It was freezing outside, so despite the fact that my cheeks were blazing and my whole body was warm with Delia Redford’s cooking, I bundled into my winter coat and scarf and got into Mom’s car. Thankfully, it hadn’t snowed yet this month so I had clear roads to Jake’s. He lived on the other side of town in a newer development built in front of the creek, so he had beautiful views from the rooms at the back of his house. Including his bedroom. I’d been in his bedroom a couple of times, but his mom made us keep the door open while we studied. He still managed to sneak in quick make-out sessions, but the heavy make-out sessions were reserved for the inside of Hendrix. We couldn’t use the truck bed because of the weather, but I’d already begun fantasizing about next summer and the possibilities to be had.

“Charley, so good to see you, sweetie,” Mrs. Caplin greeted me at the door. “Happy Thanksgiving.”

I hugged her tight. “Happy Thanksgiving, Mrs. C.”

She led me into their large sitting room and I met Jake’s eyes as soon as I entered. He smiled at me and lazily got up off the couch, sauntering over to me for a hug.

“Don’t squeeze me too tight. I’m full,” I mumbled against his chest, clutching onto his back.

Jake chuckled and turned me in his arms so he wasn’t blocking me from everyone. I said hi to Lukas and Mr. Caplin, and waited for Jake to introduce me to the older woman who I knew was his nana—he’d told me she was visiting. She was sitting on the arm of Mr. C.’s chair, her long, gray hair pulled back on each side with glittery slides. She wore a long gypsy skirt and a warm, knitted pink sweater.

“Charley, this is Nana. Nana, this is Charley.”

She raised her eyebrows at him. “How many girls you got, boy?”

I tensed against his side and Jake squeezed my arm. “Cut it, Nana.”

“No,” I pulled out from under his arm, crossing mine over my chest. “How many girls you got, Jake?” I tilted my head in question, half teasing, half concerned.

Mrs. C. rubbed my shoulder. “Jake’s nana is just teasing. Amanda Reyes dropped by this morning with a pumpkin pie and was a bit obvious about her crush on Jake. It was sweet. She blushed a lot. Poor thing. She must be the only one in town who doesn’t know my boy is head over heels for you.”

Although her comment made me melt into goo inside, I knew Jake’s mischievous nana was waiting for a reaction. She instantly reminded me of Lukas. Now I knew where he got his cheeky devilishness from. Projecting nonchalance, I nodded and turned back to the room. “Her pie any good?”

Jake’s nana chuckled, her eyes bright on me. “Good answer.”

“If you’re done causing trouble, Charley and I are going to hang out upstairs.”

“You’re not watching the game?” I didn’t want to interrupt him when it was obvious that’s what he’d been doing before my arrival.

“Not my team.” He shook his head, gently pushing me out of the sitting room.

“Keep your door open!” Mrs. C. shouted after us.

I climbed their wide staircase, feeling my remaining energy begin to dissipate under the weight of my food intake. “Are you saying if it had been your team, you wouldn’t have left to have alone time with me?”

“That’s not what I’m saying. There is such a thing as a record button, you know.”

“You’re not like other boys,” I mumbled and then face-planted on his bed. “I ate too much,” I said, my mouth pressed against his pillow. It sounded more like, “M mm mm mmuh.”

I heard his deep chuckle behind me and then the bed depressed as he sat on it. “Let’s get your coat off before you pass out.”

Reluctantly, I sat up and let Jake unwind my scarf and slip off my coat. The whole time I stared at his mouth, my eyes lidded and heavy with food exhaustion. He brushed his mouth over mine and settled us back on the bed so I was lying on my side, my back to his chest, his legs intertwined with mine. Snuggling me closer, Jake wrapped his arm around my waist and clutched my hand. “I missed you today,” he whispered against my shoulder.

I smiled sleepily. “I love you.”

I was out before I even realized I’d said it out loud.

My eyes opened to the dark. Where was I? What had happened? I shot up into a sitting position, willing my eyes to adjust to the light, and then swallowed a shriek at the feel of a warm hand on my lower back.

