Page 92 of The Way the Heart Breaks: Jade’s Story

HOODY

JADE

“You all right?” I ask after giving her enough time to breathe and float through her emotions.

“Yep, just pissed.”

“Focus on something else, Tessa, like the trees.” I point toward the boys. “Those tall, thick, strong trees.”

Laughing, she smacks my hand away. “It’s not polite to point, you know.”

“You’re going to be okay, Tessa. We’ll keep you busy.” I nod toward shore as Frankie and Ryan dive in.

We both swim over and climb onto the raft, both of us breathing hard as we flop onto the boards. The guys are swimming out toward us, yelling at each other, splashing, and trying to knock one another off anything that floats.

I push my wet hair out of my face and watch them coming. Tommy is easy to spot.

He's laughing at something Lucas says, and even from here I can see that stupidly stunning grin of his. He looks completely at home out here, like he belongs in the middle of all this noise, he’s not faking it until he makes it. I love that for him.

Tessa follows my gaze. “They're a good distraction.”

I glance at her. “Who?”

She gives me a look, “Those two.”

“Oh, I hadn’t noticed; I was still focused on the trees.” I look back toward Tommy.

“Yeah, the trees.” She snorts. “A girl could get lost in them for a while.”

I laugh softly. “I think I already am.”

“Jade.” She sighs.

“What?”

She shakes her head.

I grin back. “What? I'm just saying, if we're going to distract ourselves, we might as well do it properly.”

She laughs. “You're terrible.”

“I'm leaning into what senior year should be, and I will drag you with me, stomping or screaming.”

“It’s kicking and screaming,” she corrects.

I laugh, “With you, it’s definitely stomping.”

“Shush.” She huffs.

The guys are getting closer now, and Tommy looks up, eyes finding mine immediately. My stomach does that stupid little flip it seems to have developed specifically for him.

Tommy starts toward me, and I shift to make room.

Ryan steps directly in front of me. I move to the left and he moves left. I move right and he moves right.

I scowl at him. “Seriously?”

He looks down at me. “What?”