June shrugs. “It should be fine. They know how much I need this. So, what are you doing for lunch?”
Hannah glances at me and then at Jack. “We’re going to Poncho’s food truck for lunch. Come with us.”
June glances at the four of us. “Yeah, if it’s okay with everyone.”
“Yeah, of course.” Hannah grabs her friend’s hand.
I pull out my phone and shoot Jack a text message. He reads it, then says, “I’ll ride with Hannah and June. I’ve been dying to drive her new mom car. We’ll meet you and Ty there.”
“It’s not a mom car. Stop calling it that,” Hannah protests.
“If you say so.” Jack smirks.
I just shake my head. “Come on, T.” We listen to Clark and Jack bicker back and forth like they’ve been doing it their whole lives all the way to the parking lot. When I get in Tyler’s Jeep, I slump in the seat. I’m still holding the Mickey toy in my hand.
“What did you text Jack?”
I glance at Tyler. “Just that we needed to take separate cars.”
Ty does a double-take. “Why?”
I run a hand down my face. “Because I did a stupid thing this morning and agreed to a bet with Clark, where I couldn’t talk to her until school was over.”
Ty slaps his knee, laughing. “And you haven’t lost?”
“Not yet.”
“What about that kiss?”
I arch an eyebrow. “I wasn’t talking to her.”
“Not with words anyway.” Ty nods at my hand. “What’s that?”
I hold up the Tsum Tsum toy. “It’s the toy I thought I lost, the one I stole from Hannah.”
“The one you made me help you pull out your washer and search in the drain for?”
I chuckle. “That’s the one. Hannah had it. She left it in my locker for me to find.”
“What’s so special about it?”
“Nothing, it’s sentimental. Hannah and I played keep away with it back in sixth-grade social studies. She saw it on my shelf over the summer and stole it back. We’ve been playing keep away with it again.”
“Hannah?” Tyler’s eyebrows disappear into his hairline.
I scrub both my hands through my hair and down my face. “Yeah, I call her Hannah.”When she lets me. That kiss affected me more than I want to admit. I needed to distance myself from her physically. Because all I want is to tell her how much she means to me and how much I love her. I wanted to drag her to my car like a caveman, drive to our spot, and show her how much she means to me over and over again.
“Does this mean you two are back together?”
I shake my head. “It’s complicated.”
Ty doesn’t say anything, he just nods. I don’t talk about my relationship with Hannah. I didn’t even tell Tyler and Jack that I had broken up with her. Jack’s mom told him, and then he asked me about it. All I’ve said is that it’s complicated with us and that I love her. I’ve replayed the morning we broke up over and over in my head, trying to take back what I said to Hannah and undo my mistake. My parents had informed me only an hour earlier that they were getting divorced. They haven’t been happy for a couple of years, so it wasn’t a surprise. What was a surprise was that my dad said he wanted me to come and live with him. My mother had no idea he was going to drop that little bombshell. She went ballistic, and the two of them had a yelling match. I don’t know why my mom was so upset; she checked out of being my mom a long time ago.
After that, my dad argued with me about football. He’s been so hardnosed with all the schools that are interested in me. He won’t let me meet or talk to any coaches without him. It’s so frustrating. I’d told him that morning before Hannah came over that I’d spoken to Coach Lawford from the University of Washington, and I wanted to give my verbal commitment to them. He was furious, and the screaming started all over again. Libby, my annoying sister, showed up and found mom in her bedroom sobbing and dad in his office still fuming mad, and she spent ten minutes screaming at me for upsetting our parents. Yeah, it was all my fault. My family is a dysfunctional mess.
I stormed out of the house and down to the dock to take a ride on the jet ski and clear my head, but the damn thing wouldn’t start. Then Hannah showed up, and I couldn’t hold in my emotions. It was my turn to lose my cool. I didn’t mean any of what I said. When I’d calmed down, I should have gone straight over to her house, but things got even more messed up. She can never know what happened the week I didn’t talk to her. I’ve sworn Jack and Tyler to secrecy. They’re the only ones who know, and they will never tell.
My phone rings as we pull into the parking lot where the Poncho’s food truck is parked. I groan when I see who’s calling. “It’s my old man. Don’t wait for me. This might take a while.”