“Baby, it’s me,” Jake whispered. “You fell asleep.”

It came to me that I was in Jake’s bedroom. I relaxed back against the pillow as his face formed in the dark from the crack of light streaming in from the window above his bed. He put his arm around me and drew me into him.

“What happened?” I whispered against his mouth.

“Mom called your mom to let your parents know you fell asleep here.”

“And they just let you stay with me?” I asked incredulously, keeping my voice low.

Jake laughed softly. “Yeah, right. I’m supposed to be on the couch. I came back up after everyone went to bed.”

I dropped my head, nuzzling my face against his throat. A few weeks ago, I’d gone on a shopping trip with Mom to Chicago and on impulse bought Jake cologne that made my mouth water. He’d worn it every day since and every day since, I found an excuse to bury my head against his neck and inhale him.

Jake held me tighter and I felt him grow hard against my upper thigh. My breath caught and I moved my leg over his hip. He rocked gently against me, shooting delicious tingles through me. I lifted my head and met his eyes two seconds before I kissed him. The kiss turned deep and hot fast, and Jake rolled me beneath him, my inner thighs clutching his h*ps as he tortured me by rubbing his denim-clad erection against the denim seam between my legs.

Breathing shallow, Jake broke the kiss and cradled my head in his hands as if I was a piece of something incredibly fragile. The light moved over his face and I caught my breath at the way he was looking at me. “What my mom said earlier … about me being head over heels for you …”

“Yes?”

“I love you too, Charley. I’ve been in love with you since our first date, and every day since I’ve fallen deeper and deeper for you.”

For a moment I was so busy floating on a cloud of pure euphoria that it took me a minute to realize he’d said “I love you too.” I gasped, remembering my mumble before I fell asleep. “I said it out loud, didn’t I?”

He nodded. “It would be nice if you said it again, though.”

Even though I was lying down, I felt a little dizzy with adrenaline as I gazed up into Jake’s soft, warm eyes. His confession that he loved me like I loved him made me feel right in a way I didn’t know how to describe. I was only sixteen, so I hadn’t been looking for it, but now that I had it, I realized it was something I guessed we all looked for our whole lives. We all are looking for a place in life, somewhere we fit. It’s not a place that changes who we are or what we do—perhaps it shapes us, makes us better, makes us more—but mostly it shelters us with a sense of peace, a sense that whatever we do, whoever we are, we’re not alone in it.

I was lucky enough to find that place when I was sixteen years old. It was carved deep in Jake. And that scared the hell out of me.

“I’m scared, Jake,” I whispered honestly. “We’re so young. There are a lot of years ahead of us to lose this.”

“Don’t think like that,” he replied, his tone hard and implacable. “We’re never going to lose this, Charley. I promise. Now tell me you love me.”

I sucked in a deep breath. “I love you, Jacob Caplin.”

He grinned and kissed me hard, his hand coasting down to the waistband of my jeans. “Can you be quiet?” he murmured against my lips.

I smiled at his cockiness. “I’m sure you’ll find a way to muffle my cries of ecstasy, Sex God.”

He laughed into my mouth and it felt beautiful. When he lifted his head, Jake looked happier than I’d ever seen him. “Don’t ever stop being a smart-ass. It’s one of my favorite things about you.”

“I’m not a smart-ass.” It was my immediate response to such claims. “But if I were, I’m glad you like that about me.”

“I love everything about you.”

“Even my freakishly long big toe?”

Jake shook against me, dropping his head to my shoulder. “Even that,” he whispered, laughter in his voice. “I’m trying to get lucky here.”

Since we hadn’t had sex yet, I found myself wondering if he meant going all the way, and as much as I was ready to go all the way with Jake, I didn’t want to go all the way with his parents in the next bedroom. “Lucky lucky? Or lucky-to-a-certain-point lucky?”

I felt his teeth on my earlobe and shivered. “Not sex. Just all the good stuff we’ve done before.”

