Kissing Nate was something I didn't know I needed. I hadn't stopped smiling, and neither had he. We stayed up way too late talking, playing video games and—of course—kissing. So much kissing.

"You sure your mom won't come in here?" We were laying in his bed and couldn't shake the thought of his mom busting into his room and catching us.

We weren't really doing anything. We were fully clothed, aside from our shoes, and hands stayed above the waist. But it was almost two in the morning. I should've been in bed. My own bed.

But I didn't want to leave. It had only been a few hours since that first kiss and yet being with him felt like something I'd been doing for so much longer.

Maybe it was the fact that I finally accepted what I'd been in denial about since he first walked into Cake Me Up.

He laughed, kissing my cheek. "Would you relax? I told you the last fifty-leven times you asked that she doesn't come in here."

"I haven't asked "fifty-leven" times," I huffed as I traced the design on his shirt with my finger. "Only four."

He smiled and suddenly our mouths were connected again, his tongue finding its way to mine. The low moan I let slip had him grinning against my lips.

He pulled away after a while, both of us breathing heavily. "You usually vibrate like this?"

My brows pinched together. "What?" Then I felt the vibration in the front pocket of my jeans. "Oh! That's my phone."

I fished it out, springing up into a sitting position when I read the notification. It was a reminder I set forever ago.

!! LAST DAY 4 BAKEAPALOOZA !!

Nate rested his chin on my shoulder as he read the message. "Man, we need to get serious," he said. "We can still use your aunt's bakery. We got all day."

I'd love nothing more than to spend the day baking with Nate, but that wasn't an option thanks to my dad. "I have to work."

"You need to tell your dad you hate that job," he said as he leaned back against the headboard, pulling me with him.

"Trust me, I've tried," I sighed, snuggling up to him. My eyelids suddenly became very heavy.

"Want me to talk to him?"

I scoffed. "No offense, but he'd kick your ass."

Nate gave me a look that screamed "bullshit".

"Don't let the nerdy attire fool you. He used to box as a kid." I'd heard stories from my grandma and Aunt Mimi, but had never seen any proof of it. My dad always seemed embarrassed when it was brought up.

"You tell me that now?" he said, eyes wide. "After I kept you out all night?"

I laughed at his worried expression and kissed him again. "But you're right. I need to focus on what I want and I want to win Bake-A-Palooza."

For that to happen, I needed an audition video and I couldn't let my dad stop me.

Getting up from the bed, I went to Nate's desk and grabbed a notebook and a pen. "We should map out what the video, so when we go to film we won't waste any more time."

Nate yawn, leaving the bed as well. "Don't you think we should get some sleep?"

"After I write the script."

He didn't argue with that as he left the room. From the sounds of it, he was in the bathroom. As wrote down the plans for the video, his phone lit up with a text.

I did a double take when I saw who it was from. Janae. Reading another person's messages always lead to trouble, but I couldn't tear my eyes away as the messages came in.

Nathaniel
I know you're up on the game lol
I'm back early
Landing in an hour
Let's meet up 💋❤

That last message was the reason I should've kept my eyes on my paper. What did those emojis mean? What did she want with him? Last I heard, she was ignoring him and chatting up Greek men.

The last few hours between Nate and me should've canceled out the doubt I had after reading those messages. Nate told me he'd been thinking about kissing me for weeks. He held my hand when he didn't have to that night we went skating. He...what? Flirted with me while he was trying to get over his ex?

Was I just a rebound? He had been with her for almost a year and he loved her. That wasn't something you got over in only a couple of months.

Maybe I was overreacting. Maybe none of it mattered. So what if this was just a hook up. A summer fling? I was too young for a serious relationship, anyway. So what if Nate went back to his ex?

None of that stopped the lump that formed in my throat. I should've taken Nessa's advice and ended things with Nate before they even began.

I was putting on my shoes when Nate came back into the room. "You're leaving?"

"Yeah," I said, focusing on my laces. I didn't think I could handle looking at him. "My dad called."

