“So, what are you going to do next?” Dylan asked, whisking the check away before Jared had a chance to find out what he owed. “It’s on me.”
“Thanks,” Jared said. Definitely date territory now. “I don’t know. Keep driving the car, keep my mouth shut. I just want to get out of here.”
“Keeping your grades up and getting into a good school is your best chance. Don’t let these assholes drag you down, Jared. You’re too nice to get caught up in all their bullshit.”
Jared ducked his head and blushed.
On their way out, Dylan paid, in cash, leaving a decent tip in the leather folder. Jared tried not to look—it was rude—but those were two fifties and the meal definitely hadn’t cost that much.
They had parked their cars side by side, and Jared leaned against the door of his truck, Dylan doing the same opposite him. The night had drawn in, and it was cold, forcing him to wrap his arms around himself for warmth. The chill was probably caused by the endless, cloudless sky, broken up by bright clusters of stars and a full, heavy moon.
“Thanks for tonight,” Jared said softly. “I don’t think I realized how much I needed to get out of there.”
“It was nothing. You can call me any time, you know? I don’t mind. If the bastards are grinding you down, we can always go out in Seattle or something.”
Jared nodded. Dylan smiled, and Jared reminded himself they were the same age. The status difference between them: tutor and student, plus the fact that Dylan was already a college student, made Jared think he was dealing with someone much older. But really… there wasn’t so much between their ages.
He knew what happened next. This narrative was familiar—coffee, dinner, kiss, home, sex. Text message the next day, call a few days later if there was a repeat performance in the cards. But Dylan wasn’t a trick or a one-night stand. He was a friend, and Ryder’s brother. He was more than that.
They regarded each other in silence for a moment, similar thoughts likely running through both their minds. Jared wasn’t sure who made the first move. Possibly Dylan extended his hand at the same time Jared stepped forward, closing in on Dylan’s space and softly pressing their lips together.
Jared was taller—he was always taller—and bent slightly at the waist to narrow the distance between them. Dylan was a good kisser. He gripped Jared’s waist with sure hands and his lips parted just a little, allowing them to catch and break, catch and break the kiss over and over.
In a moment, Jared knew what sort of boyfriend Dylan would be. They would go out on interesting dates, to art house movies, and quirky cafes and museums and galleries. They would talk about politics and society and what their role in it was. They’d be more than lovers. Their friendship would thrive until Jared had to go away to college.
Then they’d make time to see each other a few times a month, their relationship becoming more open until one or the other of them met someone else and it naturally fizzled away with no hard feelings on either side. As Dylan’s lips massaged his own, Jared saw all of this and didn’t want it.
He broke away with a smile, pressing a soft kiss to Dylan’s cheek.
“Thanks for dinner. And everything.”
Dylan nodded and they quietly got back into their own vehicles.
There would be no art house movies, or galleries, or cafes. There would be no fizzling away.
Because Jared was in love with someone else. And even the nicest, sweetest guy in the Pacific Northwest couldn’t change that.
Chapter 16
For the next couple of weeks, Jared developed a reassuring routine. Things at Harbor Academy were predictable enough for him to build his life around the key strategic points: homeroom, gym, lunch, parties.
There wasn’t anything planned until New Year on the party front, so he pushed that out of his mind. The one thing clearly driving Clare, and everyone other than Chris and Dylan, insane was Jared’s continued silence. He didn’t talk about the car, or the bet, or the white party.
Someone suggested he should go into politics, and he remembered Dylan’s assessment of Clare and laughed harder than he probably should have. The other students thought he was a little crazy. That was fine. Crazy kept people on their toes.
Adam was… a storm. Other people didn’t see it, but Jared did. He’d only known him for a few months and already he recognized the little tics and features that other people probably overlooked.
Jared didn’t look too often, but when he did, there was something boiling under Adam’s skin. The bruised eyes and wounded expression were long gone, replaced with the arrogant sneer and swagger that was somehow reassuring.
They didn’t talk. Oh, occasionally they exchanged pleasantries or curt nods. Jared acknowledged that Adam existed. It wasn’t his style to hold a grudge, and definitely not while half the school was watching, waiting to see what the next step in the drama would be.
Things had definitely cooled between them; that was unavoidable. Occasionally Jared wondered how on earth the rest of their friends hadn’t noticed. They had been so, so close at one point, spending hours alone together and plenty of time by each other’s sides at school, too. Now things were different, irreparably so.
As the days edged toward Christmas, Jared resigned himself to a trip to New York to spend time with his family. He hadn’t seen most of them since August, and since Hadley was coming too, he didn’t have much of an excuse to stay in Washington.
“Come on,” Hadley said, leaning against the open door to Jared’s room. “We have a plane to catch.”
Jared looked up from where he’d been fiddling with the laces on one of his sneakers.
“Do I have to?” he asked, only partly joking.
She gave him a
