Stephen was off limits.

Mom made that absolutely clear over take out that night. I let her lecture me on how important that job was for her career and how I couldn't mess it up over a boy. But I'd already decided Stephen was bad news.

That thing is mom said about the girl in the tree was enough for me to want to stay away.

I still didn't know how I was able to stand my ground when he acted like he was about to kiss me. Or maybe I did know. Saying no to him gave me a little rush. Especially when he was so sure he had the upper hand.

In the days after that incident I played the part of Mom's assistant, not thinking about Stephen. I didn't have to think about anything but the wedding. Shontell Davis (soon to be Everett, which she announced to any new person she came across) was the most nit-picky person I'd ever met.

She wanted the invitations in eggshell, not pearl. The neckline of the dress needed to be exactly three-point-five inches lower. She didn't want the wedding outside because the weather was unpredictable, but she didn't want it inside because it felt too constrictive. We lived in California, the weather was always the same!

How was she the person behind my all time favorite books?

I started to understand why people warned you against meeting your idols.

I'd always pictured Sasha Keaton as carefree and easy going, like most of the girls she wrote about. Instead she was this anal retentive woman who could point out a hundred different shades of white.

When Shontell insisted on taking a private jet to New York to look at shoes, my mom, being the amazing woman she was, told me I could stay in California. For two whole days I had that huge house with it's backyard jungle all to myself.

Just as I had gotten settled on the sectional under the cabana with my lemonade and copy of To All The Boys I've Loved Before, someone called out my name. I groaned, not wanting to move.

"I know you're in there!"

Theo?

Why was he there? Was he alone? Did he bring Naomi with him? Was it some kind of intervention? More importantly, did he know about my crush on him?

The possible answer to that last question momentarily paralyzed me. What if he did know? What if he was there to tell me that it would never happen between us and I should stop acting like a baby and get over it?

He continued to scream my name as obnoxiously as possible. It reminded me of when we were younger and he'd do the same thing to get me outside to ride bikes or play with at the park. I abandoned my book and went through the house to open the door.

He grinned when I opened the door, a single deep dimple appearing on his left cheek.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded before he could say anything. "How did you even know where I was? How'd you get here?" Being three month shy of sixteen he wasn't allowed to drive without an adult in the car.

"You do remember our moms are best friends, right?" He said, slipping past me into the house. "My mom dropped me off on her way to her yoga class. And I'm here because you've been ignoring my calls, you ran from us at the book thing," he ticked each thing off on his fingers.

Guilt filled my chest.

"And, the biggest offence," he faced me, a serious look in his eyes. "You thought you couldn't talk to me. Me. Your best friend since birth."

Technically, it wasn't since birth. My family moved to the neighborhood when I was six, but it felt like we've known each other forever.

And, even though I knew he was right, that I could tell him anything and he'd never judge me, I still couldn't imagine telling him that I liked him. It was too embarrassing. My instincts to keep it to myself were obviously right since he didn't feel the same way.

He let out a breath, looking me in the eye. "She told me," he said quickly. "About your plan."

"This cannot be happening." I covered my face, it was so hot I was surprised my hands didn't have burns on them when I pulled them away. "I need to sit down."

He followed me to the back and I plopped down on the sectional under the cabana. The location no longer brought me peace and tranquility.

He sat next to me, rubbing his hands on the knees of his jeans. He did that when he was nervous because his palms would sweat so much.

"I know this is going to be awkward as hell," he started, his gaze on the pool. "But we can get through it. Like we survived how weird it got between the three of us after you and Naomi saw my..."

He cringed so hard at the memory he couldn't even say the word. I snorted, remembering the day as well. He glared and I clamped a hand over my mouth to keep any more laughter inside.

Theo still hadn't forgiven his little brother for pantsing him in front of us.

"See," he said, bordering on laughing himself. "The most embarrassing moment of my life and we're laughing about it now. We've been friends too long to let something like this ruin us."

I pulled my glasses off, wiping the lenses with my shirt as I gathered my thoughts. "It's not just my secret getting out," I told him, putting my glasses back on. "It's what Naomi did. You two were already sneaking behind my back when I told her about feelings for you. She let me walk around like an idiot thinking I could win you over."

For weeks whenever Naomi and I had a moment alone all I could do was talk about Theo. That whole time she was crushing on him too. It must've been weird and confusing for her. I hadn't thought about that.

Theo said nothing for a whole minute, then he asked, "What changed?"

The dreaded question.

I pulled my knees up to my chest, locking my arms around them as if I could protect myself from the world's most awkward conversation.

"Remember at the beginning of school last year?"