He cursed under his breath and I squashed the guilt that came from him so easily believing my lie.. "I'll walk with you."

"No!" I said, quickly standing. "He's probably outside waiting for me. If he saw you..."

"Yeah, I get it." When he took my hand. The way our fingers weaved together felt awkward. His kiss left a sour taste in my mouth. "Now I feel bad about asking you to stay. Will you still be able to do Bake-A-Palooza?"

I shrugged, wondering if he'd even want to do the competition if he knew the girl he loved was waiting for him. "Maybe if I begged."

Slipping out of his bedroom window, I started my journey back home and tried to keep myself from crying. My dad hadn't caught me sneaking into the house. I kinda hoped he had. That way I'd have an excuse for not seeing a Nate again.

♡ ♡ ♡

A Hilary Duff song jolted me awake. Nessa smiled down at me as "Wake Up" played at full blast on her phone.

If I wasn't so happy to see her, I'd probably be pissed. It had been about forty-eight hours since our fight, but it felt like weeks.

She tapped her phone and the room fell silent. "Hi."

"Hi." I said back, sitting up and rubbing sleep from my eyes.

"Your dad let me," she told me. "And he's giving us the day off so I can apologize to you in you in style."

My dad giving us the day off? That didn't sound like him.

Nessa's eyes narrowed. "Why did you fall asleep in your clothes?"

I glanced down at my jeans. When I got home last night I didn't have the energy to do anything except sleep.

Before I could answer her question, she started sniffing me. "And why do you smell like a man?" Her eyes were wide as saucers. "Charm Renée Cunningham, what did you do and why didn't you immediately text me about it?"

Last night appeared to me like one of those photo collages on Nate's closet doors. Snapshot of us kissing, laughing, talking. The perfect night ruined by a couple of emojis.

Had he read the messages yet? Did he reply and was going to meet later? Was he going to forget our plans to film the audition video that day? Was he going to forget about me?

"Hey, what's up?" Nessa sat on the edge of my bed, eyes full of concern.

"Nothing. A lot. I don't know," I groaned, falling back onto my bed. Nessa laid beside me, the two of us staring up at the ceiling. "You might be right about Nate."

I gave her the highlights of last night. Kai scaring us, the making out, the texts.

"Maybe he won't go see her."

My eyes shot to my best friend. After everything she said in the car the other day, I thought she'd be saying "I told you so".

"You're the one who said he was still hung up on his ex," I pointed out.

"I know, but I also know how amazing my best friend is," she said, resting her head on my shoulder. "He'd be a dummy to choose his ex over you."

Nessa held her phone over her face, thumbs tapping away at the screen. I laughed when the opening lines of a One Direction song started. She fast-forwarded to the chorus and we belted out the lyrics.

"It's gotta be yooou, only yooou!"

We were giggling and singing so loudly that I barely heard the doorbell ring. When I opened it, I wished I had ignored it.

Kailand stood on my porch. He couldn't even make eye contact with me, his gaze focused on the welcome mat he was standing on. "Is whats-his-face okay?"

"You'd know if you hadn't ran away!" I spat, closing the door in his face.

Nessa was behind me, shaking her head. "He has some nerve!"

"I didn't think I hit him that hard," Kai called out from the other side of the door.

My eyes rolled and I shouted, "Leave, Kailand!"

I started walking away, leaving him to continue telling his half-assed apology to the door, but stopped when he said, "Someone paid me to do it."

That made me open the door. "Someone paid you to attack Nate? Who?"

He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his ripped jeans as he shrugged. "I don't know. Some dude gave me a hundred dollars to get you out of the bakery."

Why would someone want us out of the bakery?

Nessa voiced my question out loud, and Kai shrugged again. "I don't know and I wouldn't have done it if I knew he was going to wreck it."

That snapped my brain back to attention. "What happened to the bakery?"

His eyes shifted between me and Nessa, his brow pinching together. "You didn't hear?" At our silence, he continued, "They set it on fire."