“I know, but . . .” I make a sad face. Now I am feeling jealous. I don’t want to sound like a whiny, jealous girlfriend. But still. “Will your brother encourage you to cheat on me? Riley says he will. Says I should be nervous,” I blurt out.

Dawson smiles at me and pulls me down on his bed. “Is that what this is all about?”

“Kinda, yes.”

“You’re going to New York with a bunch of girls. Are you going to be looking for guys? I suspect you could pick up a guy any time you wanted.”

“You’re silly. Guys really don’t pay that much attention to me.”

He gives me a look. “I’m not buying that.”

“At my old school, my best friend used to tell me I was good bait. Apparently, I’m easy to talk to. Which meant I’d become their friend, and she’d sleep with them.”

“Was she not as pretty as you?”

“She was very pretty, but more like Whitney. Not very approachable.”

“So she was a big bitch?”

I can’t help but laugh. “Kinda, yeah.”

He grabs both of my hands and looks at me seriously. “Keatie, I love you. I’m not looking for other girls. I just want to hang out with my brother. It’s weird not having him here every day.”

“Are you closer to him than you are with Riley?”

“Riley and I are getting closer, but he wasn’t here the last two years. It was me and Cam.”

“That makes sense.” I sigh. “I guess I better go.”

He leans in to give me what I assume is a good-bye kiss. But it’s better than that. His lips press hard against mine and he pulls me up onto his lap.

“I am leaving right after the game,” he says in between kisses.

“I’m wearing the leopard print bra,” I whisper as I kiss down his neck. “And, I have a little surprise for you.”

“Then it’s settled. You’re not going anywhere.”

If I only had a brain.

5:30pm

Dawson and I walk hand in hand down to the field house. He gives me a fiery good-bye kiss, smacks my ass, and walks into the boys’ locker room to get ready for the game.

I head to the dance room and see Aiden and Peyton walking toward me.

Shit.

I forgot to text Aiden about not doing tutoring.

Peyton gives me a radiant smile.

Aiden raises his eyebrows at me and frowns. “So you’re not dead.”

Peyton smacks him on the shoulder. “Be nice.”

“She ditched me.”

“I did ditch him. I’m sorry. I, um . . . I had something else I needed to do, and I kinda forgot to text you.”

Peyton giggles. “Was that thing you needed to do Dawson?”

My mouth hangs open. I don’t know what to say. “Um . . .”

Aiden shakes his head at me in disgust.

Or hate, maybe.

“He’s going home with his parents after the game, so I won’t get to see him tonight. I just, we just, I wanted to say goodbye. And he . . . ”

Aiden seems to recover from his hate quickly because a little smile starts playing on his lips. It’s the smile that makes a girl feel weak at the knees.

Not my knees.

Just probably girls in general.

“That’s understandable,” he says. “So then we’ll have to do it tonight.”

“You have a game.”

“After the game. After curfew.”

“Everyone is going to the Cave tonight.”

“Everyone but us. We’ll be in my room studying.”

“No. No, we won’t.”

“Will Dawson get jealous?”

“No, he has nothing to be jealous of, but I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea. I love Dawson.”

Aiden tilts his head at me in question. I can tell he’s dying to know if I told Dawson yet.

“Yes, Aiden. I told Dawson I love him. Yes, I was confused for a while about love. That happens after you go through a break up. It’s normal to question it and become more cynical of love because you don’t want to get hurt again. But Dawson’s not going to hurt me.”

“Awww,” Peyton says. I didn’t realize she was still here. Aiden has been staring at me with so much intensity. And, apparently, using some of that godly power.

The one that makes you feel like the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.

If I only had a brain.

“When did you tell him?” she asks.

I get that gooey feeling. That feeling like I’m being hugged by Dawson. I hug myself and gush, “It was the other night. I told him I hearted him. He asked if that was close to loving him. I hadn’t said it because I was scared to. But he makes me happy, and I wanted him to know it.”

“I love that feeling,” Peyton gushes back. “It’s so dream—”

Aiden interrupts her. “I’ll let you ladies finish your love fest here. I have to get in the locker room.” Then he gazes deep into my eyes and says, “I know where we can go. I’ll be outside your window at one. We’ll study then go party with everyone.”

“Really?”

He shrugs. “What? You think you’re the only one with plans?”

Has he tried?

11:30pm

Katie and I are in our room packing for New York.

“Wasn’t the way Riley asked Ariela so adorable?” she gushes.

“It was. I was a little nervous though. He whipped that football at her pretty hard. Can you imagine if it would have hit her in the face? It could have gone horribly wrong. Of course, when we were coming up with the idea, I didn’t think of that. As soon as he threw it, I started thinking about all the bad things that could happen. It hitting her in the face. Someone else catching it.”

“Well, she caught it. And the look on her face when she read it. You could tell she was really surprised.”

“I loved how they both ran toward each other and kissed in the middle of the field.”

“Now I wish I had made Dallas ask me. Do you think he would’ve come up with something cute?”

“Probably. How’s that going? We haven’t really talked about it. You kissed, right?”

She grins. “Of course we’ve kissed. I’m not Annie.”

“That’s kind of mean.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant I won’t wait. He’s too cute.”

“What do you mean by you won’t wait?”

“I’m going to attack him tonight at the party.”

“Don’t you think that’s rushing it a little? You’ve only hung out with him twice, and you aren’t going out yet.”

“Did you wait until Dawson asked you out?”

I sigh. “That’s not really the point. I just think if you like him, you might want to wait. Let him try before you attack him. Has he tried?”

“Not really.” She giggles. “He’s obsessed with my boobs. But we’ve done more than kiss.”

“Hands more or mouths more?”

“Just hands, but tonight I plan on changing that.”

I’m a little worried about this. My poor baby Dallas is going to get attacked tonight, and I feel like I should protect him or something. Part of me wants to tell her to keep her slutty mouth off him.

“So what are you packing to wear shopping?”

“I think this,” I say, setting my grey Frye boots on my bed along with a funky pair of silver sequined shorts.

“I swear, you are the only person I know that could mix sequins and cowboy boots and get away with it.”

I laugh as I pull more clothes out of my closet. A bright peach silk J. Crew pintuck-front blouse, a slightly gaudy silver rhinestone necklace, and a little Louis Vuitton Eva bag.

“Have you checked the weather?” I ask.

“I think it might be chilly in the morning, but it’s supposed to be sunny.”

“I better wear a jacket then,” I say, grabbing a gabardine Burberry trench coat with fun black leather sleeves. And even though it might rain, I throw in a pair of big black sunglasses.

Her phone buzzes with a text. She looks down, smiles, and turns her back on me.

Um, hello? Weren’t we in the middle of a conversation here?

I finish packing then say to her, “So I’m going to sleep for a little before the party.”

She gives me a barely perceptible nod of her head as she laughs to herself and furiously texts.

My own phone buzzes.

Dawson: I’m still in the car with my parents. Bor-ing. But before the game was really fun ;)