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“My buddies from growing up,” I explained, scrolling through them. “You down for a couple of beers with them? I promise they’re good people. Super chill.”

He tipped his chin toward my phone, smirking, when a message came in composed entirely of emojis, the last six or seven being red exclamation points. “That doesn’t look very chill.”

“Okay, yeah. Not chill at all,” I conceded. “But they’re super cool.”

“I’d love to meet them,” he said, tossing a swift glance at the back of the driver’s head to ensure his eyes were glued to the road and not in the rearview mirror. Satisfied, took hold of my hand and squeezed before lifting it to his mouth and pressing his lips into my palm before letting go.

Cally wasn’t the most demonstrative person ever, so the gesture made my insides go all warm and gooey. I had to bite my lower lip to keep from grinning at him like a love-sick idiot.

“Awesome,” I said, dragging my attention back to my phone to tell Pauly we were stopping at my mom’s house first and would see them later.

As the car sped past familiar storefronts and down streets I knew like the back of my hand, a ball of anxiety formed in the pit of my stomach.

Cally and I didn’t talk much about how different our backgrounds were. It was like we’d acknowledged the disparity and decided it simply didn’t matter to our life together now. It helped that despite his family’s Back Bay mansion or the vacation homes in Punta Mita and Telluride, he’d never made me feel like anything less than his equal.

But as we turned off the main thoroughfare into my old neighborhood, I grew increasingly uncomfortable. The house I’d grown up in was a tiny one-and-a-half-story craftsman that, until recently, featured rotted window trim, crumbling concrete front steps, and a dead tree in the front yard. I’d sent my mom money to get it all fixed, but those repairs could only go so far.

Cally was about to see the cramped living room with its worn-out furniture and find out what it was like when multiple people had to share one tiny bathroom, and with my grandma’s …

No.

I gritted my teeth against those ugly thoughts, running my hands up and down my thighs. I hated myself for letting even a split second of embarrassment slip in. I was proud as hell of my family. It was because of them that I was able to live out my dream. That I could be in this car right now on my way back to them.

I pulled a deep breath in through my nose, sending it out through my mouth, and forced my shoulders to relax. Cally loved me. He knew who I was and where I’d come from. Seeing the reality of my life wouldn’t change any of that.

When the driver came to a stop at the curb in front of my house, the new porch light shining bright against the night sky, Cally slid a crisp hundred-dollar bill from his wallet and pushed it toward him. “Thanks for the ride, man.”

The driver turned around, his expression shocked, and nodded in appreciation. “Have a good night.”

Outside, I grabbed our bags out of the trunk. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Cally shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”

“I know, but I could have gotten the tip.”

“You paid for the ride,” he remarked easily as I led him up the walkway to the front door, which had been re-stained in a dark walnut color. The chore had been on my never-ending list of things I needed to do this past summer, but I’d run out of time before I had to leave for camp.

“Yeah, but it only cost half of that,” I pointed out, admiring the formerly rotted window sills that were now painted a deep, dark forest green.

He set his hand to my shoulder and squeezed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overstep my bounds.”

I pulled my gaze away. “It’s fine. I’m just … feeling some kind of way about having you here.”

“But you asked me to come,” he said, his tone clearly baffled.

I brought my eyes back to him, waving my hand in a wide arc as if to encompass our surroundings. “I know, but look around, Cal.”

He made a show of doing just that. “Okay, and?”

“And I’m not rich. And you are, and …” I blew out a frustrated breath, dropping my head back with a load groan. I promised myself I wouldn’t be this guy.

“Hey Mikey.” I tipped my face forward to meet his gaze. “Do you love me?”

I nodded, blowing into my cupped hands. “You know I do.”

“And do I love you?”

I felt a smile tug at the corners of my lips. “Yeah, you do.”