Page 67 of The Way the Heart Breaks: Jade’s Story

I do.

“You're easy to talk to,” he says quietly. “Well, at.” He smirks.

“What?” I laugh because what does that even mean?

He pulls a notepad from his bag and writes down his number, “Give me yours?”

My stomach immediately gets that feeling again, like the day my brothers made me put my hands up in the air, and when dad hit a bump heading to the pond, and it felt like I was flying, just for a moment. “Okay.”

“Maybe write down Tessa’s since my boy will probably forget to ask.”

Without thinking, I jot it down, and then I realize how close we are. Because Tessa is playing mute, I lean forward between the seats.

“Can you pull over up here and let us out? I don't want Aunt Maggie and Uncle John to get upset that we rode with you guys without asking.”

Lucas eases onto the shoulder.

The second the car stops, Tessa all but jumps out the door. I slide out, and Tommy follows.

“Come to my game this weekend?” Tommy asks.

“My cousin plays. Of course I'll be there.”

His face lights up. “Oh, right. Even better.” He backs up a step and grins. “When I score, I'm gonna do this.” He curls his fingers into a J. “That way you’ll know I'm thinking about you, Pretty Girl.”

My face immediately heats. “Cocky to assume you’ll score.”

The minute, nope, I take that back, the very second that sentence fully leaves my mouth, I realize how it could be taken.

“No.” He shakes his head. “Confident.”

I laugh, and behind me, Tessa groans.

“Goodbye, Tommy.”

Lucas waves from the driver's seat.

Tommy keeps looking at me. “See you at school, Pretty Girl.”

I should say something clever. Something witty. Something that proves I have at least a few functioning brain cells left.

Instead, I smile. “See you then.”

The second the Trans Am disappears down the road, Tessa looks at me.

I grin. “He's cute.”

“He is, and I think he likes you.”

My smile gets even bigger. “Yeah,” I admit. “I think he does.”

The rest of the walk up Old Stage Road, I recount everything he said, and even tell her about the signs, the literal and figurative.

“Okay, that’s actually kind of intense.”

“Right?” I grin so hard my cheeks hurt.

I am so busy floating through my own happiness that I don't notice Tessa getting quieter until we're nearly to the house.