Her expression must have said enough, because a cloying grin curled across his lips as he mussed Thea’s braids with a rough hand. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell her.”
“Am I…” Her voice was too hoarse, as though she hadn’t used it in months. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Am I that obvious?”
Mikey slung his arms around Thea’s shoulders, not to comfort her, but to use her as a crutch as they ambled back down flower-lined, pastel-hued Maple Street. “Not to Bryce, clearly. Why don’t you just ask her out? Really?”
A choked scoff fell from her. “Like it’s so easy. You getonegirl’s phone number and suddenly you’re a love guru.”
“That’s different. You and Bryce have been close for years.”
Too many years. Almost a decade.
“Exactly.”Thea squirmed out of Mikey’s grip to face him; fear, a cold snake coiling in her gut. “That’s why she can never know, Mikey.Never. It would ruin everything we have.”
Mikey lifted his hands in surrender, his expression crumpling with confusion. “Okay. Okay. Your secret’s safe with me. Pinky promise.”
He held out his little finger, and Thea hesitated before looping her own around it. “Imeanit. She can never know.”
“Then she’ll never learn it from me,” he vowed.
It relaxed Thea only slightly as they resumed walking. On the other side of the street, two police officers patrolled; a reminder that there were far worse things happening in this town than Thea’s unrequited feelings for her best friend.
“For the record,” Mikey said after a few moments of silence, hands plunging into the low pockets of his jeans as he kicked a small, loose stone along, “I don’t think you’d get the answer you’re afraid of if youdidtell her. Bryce isn’t as subtle as she’d like to think, either.”
What didthatmean? It only felt proof that Mikey was oblivious to the reality of the situation. Bryce was the most guarded person Thea knew; at least, with everyone but Thea. There was no way that Mikey had seen anything between them, anything that meant BrycelikedThea, too. Thea would know. Thea would’ve noticed.
And yet his words still left hope sparking around her chest like a pinwheel. She tried to douse it in water, tried not to let the fireworks flicker too close to her heart, but how could she?
Bryce was all that Thea wanted; all she’deverwanted, and the only person who didn’t seem to know it was Bryce.
* * *
Bryce hadn’t intended to open her emails again, but when she’d found Liv’s laptop sitting on the coffee table after her shift, well… her fingers slipped. She typed in the password warily, eyes darting back to theFriendsrerun on TV each time a set of canned laughter erupted, though she hadn’t really been watching it to begin with.
Instead of finding Liv’s usual Harry Styles screensaver, though, she found a web page already open. The University of California’s golden seal was the first thing Bryce saw, and something deep within her stilled. Only her fingers could move, and they took her further down the page, to the course details and tuition fees. A sociology major. It cost more money than Bryce would probably ever earn in her life. She hadn’t even known Liv was interested in sociology,orBerkeley. All of their conversations about college had been vague, though Bryce had been working hard with the anticipation that once Liv graduated, she would need funds.
But Bryce didn’t havethistype of money, not unless Liv could get a scholarship. She probably couldn’t even afford a damn flight to California, let alone everything else that came with college life. How was Bryce supposed to know what needed paying for when she’d never been able to go herself?
“Hey.”
Bryce almost jumped from the couch at the sudden interruption. Liv stood at the living room door, a face mask covering her features and a bowl of cereal in her hand.
“Jesus. I thought you were a ghost.” With her white dressing gown and goop-slathered face, shedidlook an awful lot like Casper. “Come here.”
Liv sighed. “What have I done now?”
“Nothing. Just sit.”
Placing her bowl on the coffee table, Liv collapsed with a huff and Bryce pushed the laptop into view between them. Liv’s eyes widened when she saw what Bryce had found. “Have you been snooping again?”
“It’s not snooping if you leave the page open for me to find.”
Clucking her tongue, Liv clicked the page closed and tucked her knees to her chest. “You weren’t supposed to see it. You never use my laptop.”
“Why do you never talk to me about this stuff?” Bryce was unable to keep the hurt from seeping into her voice. “I’d like to know what you want out of your future, y’know.”
“Because you want to get rid of me?” Liv’s usual taunting had ebbed to flat words and blank features. Her lips pressed into a pout, shoulders slumped.
Bryce’s forehead wrinkled with grave lines of worry, then. “No. Because we’re a team, you and me. I want to make sure I’m prepared for whatever you choose. I want to be involved in your life.”