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"I think so."
Please don't tell me I confused them. It was dark. We were crammed into some basement apartment. When I came back from the bathroom, I couldn't find the guy I'd been talking to, so I found a corner to observe everyone like I usually do. That's where the guy I was looking for found me. But it was Parker who kissed me. I kissed the wrong guy.
I try to process this as Joey continues.
"I'd see you out sometimes when I was with my brother. We didn't speak again, not until last month. I wanted to talk to you so many times. But ... you're intimidating."
"Seriously?" I laugh, suddenly wondering if it would be different between us if he had been the one I kissed that summer, and not Parker. Maybe I'd feel a connection beyond the physical, like he feels for me, if we had more moments together, getting to know each other.
"It was hard crushing on you from afar," he admits with a crooked grin, his dimple creasing. He is gorgeous, there's no denying that. And for a minute, I'm tempted to ignore the voice in my head and jump on him. But I know he wants more than that, and then I'd be lying to him. He deserves better.
"You used to come over our house when we were kids," he says, catching me off guard. "We were young, like really little. Did you know that?"
"I shake my head." Surprised, but not.
"I don't really remember it either. But I found some pictures and videos stored away while I was in the attic last week."
"How does my mother know your family?" I ask, having never come across a single picture of her with the Harrisons.
"I don't know. They wouldn't tell me much when I asked about the people in the pictures, only that they all lost touch. But I knew the girl in some of them was you. It's hard not to recognize you, even when you were barely walking."
"Don't you think it's strange, that we knew each other when we were little? And now neither of our families will admit it? Especially since your dad's helping me." This leads me to ask, "Do you know if he's paying for me to attend Blackwood?"
"I don't know," he answers, surprised by the question. "The whole thing is strange. I didn't know he already knew your mother when I asked him to represent you." He pauses for a moment, contemplating. "I've been working for him in his office this summer. I can look into it, if you want. If it's important to you. Maybe he represented her or something?"
"I'd like to know," I say, grateful. "I don't like secrets. They're almost as bad as lies."
"But don't you have your own ... secrets?"
"I don't have many. And you know one of them."
"You can trust me." His brilliant blue eyes pierce mine, and a rush of sparking current flows down my limbs.
"I know." And I really do. I'm convinced Joey's honorable and will do what is right to protect the people he cares about--Honor is most likely his curse. This could explain his struggle to keep my secret, because he wants to do what's right for Allie as well.
"I wish you could trust me with you too."
I can only offer a weak smile in apology.
He stands, smoothing out his clothes. "Friends?"
"Don't you hate that word?" I tease.
"Right now, more than any other. But I don't want to lose you
... again."
"You won't." I walk over to him. As soon as I embrace him, I can feel the electric surge begin to take over, and I quickly break the connection.
"Maybe we shouldn't ..." he says, his chest rising.
"Touch?" I want to laugh. "It's intense, isn't it?"
Joey shrugs, his cheeks reddening. I bite my lip in regret, realizing it was even more for him than it was for me.
He walks to the door and waits for me. "C'mon. Let's celebrate you."
A few eyes follow us when we walk down the stairs together. But I honestly don't care. Let them think what they want.
