is when it comes to secrets.”

That much was true. Avery had stopped speaking to Grace for weeks their junior year because Grace lied to her about not wanting to do the student newspaper. Grace had claimed the meetings for the Itasca High Weekly conflicted with her dance classes, but in fact she just didn’t want to do it, even though she had agreed over the summer to join Avery on the paper. It wasn’t that Avery was irrationally invested in the school newspaper, but rather that Grace hadn’t trusted her enough to tell the truth. They had moved past that—obviously—and Avery wasn’t one to hold a grudge if she honestly made up with someone, but she did have a bit of a “shoot first, ask questions later” attitude about secrets with her friends. “It’s not a secret I’m keeping from her, it was just how I felt. That’s not a lie,” Theo pleaded.

“Yeah, but now I’m keeping the secret from her,” Tommy argued. “She deserves to know, if only because otherwise she’ll kill me.”

“Who will kill you?” Avery asked brightly from behind Theo. His stomach jolted, and he did his best to not look guilty, while Tommy smoothly shrugged. “My mom if I miss curfew again.”

If Avery questioned the cover story, it didn’t show on her face. She slid into the booth next to Theo, her thigh pressed up against his, knocking their shoulders together. She also had a present—wrapped in what was probably ridiculously expensive paper, if the thickness of the folds were any indication.

Tommy sent him a very pointed look just as Grace and Harper arrived on the other side of the rink wall, breathless and giggling. “How was the ceremony?” Avery asked, leaning forward slightly.

“So pretty,” Harper gushed. “And they put out some pizzas over there, for everyone who crashed.”

“Mom sent me with some money in a card as a thank-you,” Avery added. She held it up and wiggled it. “Where does that go?”

“I’ll take it over to the presents,” Harper said, and leaned across Theo to take it. She skated over to the side of the rink where a table stacked with presents was set just off the rink, and Grace rested against her elbows.