I nod. “Kind of. Yeah.”
“Are you ever going to tell us what happened that summer?” my dad asks. “Why you stopped being best friends?”
I let out a controlled breath and seriously consider just spilling my guts. Instead, I ask him a question I already know the answer to. “Was it tricky when you and Phillip and Jadyn were growing up? Like when Jadyn would date other guys?”
My dad cocks his head, narrows his eyes, and nods. “It was for Phillip. And for me sometimes. Even though I didn’t like her the way Phillip did, we knew she could do better.”
“And by better, you meant Phillip?”
Dad sits down. “Are you saying that being friends with Chase got complicated because you were dating other people?”
“Yes, basically,” I admit, although it’s not exactly right.
“And that’s why things have been different?” Dad asks again.
“Yes.”
“We knew something had happened in the Ozarks, Dani,” Jennifer says. “I wouldn’t let your dad pry, but—”
“Chase and I got closer during that trip—romantically, I guess you could say. We actually decided to try dating each other. Chase wanted to talk to you about it first, Dad, sort of to get your approval, which is so ridiculously old-fashioned.”
“But is very Chase,” my dad states.
“Anyway, when we were on vacation, there was no—how can I put this? Outside pressure. No one telling me I shouldn’t date a younger guy. That kind of thing. And we thought it might work.”
“But then you went to school, and Hunter asked you to Homecoming,” Jennifer says astutely, and I realize her capacity for memorizing lines of scripts translates into real-life data.
“Exactly, and even though I never told Hunter yes, he grabbed me and kissed me, and understandably, Chase got upset.” I let out a sigh. “The whole thing was a mess.”
“Well, we knew the part about what Hunter had said to you and how he kissed you since your brother and Chase punched him and the coach got involved.”
“And things haven’t been the same since.”
“But tonight, you made up?” When Jennifer sees me blush in response, she seems to know exactly what kind of making up we did. She glances at my dad and then goes, “Like, you’ll be friends again?”
“Yeah, I think so,” I say.
“That’s good to hear, Devaney.” Dad gives me a hug and heads toward his room, saying, “I gotta get some sleep.”
“I’m sorry I kept you awake,” I tell Jennifer once he’s in their room.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she whispers. “I have a feeling there’s a lot more to the story.”
“There probably is. I just don’t know what it means yet.”
Supposed rebellion.
Chase
“Chase,” my mom says the second I come through the front door. “Well, if this were your last night on earth, at least we’d know that you’d camped in your room and had some pizza.”
“Not funny,” I say even though I laugh because it is.
She studies me the way moms do. “Did Dani come over with pizza tonight? After your game?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s been a while.”
“You knew?”
“That she used to sneak in with pizza after your games? Yes, Chase, we knew.”
“But—”
“You weren’t doing anything wrong. Although I’m sure it made you feel like you were being sneaky.”
“Hmm,” I say.
“You just wiped years of supposed rebellion from him, princess,” my dad says to my mom from the study.
I didn’t know he was up, too.
“Look, it’s your birthday. You should be able to do what you want on it but know we were all pretty disappointed you weren’t home at midnight for the confetti toss.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Just be ready to be woken up very early and be happy about it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You can go on up to bed now. And, Chase?”
“Yeah?”
“Happy birthday, sweetheart.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
She gives me a big hug. “I can’t believe my first baby is eighteen.”
Dad comes and joins us, giving me a hug, too. “Where were you?”
“Out on the pontoon boat with Dani,” I answer truthfully. No reason to lie about it. Not that I really have to lie to my parents about anything.
“You two make up?” he asks.
I let out a sigh. Is that what you call what we did, making up? Not sure. But either way, I answer honestly, “I sure hope so.”
Mad at you.
Devaney
The second I see his room light flick on, I call him.
“Ohmigosh, my dad totally freaked out. Were your parents pissed?” I say when he answers.
“They wish I had told them. But they saw the pizza boxes in my room and assumed I was with you. So, not too worried, just a little irritated when I wasn’t here at midnight.”
“How did they know you were with me?”
“Let’s just say, as kids, we weren’t quite as sneaky as we thought,” he says with a chuckle.
“Figures,” I say, laughing, too.
“Apparently, the throwing of things—the confetti toss—is set to commence first thing in the morning. Want to have a slumber party tonight? Like we used to? That way, you’re here for it then?”
“Um, I’d love to. I guess as long as I leave Dad and Jennifer a note, it would be okay.”
“I’m sure it will be. Damon and Haley and a few other people are crashed in the movie room. You can sleep in the tent. Or on the couch. Or in my bed, and we can set an alarm,” he offers, totally leaving it open.
I know exactly which one I will choose. “I’ll be right over,” I tell him.
“Don’t forget to leave the note.”
“I won’t.”
I hang up and then take a moment to look at myself in the mirror. I’m a hot mess. The ends of my hair are wet from the hot tub. Makeup is basically a disaster. Whatever.
I grab a washcloth, wash my face, and then put my hair in a French braid. I’ll be able to sleep on it, and my hair will look decent in the morning. I throw on a pair of dry underwear and some sweats and then a tie-dye tank, sans bra.
But before I leave, I pick up the bag of stuff I brought home with me for the confetti toss. I smile at the sack full of little foam footballs, red and black confetti, and gold chocolate coins. I figure they do a coin flip at the start of each game, so it all fits.
I leave the supplies on the dining room table and then go up to Chase’s room, finding him eating a cold breadstick.
“I didn’t want the night to end,” he tells me, pulling me into one arm while wagging the bread in front of my face.
I take a bite. “I didn’t either.”
Once he’s full of cold pizza and breadsticks, he lies on his bed and holds his arm out for me to snuggle up next to him.