The more Haley talked, the more Alice started to connect all the dots from the previous day and weeks. The blue shadows under Madison’s eyes. Her pale face, newly cynical view on weddings, and general subdued attitude. Madison pretending the breakup with David had been unimportant, and her refusal to discuss it. Alice had blamed Madison’s sudden reticence on their argument over Jack, but deep down she’d known something else had to have happened. It seemed David Williams had happened! And one of her best friends—yours truly—abandoning Madison at a time of need had happened. Even after she’d learned about their breakup, Alice hadn’t asked, because her pride and heart were still sore after discovering Jack and Madison had had a one-night stand in freshman year. And Haley had probably been too clueless as usual to notice—they usually had to spell things out for her where people’s feelings were concerned. Haley could talk to robots, but she found people much harder to read.
As Haley wrapped up the full story, more pieces fell into place. Madison’s sudden disappearance from the wedding the day before. Ethan, Vicky, and Rose confabulating in a close circle. Ethan’s homicidal expression when he looked at Tyler. And the groom’s pale and frazzled appearance.
What. A. Mess. No wonder Ethan was giving me attitude yesterday, Alice thought. At least now it made sense.
“…And then there’s Scott,” Haley concluded. “Madison likes him more than she’s letting on, doesn’t she?”
Well, ding-dong, Haley. That took you long enough to grasp.
“Mmm,” was all Alice mumbled, not wanting to confirm Haley’s fears, regardless of how well-founded they might be.
“Mmm?” Haley turned toward her, crossing her arms over her chest. “Is that all you have to say?”
No, Alice thought. I want to tell you how happy I am. How crazily, stupidly in love I feel. I want to savor the joy at least for twenty-four hours without being pulled into more drama.
Alice chided her inner self for being so selfish. One of her friends was in pain and all messed up. No matter what Madison had failed to confess, she’d always been there to support Alice through every Jack crisis. They had spent endless movie nights in whenever Jack had a new date and Alice was too depressed to go out. And Madison hated watching TV, she only loved books.
“We have to do something,” Haley insisted.
“Yeah, but…” Alice pulled her hair up into a ponytail. “What can we do? I mean, other than being around and being supportive?”
“I don’t know, Alice. I feel so guilty. She’s in love with Scott, isn’t she?”
“I can’t honestly say,” Alice said vaguely.
Haley threw her a no-bullshit look.
“Okay,” Alice conceded. “I suspect she’s more into Scott than she’s letting on.”
“Wonderful!” Haley pressed her hands to her temples.
“Hey, it’s not your fault. You don’t have to feel guilty about dating him.”
“But how could I not? I’m his girlfriend. Remember how much you used to hate Jack’s girlfriends? How can Madison stand to live with me?”
“First, those are a lot of questions, and second, I’m sure Madison doesn’t hate you.”
“Would you not hate me? Just a few weeks ago you wanted to claw her eyes out for sleeping with Jack, once, three years ago. And I’ve been with Scott for the past six months, right in her face! And I’m not even considering giving him up because I’m just so in love with him… but then, it’s impossible not to feel guilty about how happy I am.”
Alice nudged Haley shoulder-to-shoulder. “So is Scott the one?”
Her friend smiled. “I suspect he might be. I’ve never felt this way for anyone.”
“Not even for the infamous masked dude from last summer?”
“Please don’t remind me about that.” Haley hid her face behind her hands. “I dance with a masked stranger at a party, kiss him, never learn his name, and spend the next six months obsessing over him. How lame is that?”
“Sounded pretty romantic when you were telling us the story.” Alice started talking using what she called a “movie trailer” voice. “A lonely dame at a ball rescued by a mysterious masked gentleman who sweeps her off her feet, leading her in a passionate dance—”
“He was a horrible dancer.”
“It’s the thought that counts.” Alice continued talking in her movie voice. “A romantic stroll in the gardens under a thousand fairy lights, and then, at the stroke of midnight, an epic kiss…”
Haley laughed at her theatrics, but said, “It wasn’t midnight, I’m no Cinderella, and it’s the dude who fled the ball without telling me his name. Sometimes I even wonder if that night was real. You know when something seems so ‘too good to be true’ that you ask yourself if it wasn’t all a dream?”
Haley had just described how Alice had woken up that morning, and she couldn’t suppress the little smirk that escaped her lips. “I know.”
Haley caught the smile and flashed a grin back. “Tell me, Miss Brown, are those beard burns all over your face?”
Alice couldn’t keep it inside any longer, she told Haley everything. How Jack had waited for her in front of their building, how he’d told her he was in love with her, and how they’d spent the night and the best part of the morning.
“Great!” Haley scoffed sarcastically. “So we’re both the happiest we’ve ever been and our best friend is at an all-time low. Alice, I love Scott so much… and he loves me back… a-and I don’t know how to shield Madison from all that.”
“For one, we don’t rub our happiness in her face.”
“And for two?”
“We have to avoid becoming two of those cheesy couples that do things only in pairs. We have to keep going out with a wider group of people—singles and couples—and include Madison as much as possible. And when she has a low day and needs a girls’ night in, we tell the beloved boyfriends to beat it.”
