Page 23 of Puck Your Friend

Jace leans toward him with wide eyes. “KESS-treeee-ihhhhm.”

Logan runs his hands through his shaggy blonde hair. “You’re hopeless.”

“Whatever. They’re creepy elf monk people with god issues. And Valyn rides a wyvern and has daddy trauma, so I’m not wrong.”

Logan doesn’t even look up. “There are no wyverns.They’re called Kettral. Which are giant black hawks trained for stealth missions.”

Jace shrugs. “Close enough. He broods, he stabs stuff, he’s sad about his dead emperor dad. Same thing.”

Now Logan looks up with narrowed eyes. “You didn’t finish it.”

Jace looks anywhere but him. “I skimmed the middle.”

Logan throws his pillow at him. “That’s where everything happens!”

Jace laughs. “Fine. I’ll try reading it again.”

Ford glances back at them in the mirror as he picks at a zit. “We all know you’re not going to read a word, Jace. Don’t lie to the man.”

I can’t focus on any of this. My chest is too tight. All I keep thinking about is how I betrayed them by kissing Frankie. I seriously don’t think I can live with this the rest of the summer. Especially since I want to do it again, every day until the last one.

I clear my throat and sit up on my bottom bunk. “I need to tell you guys something. You’re not gonna be happy.”

They stop what they’re doing. Ford turns around and moves to lean against the table near the back of the cabin. “That sounds serious. What’s up?”

My fingers curl into the edge of the mattress. “It’s about Frankie.”

They all straighten; even Jace is more alert than I’ve ever seen him.

Logan motions for me to continue. “What about her? Is she okay?”

I nod. “She’s o-okay.”

Swallowing hard, my throat is already tightening like it does before a bad stutter. I try to relax, but it’s so hard. “I... I ki-ki-ki-” My mouth refuses to work with my brain. I growl and slam my fist into my thigh. “Damn it.”

I hate when I get like this and can’t control my words. Frankie and them have never made fun of me for it, but that’s why they’re my best friends. Around them, I don’t feel like a freak.

Jace stands and drops down on the bunk beside me. He claps me on the shoulder. “Breathe, buddy. Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad. Unless...” He leans toward me. “Did you kill her?”

Before I can try again, the door swings open. The counselor steps in, clipboard in hand. “Ford, Wesley, Logan, Jace. All here. Lights out by eleven, boys.” He marks off each of our names and doesn’t wait for a response. The door closes and his footsteps fade quickly.

Their eyes turn on me again and I sigh. “Fuck it. I kissed Frankie.” I force the words out before my brain can trip over them.

Silence descends on us and I feel better having told them, but it doesn’t get rid of the guilt.

Jace lets out a long sigh. “That’s better than what I thought you were going to say. Can’t say I’m not jealous. So, how was it?”

I bury my face in my hands. “Amazing. Her lips felt so nice.”

Logan and Ford are quiet. Too quiet.

I glance at them. “If you wanna punch me, I won’t be mad.”

Ford sighs and scrubs a hand through his brown hair. “I’m not mad, dude. I don’t know why not. I’m just... not. If you were anyone else, I probably would’ve decked you without thinking. But now I want to kiss her, too.”

That should make something in me snap. But it doesn’t. I’m not mad either. If anyone else touched her... now that thought makes me want to punch something. I’m not a violent person.

Logan clears his throat. “It’s only fair that we all get a chance to kiss her. If she’s open to it.”