“Dude, random words are not sentences.”

“Fuck you, Free-Pussy Hunter.” He paused. “Hunter? It doesn’t even suit you. You don’t hunt for pussy. It’s like they scream for you!” His voice changed to match that of a whiney girl. “Take me, Hunter. Take me now!”

Blake’s embarrassed laugh made his head fall forward and onto my arm.

Josh took the joint from his hand and walked away. “I’m Hunter,” he announced, grabbing on to his junk. “What’s that, tree? Oh, you want my dick? Sure! I’m Blake-fucking-Hunter. Take all the dick you want.”

“Quit it!” Blake yelled. “You’re making me sound like an asshole in front of Chloe. You’re breaking bro code. Not cool, dude!”

Josh ignored him. Opting, instead, to start humping the tree.

“Oh my God,” I laughed.

Blake looked up at me with embarrassment. “Kid’s lost it.”

“He’s allowed.”

“Yeah,” he said sadly. We watched as he moved away from the tree and started pacing again. “So what about you, C-Lo? What are your plans after high school?”

I looked down at him. His eyebrows were raised and his head tilted lazily . . . but his eyes . . . his eyes held a depth in them that knocked all sense out of me. For a second I wanted to tell him everything. The truth about me and my future. “The Road.”

Blake’s eyes narrowed slightly. “The road?”

“Yeah.” I turned away. His eyes had the power to wreck not only me, but also the walls I’d spent my life building. “The Road,” I repeated, as if saying the words again would make him understand. Lying back, I leaned on my elbows so we were level. And I waited. I knew the questions were coming, and even though Clayton was the only one who knew my answers, for some reason, I didn’t feel the need to hide them from Blake. “After graduation, I’m taking off.”

“Taking off?”

“You keep repeating my words, like they’re questions.”

“Yeah, well, your answers aren’t really answers. They’re just words.”

“How are answers formed, if not with words?”

“By words that form explanations.”

“Explanations are the same as answers.”

He laughed. “Shut up and explain.” He poked my shoulder with a single finger. “Properly.”

I sucked in all the air my lungs could handle and then let it out in a whoosh. “I’m just gonna get in my car and drive. No destination. No maps. Nothing. Just drive.”

“For the entire summer?”

I turned to him, finding it difficult not to look at him when he was that close. “Kind of like an endless summer.”

I could see the question in his eyes before his mouth opened, but before he had a chance to voice it, I cut in. “It’s kind of the plan for the rest of my life.”

“The rest of your life?” he said incredulously.

“And there you go, repeating my words again.”

He shook his head as if clearing a thought. “I’m confused.” And he looked it. Which made him even cuter. “Are you going on your own?”

I nodded.

“Forever?” His tone had changed—past confusion—into something completely different.

I nodded again.

“Why?”

“Because.” I shrugged. “There’s nothing keeping me here. I don’t have family. I don’t have any friends—”

“I’m your friend.”

That made me laugh. “I guess. But I’ve known you . . . what? A week? As far as being a reason to stay, I don’t think that really cuts it.”

He sighed. It sounded as dramatic as it did genuine. “And you’re going by yourself?”

He seemed closer, or maybe it just felt that way. The air around us intensified as I forced myself to answer. My voice came out shaky when I finally did. “Yes. Why?”

Blake

“Why?” I said back.

Her laugh was all-consuming as she pushed playfully against my chest. I fell back onto the warm metal of her hood. “You just keep repeating what I say.”

I did. But I really couldn’t form any other words. “I just worry about you,” I said, looking up at the night sky.

It was silent for so long that I thought she’d left me. Just as I was about to turn to her, her hand swept down my arm and onto my palm. I heard her exhale right before she laced her fingers with mine. “You don’t need to worry about me, Blake,” she said quietly. But she was wrong. And I realized it then—that even if I tried, I couldn’t help but worry. It could have been because of the way we’d met, or it could have been because she meant more to me than anyone ever had. “I don’t know, Chloe,” I said. “I kind of feel like someone has to, you know?” I turned to her, wanting to see her reaction.

She was already facing me; her eyes glazed with her unshed tears. She blinked quickly, letting them fall and wiping them away before I could do it for her. “You can’t do that, Blake. You can’t worry about me like that.”

Josh’s shadow fell on her. “Here, Free-Pussy Hunter.” I sat up, reached for the joint he offered, and placed it between my fingers. I watched as his eyes moved down to Chloe and my joined hands. He didn’t say anything. He never would. She must’ve noticed, though, because she tried to pull away, but I held on to her tighter.