Page 40 of The Comeback Pact

But hype band. I can’t tell him. Like, I physically can’t. He’ll laugh.

I shake my head.

“What?” he asks.

“You’ll tease me.”

His mouth splits into a grin that is bigger than any I’ve seen on him yet. “You have to tell me now.”

“Is yours embarrassing?” I ask.

“You’ll never know unless I hear yours.”

“Ugh.” I’ve been keeping this my dirty little secret. I wince, squeezing my eyes closed. “5SOS.”

He doesn’t say anything, so I peek at him. He turns to the road and then back at me. “5SOS?”

“Five Seconds of Summer? Come on,” I groan. It would be even worse if he’d never heard of them.

He bursts out laughing. “I know who they are. I just wanted to hear you own it.”

I push his upper arm, except it feels like a steel wall beneath my palm. “Told you it was embarrassing.”

“I get it, you like boy bands.”

“Whoa. I wouldn’t call them a boy band. They’re punk.”

“They’re a punk boy band.”

“Agree to disagree,” I say, flipping my hair over my shoulder. “What’s on your Hype playlist?”

“Eminem, Imagine Dragons, Panic! at the Disco…”

“So, if I see you bopping your head on the sideline before a game, it’s to those songs?”

“Probably ‘High Hopes’ by Panic! or ‘Thunder’ by Imagine Dragons.”

I nibble on my lower lip. Those songs are all about chasing dreams, wanting a bigger, better life. I drop my head back on the headrest and stare at West as he shifts uncomfortably. It makes me feel powerful that he’s opening up to me. That I’ve somehow begun to scratch the surface of this campus superstar.

He’s not throwing me lines. This is the real him.

“I like those songs, too,” I finally say. “So, what was West Brooks like as a kid?”

His fingers flex on the steering wheel before he turns right, and for a minute, I think he’s stopping the car just to tell me, but when the bass hits me from the house party, I realize we’re at Sigma Phi already.

He places the car in Park and wipes his palms on his jeans. “Saved by my drunk friend on that one,” he says, looking unsure of himself. “I’ll be right back.”

I sit up straighter. “You want me to come with?”

“I’ll just be a second.” He jumps out, closing his door behind him, and I watch as he jogs up the front walk. Partygoers call his name, clapping him on the back.

For someone who doesn’t like the spotlight off the field, he tends to get a lot of it. I wonder if that’s what makes him so introspective.

If he keeps going the way he is, he’s only going to get bigger and bigger.

My car door swings open, and I turn in my seat, heart thumping. I didn’t see West come back out.

A girl blinks up at me, her eyes are glazed. She’s clearly drunk. “I thought this was the Hulk’s truck?” She steps back, wobbling on her feet. She blinks again, staring at the back side panel where West’s nickname is written out.

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