“You play guitar?”
It’s not until she asks that I realize I’ve never played with or for her. Never even mentioned I play, apparently. “Um, yeah.”
“And you’re just…hired? Just like that? Didn’t you have to audition?”
“No. Sutton has heard me play before.”
Too late, I realize it’s the exact wrong thing to say.
Tanya’s spine straightens, and her lips purse. “Will Kyle Spencer be on the tour?” she asks.
The name rings no bells. “Who?”
“The country singer. Herboyfriend.”
I had no idea Sutton was dating anyone. But I don’t say that. Instead, I shrug. “No idea. It’shertour.”
Tanya studies me for a soul-searching minute. Looks away. “Are you in love with her, Teddy?”
This should be an easy answer. Instead, I give her the honest one. “I don’t know.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“I had no idea she was coming back. No idea any of this was coming. I’m sorry, Tanya. Really.”
“Isshewhy things didn’t work out with you and her sister? With Ellie?”
“It factored,” I admit for the first time.
Tanya blows out a breath so long that it’s audible. A whoosh of air, like a deflating balloon. “I think we should take the summer. Consider yourself single. When you get back, we can talk.”
She stands and walks away.
Once again, I feel nothing.
It’s alarming how quickly every person in Brookfield suddenly knows how I’ll be spending my summer. It starts in the teacher’s break room.
Chris Marshall plops down at the table I’m sitting at, directly next to me, peanut butter and jelly sandwich in hand. “Dude.” He leans closer. “Is the English department smoking crack, or are you going out on tour withSutton Everettthis summer?”
I swallow the bite of cupcake I was chewing. It’s the last day of the school year, meaning there’s no shortage of sweets lying around. “The latter.”
“Teddy, man, you gotta hook me up.”
“With what?”
“WithSutton Everett. Have you seen her—”
“Don’t finish that sentence,” I warn. “I know what she looks like.”
He eyes me. “So, it’s like that, then?”
“Like what?”
“You’re into her.”
“She’s afriend.”
“Yeah, sure. You’refriendswith Sutton Everett.”