“And you think that will be enough?”
Alice shrugged. “It’s the best we can do; we can’t fix her love life for her. When Madison’s ready, she’ll find the right guy. In the meantime, our job is to be around as much as possible and to force Madison to be social.”
“She likes parties more than I do.”
“True, but what guys do you usually pick up at parties?”
“The wrong kind. Gotcha.”
“Anyway, there won’t be many parties, at least for a while.” Alice sighed. “Not with almost everyone gone for the summer.”
“Right. Only the best are left.” Haley smiled, staring at the Boston skyline in the distance. “I could never spend a whole summer home.”
“Me neither, I’d be bored out of my mind.”
“And also lovesick over Jack.”
“Especially lovesick over Jack.” Alice flashed her friend a megawatt smile. “So how’s your schedule for summer break? Are you going to be super busy?”
“Nah.” Haley toyed with a lock of hair, curling it around her fingers. “I’m taking three summer courses, but I should be able to stick around a lot. You?”
“Same for me. I’m doing an internship at a pharmaceutical company downtown, but it’s mornings only.” Alice grinned. “Jack applied for the same program without telling me, you know, when we weren’t speaking…”
“I like his style.”
“Yeah, me too. You know what Madison is doing?”
“A literary research project for her department.”
“And Scott?”
“He applied for a few internships, something to do with pre-med school. But no answers so far, I think. We haven’t really discussed it yet.”
“Okay, so everyone will be here for the summer,” Alice said. “Now that we have a plan, can I go shower?”
“Yeah, thanks for the pep talk.” Haley pulled her into a hug and added jokingly, “Now you can go wash Jack off.”
They both laughed and stumbled toward the elevator, still hugging each other. They w
ere a team; they could solve any problem if they stuck together.
Five
Haley
Haley spent Sunday at home with her roommates. They baked cookies together, and Haley and Alice made an effort to avoid any boy talk. The strain was clear on Alice’s part; she was bursting with happiness and it was obvious she had to check herself not to smile and hum love tunes under her breath 24/7. For her part, Madison put on a brave face and let them organize the day for her.
But being a good friend had meant ditching her boyfriend for most of the weekend. So as she knocked on Scott’s door early on Monday afternoon, Haley was super eager to jump into his arms.
When he came to open the door, Haley’s breath caught in her chest.
That face. Those eyes. That mouth.
Despite the fact that they’d been dating for six months, he still had that effect on her. Today he was wearing a bright blue tank top that made his muscled arms stand out, a pair of white basketball shorts, and his feet were bare on the wooden floor. His dirty blonde hair was already streaked golden from the first real sun of summer, and he’d never looked better.
Scott smiled. “Hey.”
The smile brightened his entire face, from his sexy lips to his emerald green eyes.
“Hey, you,” Haley breathed when Scott hugged her.
He smelled like he always did: soapy, manly, delicious. But when Haley pressed her face into Scott’s chest, guilt suddenly flared through her. Haley was here in his arms, and Madison was at home, alone. They were in love with the same guy, and that was a problem without a solution. One of them would always end up being hurt. Unless, of course, one of them stopped loving him.
But how could you not love Scott? It was inconceivable. He was gorgeous, smart, kind, and sexy as hell. He was also a bookworm like Madison. They’d been sharing the same Lit classes for years. Haley could just picture her best friend adoring Scott from a distance, too shy to talk to him. She was equally glad and sad Madison had never mustered the courage to speak to Scott. If she had, Scott could’ve been Madison’s boyfriend now; they had so much in common. They both were words people, whereas Haley preferred numbers.
But, hey, opposites attract.
And as guilty as Haley felt, there was no way she would ever give up Scott.
He pulled her into the apartment and shut the door, his lips slowly making their way from her neck to her mouth.
“It’s only been a day, but I’ve missed you,” Scott whispered in her ear.
Haley mumbled something back, too distracted by the cute, tiny freckles scattered all over his shoulders. All she wanted to do now was take off his top and feel that hard chest pressed against hers as she dug her nails into his muscled back. She started kissing the freckles, one by one. And Scott must’ve been a mind reader, because in a swift move he took off the tank top, draping it over his other shoulder.
“Easy, tiger,” Haley joked, pushing him toward his room all the same.
He flashed her a grin. “From the way you’re looking at me, I thought you were the tiger.”
Yeah, that was exactly how she felt. Like a hungry cat ready to pounce.
Haley kicked the door shut and pushed Scott onto the bed. Then she almost jumped into his arms, losing herself in the kisses of the boy she loved so much. And at that moment there wasn’t space for anyone else in her mind. There were only Scott and his kisses.
***
The guilt waited until a couple of hours later to sneak back into Haley’s mind and start whispering in her ear about how selfish she was for being so utterly happy.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Scott asked.
They were cozied up on his bed. Haley had stolen his tank top—she loved wearing his clothes—which reached almost to her knees.
Basketball players are tall. Haley winked to herself for dating one who, at present, was left shirtless next to her.
Haley shuffled across the bed and dropped her head onto that beautiful, smooth-skinned chest. “Yes, sorry.” She kissed one of his flat-muscled pectorals. “I’m just a little distracted.”
