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“Okay, come on in.”
An hour later he was leaning against Mackenzie’s bed, stomach full of pizza soaking up the alcohol.
“She’s right.” Mackenzie stared at her phone. “Sixteen is legal in Ohio. You don’t have to worry about being a sex offender. I didn’t think twenty and seventeen would be an issue anyway.”
“What about the lie?” He leaned his head back.
Mackenzie slid beside him. “Do you love her?”
Kolson felt an ache in his chest. “I thought I did.”
“I’m going to play devil’s advocate and put myself in her shoes. If I was starting to like a guy and I hadn’t told him my age, and he assumed something different, I think it would be hard for me to say something, too.”
Kolson groaned. “That makes it okay?”
“She wasn’t trying to make a fool of you. She might not have known how to tell you. You’re her first boyfriend, right?”
“So, it seems.”
“What if she is the one. You’re going to let this keep you from being with her?”
“This lie is big.”
“Not really. How old did you think she was? I’m sure she’ll be eighteen soon.”
That’s what she’d said, but he didn’t even know how soon.
“You’re only twenty, it’s not like you aren’t on the same maturity level.”
He furrowed his brow.
“She’s a high schooler tutoring college students. Third year college students at that. She must be mature to swing that.”
Mackenzie was right. Nobody got him like Autumn. His phone buzzed and he looked at the text, a simple I’m sorry from Autumn.
He wasn’t ready to talk to her. Even if the pizza had helped sober him, he was still feeling buzzed. He was afraid of what he might say if he called now.
“Look, it’s getting late. Take the other bed and sleep it off. Call her in the morning,” Mackenzie said. He knew there was a reason he came to her to be his rational voice.
***
Morning came too soon. His head pounded as he slid out of bed. Mackenzie was already gone. Her bed neatly made. He trudged down the stairs. Not the first time he’d made this trek in the morning. Jenna called out a goodbye as he walked out the door.
When he shut it behind him, he looked up and his eyes met hazel, bloodshot eyes. Her hair was messier than usual. She looked at him for a minute. Her frown deepened before she turned away and began walking faster.
“Autumn.” He took quick strides toward her. “Autumn, wait.” She kept walking, ignoring him. He could only imagine what she was thinking, as mad as he was last night, he couldn’t even think about her walking out of another guy’s bedroom.
“Hey.” He grabbed her elbow.
Autumn yanked away. “You wanted me to leave you alone and I did.” She kept walking. “And I’ll continue.”
“No, I …” What was he supposed to say? He hurried to catch up. “I need to talk to you.”
“To tell me how quickly you moved on?”
“I didn’t.” He pointed back at that house. “That wasn’t what it looked like.”
“It looks like you ran right back to your booty call like I meant nothing.” She swiped at her eyes. “You’ve gone long enough without sex right?”
“I never once said anything about not having sex.”
“What does it matter now?” She shrugged.
Kolson’s heart fell.
He felt a whole new level of devastation as he realized how much he’d messed up. He had overreacted. Mackenzie was right, seventeen and twenty wasn’t that big of a deal. They could have made it work, now he wasn’t sure she could forgive him for thinking he’d run right to another girl’s bed.
