Page 90 of Those Summer Nights (Sweet Cravings 2)

I turned to look at her coming into the apartment.

“My girl got into the University of New Castle!” J.J. said.

My girl. I was pretty sure I melted into his touch even more.

Kristen squealed. She had the exact reaction I’d expected. She ran over and jumped onto the bed with us. “East coast living! Screw Cali. God, it’s going to be so fun to have you on campus.” She hugged both of us and then screamed again. “What the hell is freezing cold?”

I pulled the ice pack out from beneath her hip.

“Oh. Yeah,” she said. “I got distracted for a second, but what I really wanted to know was what the hell happened to your face, J.J.?”

He touched his eye. “I got in a fight with Mila’s ex.”

“No.” Kristen rolled a little away from us and propped her head up on her hand. “Aiden the dickweed? Here in little old Delaware?”

I nodded.

“What a creep,” she said. “He came here to try to break up your new re

lationship? Low blow. Your poor face.”

J.J. laughed. “You should see the other guy.”

“I bet. So was that why he was here? To mess with your new life?”

I opened my mouth to respond but J.J. beat me to it. “He was trying to win her back.”

Kristen raised both eyebrows. “Not a chance in hell. First, my girl doesn’t play nice with cheaters. And second, she’s madly in love with you, obvs.”

Oh my God, Kristen.

I felt J.J.’s body tense.

“But forget about Aiden,” Kristen said. She grabbed the ice pack from me and handed it back to J.J. “We need to celebrate the good news! What do you want to do, Mila? Go out for drinks? Dancing? Binge watch some Project Runway?”

All I could focus on was the fact that J.J. seemed so uncomfortable. I slowly sat up on the bed, looking anywhere but at him. What did his reaction to Kristen’s comment mean? Did he not love me back? Because she wasn’t wrong…I was head over heels for him. And he was as stiff as a board.

He’d been spending most nights here. We were inseparable when we weren’t working. He’d just referred to my place as his home. Kristen didn’t seem to mind having a third roommate. We’d become the three amigos. Although, definitely no margaritas. But J.J. and I? We’d become an us. And as an us he wasn’t supposed to freak out at the mention of love. I was moving back to Delaware for him just as much as I was for myself. Didn’t he see that? I hadn’t told him that I was in love him, but I hadn’t told Kristen that either and she saw it. Was he just hoping it wasn’t true?

“Earth to Mila,” Kristen said. “What’s it going to be?”

I cleared my throat. “I don’t know. What do you guys want to do?”

“It doesn’t matter what we want to do.” Kristen lightly shoved my thigh. “It’s your night. Pick anything. Aside from streaking. I don’t want you to get kicked out of your new school before you even step foot on campus.” She laughed at her own joke, but I wasn’t really paying attention.

J.J.’s face was hidden by the ice pack. I couldn’t bear sitting on this bed with them another second. “Yeah, let’s go out.” I hopped off the bed. “Unless you need to ice that longer, J.J.?” I wasn’t sure why I asked. It was like I was trying to give him an out. But an out from what exactly? Him and I? That was the last thing I wanted.

“I might keep the ice on for a few more minutes,” he said. “How about you two go ahead though. Get us a table somewhere before it gets too crowded.”

“Sounds good,” said Kristen.

But I didn’t think it sounded good at all. It sounded awful. I had this pit in my stomach that was growing by the second. What if I just never heard from him again? What if he was about to ghost me like Aiden had? Love was a game that I wasn’t good at. And it felt like I was about to lose again.

When Kristen ran to the bathroom to check her makeup, I turned back to J.J. I needed to backtrack. I wasn’t ready to lose him. “I’m sorry about what Kristen said.” I swallowed hard, wishing I could muster the courage to tell him it was true though. That I was in love with him. And ask him why he was so freaked out by those words. But I held my tongue as he laughed.

“Not a big deal. We both know how she loves to exaggerate.”

Right. I pressed my lips together. If he would bother to make eye contact with me, he’d be able to tell it was a big deal to me though. And that it was truer than he wanted to believe.

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