Chapter 8

Chapter 8

We both breathed heavily for a few moments before Jack broke the silence with "Are you mad at me?"

I was too preoccupied with the things that had happened upstairs to be mad at him. Besides, everyone seemed to enjoy the dares, so in the end, he'd been right to take Sage and Troy's side.

"No," I said.

"Then what's wrong."

"I don't know. Something with Evelyn maybe? My parents are being weird. She's being weird. I have no idea what's going on."

"And you asked them."

"They said something about telling me tomorrow. They probably don't want to ruin my party. If it would ruin the party, it must be bad, right?" My left shoulder was pressed against a game box. Judging by the size, probably Settlers of Catan or maybe Ticket to Ride.

"Don't worry before you have to."

"You're right," I said. "It's fine. It will be fine."

He brought me into a hug. Like my dad, I wasn't much of a hugger, but I found myself relaxing against him. The shelves no longer dug into my side. But that meant they were probably digging into his. I reached up to feel his shoulder where it met the wood.

"Doesn't hurt," he said, reading my mind like he always seemed to.

"What did your text say?" I asked, repositioning my hand back around his waist.

"What?"

"The one you didn't want to read for the game."

"I don't remember."

I could read him too. "You think you can lie to me? Was it to Sage?"

"Sage? No, it was to my brother."

"Oh, were you rude?" I asked.

He released a long breath. "It wasn't what I said, it was that I thought everyone might make me read the text that preceded it."

"Which was?"

"Topher being Topher."

"And you letting him."

"Yes."

"What did he say?"

"He called me a derogatory term, a gay slur, and I didn't want David to think that I felt that way too."

"Is David gay?" I asked.

"He is. He's out; I'm not spilling his secrets or anything."

"What was Topher on you about this time?"

"He couldn't find something. Thought I lost it. I don't touch his stuff." We were still hugging and he squeezed me tighter. Tingles spread from where his hands rested on my back all the way to the top of my head. That normally didn't happen during Jack hugs.

I took a step back, out of his hold. "How many minutes do you think it's been?"

"Not sure. Probably only like three. Should we sit again?"

"Because that went so well last time?"

"Back-to-back this time?"

There was talking and laughing outside the closet door. I almost said that, unlike last time, I didn't think people were paying attention. I didn't hear the heavy breathing at the crack of the door like I had the year before. We probably could've just left. Instead, I said, "Sure."

We both turned around and I felt for his hands. I grabbed onto them as we pressed our backs together. If I thought this would feel less intimate than the hug from a minute ago, I was wrong. But this time I didn't step away. We pushed into each other, supporting our weight as we lowered ourselves to the ground. It went perfectly and now we sat, still glued together. Every breath he took moved along my spine.

"People seem to be having fun," I said.

"They do. Probably way more fun than the people at Micah's party are having."

I laughed. "Exactly. Valentine's Day is for singles."

There was a smile in his voice when he asked, "What about you? Are you having fun?"

"The Evelyn thing is stressing me out but I feel more relaxed now."

"In a closet? With me?"

"Exactly. My happy place."

He chuckled and that vibrated against me, my hands and feet seeming to tingle to life. Then he leaned his head back against mine. I matched the weight and we sat there breathing with each other.

"Scarlett?"

"Yeah?" For some reason I was breathless and that scared me more than anything that had happened tonight.

In a perfectly timed moment of déjà vu, the closet door was ripped open and light flooded our space, blinding me for a moment. I was glad Jack didn't say whatever it was he was going to say. I didn't need anything else to worry about tonight.

"Boooooo," Troy said. "Not as fun as last year."

"Then maybe you should stop locking best friends in a closet," I said, standing up and walking out. "You're never going to catch us doing anything."

"You sure about that?" Troy asked and that confused me.

"It's snowing!" someone outside called.

I was in socked feet, but I stepped outside, the air feeling good on my hot cheeks. The snow fell from the sky in fat, floating clumps. Some people ran out in it, socks and all. I stepped just outside the covered patio and looked up. The white spots against the dark sky created tunnel vision for a moment. The snow that landed on my face immediately melted and dripped down my temples and chin.

The way it cooled me seemed to clear my thoughts. I needed to know what Jack was going to say in that closet. Did it have something to do with Troy's statement? I looked around for him. He wasn't in the snow. I stepped back inside, my wet socks squishing into the carpet. I reached down and yanked them off, balling them in my hand and searching the crowd for Jack.

Our eyes met across the room. He seemed sad, or disappointed or something. I couldn't guess from this far away.

What?I mouthed, looking at the closet, then back to him, hoping he could read my mind now.

He glanced at the closet too then started walking toward me, having to work his way around several groups. I attempted to meet him halfway when I was stopped short by my sister, Ava.

I let out a squeak of surprise. "Hi."

"I heard you were a throwing a party, but I had to see it for myself. Pretty impressive." Her eyes landed on the socks in my hand.

"They got wet," I said flatly.

She gave me a half smile. "Must be a rager."

"Evelyn said you weren't coming until tomorrow."

She nodded toward the door leading upstairs. "I was worried they were going to have the divorce talk without me."

Jack, who was now standing behind her, must've heard because he released a cuss word that I rarely heard him use.

My stomach dropped to the floor.