Chapter 2

My post had already blown up to hundreds of comments.

I went back and replied to comment 13: [He said it tasted good.]

That single reply set the whole thread on fire.

Comment 123 jumped in almost immediately and wrote: [Do you know what he hates doing? If you really want to get under his skin, go after his weak spots. Figure out what scares him. And honestly, are you telling me someone actually enjoys eating surströmming?]

I typed back: [He can't stand strong flavors. Onions, garlic, all of it. He hates haunted houses, too. Had nightmares about them as a kid.]

Comment 123 replied: [Wait, are you sure you actually hate this guy?]

I scrolled through the rest of the comments. The most upvoted one read: [Why do you even hate him?]

I picked comment 53 and responded: [Because he was the kid every parent compared theirs to. Because he never let me hang out with anyone else growing up. And because of him, I lost more happy childhood memories than I can count.]

Lucas' eyes had gone red around the rims.

It was probably the surströmming. That stuff was brutal.

I reached over and snatched the can out of his hand. "Stop eating that. I'm taking you out for a real dinner. I made plans just for you."

He nodded, and a trace of warmth slipped into his voice. "So do the others not get this kind of treatment?"

Then his jaw tightened, and he added, "What about the student council president? Does he get it?"

But the weather had other plans.

Dark clouds swallowed the sky, and rain came pouring down in sheets.

Lucas looked at me and said, "Hailey, do you remember that time it rained like this? You were standing outside the school gates, and I walked you home."

He shouldn't have brought that up.

Of course, I remembered.

That was the day everyone started saying I'd stood out in the rain on purpose to wait for him.

His voice softened. "I really miss those days."

Something heavy settled in my chest. I bit down on my lip, kept my eyes low, and said, "Let's call it a day. The weather's bad. We can go out again tomorrow."

He caught the shift in my mood, and without a word, he held the umbrella over me the whole walk home.

By the time we reached my door, not a single drop had touched me. But when I looked over at him, the only dry spot on his entire body was the arm pressed closest to mine.

A sharp ache twisted through my chest. "Go take a hot shower. Now."

I pulled out my phone and saw a message from my best friend. She'd screenshotted my profile picture from the post and sent it with one question: [Is this you?]

I replied: [Yeah.]

She sent back: [Oh my God. Don't tell me that's Lucas. He actually came and found you?]

I typed another "yeah," and she hit me with a thumbs-up emoji.

Then, without either of us needing to say it, we moved on to a different topic.

Thunder rumbled outside, and for some reason, I found myself opening my post again.

The latest reply read: [It's pouring out there. How's OP doing?]

I typed back: [He drove me home.]

Then I added: [Feeling a little guilty about it.]

I was still chatting with my best friend when I looked up and saw Lucas step out of the bathroom.

He had a towel slung low around his hips, and beneath his six-pack, a sharp V-line cut down toward the towel's edge.

Above that, his chest was broader than mine would ever be.

I swallowed hard.

Before I could stop myself, I snapped a photo and posted it to the thread with the caption: [What is he trying to do to me?]

Lucas' abs filled the entire screen, shameless and on full display.

Comment 132 replied: [GIRL. You are eating GOOD.]

[He likes you. He definitely likes you.]

Comment 67 wrote: [Wait, am I the only one who actually believed she hated this guy? I literally recommended restaurants that would give him food poisoning.]

Comment 1 chimed in: [I'm the one who's really screwed here. Guess I'm stuck with the toilet water now.]

Lucas noticed me doubled over laughing and leaned in with a grin. "What are you looking at? What's so funny?"

I scrambled to cover my phone screen, but a text from Nina Brown popped up at the worst possible moment.

[You left your clothes at my place last time. When are you coming to pick them up?]

The clock on the wall ticked steadily through the silence.

Lucas was the one who broke it. "Is he the guy you like?"

He drew a long breath and reached over to gently pat my head, his tone carefully casual. "Hailey, you're still young. There's no rush to start dating. Your mom should at least meet the guy before you do anything serious."

His other hand gripped the edge of the couch so hard that his fingertips left dents in the fabric.

Something stirred in the back of my mind as he spoke.

Did Lucas actually have feelings for me?

I told him, "But I really like him. If Mom doesn't approve, I'll talk her into it."

Lucas and I had known each other since preschool. Back then, he never spoke to anyone but me. Whenever I spotted him sitting by himself, I always walked over.

I still remember the first time. I had marched right up to him and said, "Hi! I'm Hailey Ryan. Can I play with you?"

He eventually clutched his toy and told me with dead seriousness, "Hailey, can you only play with me?"

And the time he'd pouted and said, "Fine. If you're gonna play with other kids, then I will too."

A drop of water landed on the back of my hand. I looked up and met Lucas' gaze. He was staring straight at me, his wet hair falling loosely across his forehead, and his eyes were raw with something he was fighting to hold back.

I glanced down and saw a new text from Nina.

[Babe? You home? Rain stopped. Want me to bring your stuff over?]

Lucas let out a sharp scoff and said through clenched teeth, "Looks like he's really into you, huh?"

His expression was dark and unreadable, but the frustration underneath was clear, as if he wanted to say that he had known me long before Nina ever did.

Before I could respond, he deflected. "You look tired. Get some rest tonight." He paused, then added, "Do you like roller coasters? I'll take you."

What?

What girl actually likes roller coasters?