Page 173 of Jaded

My breath catches, and I slide closer. “There’s more.”

“So.” Suddenly, Charlie’s between us, grinning. “Am I getting kicked off first line or what?”

Olli and I spring apart. “What?”

“Coach offered you a spot, right?” Charlie curls an arm over my shoulders. “Tell me he did.”

“He offered Avery a spot, actually. And I agreed.”

“Avery Bennett? Jesus.” Charlie shakes his head. “Syd’s got you falling for her boyfriend now?”

I shrug. “He’s a good kid.”

“He’s a good player, I’ll give him that.” Charlie sighs. “Butyou twoclearly got something special. Tay and Jay.”

Why does my chest feel like someone’s blown up a balloon inside it, to hear someone outside my own head affirm what I know to be true.

“We do have something,” I agree, and I step away from Charlie to stand beside Olli, lean my shoulder into his. “And we’ll definitely still be good. In more ways than one.”

“Wait.” Charlie’s eyes go so wide and round, white shows all around the edges. “Are you two . . .together? Finally?”

“Um.” With everything that’s been happening in each of our lives, we haven’t had a chance yet to havethatconversation. But for once, I know what I want. “What do you say, Aspen? Be my boyfriend?”

His smile lights up the entire hallway, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Still, he bites his lip, reining in his joy. Like there's any way I might have missed it. “I mean, sure, I guess. If that’s something you’d want.”

“Yes.” I weave my fingers through his. “I do.”

“Gaaaay,” says Charlie, smiling maybe the widest I’ve ever seen him smile. “Oh, man. Ben owes me twenty bucks—”

“You bet on us?” Olli asks.

“Nope.” Charlie’s still showing far too many teeth. “So, you wanna tell me about the second spot on the team?”

“Goddamn it.” I mutter, and both Olli and Charlie laugh.

“He’s good,” Olli admits, while Charlie keeps grinning. “Spill, Mouse.”

So I tell them about Coach’sunconventionaloffer. The one I haven’t turned down yet, or agreed to, because it’s so different from anything I expected or so much as thought about.

“Damn,” Charlie hums.

“Don’t think about it,” says Olli without hesitation. “This is one of thosefollow your gutmoments where I think you already know what your heart wants, and you just gotta stop letting your head get in the way.”

“I agree.” Charlie’s brows arch pensively. “Alternatively, come to my place. Weed always helps me think.”

I shake my head. “Not all of us have a medical marijuana doctor’s note.”

“Easy to get, though. I could hook you up?”

Olli shakes his head, laughing. “Weed makes me a little nuts, but thanks.”

“Suit yourself.” Charlie gets three steps away before he turns. “I do agree with Olli, though. Stop listening to everybody else and do whatyouwant to do. Big ol’ middle finger to everybody’s expectations is the only way to live life.”

And then he’s prancing off down the hall, whistling. Probably headed home to go piss Ben off by getting high in the condo where he’s not supposed to get high. I’m tired enough to want nothing more than to return to my house, melt into the couch in front of the TV.

I’m not ready for any decision-making tonight. “You want to come back to my place? I have a sixty-inch TV, leftover Chinese, and um . . .” I wince. “A teenage daughter.”

Olli smiles, sending my heart and all my newfound butterflies swooping. “You also have a guitar there, don’t you?”

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