I swallow the lump wedged in my throat. The last thing he needs to be doing is worrying about me. I need to chill on the freaking out. “I’m okay. It’s just a little scary thinking about what they’re going to do to you.”

He presses his lips together. “Are you sure you’re okay? Because if it’s too much for you, you don’t have to go—”

I put a finger to his lips, shushing him. “I’m going with you. There’s no way you’re talking me out of it.” I lower my hand to my lap. “And just tell Lila I need to spend as much time with you as I can before I leave for the tour.”

“But what about the doctor’s office thing?” He points over his shoulder at the cop car that’s been tailing us since we left school. “Because they’re going to follow us and report where we went the moment we park the damn car in front of the office.”

I peek back at the cop car. “Are you sure you just can’t tell Aunt Lila what we’re doing?” Aunt Lila isn’t really my aunt, just like Uncle Ethan really isn’t my uncle. My family was just so close with the Gregorys from the moment I was born that I started calling them that.

“If I tell her then she’ll never let me go through with it,” he says with heavy remorse. “And I have to do this.”

I try to bring out my sunshine and positivity as I rack my brain for a solution to our problem. “Just tell her you’re taking me to a doctor’s appointment. That I have to get a shot and need you to hold my hand.”

“And what happens when she talks to your mom and finds out that was a lie?” he asks warily.

I shrug. “We’ll face the music when it happens, but right now, let’s just get through this one appointment.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he double checks. “Because everyone’s going to be pissed when they find out we lied.”

“Of course I’m sure.” I wink at him. “I got your back, dude. Always and forever.”

That gets him to smile. I just cross my fingers that his smile will still exist after the therapy session.

An hour later, we’re sitting in a waiting room at a busy doctor’s office waiting for Dr. Gardingdale to arrive so we can get this show on the road. Ayden is about a million times more nervous than when he got his tattoo, which is saying a lot. But he’s not the only one that’s so jittery they can’t sit still. It didn’t help that when we left, Fiona blindsided me as I was getting into the car.

“I know what you’re doing,” she said with her hands on her hips.

I caught Ayden’s gaze from over the roof of the car. “Look, Fiona,” I turned to her and lowered my voice, “you can’t tell anyone, okay? This is really important.”

“I know it is. And I know I can’t say anything to anyone, not when this could set Ayden free,” she said simply. “I just wanted to give you a head’s up that Ayden’s going to need you to be calm for him. That it’s important you don’t freak out, even when things look bad.”

For the second time today my jaw nearly hit the ground.

Her words have been stuck inside my head ever since, playing like a scratched record.

“What exactly did Fiona say to you in the driveway?” Ayden asks, leaning closer to me and keeping his voice low.

“It wasn’t important.” I pick up a pamphlet that’s on the table to the side of me to busy myself with something since I can’t seem to sit still.

“But she said she wasn’t going to tell Lila and Ethan, right?’” A flush creeps up on his cheeks as his gaze drops to the pamphlet in my hand. Then he starts bouncing his knee up and down as he averts his gaze to the floor.

“No, she said she knew she couldn’t tell anyone, whatever that means.” I look down at the pamphlet to see what’s causing him to blush. I try not to laugh, because out of all things, I grabbed one about safe sex. Seeing an opportunity to alleviate some of the tension, I decide to tease him a little. “It might have some good tips in there.” I nudge his shoulder with mine. “Maybe we should read it.”

He massages the back of his neck, muttering something under his breath before elevating his gaze to me. “You think we should?” The blush is still there, but his voice is surprisingly steady.

His unexpected question catches me off guard and I feel my own cheeks warm, which rarely happens. Usually I have mad skills in the chillax department, but just thinking about having sex with Ayden makes my heart go all glowy crazy in my chest like a cracked-out unicorn.