I slowly faced Joshua after hearing his voice, calling for me through the hallway. Guilt ran through me when he touched my arm. But he didn't seem to notice something was wrong when he said, "What do you say we go to Bubbles?"

"Again?" I said, wishing he would just go away.

"Yeah." He laughed. "I want you to meet my friends."

"Oh," I said, trying to figure out how to get out of that. I spotted Finlay behind him and tried to wave to her without him knowing. She grinned, walking toward us. "Fin and I -"

"We weren't going to do anything today," Finlay said to Joshua, not seeing my look. Or maybe ignoring my look.

"Good," Joshua said brightly. "So, Grace, do you wanna come?"

Fin and Joshua were looking at me, waiting for my answer. I wished I wasn't weak. "Sure," I said, nodding. "Why not?"

Finlay smiled at me, obviously happy with my choice. Joshua kissed my temple before ambling away to go tell his friends. I hoped he'd come back because he was my ride to Bubbles.

"Fin," I said, whirling to face her. "Why couldn't you lie to him?"

"Why?"

"I haven't told him yet," I hissed, stepping closer to her. "I've been trying to distance myself from him, maybe make him forget about me."

"Did you see how he looked at you?"

"No."

"He looked at you like you were his world."

"Well, that sucks because all I'm going to do is break his heart."

She looked like she wanted to say more but her mouth never opened again. A hand touched my back, and I cursed on the inside.

"Are you ready?" Joshua asked.

"Yeah."

I slammed my locker shut and glared at Finlay. She just shook her head.

Joshua kept his hand on the small of my back, sending goosebumps up and down my back. We were silent, and I was glad. If I spoke, I'm afraid my voice would shake. Or I would just blurt it out at the wrong time.

"Grace, you're really quiet," Joshua said when we got in his mom's car. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I said quickly. "Just . . . a lot on my mind."

"Would you care to share?"

"Uh," I said, battling between 'yes' and 'no.' "Uh, not yet."

"It must be pretty big if it keeps you this quiet."

I nodded. "Yeah. It's . . . let's just say it would hurt someone."

He gave me a look before focusing on the road. "Did you do something?"

"No." I thought about it. "Yes. I don't know."

He parked at Bubbles but didn't turn the car off. Instead, he turned to face me, a frown taking over his face. He knew something was up. I wished he didn't. I wished he would ignore it.

"What?" I asked, my heart racing.

"I think I know why you've been avoiding me."

My heart was being crushed. He knew? Why wasn't he mad? "Really? I am so -"

"You're brother came home and you have been spending time with him."

My mouth shut, and I nodded enthusiastically. It hurt to lie to him, but I still did anyway. "That's it."

He smiled at me. "I'm glad you're talking to him. You looked frazzled when he came."

I was still frazzled. But I nodded, forcing a smile on my face. "Yeah. Me too."

A knock on the window jarred me from my guilt. A guy I had only seen around school was grinning at us. A few other guys were behind him, all staring at me. I offered them a nervous smile. If I could barely face Joshua, then how was I going to face his friends?

"Don't worry about them," he said, drawing my attention back to him. "They can be a little rambunctious, but I love them."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

I got out of the car and immediately was surrounded. "So, you're the girl," a guy with shoulder length hair said. "You took our guy away from us!"

"Anthony," Joshua warned, taking my hand in his. "What did I say?"

"Be nice."

Joshua nodded, looking pleased. "Grace, these are my track buddies. Guys, introduce yourselves."

One guy stepped forward, offering me his hand. I shook it, keeping his gaze. His eyes were a golden brown, and man, was he hot. "I'm Sean."

A guy with the bushiest hair I had ever seen grinned at me. His hands were stuffed in his pockets. "I'm Ryan."

I had no idea how I was going to remember those names. They looked all the same with the windswept hair and body like gods.

We headed inside, and Joshua whispered, "You look overwhelmed."

"Just a bit."

More than that, I was feeling really guilty. He wanted me to meet his friends. What was next? Would he ask me out? I didn't think I could do that. Especially if I told him about the kiss. I didn't think he'd want anything to do with me. That's just how his ex broke his heart, and I will just do it again.

His friends were already sitting at a table and Joshua was looking at me expectantly. "What would you like?"

"Vanilla."

He nodded and told the waiter that, paying for it. The three friends were smashed together in one booth, leaving the other side open for Joshua and me. Joshua sat down first, so I slid in next to him.

"So, Grace," one said, leaning toward me, "I always knew you were cute. But when did you get so hot?"

My face grew warm as I ducked my head. Joshua hit my arm as he did something. I could guess that he kicked whoever said that because they were gasping in pain.

"Is there any room at this table?"

I glanced up and nearly screamed. What was Drew doing here? He didn't wait for an answer; instead he sat down right next to me. I was nearly sitting on Joshua's lap to make room for him.

"I'm sorry," Anthony said, frowning. "Who are you?"

"Drew Walker." He glanced at me before saying, "I'm new here. But I thought Grace would love to see me."

"Why?" Joshua asked, his voice hard.

"You don't know?" Drew asked, cocking his head to the side.

I really wanted to punch him. Finlay taught me a nice hook that I would've totally used on him, but Joshua said, "Don't know what?"

I wanted to crawl out of that booth and run away forever. This was not how I wanted to tell Joshua. I didn't want to tell him at all, but Drew was forcing my hand.

Drew leaned closer to Joshua, and I closed my eyes when he said, "She kissed me."

Joshua grew stiff beside me. "Is this true, Grace?"

"No," I said quickly. "Well, yes. But I wasn't the one who kissed him first. He caught me off guard and -" His eyes were filled with something that I've never seen before. He looked devastated. "Joshua -"

He put his hand up, silencing me. "No excuses. You two kissed, didn't you?"

"Yes."

For some reason, I didn't feel Drew get up. But I was standing up and Joshua was and Drew was too. My eyes were full of tears and some were spilling down as Joshua stared at the two of us.

"Joshua," I said, reaching out toward him. He jerked away from me, and my heart was shattering. "Please listen to me."

"This is just how my ex broke my heart," he said. "And now here you are."

"No! Joshua, I love you!" I blurted out.

He turned away from me, and I really did punch Drew. My hand was hurting so bad, but I didn't care. He ruined everything. Just when life got better, it fell apart.