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Cal: I vote orange but then again, what do I know haha

“Cal says orange.”

Lottie clasps. “There you go!”

“Orange it is.” Cal it is.

Chapter Twenty-Seven Knox

“She’s going out with him, guys.”

Lawson groans into the couch cushion. “You’ve told us fifty times.”

“And I don’t think you’ve truly heard me.” I gesture wildly at nothing. “She. Is going. Out with him.”

Ledger doesn’t look up from the pretzels he’s lining up in size order. “I’m telling you, women are soulless, life-sucking creatures that take your pride and your wallet, and I vow to never give one a piece of my time again. Join the pact, brother. I’m getting us jackets soon.”

He only thinks that because he just found out his girlfriend cheated on him with it’s-just-Jason-from-the-gym. We told him that the girl gave off bad vibes over a year ago when he asked for our opinions, and he said we were “too negative to understand her artistic energy.”

Walker clears his throat. “As the only one in this room with a stable girlfriend, I think you should just tell her how you feel.”

“I tried and it ended in a fight.”

“Not how you feel about her talking to her mom, about everything. You said her date starts at six, right?” He glances at his phone. “It’s five. If you really are that torn up, go to her and tell her what you’re thinking.”

“You’re right.” I nod. “I need to tell her to dump that preppy vet guy and go out with a real man.”

“That’s actually not even close to what I said.”

“You’re the best.” I clap my future brother-in-law on the back and stand up, grabbing my jacket and keys.

“Nope. Knox, seriously, I wouldn’t—” I cut him off with my truck door slamming and music blaring. It’s about time I fight for the thing I love most.

***

“‘All right, Felicity, you listen here,’” I say to myself as I barrel down the road. “‘I am in love with you. And no Dr. Dolittle wannabe can make up for what I have with you. I don’t have a ring, mostly because I’m broke and you haven’t graduated yet, but as soon as I can, I am whisking you off to the Bahamas to walk down a sandy aisle.’ Yeah, that’s good, Knoxy, freak her out while she can still run.”

Every speech practiced from Ledger’s house all the way to Riley’s is a failed one, but I have put together the gist of what matters most.

I love you. I want you. You are everything.

That’s what every avenue points back to, right?

If I can just convince her to not go on this date tonight and to give me a chance, then we can sort out the rest later—her mom, the mystery guy we’re searching for. Everything can be put to the side, but I cannot go another day without telling her how I feel.

My hands grip the wheel so tight, my knuckles go white. My heartbeat’s doing a weird double-thump thing it only does when I’m panicking or she’s within a three-mile radius. I turn onto Lover’s Lane and eye the street sign, hoping maybe it’s another kind of signal that fate is on my side tonight. With the windows down, I hear the rustle of tree branches and the whisper of falling leaves in the wind. The sky is the color of peaches going bad. My lungs barely work.

Thankfully, Riley’s truck is gone when I pull into the driveway. At least when I pour my entire heart out to this girl, I won’t have an audience.

My fingers twitch and my feet tap. My entire body vibrates like a malfunctioning blender as I knock on her door.

“Knox.”

If she thinks she’s the breathless one, she should see what it feels like to be on the other side of this door.

My favorite color has always been dark green.

But I guess I was wrong.