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Friends or not, I didn’t want her going out to eat with any guy.
I didn’t say anything because I didn’t trust myself not to look like a total ass. So I nodded and smiled, just staring at her, time seeming to stand still. I could envision that there was no one else in the house but us. I could picture that Alec and the guys weren’t being loud and obnoxious in the other room, that the girl of my dreams, the girl I was in love with, wasn’t about to go on a date—friends or not—with another guy.
And whose fucking fault was that? This is what you get when you keep your mouth shut and don’t say anything.
Alec started hollering for me to come join the new game, but all I wanted to do was stay here with Shiloh. I ignored him, just staring at her, knowing I probably looked like a creep not saying anything and just watching her. But I wasn’t able to help myself where she was concerned.
“Kace. Dude, get your ass out here.”
Shiloh chuckled softly. “You better get out there before he starts singing show tunes to get your attention.” She smiled.
I was about to say fuck it, that Alec could do whatever the hell he wanted, that I was staying right here with her. But just then, I felt someone behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see him leaning against the kitchen entryway, his arms crossed, his eyebrow raised.
“You in here cooking us some dinner?” He laughed as if what he’d just said was the best fucking joke. “You gonna get your ass out there and play another hand or what?”
I ran my hand over my jaw and looked back at Shiloh.
“Go on. We’ll talk later,” she said.
I clenched my jaw and nodded once. It was best that I probably walk away now before I really looked like an asshole, demanding that she not go on that date. So I forced myself to turn and leave, but everything inside of me wanted to go back to her.
I needed to think of how in the hell to handle this, because her—even just being friends—with any guy other than me was not gonna happen.
Chapter Two
Shiloh
I stared down at the envelope in my hand. My parents were sitting at the table with me, their silence deafening.
“Honey, the suspense is killing us.”
I glanced up at my mom, feeling my hands shake as I held either the acceptance or the rejection letter from NYU. This was my dream school, what I’d held my breath for, praying I’d get in to it. And as much as I knew not to let it make or break me, my hope was big.
There were plenty of other places I could go, but NYU had been on the top of my list since I was a little girl. I knew that if I didn’t get in, it wasn’t the end of the world. But God would it feel like it.
I took a deep breath and tore into the envelope, my hand still shaking as I pulled out the piece of paper and stared down at it. I was silent as I read over it, my heart thundering, deafening in my ears. And then I looked up at my parents. They both had wide-eyed expressions, my mother having her hands up by her mouth, her nerves clearly just as strong as mine.
“Shiloh?” My father was the one to speak.
“I got in,” I whispered and instantly my mother got up and started screaming in excitement, bouncing up and down and clapping her hands. It was as if she had been accepted, and her happiness for me had the tears escaping, falling down my cheeks so I was a blubbering mess.
My mom and dad gave me a hug, telling me how proud of me they were, that they’d had no doubt that I would get in.
“I knew it,” my mom said, crying right along with me.
“I’m glad at least one of us is not freaking out. Because ever since I put in my application, I’ve been a complete mess.” I gave a watery laugh.
As I pulled away and stared down at the acceptance letter, the first person I wanted to tell about it was Kace. But on the heels of that, I wondered how he’d react. I wondered how I would react.
I’d be going to school in another state. He had to stay here for his family’s business obligations. The very thought had my belly clenching, this almost-grief settling in. I was so excited I’d gotten into NYU, but also devastated in the same breath.
“We should celebrate,” my mother said and pulled me in for another hug. “Tonight?”
I was about to say yes, but then I remembered the dinner I’d agreed to go on with Ian. “As much as I’d love to, I can’t tonight. I promised someone I’d have dinner with them.”
