"I'm watching Griffin tonight."
"I thought he was almost thirteen. He can't stay a few hours by himself?"
"It's just that--"
"What if I come over to your place?"
"And, what? Rely on Griff to keep a secret? He would--for me, he totally would--but he's just a kid and he might slip up. We've talked about that, Wyatt. Remember?"
"I know. I know. It's okay. I get it." He wanted to mean it, but he couldn't keep the disappointment out of his voice. "It's just that Patrick's family's house is huge. There'd be space for us to be alone, you know? Without feeling like we're in a spotlight at the club."
"I want that, too," she said, with so much sincerity in her voice that he felt like a heel for being irritated that she wouldn't come. "But even if babysitting wasn't part of the equation, should we really be seen together like that? At a party? I mean, we've been so careful. What if my dad--"
"It'll be crowded. Just a group of kids. Worst that happens is he finds out you left your brother for a few hours to go to a party with a bunch of teenagers. He doesn't need to know anything else."
Even as the words came out of his mouth, he couldn't believe he was saying them. Was he really encouraging her to break all those rules? Yeah, he was. Because he was a selfish asshole who wanted to see her. Just for a few hours. What was the harm?
And they had so little time left.
"The summer's almost over," he pointed out. "I'm gone in less than two weeks."
"Wyatt, please--"
"Just write down the address. I'm staying the night with Patrick, so you can come anytime if you change your mind, okay?"
She hesitated, but in the end she relented. "Okay. But I probably won't come."
He gave her the address. "And Kelsey? I'll be waiting."
"Don't count on me." Her whisper was so soft, he barely heard it, and when she ended the call, he felt a little lost.
"You fell hard, dude," Patrick said. "Is widdle Wyatt in wuv?"
Wyatt punched him in the arm. "You're a prick, you know that, right?"
"Bullshit. I'm a great guy. Everyone says so."
Wyatt laughed, but he couldn't get the question out of his head. It was the first time he'd really thought about it, and he knew with one hundred percent certainty that the answer was yes.
That ought to scare him, he thought, but it didn't. It made him feel great. And it made him want Kelsey beside him all the more.
Which, of course, made the party a complete bore, because he didn't want to be there without her.
He wandered the rooms aimlessly, chatting with some of the kids, drinking beer like it was water until the room was spinning just a little.
Which explained why when he first saw her by the big screen TV, he thought he was hallucinating. Then she walked toward him, holding a plastic cup like a good luck charm. She took a sip, then another. Then she downed the rest of the drink and finished crossing the room to him.
"Hi," she said, then kissed him, and from the bourbon on her breath, he had a feeling she'd downed more than the one glass when she'd been searching the house for him.
"Hi, yourself." He pushed back from her. "What happened to being discreet?"
She shrugged. "I missed you."
"Let's get out of the crowd." He took her hand. "Come on. I have something for you."
"Really?"
He led her to the guest room where Patrick had told him to throw his stuff, then shut the door. "You can sit," he said, pointing to the bed, since the room had no chair.