Page 48 of Catching Feelings

I let this one extend much longer. The eucalyptus smell of him makes me dizzy—maybe because I know what it’s like surrounding me, clinging to my hair. He subtly brushes his nose against my ear, and it sends a shiver down my spine. All I can think about is his hands licking flames along my waist, his tongue stroking inside my mouth, the press of muscle against me—

I’m flushing by the time I make myself pull away. “Good night,” I say, unable to tear my gaze from his chocolate eyes.

He doesn’t look away either. “Drive safe. You have the jumper cables, Kara?” he calls.

I hold up both middle fingers as I step backward down the walk, but I can’t stop grinning.

“Shotgun!” Naomi calls as she half slides, half collapses into the passenger seat and immediately puts Chappell Roan on the aux.

I can’t resist smirking at her as everyone fastens their seat belts. “Five minutes ago you were dead to the world, and now you’re ready to party again?”

She shrugs. “The night can contain multitudes.”

I laugh. “Any luck with Jenna, by the way?”

Naomi pouts and shakes her head. “No. We danced a little, but she danced with a lot of people. I don’t know. I’m starting to wonder if she even knows who I am. I don’t seem to mean anything special to her.”

The way Naomi slumps in her seat goes far beyond normal dismay or tipsy moodiness. She seems genuinely deflated in a way our princess rarely is, and it makes my whole heart hurt. I don’t know what to say—I want to scream it’s dumb to waste her time on someone who doesn’t think she’s special, but every sentence I form sounds too harsh, and the last thing I want to do is make her defensive.

Priya just reaches forward to pat her shoulder. “Her loss, if so. No one with eyes could miss how special you are.”

Naomi softens immediately, smiling a watery smile at Priya. Of course she found the right thing to say—she knows Naomi inside and out. I try to catch her gaze gratefully in the rearview, but Priya’s still keeping a watchful eye on her best friend.

But then Naomi turns up the radio, and the heavy moment has passed, and finally we can pull away from the curb. I count my blessings that Naomi’s in her own world thinking about Jenna tonight, and Priya’s focused on making sure she’s okay, and Kara’s stuck in the back seat, where she won’t be able to interrogate me nearly as easily—

“I knew it!”

I turn to see her holding up Tyler’s folded letter jacket.

So much for not being interrogated.

I flinch away from the evidence and pull out smoothly onto the street. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I keep “forgetting” to give it back. This is why you don’t get sentimental, Sabrina. You fool.

“Uh-huh.” Kara catches my eye in the rearview, not having it for a moment. It doesn’t matter how much she’s had to drink tonight—when it comes to sniffing out my secrets, she’s a stone-cold sober bloodhound. “The problem with letter jackets, Sabrina, is that their owner is very, very obvious.”

Shit. As much as my heart is still racing from that kiss, the thought of exposing Tyler to everyone’s judgment makes me nauseous. If this gets back to Ryan, things could get so, so awkward. I swallow hard. “We’re just friends. He gave it to me after the car wash debacle—”

“Because he’s a gentleman,” Naomi says with a swoon-sigh, tuning back into the conversation now that there’s gossip and romance to be found.

“—and I keep forgetting to give it back.” I shrug. “That’s it.”

Kara gives me a death stare. “Really, Sabrina? You wouldn’t be lying to your best friends in the world about your new crush, would you?”

Naomi goes the opposite route and makes puppy-dog eyes. “You wouldn’t deny us the joy of our bestie falling in loove!”

Even typically grounded Priya raises an eyebrow. “Friends can easily slide into something more, you know.”

I flush. Love is a strong word. But I can’t ignore the way my stomach flutters at the reminders of Tyler’s hands and lips, of his patient interest in my TV shows, of the way he waits for me after practice and jumps my car and listens to everything messy I have packed away without the slightest hint of judgment.

My friends would be happy for me. I want to be happy for me.

“Okay, okay!” I throw my hands in the air when we hit the downtown red light. “ ‘Love’ is a little much, but… maaaaybe we’ve been getting closer.”

“Ha! I knew it!” Kara smacks the headrest of my seat, and I wince. “And by ‘closer’ you mean…”

I bite the inside of my cheek to keep my smile from spreading across my face. The anticipatory silence in the car stretches and stretches—