“You had better not," I shouted after him."Do you hear me,O'Malley? I will tell Gavin's sister you slept with a stuffed bunny abbit until you were in middle school,so help me God!”

“Do you want me to call the boys?" Liz suggested from way above me."Do not not call Nick Krieger!" I shouted. "God, would he love this.""I've got Davis in my cell phone," Liz called. "Gavin,too.""Absolutely not.If you call Davis or Gavin,Nick will be attached." Chloe squealed,"Yes,please,liz. Gavin would be excellent right now! No offense,Hayden,but don't join the ski patrol anytime soon.""Ingrate!" I yelled. "I'll show you.I'm about to save the day, in just a minute here.”

“Look at me." I stood in front of both of them. To Liz I said, “You and Davis are adorable together.” I moved to Chloe. “And you and Gavin are—”She raised her eyebrows at me.“—interesting together. You can’t let my fight with Nick ruin your relationships with your hot boyfriends. Come on, now. My fight with Nick has been going on for years. It’s like this black hole, with gravity so strong that not even light can escape, sucking in winter breaks and dates and whole relationships, until the world—are you listening to me?” When I’d started waxing poetic, Chloe’s attention had wandered around the room. I grabbed her chin and turned her face to me again. “Until the very world is devoid of love!”“It’s not that bad,” Nick’s voice came faintly through the locker room wall.We all looked at one another.”

“You know what I think?" Chloe asked. She was going to tell me whether I wanted to know or not. "I think you've both built up enormous amounts of sexual tension since your session in the sauna was cut short last night,and you won't get along until you let it out. You need to make out with him. Take control.”

“I put both hands on his chest and backed him up a pace. The black sky behind him was filled with color. I said, “Go. Hurry. You can still help. You’re missing it.”He pulled me close again and gazed down at me, tracing one finger so tenderly along my cheekbone. His finger was black, and he might be leaving an attractive blackstreak across my skin. I didn’t mind. The way he was looking at me with those light blue eyes, I had never felt more beautiful.He bent his head close to my ear again so I could hear him whisper, “I’m not missing anything”

“I love you.”I stared stupidly at him. Was he joking again, reciting another line from my story? I didn’t remember writing this.He leaned in and kissed me. I didn’t respond for a few seconds. My mind lagged behind what my body was feeling.“Say it,” he whispered against my lips. “I know this is hard for you. Tell me.”“I love you.” Hearing my own words, I gasped at the rush of emotion.He put his hands on either side of my jaw and took my mouth with his.”

“Anybody who knows him, even all the girls, will tell you he's a great guy, and they'll do anything for him, right up until they want to kill him.”