Was he thinking about Zac and me?

My cousin nudged me right back with his elbow. “I’m good,” he answered, still facing forward, like he knew exactly what I was wondering.

“Are you sure?” I whispered so that my sister, hopefully, couldn’t hear. I wasn’t sure what I would do if he said he wasn’t fine, but… I could only hope that he hadn’t been lying last night.

I’d gone over the pieces of the conversation that he and Zac had had, at least the parts that managed to sink in, and it had kept me up for a few hours once we’d gotten back to Connie’s. Boogie had seemed fine after I’d gone back into the bowling alley once Zac left, but I hadn’t wanted to push his buttons more than we potentially might have already. My mouth had tingled for a while after he’d kissed me goodbye. Zac and I had sat in his car for at least half an hour while he told me about CJ—he had made a halfway decent cake while I’d been away—and some other gossip about a couple other players I’d met the night of the Halloween party. He admitted that Trevor was the one who bought Gunner out of the gym after I brought up Deepa’s news. Apparently the gym was a good investment.

He even said the Enzo guy—the man who had been at the Halloween party with Jessica—had reached out to him and apologized for her actions. They were married, but apparently not for much longer. There had to be more to that story, but Zac hadn’t asked. I didn’t blame him.

If anything, sitting in his car and talking to him had just cemented the fact that not only was he my best friend, but that I loved him with my entire heart.

And if he loved me too—which it absolutely seemed like he did—then I needed to hold on to that with both hands and never let it go. Maybe it was all new and fresh and wonderful, and maybe I should have been in total shock—I was only half in it—but the truth was, I saw it. I could feel it. So what was I going to do? Not accept it?

Hell nah.

But, more than anything, I loved Boogie, and Boogie loved me. I didn’t want to pick, and I hoped he would never ask it of me, especially not when he loved the same person I did.

My cousin looked at me over his shoulder, giving me a smile that was a little reluctant but only a tiny bit. “I mentally prepared for the possibility of this when you were seventeen,” he admitted. “Then you two stopped talking, and I forgot, and I’ve been so busy, I forgot about it. I didn’t pay attention.”

I blinked. “You did?”

“Yes.” He nudged me again. “He’s always loved you and worried about you, B. Same as you.” He shrugged and rolled his eyes before sliding me another look and another nudge. “I wasn’t sure it would happen, you know, but even Laurie brought it up. Mamá Lupe said something right before she passed away too. I don’t remember what you two were doing, you were painting your room or something, and he was in there, and we could hear you laughing, I think, and she told me not to be jealous—I wasn’t jealous, B. I was never jealous of the both of you. Never. And she said some things are just meant to be or something like that.

“I thought about it back then. I’d watch you two, and yeah, you got along so well. I thought, if something happened, it would be a long time from then, and that maybe nothing would ever happen anyway. He didn’t look at you like that back then, but I knew how you felt. And I guess I’ve thought about it a little since yesterday when you told me how you felt and... I guess Mamá Lupe was right. Some things are meant to be. What were the chances that he happened to be in Houston? He had almost gone to Dallas instead to train. That had been the plan up until the day before he left, and then he changed his mind.”

Boogie’s dark gaze moved toward me, and he gave a little laugh. “You never wanted me to talk about it, but he asked about you all the time, Peewee. Even when he thought you didn’t want to be his friend anymore, he asked how you were doing. He never forgot about you. I remember, for a while, his feelings were hurt when you lost touch, but then both of you went off and did your own thing and it seemed to be fine.” His shoulders went up. “Maybe he didn’t come into my life for me. I’m starting to think maybe it was for you.”

I was going to need to lie down, pronto. But there wasn’t anywhere clean, so I was going to have to keep it together even as my world rocked a bit right then.

“Or maybe he was supposed to be in both of our lives.”

Boogie smiled.

“But are you okay with it?” I asked him quietly. “Because if you’re not….” What the hell would I do? Beg? Plead?

“Stop.” Boogie gave me another long look like he thought I was being a pest. “I know what he’s done. I know who he is. And I know you too. And I guess, if I could’ve picked someone for you, it wouldn’t be Zac.”

“Who would it be?”

“Jesus.”

I leaned against him as I snorted.

He nudged me again with his elbow, but the part of his mouth I could see was curled up into a smile. “But I guess he’d be my second choice. I know he loves you. I saw it with my own eyes the last few times we hung out. I didn’t want to see it, but I did. I do. Then he wore that shirt earlier, and if I’d had any doubts, they would’ve gone away then.”

He saw it?

But wait... “What shirt was he wearing?”

My cousin blew out a breath as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. A moment later, he had the TSN app open and an ad was playing. “Give it a sec,” he warned me when I glanced at him. It was a short pregame video, and a second later, the footage moved to players entering the stadium.

The second one they showed was the only one who mattered.

And when I saw what Boog was talking about, my knees went weak.

He had on a T-shirt I had never seen before—a heather blue one with huge white font on it that said, “THE LAZY BAKER.”

Me. He was wearing me.

“You see?” he asked before hip bumping me. “But for real, I was serious about that ground rule, so you two need to figure it out.”

“Thank you for being okay with it,” I managed to murmur while I kept watching his cell phone screen until they focused on another player arriving.

Had he made the shirt? Had he ordered it? It wasn’t like it mattered, but I couldn’t help but feel this incredible, overwhelming shot of straight-up love filling my veins at what he’d done.

And he hadn’t said anything.

“What am I going to do? Tell you both not to be happy? Loving you, B, is the easiest thing in the world. He never had a chance,” Boogie said, getting me to lift my face up to look at him and that face I really did love so much. I set aside Zac and his shirt for a minute. “Some things do good by themselves, but some things do better together, like cheese and burgers.”

I nodded at him, keeping my eyes wide so that I wouldn’t tear up still. “Cheeseburgers are pretty amazing.”

My cousin grinned. I shoved his shoulder a little, and he shoved mine right back.

“I told Liz that night after you dropped him off at the hospital that it was only gonna be a matter of time.”

Boogie and I both turned around to the row above us to find Paw-Paw with a smile on his face. It was him that had made the comment. Liz was Zac’s mom’s first name.