Page 63 of Even Exchange

“I wish you would’ve told me you were worried about this.”

She tilts her head to the side with sad eyes. “I like how I feel around you, and I didn’t want to bring him up and ruin that.”

‘I like how I feel around you.’

“What do you mean?” I ask, heart racing.

“You’re annoyed, and now I have to keep thinking about him even though I want to forget he ever existed,” she says, exasperated.

I take a step forward, and her eyes find mine. “Charlotte.”

She attempts to keep her face passive but one corner of her mouth quirks upward. “Noah.”

“Please don’t hold anything in with me.” I raise my brows at her. “I don’t want you bottling things up. You wanna talk about it, we talk about it. You wanna forget it happened, we’ll erase it from your memory together. Okay?”

She nods, a smile breaking free. “Okay.”

Her agreement fills me with relief. “And promise me something?”

Her expression turns serious. “Anything.”

“If that prick tries getting you back, you tell him to go fuck himself and walk away,” I say, and she huffs a laugh. “Do I look like I’m kidding?”

She smirks. “No.”

“He doesn’t deserve you. He never did.” My jaw clenches. “Repeat it.”

“What?” she scoffs.

“Repeat. It.”

She tilts her head. “He doesn’t deserve me. He never did.”

13

CHARLOTTE

A large wooden sign inscribed with “Camp Dickson”passes overhead as Andi pulls through the entrance. We roll our windows down, and shrieks fill the car as a group jumps off a wooden platform, splashing into the lake where we love to cool off in the afternoons. A hot summer breeze blows through, and rocks crunch beneath Andi’s tires as she rolls into the camper parking lot to find a spot.

“You ladies ready for this?” she asks, putting the car in park.

“Yes ma’am,” Stella says from the back seat.

The familiar scenery brings up a mountain of memories, but I choose to lean into the good ones over the ones with the lying, cheating asshole.

“Yeah,” I say, looking over from the passenger seat with a smile. “I’m ready.”

We grab our bags and make our way to the auditorium for registration. I haven’t seenhimyet. Maybe he isn’t coming after all. Or maybe he got cholera and died.A girl can dream.

We check in and receive the keys to our cabins. They’re small, with two campers assigned to each one. Andi and I are paired together, and we say goodbye to Stella, leaving to trek towards our new little abode. On the way, we pass two NFL-sized fields, complete with goal posts, a wall of bleachers, and ample space for us cheerleaders to practice. It’s bordered by a two-story gym and medical facility, which we all have access to during our stay here. Everything is state of the art, except for the cabins. Along the path, we pass a large tree, and I quickly avert my eyes. Jonathan and I used to meet there between practices, and I shake away the unwelcome memory.

We arrive at the rustic structure made of faux Lincoln Logs, and I unlock the door. Inside, I toss my cheer duffle on one of the wood-framed twin-sized beds as Andi claims the other. It’s essentially summer camp… if summer camp were built by football legend and millionaire William Dickson.

“Home sweet home,” Andi says, rifling through her bag.

“Six weeks of camp, food, and football boys. Will we survive?” I tease, unzipping mine and pulling out the bed sheets we had to bring.

“They better have peppermint mocha cupcakes or I’ll riot,” she says, making her own bed in a huff.