“Right.”
He leads me upstairs after Tiff’s already in her room and shows me to a door at the end of the landing. “Bathroom's across the hall. Towels in the closet, and there are toothbrushes under the sink. Help yourself to whatever.”
“Thanks.” I pause. “And Zach? Thank you. For letting me stay, and for having Tiff's back all these years. You're a good guy.”
He looks uncomfortable with the praise. “Yeah, well. She's family. That's what you do.”
“Still. You took on more than most would.”
He nods once, then heads back downstairs, probably to do one more security check before bed.
I open the door to the guest room and am excited to sleep in what looks like a warm and comfortable bed. Yeah, this room definitely beats the hotel.
I take a quick shower and brush my teeth before heading back to the room in just my boxers. It’s only when I’m placing my jeans in the closet that I see frames stacked carefully on top of one another. The first picture I see is of Honey and Zach in black and white.
Curiosity gets the better of me, and I start to look at the frames, one by one. To my surprise every single one has Honey in it.
Honey laughing at a football game with a ‘SM’ painted on her cheek. Honey studying in what looks like the library. Honey and Zach from prom night our senior year. Honey curled up in a bed with her dark hair spread across the pillow as she looks at whoever’s taking the photo with a smile.
The frames are ready to be hung, but they’re just sitting there. Waiting—for what?
“Fuck,” I breathe.
They really aren’t together, are they? Honey told me they broke up, but I don’t know. I didn’t really believe it. I kind of thought they were just having an argument and she’d pop up again quickly. There’s clearly something more going on, which sucks for The Scholarship Kid. I can’t imagine him with anyone else—not that I’d tell him that.
I close the closet door carefully and turn back to the room, ready to sleep. There’s no point questioning their relationship when I can’t talk. I literally suggested to the girl I’m interested in go on a date with someone else.
I sink onto the bed, groaning at how good the mattress feels on my back, and then pull the blanket over me. I want to go tosleep, but something about the night feels unfinished. So I grab my phone from the nightstand and scroll for Tiff’s number, and type out:
Jamie:Your dad won't bother you again. I promise.
Her response comes almost immediately, like she's been lying awake waiting for it.
Tiff:Thank you for today. For everything. Sleep well.
I set my phone on the nightstand and lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.Sleep well.Yeah, that feels impossible after the night we had.
The second I close my eyes, all I can think about is how much I want to be with Tiff and Ella right now. How being with them is the only thing that feels right, and I finally feel like I’m worth something. A first in my privileged, fucked-up life.
I fall asleep to that thought, surrounded by the evidence of Zach's heartbreak and the fragile hope that things might end differently for me.
Chapter 17
“Why do you look so worried?” Zach asks, leaning against the kitchen counter with a half-smirk. “I’m not going to murder and bury you in the backyard—at least not while Ella’s awake.”
I bark out a laugh because even after everything that happened last week with Tiff’s dad, I can always rely on my relationship with Zach to remain the same.
Openly hostile, but potentially something a little more like respect underneath it all.
“That’s thoughtful of you,” I retort. “I’d hate to mess up her sleep schedule.”
I glance over at Ella, who’s humming the theme song fromIced Outso loudly, she can’t hear us talking. Her little tongue is poking out of the corner of her mouth, and her princess crown is tilted on her head while she colors.
She’s beautiful. She’s everything, and I still can’t get over the fact that she’s mine.
“I wish I could be here tonight with you after last week, but I’ve got things to deal with.”
In the last seven days, I’ve learned that Zach is the most efficient man I’ve ever met. Since Tiff’s father arrived, he’s managed to install more security cameras and protocols around the house than I thought existed.