Page 36 of The Summer We Played Pretend

“Did she push you away? Make any noises that implied she didn’t want to be kissed?”

I shake my head. Chloe seemed as eager as I did. She even put her hands around my neck and pulled me closer.

“Sounds to me like she wanted to be kissed.”

“I’m worried I’m just some rebound thing,” I admit. “Or that she’s caught up in, well…” I shrug, unable to explain to my dad how I’ve been playing pretend boyfriend and girlfriend with her.

Dad's quiet for a moment, then says, "You know, your mom and I didn't exactly have a fairy tale beginning."

"What do you mean?"

He chuckles. "Well, believe it or not, I was actually her rebound guy."

"No way," I say, momentarily forgetting the pain in my hand. "You said it was love at first sight.”

"For me, maybe," Dad grins. "But she'd just gotten out of a long relationship. Took her a while to come around."

Dad's eyes crinkle at the corners as he recounts his and Mom's rocky start. "Love isn't a straight line, son. It's messy, unpredictable. But usually it’s worth fighting for.”

“I think that’s the most poetic thing you’ve ever said, Dad.”

“Hey, I can be romantic when I want to be.”

Considering Dad has only ever had one girlfriend that I know of, I don’t know if that’s true but I always got the feeling he’s still in love with Mom.

“I think I messed up.”

“By kissing her or by not texting her?”

“Not texting,” I mutter reluctantly.

Dad places a hand on my shoulder. "Jackson, the only way you can truly mess up is by not being honest—with Chloe and with yourself."

“I know.”

And I promised her honesty and so far, I’ve managed to lie to her pretty much every time I’ve been with her.

The trouble is, this isn’t just some crush. This isn’t some summer fling. If I am truly honest with myself, I know what will happen.

I’ll admit that I love her.

I run my uninjured hand over my face. Chloe is going off to college soon. She’s just had all her future plans with Brendan blown out of the water. The timing of this couldn’t be worse.

A nurse calls my name and Dad gives my shoulder a squeeze. “You’ll figure it out. I didn’t raise an idiot.”

I give him a tight smile. “My hand says otherwise.” And how I’m dealing with Chloe isn’t any better. But Dad’s right. I need to be honest. Maybe not to the extent of telling her I’m insanely in love with her and maybe have been for longer than I’d like to admit, but that this fake stuff needs to end.

It’s only going to cause trouble for us both. J ust because Mom and Dad fell in love on the rebound doesn’t mean Chloe is going to fall for me just because I tell her I love her. She needs time to recover from what Brendan did to her.

And I need to give that to her.

Chapter Sixteen

Chloe

My heart flutters into my throat as the doorbell chimes through our house. I spring up from my bed, nearly knocking over the pile of archaeology textbooks on my nightstand. Could it be Jackson? Maybe he planned to come over and that’s why he hasn’t texted me back.

I dash to the mirror, frantically smoothing my frizzy ponytail and quickly swipe on some lip balm. I wrinkle my nose at my reflection then remind myself this is Jackson. He’s seen me in my PJs before for goodness sakes.

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