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“You’re right. I will next time,” I said.

We reached my car where Asher paused. “We’ll talk later, yeah?” he asked. So hedidwant to see me later?

I nodded, and he and his wet shoes and dripping sweatshirt walked to his car.

Chad buckled Bean in and then we both climbed into my car. After a few moments of driving in silence, Chad said, “Are you still going to Tahoe for the Fourth?”

“Oh yeah, I am.” I had forgotten he was going there too.

“We’ll have to meet up.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure what my schedule will be, but maybe.” Maybe my sister would enjoy a party with people our own age. Maybe I’d need a break from my mom. Maybe the confession I was about to make to Asher would blow up in my face and I’d need lots of distractions over the coming week.

Rule:The truth will set you free…hopefully.

I sat in my car in front of Asher’s house. It had been less than thirty minutes since we left the rec center. I still wasn’t sure if he actually wanted to see me. He’d saidsee you later.That wasn’t necessarily a planned meeting. It was a common departure phrase. But I was determined to get everything out in the open. Now that I’d admitted out loud I liked him, it was time to get this weight off my shoulders and put it all out there.

The blue front door looked extra bright today. A big potted plant sat to the right of the doormat and Asher’s wet shoes were to the left.

I knocked before I talked myself out of it. Buffy immediately started barking.

His mom answered, holding Buffy, and seemed surprised to see me. “Wren! I didn’t know you were coming over.” She gave me a side hug, which confirmed to me that Asher was just a hugger,like his mom. It was genetic or something. “That was so fun today. Bean is just the sweetest.”

“He really is,” I said. “Even when he’s being a total punk.”

She laughed. “I wish we could adopt him, but Buffy doesn’t like other animals.” She bounced Buffy in her arms. “Huh, you little snob, you like to be the only princess around here.” She opened the door wider. “Come in. I believe Asher is in the shower, but I’ll go check.”

“Thank you. Should I…?” I pointed to the show couches.

“Oh, honey, we don’t sit on those.”

I smiled. “Why would you?”

“You can wait in Asher’s room. He gets dressed in the bathroom.”

“Okay, cool.”

Only his mom was wrong. Or maybe today was different due to the fact that he had been soaking wet when he came home, because he walked into his room several minutes after I did in just a towel. His lanky body was toned and tan and my cheeks went red.

He let out a strangled yelp when he saw me and then laughed.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, rushing for the door. “Your mom told me to wait in here.”

“I usually get dressed in the bathroom,” he said.

“I know. I mean, I know because she told me, not because I’ve been spying on you or anything.”

His eyes twinkled.

“I’ll wait in the room with the fancy couches that I can’t sit on,” I said, practically running out of the room and closing the door behind me. I heard him laughing on my way down the hall.

When he finally joined me, dressed, he was still chuckling. “You really wanted to see me later. Like, all of me.”

“Funny.” I shifted from one foot to the other several times.

“You don’t need to be embarrassed,” he said, taking my nerves for embarrassment (which was a safe bet, I was that too). “I was wearing a towel. You’ve already seen me in my supershort swim trunks.”

I wanted to flirt back, if that’s what this was, but I couldn’t. The weight of the lie on my back was getting heavier by the second. “Do you want me to be here?”