“Give it to me,” I hissed.

Jenna dangled the stick of cotton candy from her fingertips. I watched it sway back and forth precariously. “Tell me.”

“He stayed to watch my chess tournament, and we almost went out for a burger afterward. I would have gone with him, but some of Jaden’s teammates walked out of the school just as we were leaving and saw us,” I blurted out all in one breath. “Now give me my damn candy.”

“Who?” she asked, a frown pulling on her lips.

“Brody,” I whispered. “Who else?”

“Oh, holy hottie, Batman! Give me some of that.” She grabbed a handful of my cotton candy and shoved it in her mouth.

“I know.” I took a bite of my candy, but it melted on my tongue too quickly. It wasn’t giving me the high I needed. “This isn’t enough. I need something stronger. Time for chocolate.” I made my way to the concession stand. My gaze fixed on my feet while I waited impatiently for my turn to order. “Three chocolate bars, please,” I said when it was my turn. “And the biggest Coke you have. With an extra side of caffeine.”

“Sure thing, sweetie,” the old woman behind the counter said, smiling at me. She pushed the chocolate through the small window and took my money, handing me my change and Coke. “And, sweetie?”

“Yes?” I looked up at her.

“Whoever has you drowning your sorrows in chocolate and caffeine probably isn’t worth it.”

I smiled at her. “Thanks.” Turning, I came face-to-face with Brody. He looked down at me, and his lips tipped in a grin.

“Got a sweet tooth?”

“Ah, yeah, a little. Did you get dinner?”

“Are you worried about my eating habits?” Brody asked with a quirked brow. “How sweet and totally unnecessary.”

Sighing, I tried to walk around him. “Forget it.” I couldn’t figure him out. This afternoon he was sweet and friendly, and now he was back to antagonizing and irritating.

I walked through the concession stands on my way back to the bleachers when someone grabbed my arm and pulled me into the shadows behind one of the concession booths, making me drop my Coke.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be a jerk back there. I just didn’t want anyone overhearing us actually talking like… we like each other,” Brody murmured.

“Oh.” I hated how my voice sounded all breathy and my mind spun from the closeness of him. “You made me drop my Coke.”

That’s what I say? Deep. Real deep. Earth shattering, actually.

Brody laughed. “I’ll buy you another.”

I shrugged. “At least it wasn’t my chocolate.” I smiled.

“So, to answer your question, no, I didn’t get to eat. Do you think you could get away for a while?”

“Um.” I drummed my fingers against my leg, opening my mouth to answer, and then closing it again before finally asking, “Why?”

“’Cuz I could grab us a couple of burgers from the concession stand, and we could eat them in my Jeep. You do owe me a burger,” Brody reminded me, like I’d actually forgotten.

“Ah, where are you parked?”

“Way in the back. I decided to come at the last minute, so I think I got the farthest parking space there is. In fact, I think it’s actually in another county.”

I laughed. “Okay. I need a minute to see what I can do.”

“I’ll get the burgers. What do you like?”

You. Oh, crap, where did that come from? I’m seriously walking on a very thin line.

“No, don’t get them yet. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to come back or not.”

“I’ll take my chances. I’ll meet you over there?” He nodded at an unlit part of the parking area behind the last concession stand.

“Okay, but if I’m not back in five minutes, you’ll know I couldn’t get away.” I forced myself to walk calmly to where Jenna and Tim sat on the bleachers. As I walked, I opened one of the candy bars and threw the candy under the bleachers, keeping the wrapper. I did the same with half of another. I sat down between Jenna and Tim.

“Got your candy fix?” Jenna said with a laugh, looking at the chocolate bars.

“Yeah.”

“Uh-oh. I know that look. You’re gonna hurl, aren’t you? You ate too much of that crap and nothing else.” She picked up the empty wrappers and looked at them.

“Yeah, I’m not feeling too hot.” I purposely talked loud enough that Karen, who was sitting a row behind us, would hear me. She would tell Jaden everything as soon as the game was over. “Do you think you can take me home?”

Jenna gave me a funny look. “Yeah. What about Jaden? He’ll be looking for you.”

“I’ll tell Karen to tell him I’m sick and had to leave. He’ll be fine with it. He won’t have to worry about my curfew and can go to Jamieson’s party after the game.”

“Okay.” Jenna grabbed her things.

I turned to Karen, who, like I figured, was listening to our conversation. “Karen, I’m not feeling so great. Too much candy, I guess. Can you get a message to Jaden that I went home and tell him I’ll text him after the game?”

“Sure.” She studied my face. I tried to look sick.

“Tell him I said to have fun at Jamieson’s party.”

“I’ll tell him.” She watched Jenna and me walk down the bleachers after we said goodbye to Tim and the others in our group.

As soon as we rounded the stands, Jenna grabbed my arm. “Spill. Now.”

“I’m having a burger with Brody. You were the only cover I could think of. I know you don’t really like the games anyway, so I didn’t think you’d mind leaving early.” I cringed, waiting for her to say something.

“Nope, don’t mind at all. He’ll give you a ride home?”

I nodded. “I think so.”

“Well, have fun.” She winked and walked to her car. “I expect a full and very detailed report. It’s the least you owe me.”

“You’re the very bestest friend a girl can have, you know that right?” I gushed with a smile, swinging my clasped hands back and forth and batting my eyelashes.

“Of course,” she said and waved.

I ran to the back of the last concession stand where I was meeting Brody. He stood with his shoulder leaning against the wall, one thumb hooked in his belt loop. His other hand held a tray of drinks and a bag. He smiled when he saw me.

“I was just about to give up,” he said quietly and pushed off the wall.

“Sorry. I tried to hurry.”

“No problem. Let’s go. When do you have to be back?”

“Here, let me carry something.” I took the drinks from him, and my stomach growled.

Brody laughed. “You sound as hungry as I am. So? How long do we have?”

“Oh, um, I don’t have to be back. I said I was leaving because I was sick from too much junk food.” I smiled.

“Ah, three chocolate bars and a Coke on an empty stomach can make anyone sick.”

“Yeah, well, I’d already had two things of cotton candy, an ice cream cone, and a bag of chili cheese corn chips. Oh, and that was my second Coke.” Brody looked at me with raised eyebrows. And I shrugged. “I eat when I’m nervous,” I said.

“Are you even gonna have room for a burger?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m hungry for something that’s not full of sugar.” I grinned. “Something dripping in fat sounds good.”

Brody laughed and unlocked the passenger door to his Jeep, holding it while I got in and shutting it after me. I groaned. The Jeep smelled like him—oh so good. It surrounded me like a cloud. I wanted to open a window and let in fresh air because I knew I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything but his smell as long as I was in his Jeep. Brody opened the door and climbed in the driver’s seat. The smell of burgers filled the space, masking his smell, and I could breathe again. My head started to clear and stopped spinning.

“I didn’t know what you liked, so I had them put everything on the side,” he said, pulling out a tray full of lettuce, tomato, pickles, and cheese, putting it on the center console before reaching in and grabbing a handful of condiment packets. He took out a burger and held it out to me. I couldn’t stop staring at the mini buffet of burger toppings. “Hey, earth to Willow, do you want this?”