Page 10

“Yeah. I know Olivia,” I say, placing my arm around Axel’s waist. “We go way back. But I didn’t realize the two of you did.”

“Ben and I got to know each other at camp,” she says, as if she doesn’t realize she’s incriminating herself alongside Ben. “We were both counselors.”

Ben’s jaw clenches at Olivia’s admission.

“Yeah. I figured you weren’t one of the campers.” Ben gives me the look he always gives me when I’ve just said something rude. Shaking off his disapproval, I continue. “Is Olivia the reason you so badly wanted to ‘strike out on your own’? ’Cause, hate to break it to you, Ben, immediately coupling up with another girl kind of negates the whole ‘doing senior year alone’ thing. But then again, I guess it makes sense seeing as you connected with people on a ‘deeper level’ this summer. Clearly.”

Ben shakes his head, and his shaggy locks move with him. “Jamie.”

“It’s all good. No bad blood here,” I say, trying my best to play off that I’m not seconds away from pummeling both of them. I don’t buy them as a couple. In my wildest dreams I’d never pair the two of them. Which should make it easier to break them apart.

An awkward silence descends between the four of us as literal crickets sing a chorus in the background.

“Do you need help with your car?” Ben finally asks, his question slicing into the quiet like a knife.

Axel squeezes me closer while waving Ben off with his other hand. “We got this. Jamie isn’t your problem to fix anymore.”

Smooth.

“Okay, well, try not to run over anything else tonight,” Ben says. A smile stretches over his teeth before he and Olivia head to her car.

“You’re welcome,” Axel whispers in my ear. His hot breath tickles the back of my neck. I wait until Ben and Olivia have driven off before I squirm away.

“Boyfriend? I said play along, not write your own fantasy.”

“You needed to make the guy jealous, and that did the job.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of hanging out, or something less serious, but boyfriend? I don’t even know you. And you’re younger. And Axel? Is that seriously your name?”

“Hold up,” Axel says. He bites on his lower lip while shaking his head. “You ran over my bike. You asked me to play along with two seconds’ notice, and when I do manage to save your ass, you complain about the logistics behind it?”

“I just…I needed an excuse to be here.”

“An excuse for stalking your ex?”

“All I needed was for you to play along long enough for…” I stall, trying to keep my breathing steady. Now is not the time to lose it. Especially in front of a stranger. “It was supposed to be, you know, a short-term excuse. Me being here…with you. Dropping off cookies or handing out flyers for my mom’s salon. Anything! But now he thinks you’re my boyfriend. And you’re in eleventh grade.”

“Yes, we’ve already established that.”

“How am I supposed to make Ben jealous dating a younger guy?” I ask, placing my hands on my hips.

“First of all, we’re not really dating, so don’t get ahead of yourself. Secondly, that guy is a dork. Younger or not, I’m an upgrade.”

“You think pretty highly of yourself,” I say, sizing him up in his gray sweats, hiked-up socks, rubber slides, and band tee.

“At least I don’t expect people to read my mind.” He folds his arms over his chest.

“What’re we going to do?”

“First, we’re going to rescue my bike and then you’re going to pay to fix it.”

“Yeah, about that…I don’t have a lot of money. The thing is, I kind of have a book-buying problem.”

“Then I guess we have ourselves a predicament. What else have you got to offer me?”

I fold my arms across my chest, matching his pose. “What do you want?”

The corners of his lips turn up. “Glad you asked.” He rubs his hands together, his shoulders bouncing, and it looks like he’s about to break into dance. “Seeing as you destroyed my wheels, I’m going to need a way to get to and from school every day.”