On the bright side, he’s looking much better after puking all over Britney.

He flips the hood of his sweatshirt up—the one he asked me to fish out of his trunk while he got cleaned up in the bathroom. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go in for you?”

He steps out of the vehicle, slamming the door behind him.

Guess that’s a no.

Between the black hoodie and his indignant expression, you’d think he was about to commit a crime as he walks into the tiny convenience store.

Two minutes later he comes back out, carrying a can of ginger ale and a bottle of water. “Let’s go.”

Shifting his Lexus into drive, I mutter, “Are you allergic to manners?”

All I get in reply is a grunt.

We’re almost to his house when he gestures to my side of the road. “Make a left here.”

“That’s not the way to your house.”

“We’re not going to my house.”

That isn’t ominous or anything. I slam on the brakes. “Why?”

“I’m not in the mood to go home yet, all right?” He crosses his arms. “Start driving…or I will.”

I step on the gas pedal and make a left. “As you wish.” Dick.

I’m not sure where we’ll end up, but the narrow, winding road combined with the pouring rain gives me the creeps.

“Turn right,” he instructs.

“Where exactly are we going?”

I have my answer as we approach what appears to be a run-down park.

I pick a spot and turn the car off. “I didn’t know there was a park here.”

“They built it after you left, but the rich pricks on our side of town weren’t interested in it.” He lays his head against the seat. “So now it just rots.”

“That sucks.”

We sit in silence for what feels like forever before I find my proverbial balls. “Jace, can we—”

“No.” There’s a dark note in his voice, a warning not to poke the beast. “I can’t fucking go there. Not tonight.”

I don’t know where there is, but I don’t want to upset him on his birthday, so I drop it. “Okay.”

Shifting ever so slightly, I turn to look at him.

He’s reclined in his seat, with his legs spread out and his hood covering half his face…it makes my insides swoop, but my heart hurt.

It’s clear he’s battling some demons…but he’s doing it all alone.

I hate it.

Reclining my own seat, I relax against the plush leather. “Hey.”

He tilts his head a little, his gaze moving over me like lava. “Hey.”

Lifting my hand, I trace the curve of his brow. “It’s kind of crazy.”

His gorgeous face is all hard edges, chiseled bones, and full lips, but in this moment, his eyes hold a softness and vulnerability I haven’t seen in years.

“What is?”

I run my thumb down his cheek. “That it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, but being this close to you still…”

The reality that we’re no longer friends sinks its claws into my heart and I stop talking.

His fingertips trail up my outstretched forearm. “Still what?”

Makes me want to merge my broken pieces with yours.

“Cracks me wide open,” I whisper, because friends or not, I’ll never be able to keep anything from him. “I guess my broken pieces missed yours as much as I missed you.”

He exhales sharply. “You say the weirdest shit sometimes.”

I can’t help but laugh. He’s not wrong.

He’s also the only one who ever truly got me.

“Yeah, but you love it.”

He grins before his expression turns serious. “Yeah…I did.”

I wish I knew what caused that change, or how to fix it, but Jace has built his walls so high, they’re impossible to climb.

However, I’ve never been the kind of girl to give up. The locks to his fucked-up kingdom might have changed, but I still remember the layout.

“Cole said you left in the middle of your birthday dinner.”

A muscle in his jaw tics. “Cole has a big fucking mouth.”

He does, but that’s beside the point. “We were worried about you.” I hold his gaze. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but your secrets have always been safe with me. No matter how much you hurt me.”

After Jace confessed to doing all those awful things, I could have retaliated by spilling everything he ever told me when we were kids, but I didn’t.

We were best friends before we were enemies, therefore my love for him will always be stronger than my animosity.

I can feel the ice around him thaw a little before he speaks. “My father keeps pushing me to go away to college. Then tonight at dinner he mentioned me working for Trust Pharmaceuticals and starting an internship next year.”

“But that’s not what you want to do.”

It’s not a question, it’s a fact. Jace has never expressed any interest in working for his father’s company. He’s always had his sights set on being a video game developer.

He shakes his head. “Fuck no. I don’t know shit about what he does, and I have no desire to.”

Not to mention the elephant in the room. Why would Jace ever want to work for the company responsible for his little brother’s death?

Granted, it was an accident, but still. It would be a punch-you-in-the-face reminder of your grief, day in and day out.

“It’s really messed up of him to push that on you.”

“I know.” His throat bobs on a swallow. “I’m not sure I even want to go to college in the first place. But if I did, I’d go to one close by so I can be here for Cole and Bianca.” He shrugs. “I was planning on getting an apartment after graduation with the money I made from Z.I. anyway. And if I’m not taking classes, I’ll have time to develop and sell more games.”

Pride swells in my chest. “You sold a game? That’s awesome.”

His eyes light up. “Zombie Island. Well, that’s what the company who bought it renamed it. Originally, I called it Zombie Nightmare.”

“Zombie Nightmare is way cooler.”

“Right?” He makes a face. “They wanted to market to younger kids though, so I had to change some things and…” He shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter. Point is, I don’t have to go to college in order to make something of myself.”

“No, you don’t. Not unless you want to. I mean, I’m going so I can have a business degree under my belt—”

“Not a bad idea,” he interjects. “That way when you start your record label, you won’t need to hire a bunch of schmucks who will take you for a ride and run it into the ground.”

“Exactly.” I chew my thumbnail. “Although it will take a lot more than a business degree to get the ball rolling. I still have to find bands—good bands—that will trust me enough to put their dreams in my hands. Plus, with my dad in jail and the authorities sequestering every dime from his bank accounts, I have to find a way…” I suck in a breath. “I’m getting ahead of myself.”