of a second he looks at me, then he slips his find into his pocket and hops back in the car.

His pocket bulges a bit and I recognize the shape. A smile stretches my lips and it won’t go away. I

stare out the passenger window so Jace doesn’t wonder why I’m grinning like a madman. When I regain

my cool, I ask him what we’re doing next since we have the whole day to kill.

He looks at me for a long time without speaking. I lean over and pinch him.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“You’ve been lost in your head for days. It’s time to snap out of it.”

He opens his mouth to protest but slams it shut again. He starts the car, throws an arm around the

back of my seat, and backs out of the park. The heat of his arm at my neck makes me shiver, as does the

confidence with which Jace drives. He likes it and he’s good at it.

“You don’t understand,” he says around the corner from home.

“Then make me understand, or do something about it so you can get back to the real you.”

Jace slaps a hand on my thigh and then pinches me back. “Stings, doesn’t it?”

My mouth is dry. All I can do is nod because I still feel the weight and warmth of his hand clasping

my thigh the moment before he pinched it. The shocks are still shooting to my groin and making me

hard.

I shift, hoping my hardness isn’t noticeable. Thank the stars he’s concentrating on driving.

At home, Jace races up to his room and I wander about the house aimlessly like I’m living in the

clouds. I don’t know what to do with myself. I feel tingly and happy, like no one could piss me off even

if they tried.

“Good, you’re home,” Dad says in the dining room. “I have a chore for you.”

“What’s that?”

Dad raises a brow and a chipper attitude. “The two upstairs bathrooms need cleaning.”

“Fun,” I say, rolling my eyes but following it up with a grin.

He observes Lila preparing lunch. “Where’s Jace?” he asks. “I have an extra fun chore for him.”

“Better than scrubbing toilets?”

Dad jingles his car keys. “Since he has his own car, I figure he’ll want to keep it clean. He’s going

to wash mine while he’s at it.”

“He’s in his room.”

“Tell him to come down.”

I comply. Jace is on his laptop when I push his ajar door, and he hurriedly shuts it when I call his

name.

His face contorts when I relay the menial task Dad gave him, but he gets up.

I start cleaning Lila and Dad’s bathroom. They have their own sinks, which is a real pain in the ass

since I have to clean both.

Jace strolls in the moment I finish vacuuming. He’s wearing a raggedy T-shirt with a hole near the

hem and a pair of soccer shorts. He moves over to Dad’s sink and plucks his toothbrush from the holder.

I unplug the vacuum cleaner. “What are you doing?”

He holds the toothbrush up. “Time he replaces it anyway, don’t you think?” He edges to the door

where I’m standing. “This’ll make our tire rims shine.”

He jumps past me and strides down the hall, but he stops suddenly. “I almost forgot,” he says,

coming back to me and digging his free hand into his pocket. “This is for you.”

He throws it to me. It’s a quartz pebble, peach with a vein of white running through the middle in

the shape of a wave, and it’s still warm from Jace’s pocket.

I look up to thank him, to tell him it’s amazing.

But he’s gone.

rock salt

The night before Jace’s seventeenth, he leaves to party at Darren’s house. I’m not invited but I have

an essay to finish anyway. Jace’s birthday is tomorrow, and I don’t want this stupid assignment hanging

over me.

I sit at my desk to finish my essay. When the clock hands indicate twelve o’clock, I smile and text

Jace happy birthday. Ten minutes later, I jump into the shower, jerk off, and ready myself for bed.

I’m climbing into fresh sheets when my phone rings. I fall out of the bed and knock my head

against the carpet.

I rub my head and find the damn phone. Jace. But I knew it was him the moment the phone rang.

“Happy Birthday!”

He groans. “Happy? I don’t know. What is happy, anyway?”

“Are you drunk, Jace?”

He burps and that says it all.

“Can you pick me up, Coop? I left my wallet at home and I’m too drunk to walk home.”

Shit. “I only have my learner’s permit.” And no car—

Annie’s car. She got picked up by a friend earlier so her car’s available.

“Please? I don’t want Mum or Dad to see me like this.”

“I’m on my way.”

I pull on a pair of jeans over my boxers but I leave my nightshirt on. I don’t plan on socializing.

After shoving on some shoes, I snatch Annie’s car keys. Jace has taught me all the tricks to sneaking out

without getting caught—I make sure to switch off the sensor light before leaving.

I climb into Annie’s run-down Honda parked halfway down the street. I start the car and pray I

don’t get pulled over.

I’m in luck, and after a quick stop, I arrive at Darren’s fifteen minutes later. The house is swarming

with teenagers in various stages of sobriety and undress. I weave around giggling girls and couples

making out, and follow the pounding beat of the music to the heart of the party—the drinking games.

And Jace.

A guy pushes past me, slopping beer out of his paper cup. I jump back so it doesn’t hit me. Close.

Jace is sprawled face down on the couch, one arm touching the floor, his feet sticking over the end

of the couch, and a pink streamer hanging over his calf. His T-shirt has risen up, and the hard plains of

his back and the curve of his hip are on full display. He seems to be searching the crowd.

When he spots me, he transforms. His body sparks with life and he pulls himself off the couch.

“Cooper,” he mouths as he crashes toward me.

“Brother’s here to pick you up, eh?” Darren says as he throws an arm around Jace’s shoulder and

walks the rest of the way with him.

“We’re not even stepbrothers,” I mutter, but this is mostly to myself—and the punk guy at the

booze table next to me.

“I told him not to drink so fast,” Darren says when they catch up to me. “But he was nervous.” His

thumb jerks to a bunch of girls in the corner of the room.

I immediately recognize the blonde, who has just slopped red wine down her front and is laughing

about needing salt. Someone tells her to head for the boys drinking tequila.

I know she’ll have to pass us to get to those boys. “Right,” I say. “I’d better get him home.”

Jace mumbles something but the slurring music pounding in my ears deafens me. I say good-bye to

Darren and take his place, slipping an arm around Jace and steering him out of the party.

He’s not so drunk that he can’t fold himself into the car, thank God. But he jerks the seatbelt and it

doesn’t extend. I know it’s a fiddly fucker to deal with when sober so I lean over and draw it out for

him.

Jace’s glazed eyes match his amused smile. “What?” I ask as I click him in.

He shrugs and rubs his temples. “I need some water.”

“Glove compartment.”

“You’re a lifesaver.”

He drinks while I drive us home.

When he stumbles out of the car, I notice his wallet bulging in his pocket. I shrug it off. He was

probably too drunk to realize he had it all along.

I lock up the car and sneak us back into the house.

Upstairs, he goes to the bathroom. I figure he’s good and climb back into bed. Two minutes later,

my door opens and Jace flops onto the bed next to me.

I roll over to turn on the bedside lamp.

“Wrong room, Jace.”

“Nope,” he says, sounding a little less slurred now. “The right one.” He’s stripped down to his

Angry Bird boxers and is lying on his belly, arms under his head, looking at me. “It’s my birthday, and I