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“What? I bet he’d agree to tell his sister so you can stop sneaking around.”

“I don’t think so. I think he has other reasons for not wanting her to know.”

“Which are?”

“It’s a way for him to keep me from getting too close.”

“And here I thought that was your MO,” she fires back.

I consider her words.

Maybe it is.

Maybe that’s exactly why I’ve beensowilling to go along with this. Because deep down I know that if I let myself, I could fall for River, and fall hard. But as long as there’s this barrier between us, this thread of lies, it prevents us from fully giving ourselves to the other person.

If I’m being honest, it’s not like I’ve pushed the matter of telling Lyric, either. I just never considered why that might be.

“Or maybe it still is.” Maisie looks at me for a long moment, my thoughts clearly displayed on my face, unintentionally, of course. “Is that why you haven’t told her?”

“No, of course not.” I shake my head. “At least, I don’t think so.” I groan, dropping my face into my hands before scrubbing the palms against my eyes. “Can we please talk about something else?” I lift my head. “This is giving me a headache.”

“Well, too bad. Because until you come clean and tellourbest friend this thing you’ve been keeping from her formonths, I’m going to continue to talk about it.”

“You’re a real pain in my ass, you know that.” I snort out a laugh.

“Back at ya, babe.” She clucks her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “Now hurry the hell up.” She gestures to my still unpacked bags. “We have a party to go to tonight and I will not be hearing any excuses about you not being able to go because you still need to unpack.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” I’m quick to argue. “I’m not Lyric. When have I ever made an excuse not to go to a party?” She gives me aknowing look. “Okay, so I skipped a couple toward the end of the year.”

“A couple? You hardly went to a single one last semester. You were too busy talking toConner.” She uses her fingers to put air quotes around the name as she says it. “To come out with your friends.”

“Or maybe I just got sick of being the third wheel with Lyric and Kai every time you ditched me.”

“If I remember right, you used to be the one who always ditched us. Back when you were fun.”

“I’m still fun!” I cross my arms in front of my chest.

“Oh yeah?” Her hands go to her hips and she gives me a doubtful look. “Prove it.”

“Oh, you’re on.” I uncross my arms, wagging a finger in her direction. “Challenge accepted.”

“This is going to be fun.” She smiles wide.

Yes, I think but don’t say.

Yes, it is.

We spend the rest of the afternoon unpacking and getting our room in order. It’s just after six when Lyric shows up with Kai in tow—no surprise. By which time I have done my hair, opting to style the thick auburn strands into soft curls, leaving them to hang freely down my back. Finished my makeup, which I kept light with the exception of the smoky eye look that makes my green eyes stand out in a way that no other eye makeup seems to. And managed to slide my way into the tiniest freaking dress known to man, the strapless material held up by the sheer tightness of the dress that hits me mid-thigh.

I may or may not have also sent a picture of myself to River that I took in the bathroom after I was finished getting ready.

I thought he’d appreciate the sight of me in something so scandalous, though I second-guessed myself almostimmediately after and have continued to do so the longer his response takes to come through.

I keep telling myself it’s because he hasn’t seen it, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit worried that maybe the picture wasn’t the best idea. Though I refuse to let myself dwell on it for too long because I promised myself that tonight I was going to have fun, and obsessing over what River does or does not think of said picture isnotmy idea of fun.

“Char!” Lyric’s eyes widen when she catches sight of me, her gaze tracking me from the top of my head to the heels on my feet before making their way back to my face. “You look...amazing.”

“Thank you.” I smile, gesturing to her outfit, a deep blue dress that flares at her hips, hitting right at her knees. “You look pretty damn good yourself,” I tell her, shaking my head when I see the white, high-top Converse on her feet. “Well, most of you does,” I tease.