He nodded, scratching his chin. "When you were dating the Emmett dude?"

"Yeah," I continued. "After he came out as gay and we ended things, Gabriel kept messing with me, saying I turned Emmett gay because I was fat and ugly."

At the time it hurt. A lot. It was ridiculous to think another person could "turn" someone gay. Still, a part of me wondered. He had to think he was into girls when he asked me out, so what did I do wrong to make him realize differently?

A muscle in Theo's jaw twitched. "Still, don't know why you didn't let me beat his ass."

"He probably would've had his dad arrest you," I pointed out. Gabriel was the kind of bully that'd run his mouth then hide behind his cop dad. "Anyways, that's what changed. You defended me and I got it in my head that if anyone was going to like me for me, it'd be my oldest guy friend."

My eyes were glued to my knees, I couldn't bring myself to look at him after that confession.

"Wow."

That got my attention. He almost sounded offended. He leaned back, hand over his chest like I'd wounded him.

"What?"

"So, you didn't really even like me," he said. "You were willing to settle. You thought I was the best you could do."

That wasn't true. I knew how I felt. I was the queen of crushes back in middle school, crushing on a new guy every week. I when I had a crush on someone and I liked-"Stephen?"

We hadn't really seen much of each other despite me being in his house for hours at a time. Seeing him then, in his usual basketball shorts and a shirt that fit a little tight around his arm muscles, I felt something in my chest spark to life.

Theo turned to see who I was gaping at. Stephen had just come around the side of the house, a stack of Sasha Keaton books, all hardbacks, in his arms. I could finally retire those worn out paperbacks I own.

"I didn't know I was interrupting," Stephen said, his eyes shifting from Theo to me.

I jumped up from my seat, Theo followed. "It's fine." My voice sounded very high pitched in my ears and my pits began to sweat. Why was I nervous? "Theo, this is Stephen. He's the son of the woman my mom is working for."

"Cool," Theo said, then he jutted his chin towards the books in Stephen's arms. "You're a book nerd too?"

Stephen glanced down at the books and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

The exchange was light, friendly. Why was I still freaking out?

Theo nodded. Then he gave me this look that I didn't fully understand, but it made me want to slap him for being so loud.

"I'm going to get some lemonade," Theo announced, then pointed at Stephen. "You want some, Stephen, right?"

"Yeah, no. I'm good. Thanks."

As soon as Theo closed the sliding door behind him, I turned to apologize to Stephen for his weirdness.

"Nah, he seems cool," he said. "Brother?"

"No," I said, holding back my annoyance with that question. "We look nothing alike."

He nodded, slowly. "So, cousin then?"

My brows pulled together as I stared up at him. Why was he so concerned about my relation to Theo?

"Nope," I said, turning to the books. "Are these for me?"

He looked down at the books as if just remembering he had them.

"Yeah. Signed, as promised." He palmed the stack, holding them out to me. "I had to wait for her to calm down before asking her to sign them."

I opened the one on top, Foolish Summer, of course. The book was signed, personalized to me. She even left a note:

This one is my least favorite as well!

I let out a small laugh after reading it. Then I remembered the force of a woman that caught Stephen and me "talking" in her secret office. How were they the same person?

"Thanks," I said, cradling the books. "Was she mad about you telling me her secret?"

"I think after I told her you were her number one fan having her ego stroked cancelled out her anger." he chuckled, putting his hands in his pockets. "What about you? Are you still mad at me?"

Although I should've been after him lying to me and jeopardizing my mom's job, I wasn't mad at him. Honestly, if I'd had the time to think about it over the past few days instead of running errands for my mom, I probably would've missed him.

Well, not him, exactly. Just the excitement of him. He was unpredictable. Kept me on my toes.

And he was off limits. Completely.

"I'm not mad," I told him. "But we should still keep our distance. My mom really needs this job and your mom seems to go off whenever you're within five feet of a girl. So..."

"No, yeah. I get it," he said quickly, eyes on everything but my face. "Well, I just wanted to bring you the books. And I did. Job done. I'll go."

He turned on the heels of his sneakers and left the way he came. I battled with myself on whether or not I should've stopped him. Our parents were away for the next forty-eight hours, it wasn't like they'd know.

Before I could settle on a decision Theo returned, a glass lemonade in his hand.

"He is proof that you never had a crush on me," he said, taking a sip of his drink. "You should've seen yourself smiling and giggling. He couldn't have been that funny."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

Except he did. What I felt when Stephen was near me I'd never felt around anyone else, not even Theo. But Stephen was off limits. And if I denied these feelings they'd eventually go away.

Simple as that.