Extraits

Gage Joseph Reynolds. I am going to call every girl in your contacts tonight and tell them you are gay.

Braden studied my face. "Oh, great. You're terrified. If you're scared, how am I supposed to feel ?"

"I already told you to stop reading me."

"I can read you because I know you better."

"In your dreams."

"Yes, you've been there, too."

I backhanded him across the stomach, but couldn't help but smile.

"- I don’t know how to get over it.

- You can only go through it."

A pair of arms wrapped around me from behind. "Football later ?"

I leaned back into Braden. "Yes."

"I've missed you this week."

"Me too."

He kissed my cheek. "I'm going to get some food. I'll be right back." He took off across the yard to join my dad and Jerom to the barbecue.

"I'm sorry." I ran a hand through his hair, and he moved his head to my lap. We stayed like that for a while, his head resting on me, my fingers combing through his hair. "So why Gage is mad at you ?"

"You're his sister, Charlie."

"That makes no sense. He didn't get made at Evan."

"I think he knows you were never into Evan."

"But he thought I was into you ?"

"I don't know. He probably thought I'd have more potential to seriously hurt you. But I won't. I promise I won't. ... I love you."

My heart slammed against my ribs and my breath left me. I lowered my lips to his. "I love you too."

"Am I reading you wrong ?" he asked.

I shook my head no. I couldn't find my voice, couldn't dare to believe this meant what I thought it meant.

He led out a slow breath of air that smelled so familiar. "I was going to tell you that."

"You were going to tell me that you wanted to kiss me ?"

He nodded. "Is this going to change everything ?"

"I sure hope so".

He smiled and his gaze went from my eyes, to my mouth then up to my hair. He tucked a piece behind my ear. "You're so beautiful."

My cheeks heated. "Aren't we supposed to do this at the fence ?"

"No, I don't want this to be in our alternate reality. I want this to be in our real one." He met my lips with his. My heart felt like it had just been put thought sprints : it raced to life. I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him closer. Against my lips he added, "But we can do this again tonight at the fence if you want."

“Hey guys,' I said. 'Don't be idiots. This is Evan. Evan, the angry-looking one is Jerom, the constipated-looking one is Nathan, and the goofball on the right is Gage.'

Gage laughed. 'Constipated, Nathan? We said to look fierce.”

“We can't let boys define how we feel about ourselves. You have to know who you are before you should let any boy worth anything in.”

“Sometimes we expect more that people are capable of giving at the moment”