I was gonna beat their asses, I thought when I turned to the three that interrupted us.

Waverly's face was the reddest I'd ever seen it, her gaze fixed on the hardwood floors of the hallway. Leaning against the wall, I shielded her from the dumbasses at the end of the hall. "Sorry."

She glanced up at me. "Friends of yours?"

"Not after I murder them."

Her lips curved into a small smile and worry I didn't realize I had dissolved. "Let me know if you need help with the bodies." She pushed away from the wall and headed down the hall in the opposite direction.

"Where's she going?" Toliver said, moving to follow her.

I pushed him back. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Nope, but apparently you do." He laughed, Marc and Alfie joining in.

"I know you're all virgins who couldn't get a girl if you offered her a Birkin, but that doesn't mean you have to try and mess things up for me."

I pushed past the three stooges and headed to the kitchen for something to drink. It was getting hot in that house, or maybe it was the way my heart was still going a mile a minute after that kiss that had me breaking a sweat.

I'd been thinking about kissing Waverly since that almost kiss at the book festival. It was definitely worth the wait.

"What I don't get," Marc said, the three of them following behind me, "Is why you'd drop a fine ass girl like Toya for some fat bitch."

If the top wasn't still on the bottle in my hand water would've gone everywhere from the way my grip tightened around it.

"You know big girls are insecure and desperate." Alfie laughed.

Waverly was anything but insecure. She was unapologetically herself. Comfortable in her own skin. She loved what she loved and didn't care what anyone else thought about it.

The complete opposite of me.

I should've said something, defended her. But I already knew what'd they say if I told them that I liked Waverly and it wasn't about the physical. It'd be like talking to three brick walls. So, I shrugged and took a drink of my water.

"She's gotta be putting out," Toliver continued. "And it's gotta be good because you haven't even looked at another girl since getting here."

Another shrug, another sip. It was all I could manage at that point. I was hot for a whole other reason. Knocking them out started sounding better and better.

They kept bugging me for details, asking me to rate Waverly on a scale of one to ten. How did I end up associating with those three?

I kept my mouth shut. I didn't know what would've came out if I opened it.

I was out of water and turned to get another from the fridge, thankful for the small break from their dumbasses.

Naomi, Waverly's friend, was in the kitchen, three sodas in her hand from the cooler next to the fridge. She was staring at me so hard I swear I felt my skin burning like she was shooting lasers.

Shit.

She left the kitchen. I wondered how much she overheard. Was she going to tell Waverly?

My first instinct was to find Waverly and explain to her that after that night I was never speaking to Toliver or Alfie or Marc again, but the three of them were still hounding me and they'd just follow me around.

I grabbed another water from the cooler and hoped Waverly would still talk to me after the party.

"I need your help." Dev materialized at my side. He dug around the cooler grabbing two flavored waters. "I know you're here with Waverly, but I need a wingman."

If Naomi said anything I was probably already in trouble with Waverly. If she caught me with another girl...

"Ask one of them?" I said, jutting out my chin to where Marc, Alfie and Toliver were standing and getting rejected by every girl who walked by.

"And have Sabrina hate me?" Dev said, immediately shutting down that idea. "Sabrina is here with her sister and she won't leave us alone. I just need you to distract her while I talk to my girl."

Glancing at the three stooges, I realized Devon was right. If he sent one of them after Sabrina's sister, she'd never talk to him again.

Against my better judgement I agreed to help out my friend. Sabrina and her sister were standing in the living room watching people dance and whispering to each other.

"Stephen?" Sabrina said, narrowing her eyes at Dev. She still must've been mad at me for what happened with Audri.

Her sister on the other hand shamelessly gawked at me. Her name was Blair and she liked The Office-the British version. I didn't know anything about any version of that show, but that was all Dev gave me as we walked over.

Any other time I'd be able to work with that small amount of information. That night, though, all I could think about was Waverly and her lips and how stupid I was being standing there instead of with her.

"Sorry," I told Dev, patting him on the shoulder before excusing myself. I had to find Waverly.

I found the hall I last seen her in and edged my way past two dudes in Santa hats making out under the mistletoe to get the backyard.

It had just started to get dark and a million Christmas lights lit up the area. Santa and the gift bags were gone, his throne taken over by people taking selfies.

I did two laps around the pool, looking for Waverly's familiar halo of curls and came empty. Did she leave?

I was about to head back into the house when I saw Theo. He was dating her friend and absolutely nothing was going on between him and Waverly-I knew that. I still didn't like him, though.

From the look he gave me I assumed the feeling was mutual. Naomi must've said something to him

"Whatever she told you, it's not what you think," I told him when I got in front of him.

"So, you're not lying to your friends that you're having sex with Waverly?"

"No! They just assumed-"

He crossed his arms, staring me down. "And you corrected them?"

"Look, man, I just need to talk to Waverly."

"She left." He said.

"With who? I drove," I said, my mind already telling me that I fucked up. Our first real try at being a couple and I ruined it in just a few hours. That had to be a record.

"Uber. With Naomi," Theo told me. "The only reason I stayed behind was to talk to you."

I ran a hand over my face, trying to scrub away that night's failure. "Whatever you have to say, trust me, I know."

I knew how lucky I was to have met someone like Waverly. I knew I was a coward who couldn't own up to my feelings for her in front of my friends or my mom. I knew that she deserved someone better.

Theo spared me the lecture but asked, "Then why don't you act like it?"

It was a simple enough question, but the answer was lost to me. It was like I could see the train coming at me full speed and instead of moving out the way I waited for impact.

I could've easily fixed things with Waverly. All I had to do was tell my mom and everyone else that I liked her.

How could such a simple solution feel like climbing Mount Everest?

"It's obvious you care about her," he continued. "If you didn't you wouldn't be looking at me like I was public enemy number one."

I winced. Was I being that obvious?

"Waverly seems to like you too, but,"-he paused, gathering his thoughts as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his shorts-"She's never had a boyfriend, not really, and with her reading all these romance novels...If you're not serious about her then leave her alone."

• • •

Theo had confirmed what I was thinking. I needed to let Waverly go. She deserved someone who wouldn't think twice about telling his friends to shut up on her behalf.

I left the party after realizing that. Being alone in an empty house was just the thing I needed. When I got to my front door I realized I wasn't alone.