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She rolls her eyes at me. “It’s a new word I’m trying out and… You know what? That’s not even the point. What I want to know is, what is going on with you?”

“I guess I’m just chipper,” I say, emphasizing the last word.

“Why are you changing the subject?”

“I’m not,” I say as I close the fridge and take a sip of water.

“You’re avoiding answering me by turning this into a conversation about semantics. You’re not fooling me, Col. I know something’s up.”

I sit down at the kitchen table and shrug. I’m not going to tell her what’s up. She doesn’t need to know how much fun I’m having with her best friend, who is so quirky and sweet and adorable and, yes, smoking hot. If I do, I’ll never hear the end of it. She’ll start this spiel about how I can’t, under any circumstances, date her best friend as it would lead to trouble and all that. To be honest, just because I find Elle so amazing doesn’t mean I want to date her, so what would be the point of telling Maggie how I feel about her friend?

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?” She slides into the seat opposite me and leans in closer. “Did something happen at work? Or did you meet a girl?” Her eyes are narrowed now. I’m so bad at fooling her. “You did, didn’t you? Tell me who it is.”

I laugh. “I didn’t meet a girl, Mags. Can’t a guy be in a good mood every now and then? Let it go. There’s nothing to see here.”

“But I’m your sister. I have a right to know.”

I get up and throw my empty water bottle in the recycling bin. “No, you don’t. You just can’t stand not knowing all of my secrets.”

“Ugh. You enjoy torturing me like this way too much.”

“You know I adore you, sis, but yes, I love how worked up you get whenever I don’t spill my secrets to you.”

Her eyes light up at those words. “So, you admit it? There are secrets? Well, spill them!”

“What’s this about secrets?”

I look to where Elle is standing in the entrance to the kitchen. I didn’t even hear her approaching.

“Nothing,” I quickly say.

“Colton’s weirdly happy and he doesn’t want to tell me who’s making him that way,” Maggie says simultaneously.

Elle stops in her tracks and her forehead wrinkles as if she’s trying to make sense of what we’re saying.

“Please, tell me who is it,” Maggie insists.

I flick my gaze to Elle and clear my throat. “It’s, uhm…” I desperately try to come up with an explanation that will lead the attention away from me. “I’ve got a date. Yeah, you got me. I’m going on a date.”

Maggie jumps up and down as if I told her we’ve won the lottery. “A date? When? Where? What’s her name?” Her voice is two octaves higher than normal.

“Relax, it’s nothing serious. We’re meeting each other tonight at… uhm… the bonfire.”

“Weren’t you going for drinks with Tyler?” Elle asks.

“Yeah, and didn’t you say the bonfire was for eighteen-year-olds you didn’t want to hang out with?” my sister chimes in.

I groan. They’re both right. Things like this are exactly the reason why I don’t lie. It’s messy and I hate it.

“I’m meeting up with this girl and Tyler. Separately,” I add.

“Sounds like you have a busy night ahead of you,” Maggie says with a laugh.

I gratefully take that as my cue to leave. “You’re right, I better get ready. See you later.”

I rush away and hop into the shower. When I head back to my room ten minutes later, I try to come up with ways I can rectify this situation. I can’t possibly cancel my plans with Tyler for some imaginary date, but if I show up without someone at the bonfire, Maggie will know I was lying.

After showering, I shoot off a text to Tyler, asking him to meet me at a different bar. There’s one on the outskirts of town where I doubt my sister would ever show up. Thankfully, Tyler doesn’t ask any questions.