Page 38 of Stuck With the Smokejumper

“You know summer ends, though.”

I don't say anything.

“You're leaving when the season's over,” he says. “That's what you do. That's what you've always done.”

“I know.”

“I'm not saying don't do this. I'm just saying I know you, and I know how this usually goes for you.”

“I know,” I say again, because it's true, and because I don't have anything better to offer him. I don't have a plan that solves the problem he's pointing at. I don't know where I'll be in October any more than I did yesterday.

Reid doesn't push it further. He just nods, like he's said what he needed to say, and lets it go. We walk the rest of the way back to the house without either of us bringing it up again.

Inside, Ivy looks up when the door opens. Her eyes go to me first, then Reid, then back to me, reading whatever she can off my face. I give her a small nod, nothing dramatic. She exhales, slow, like she's been holding it since we walked outside.

The Spoons game has run its course. Tessa's already suggesting something else, some clue-and-guess game that requires partners, cards with categories on them, a stack of index cards someone produces from a drawer. People start sorting themselves into pairs without much discussion. I end up near Ivy.

“Nope,” Dani says, before we've even fully claimed each other as partners. “Still not allowed to be partners.”

“We haven't done anything yet,” Ivy says.

“You will. You'll win. It's what you do.”

Reid, from across the room, doesn't even look up from shuffling cards. “Good luck enforcing that. They're a couple now.”

The room goes still.

Ivy stares at him. I stare at him.

“Reid,” Ivy says, flat and unimpressed.

“What?” Reid's grinning. “You didn't think I was going to let you off that easy, did you? I need to have a little fun at your expense. Both of your expenses.”

“You could have let us tell people.”

“And ruin the fun?”

Tessa's expression is the smuggest thing I've seen all summer.

“Don't,” Ivy says to her.

“I didn't say anything.”

“Your face did.”

I have no idea what Tessa knew, or since when, but judging by that look, it's been a while.

Nolan looks stunned, pointing between the two of us like he's double-checking his own eyes.

Dani's moving on to logistics. “Wait, since when? How long has this been going on?”

“Since today,” I say.

“Today today?”

“Today.”

“I knew,” Cassidy says, far too quickly.