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I crane my neck and see Kellan, who’s holding the offending volleyball. His eyes dart from me, to Dylan, then back to me, and I belatedly realize I’m still lying on Dylan like a rag doll.
“You need help, Faye?” Kellan asks, his lips set in a straight line as he gestures for me to get off Dylan.
Is that . . . ? Oh wow.
He’s jealous.
As I bite my lip to stop my smile, I hop off Dylan with a mumbled apology.
“It’s all good,” Dylan says, rolling his neck.
Kellan glances between us again, and I swear I almost squeal with delight at the realization. It’s so obvious I’m disappointed in myself for not getting it sooner. He’s not jealous of me being with random people who he knows I’ll never see again; it could never develop into anything more than a fling. But he sure as shit would be jealous if I was with someone like Dylan, someone who lives near me since it totallycoulddevelop into something when we get back home.
Holy shit. I’m a genius. I want to grab Dylan’s hands and jump around in circles. I have so much energy coursing through my veins now.
Kellan nods toward the volleyball net. “You guys wanna play?”
Dylan stands and stretches. “You know what? I’m feeling a lot better. I’m game. Just give me a few.”
“Me too,” I say.
Kellan nods once, then turns and rejoins the game, throwing us a glance over his shoulder as he goes.
I jump from my seat and stand in front of Dylan, my back to our friends. “Dylan! Dylan, did you see that?” I bite my lip to keep from squealing and bouncing up and down.
“See what? The ball flying toward you? Yeah. Why do you think I pulled you out of the way?”
“Not that!” I shove his shoulder and he frowns. “Kellan was jealous! Of us! We made him jealous! He cares, Dyl!”
“He was jealous?” Dylan’s dark eyebrows draw together as he looks over my head to scan Kellan, but I don’t dare turn around to follow his gaze.
Stupid boy. Of course he’s oblivious to stuff like that.
“Yesterday I tried making him jealous with other guys, but he didn’t care. At all. But withyou, he got jealous.”
Dylan’s jaw snaps shut as the wheels in his head spin; his focus is on my excited face. I know the moment realization slams into him because he inhales sharply. “Don’t say it—”
“We have to make him jealous!”
He closes his eyes and groans.
“Come on, Dyl!”
“Fayeeee . . .” His eyes pop open and he runs his hand through his hair. “You’re my friend, and I told you I’d have your back with this stupid ‘make him jealous’ plan, but that was before it included me. He’s my best friend, and it’s not right to play games with him like that.”
He’s right. I know he’s right. But even now I can feel Kellan’s heated gaze on Dylan and me as we talk, and I’ve never gotten that kind of reaction from him before. He’s starting to realize how he feels for me. Because ofDylan.
“But we wouldn’t be playing games with him. We’re just . . . giving him a light shove in the right direction.”
Dylan glances over my head again. “He’s staring at us and doesn’t look happy.”
The giddiness in my chest bubbles through me, and it takes everything in me to keep my feet firmly planted in the sand. “I know. I told you! We’re going to help him realize he likes me.”
This is stupid. I’m being stupid. But Kellan’s staring at us. He’llthink about what it means to lose me. He’ll realize he can lose me,that I’m worth more than a secret fling.
“Please, Dyl?” I shoot him my best pleading eyes and pout.
“I just . . . I really, really like him. And watching him flirt with Kiara made me realize just how much. If I realize he really is jealous, then I’ll talk to him. I’ll tell him how I feel.”
