Yeah, Mom. The motorcycle girl.

My mom stares at me. “You’re not going over to their house, right?”

I raise my eyebrows. “Am I not supposed to hang with the help in Sanoa Bay, Snobby?”

“I’m just saying my plate is full at the moment. No trouble, Clay,” she warns. “Can I ask that of you? Please?”

Yesssssss. Even though it’s usually the Saints who cause the trouble over there, but okay. “No trouble,” I tell her.

“All right, have a good day,” she says, kissing me again and leaving the room.

I blow out a breath, thankful she doesn’t press that more. Which is kind of weird. I thought for sure she’d be like ‘I don’t want you hanging around her and absorbing her gayness,’ but she was actually cool about it.

Minutes later, Liv and I are out the door, carrying our bags and her wearing my clothes and shoes as I toss her the keys.

She gets in the driver’s side, and for the first time ever, I’m a passenger in my own car. Callum can’t drive my car. Liv can.

“Are you okay?” she asks as we near school.

The streets are still quiet, classes not starting for over an hour, and I check my neck in the mirror, dabbing on some foundation to cover the hickeys. She went to town on me again after we got into bed last night, and I pull up my bra a little more, hiding the little one on my breast.

“Just park over here,” I reply, instead, gesturing to the curb.

I run my hand down her thigh, smooth in my leggings, giving myself one last moment of contact before I have to be close to her and not able to touch her for the next hour.

“And yeah, I’m okay,” I say.

My parents are splitting up. I don’t want to go to Wake Forest. I’m infatuated with someone that everyone else will make their business if it ever gets out.

But I’m okay, because I have her.

We head into the locker room, already empty, and drop off our bags before jogging into the gym.

Weights clank, machines run, and giggles fill the air as our teammates chat, Coomer giving us the eye as we run in.

I almost turn to check with Liv before I leave her, but I stop myself. We arrived together. People already noticed that.

I walk away without a word, jumping on the treadmill next to Krisjen, Amy on her other side.

“Hey,” Amy chirps.

“Morning,” I say, realizing I forgot water bottles. “You, uh, made the appointments for mani-pedis next Friday, right?”

I look to Amy before she has a chance to ask about why I’m late and why I walked in with Olivia Jaeger.

“Yeah, I took care of it,” she replies. “Then we’ll be at your place for hair and makeup. I’m going to have my dress delivered the night before and steamed again.”

“Good idea.” I look to Krisjen, seeing Liv out of the corner of my eye start on the shoulder press. “And your parents got the limo, right?”

Krisjen’s mouth opens and closes, and it takes a moment, but she finally nods. “Yes.” Like she’s not sure.

“It should’ve been done months ago,” I point out. “You’re scaring me.”

We’re all handling our share to do this together. I’ve got hair and makeup. Amy is paying for mani-pedis. Krisjen has transportation.

The boys will pay for prom, but the debutante’s families handle the ball.

“It’ll be there,” Krisjen assures. “I said I got it. Don’t worry.”

Now I’m worried.

Amy takes something out of her pocket and reaches over Krisjen, setting it on the dash of my treadmill.

“What’s this?” I ask. But my heart thumps in my throat, and I know what it is. I quickly pick it up and hide it in my hand, checking for the coach. The square foil packet crinkles in my fist.

“You won’t buy them yourself, and you can’t rely on the guy,” Amy says quietly. “You’re welcome.”

Krisjen laughs and pulls another one out of Amy’s pocket.

“You are not sleeping with that dickhead again,” I whisper, scolding her.

“You’re right,” she teases. “I’m not.”

“Then who do you need one for?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Yeah, right. Please don’t let it be Trace Jaeger. They looked pretty hot and heavy at the lighthouse, and the last thing I need is to run into her as I come out of Liv’s bedroom one morning.

But before I can worry about Krisjen, Amy starts instructing me. “You should just get it over with, Clay,” she tells me. “The first time will suck, but it gets better, and then it gets really good.” She checks for anyone listening. “The secret is priming yourself. Blow him while you finger yourself, and by the time he’s hard, you’ll be wet…”

Ew, what?

“Ugh, stop it,” I tell her.

Way too much information. I think I actually almost gag.

“You’re such a prude, Clay.” She snickers at me. “When you get good, it gets amazing, but you need to get good first. Just get it over with.”

Images of Liv coming on my desk last night drift through my head, and I smile to myself. I am good.

I slide the condom into the secret pocket inside the back of my leggings and start running. Liv completes her set and sits up, stretching her arms over her head.

She looked so beautiful last night. She looks so beautiful all the time. What would she look like in a gown? With her hair on point and her makeup done?

She sits alone, no friends around, without me next to her like I should be, and I’m getting sick of it. She shouldn’t have to be alone.

Megan approaches her, the new girl Chloe at her side, and they talk to Liv, and while Martelle pisses me off, I’m a little grateful. She introduces Liv to the new girl, and Liv smiles, very different from the curtness she had toward her when she caught us talking yesterday morning.

And the walls close in a little, watching them. Liv is going to realize she deserves more, and she’ll have no trouble getting it. Megan wants her, and I’m pretty sure Chloe isn’t straight either. Liv could pursue her. She’ll meet other women at college, too.

Part of me wonders if Amy is right. Just get it over with. Maybe I need to know for sure. Maybe I should just screw Callum, so I know for sure.

But I know I only want to do it in the hopes that I see something in him that will save me from having to take the step I’m so afraid to take. In hopes that I’m not in love with her, I don’t need to face anything, and I don’t need to suffer when it’s time to leave her.

I don’t want him to touch me. My skin crawls just thinking about it.

Liv looks over, meeting my eyes, and with a glance to my friends, she comes back to me and winks just covertly enough that only I notice.

I can’t hide my smile as a blush crosses my cheeks. I feel right again. The weight of Amy’s awful words and the rubber in my back pocket are suddenly forgotten.

“Liv’s leggings look just like the Michi ones you have,” I hear Krisjen say.

I blink. “Huh?

Liv walks to the stationary bike, and I notice the clothes I gave her to wear. I turn to Krisjen.

“But it can’t be,” she says as she runs. “There’s no way she has two-hundred dollars for yoga pants, right?”