“No, I haven't heard that, but I'll keep it in mind. Thanks for the proverbial insight, my stalker friend.”

“Keep close," he said. "It only gets more dangerous from here." I patted his shoulder. "Don't be afraid. I'll protect you.”

“I've even got one for you, too, Ellie.""Wow, thank you, Marcus.""The second one was supposed to be mine," he admitted with a shrug. "But since I don't want to look like a jackass, I'll give it to you. See what a nice guy I am?"I rolled my eyes at him. "God, Marcus, you're the sweetest guy ever."He grinned stupidly. "Actually, that's not true. I got it for you to begin with, because you two are attached at the hip and I figured you'd show up together. You're so predictable.”

“I tried not to laugh. Landon had been my friend since the sixth grade, but he was a boy, and boys made no sense to me...”

“You won't want to," he crooned into my ear. "Not after you've had a taste of what I can offer you.""You're right," I chirped. "I'll probably barf. I'm getting indigestion just thinking about it.”

“My brother," Will growled. "And your friend. You'd better not treat him the way you treat me.”

“Mom turned but did a double take. "Where did you get that necklace from?"I touched the pendant. "A friend.""A boy?"Yikes. "He's a friend who's a boy."Her mouth twitched in amusement and her gaze left the necklace. "First roses, and now a necklace? Are you sure Landon isn't you boyfriend?""This wasn't from him, Mom.""So you have two boyfriends?""No, Mom!" I almost shouted. "Neither of them is my boyfriend. Trust me. They're just boys who are friends. No connecting of words going on... or connecting of anything else, for that matter."She stared at me. "Hmm." Then she left my room. She was so weird sometimes.”