A little distracted. That’s one way of putting it.
Haley was positively torn between two loyalties. On one side stood Scott. She wanted to tell him everything, not to keep secrets from him. But then there was Madison. Haley couldn’t expose her friend’s feelings to him. If the roles were reversed, Haley would be humiliated by his knowledge. Neither could she discuss how disgusting his brother’s behavior toward Madison had been when David had dumped her. She had to put Madison’s need for privacy before anything else; her best friend was fragile and needed to be protected. But it still sucked not being able to tell her boyfriend why she was in such a bad mood.
The front door slammed shut and Haley jolted in Scott’s arms.
“Sounds like my charming roommate is home,” Scott said.
The risk of bumping into David had been a calculated one when Haley had asked Scott to meet at his place. Better than Madison running into Scott at their apartment. Plus, Haley couldn’t make love to Scott with Madison in the adjoining room. It would break whatever was left of her friend’s heart.
“When is he moving out?” Haley asked. “I mean, isn’t school over? Shouldn’t he get on with his life, get a job somewhere, or something?”
Scott sighed. “I’m afraid that’s not David’s plan.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s doing a summer internship at an investment bank in downtown Boston, and he’s starting his MBA at Harvard Business School in the fall.”
“So he’ll be here for another two years.”
“Yep.”
“And he’s not moving out…”
“Nope. But at least he won’t be on the basketball team any longer. I’ll see him less than ever and so will you especially…”
It’d better be that way.
Haley wasn’t sure she could control her rage around David. There was something in him that made her go to extremes. She’d never thought she’d be able to loathe someone, really hate, but David had proved her wrong.
“…Would you want to go?”
Where?
Scott had kept on talking and was now looking at her expectantly. He wore a little frown, but was trying hard to smile as if he wanted to be casual about what he was asking, when in fact it was something he cared deeply about. But what was he asking?
“Go where? I’m sorry, I got lost in thought again.” Haley forced herself to stop twirling her hair and pay attention. “Where are you going?”
“Damn, you really are distracted.” Scott’s face fell with disappointment. “Are you sure you don’t want to tell me what it’s about?”
“I’m sure,” Haley said, and made a move-on-with-what-you-were-saying gesture while squeezing his hand to show him her worries did not concern their relationship.
Scott rolled his eyes, but he let it go. “I said that you’ll have to see even less of my brother if you come to California with me this summer.”
Haley’s chest contracted with sudden fear. “Since when are you spending the summer in California?” Haley disentangled herself from Scott’s arms to stare at him.
“I wasn’t until this morning.”
“What happened this morning?”
“I got this.” Scott handed her his phone, an email opened on the screen.
Haley quickly skimmed the text. It was an official acceptance notice for Scott to shadow a certain Dr. Kendrick Allen, a neurological surgeon.
“I know it’s last minute,” Scott said as Haley kept reading the details of the email. The internship started on June 20—only two weeks from today—and ended on August 26, the week before the fall term started. Two months without Scott. “But I never expected Dr. Allen to accept my application. This guy is like the best in his field, he’s leading this revolutionary research program on neuro—”
“I can’t come,” Haley interrupted him. “You know I’m takin
g summer courses.”
“I thought you were just considering it. You never told me you actually enrolled.” Scott’s eyes widened. “Summer School, huh?”
Haley stared at the bedspread, her finger picking at a loose thread. She knew Summer School sounded uncool. “I like the different crowd.” She shrugged. “And there’s always interesting people from all over the world with all these unique backgrounds and coding experience.”
Oh, hell. Did that come out as lame and geeky as it sounded in my head?
Scott lifted her chin with a finger. “Well, that settles it, then. I’m not going.”
“But it’s an incredible opportunity.”
“I have a backup internship in Boston. I never thought Dr. Allen would pick me.”
“Because he’s the best.”
“He is, but the doctor here in Boston is amazing too.”
“But not as great.” Haley sighed. She didn’t want Scott to go. But for him to lose such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because of her… “Two months isn’t a long time,” she lied.
Two months without him would stretch on for an eternity.
“Haley Thomas, I’m not going anywhere without you,” Scott declared. “I love you, and I don’t want to spend a single day apart. End of story.”
A warm fuzz threatened to turn Haley’s inside to jelly. Scott’s gaze was so intense, and he sounded so sure. She stared at the phone still clutched in her hand. Scott had until Friday to accept—or refuse. The offer would stand for four more days.
“Don’t reply today,” she said. He was about to protest, but she stopped him. “Please, take all the time you have to think about it. I want you to be sure. An opportunity like this is too important for you, for your future career. Take at least a couple of days to think it over.”
“I will, but I’m not moving to California without you.”
***
Dating varsity basketball players had its cons. Haley would’ve loved to spend the entire evening with Scott, but tonight he had to go meet a few of his teammates for an outdoor basketball game. Last winter, basketball had been the silent third wheel in their relationship and even now that the official Harvard Crimson team training had stopped for summer break, the game was still a huge part of Scott’s life. He spent almost as much time training now as during the regular season, and never missed an opportunity to play.