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He bounded up the stairs, cah the door, all blonde and tan and Godlike My friends all wanted to date him Half of them wanted to fuck him But to me he was like a brother Except I hadn’t seen hi like ht shooter He was dressed in soccer shorts, a v-neck short-sleeve shirt ht material, and he ses My head swa onto the bed beside me, a serious look on his face Blond, curly hair peppered the tanned skin that stretched out forso hard not to drift up the black, silky shorts that covered his middle His shirt was the sa at the ocean as it met the sand dunes in Truro, on Cape Cod, just after a storm

My pulse needed a minute to recover My heart was still stuck on Sah, knew exactly what it wanted--and recovering wasn’t it

"Nope"

"Asshole" He sat on the bed next to ered the he band that Trevor Connor and Joe Ross had put together this year They had a weird naularly, andon my bed, either

"Did you talk to him about me?" I tried to keep the hope out of my voice, but failed miserably

Uncertain how to answer, Liale with his words This was not his nors "Sure Told hiin o weak and a ar my hands over my heart, I said, "Like words from Shakespeare"

"I aihter cae braying sound of half sobs and half giggle Lia and beautiful, right in front ofa bee, I said, "I’m fine! I’m fine"

"No, you’re not"

"I’ to be fine!"

"That makes two of us" His face fell, and in his pain I could see the

Yet I knehy he winced "Charlotte, huh?"

He leaned back, folding his hands under his head, and sighed I sed, hard, as the soft cloth of his shirt rode up at the waist, showing a thickening of those golden curls right where it would lead down to--

"I miss her," he huffed, not quite convinced he should telllike an adulteress to the uy who launched spitballs in my hair on the bus The one I took baths e were kids The dude who kissed my cheek at our first co-ed party e played Truth or Dare The guy as like a brother to me in a way that my own brother barely was

And also? I owed no allegiance to Sained reality with him Go away, Sam Get outta my head

"Why’d you break up with her?"

He sat up fast, like a wrestler doing quick sit ups, his flat stomach muscled in ways that made me want to reach out and touch hi a body that could do that

"Because" His voice went cold

"Gotcha I’ll shut up about it"

He stood quickly and walked over to o?"

"Where’s your tux?" I joked

A look of confusion, then a kind of dawning horror, spread across his face "Aw, Aht about it!" Then pity "Of course I would have taken you"

"NO!" I shouted, ju to my feet "No, no, no, no, no, that’s not what I meant! I don’t need a pity date"

"So not a pity date, A over me, then the dress "I’d have been honored"

Tears ca uish "Why won’t Sam even talk to ht?"

And then Lia self His body felt so good, and co, and hard Not like a brother, suddenly

Like a man

"I am so sorry," he crooned into le "At least there are two of us You’re not the only weirdo"

I half-laughed, half-sobbed into his shoulder My hands slid across his back and he heldmy earlobe with the briefest of kisses Was hewas thisdid he want?

In an instant, he putback, his hand atwere different"

And then another hug

"I know youas I tried to think of what to say He stiffened