At the mere suggestion, I felt my body grow ready for him. I felt another smart-ass comment take the stairs down from my brain toward my mouth, but I tripped it up before it could ruin the moment. Instead I turned my head to find Jake’s mouth. “I won’t ever stop loving you,” I promised him.

“Good,” Jake replied, and upon hearing how hoarse his voice was with emotion, I felt tears prick my eyes. “I won’t ever stop loving you. No matter what.”

Chapter Eleven

Between the two of us, Claudia and I were racking up an insane amount of angst over boys. Boys! I wanted to be fifteen again when I didn’t give a crap about them.

The day after Halloween, I nursed a hangover and split my time among wallowing in confusion and self-pity, writing my paper, and attempting to get the truth out of Claudia.

After downing an aspirin and shoveling back the falafel wrap Claudia had gone bravely in search of, I broached the subject I should’ve broached pre-Halloween booty call.

“What is going on with you?” I asked, concerned, pulling my knees up to my chest and curling into one of the waiting room chairs in the kitchen. We were alone and the night before was fresh, albeit hazy, in my mind. It was as good a time as any to hash this out with her. “Something is bugging you.”

Claudia was lying on the hard linoleum floor, her dark hair spread out around her head, her hands flat on her stomach. Her golden complexion looked a little pale—I wasn’t the only one who had seriously overimbibed last night. She closed her eyes at my question. “It’s obvious there’s something between me and Beck, right?”

I snorted. “Um, yes.”

“It’s obvious to everyone.” One eye opened as she peeked at me. “The sexual tension is killing me.” She closed it again. “But he wants the best of both worlds. He wants the closeness of a girlfriend without committing to it. And to get his rocks off, he sleeps with other girls he’s made no such promises to.”

Seeing the strain in her features, I asked softly, “Is he hurting you?”

“Is Jake hurting you?”

I took that as a yes. “Should we stop hanging out with them?” It occurred to me that I didn’t know what I wanted her answer to be.

“I wish I could say yes … but I don’t want to stop spending time with Beck.” Claudia sighed and pushed up into a sitting position, tugging her fingers through her hair. “Last night was stupid. I was attracted to Zach, I’m not saying I wasn’t, but it was stupid. I’m pissed off about Beck and I just went for it. You know what, though?” Her expression was a little sheepish as she confessed, “Beck walking in on it made it worthwhile. It made my point. He doesn’t want me, fine. But other guys do.”

“He definitely seemed annoyed.”

“And then he started making out with some random.”

I winced. “You saw that, huh?”

Claudia rolled her eyes. “He’s such a coward. And trying to get reactions out of each other, hurting each other? That’s not good. Definitely not good. I thought last night might have pushed us in a final direction, but he texted me this morning as if everything is fine.”

“Probably because he doesn’t want to stop hanging out with you, just like you don’t want to stop hanging out with him.”

“We’re a mess.”

“So …” I shrugged like it was no big deal. “Sleeping with strangers?”

She cut me a sullen look, as if I’d judged her. “I just wanted to try it.”

“Don’t get defensive. I’m not judging. I swear. It’s just not like you.”

“I know.”

“Well? What was it like?” I was genuinely curious.

Claud wrinkled her nose. “It was good, but not great. Kind of like eating vanilla ice cream when you really only ever eat chocolate.”

I wanted to say I understood that analogy but I didn’t.

“What about Jake? Anything of note happen last night?”

I grunted and proceeded to tell her about him leaving the party in a mood over my escapades.

Now it was Claudia’s turn to look concerned. “Spending time with each other is obviously confusing you. Maybe you should stay away from one another for a while. And don’t say I should take my own advice.” She groaned again and flopped back on the floor. “We suck at this right now.”

“I don’t think it’ll be a problem for me to stay away from Jake. Unlike you, I didn’t get a text this morning and I doubt I will. Ever.” It was hard keeping my tone light, casual, when the very thought of not speaking to Jake again felt like an impossible and painful prospect.

Just as it had felt almost four years ago.