Page 54 of The First Love Myth

I slide in next to Max once the waitress is gone. If he’s surprised by my closeness, he doesn’t let on, only stretches his arm out behind me. I lean into him and soak in this moment, glad to have someone to share it with.

“Do you want anything besides fries?” he asks, holding up the menu.

“Wings, obviously.” I feel him smile and chuckle. “Boneless, please. And an iced—”

“Tea, unsweetened, no lemon,” he finishes. “I know.”

Of course he knows. I sneak a glance at him while he peruses the menu. My body hums whenever he’s near. It’s unexpected. But he’s undeniable. Honest. Real. He isn’t playing a game.

I kiss him, quick and soft. My lips tingle, and even my toes feel the impact of that smallest of kisses. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For knowing my drink order.”

It’s the smallest of things. But he remembered it, and that means something. Andrew still doesn’t know how I take my coffee, and my dad is hopeless when it comes to these things.

The waitress comes to take our order, and once she’s dropped off our drinks, Max shifts to face me. “When are you meeting your dad’s girlfriend?”

I explained the whole ordeal that is my family, starting with pregnant Liz and ending with tears and pastries, over the course of our day. Yesterday, I hosted a group chat with Becca and Haley, unwilling to have to share the story more than once, but other than that, I haven’t worked through it. My dad made sure I was okay, but it’s not the type of thing we talk about. In the retelling today, though, I discovered bright spots. Liz is having a baby. My dad is in love. I don’t have to lie about my relationship with Anna any longer. Liz picked me.

“Next week. I’m spending this whole week at Liz’s, if I can. Then I’ll be home for dinner with Dad’s girlfriend and getting repacked, hanging out with Becca, saying goodbye... and then once this second session is over, I’ll hit the road.”

“What about me?” he asks, nudging me playfully.

I glance up at him innocently. “What about you?”

“Will we be hanging out before you go back to PA?” he asks, his fingers running circles on my shoulder.

“No.” I laugh as his eyebrows rise in mock offense. “We’ll bemakingout.”

He shifts next to me, his offense shifting into intrigue. “That sounds—”

“Illegal?”

I know who it is the second his voice sounds in the small space. My body goes frigid, and next to me Max is tense.

“Singer,” Max says sharply.

“Well, at least highly frowned upon,” Andrew continues, his eyes searing holes into me.

I don’t flinch or move from my position under Max’s arm or look away. Andrew doesn’t get to rattle me ever again. “Do you want something?”

“Just saying hi.” He motions to someone we can’t see, and a moment later Claire appears at his side. Her expression is one of confusion, but it quickly turns stony and even a little snide when she spots me. But I know that face. It’s the one she puts on when she’s trying to intimidate someone, when she’s pretending to be a badass.

Andrew slides an arm around her waist. “We were catching a bite before we head down to the beach house for the week.”

“Just the two of us,” Claire adds, as if that isn’t obvious.

I swallow a retort about Claire loving leftovers. It’s not worth it. Honestly, I don’t even understand why Claire is trying so hard. In her telling of the story, she won. Andrew realized he wanted her and not me. Losing our friendship paid off. She isn’t the villain of her own story. But Claire can’t seem to grasp that.

“Well, have fun,” Max says as the waitress steps around them to deliver our food.

Max keeps a casual expression the whole time, but as soon as the waitress turns away, his face darkens. I follow his gaze to thefront of the restaurant, where Joe and two other teachers from the high school are chatting with the hostess.

Andrew, as observant as ever, smirks at the change in his former coach’s expression and glances behind him. “Uh-oh. I wonder what they’ll have to say,Coach Evans.”

Claire looks from me to the teachers and back again. She brings her arm up and links it through Andrew’s. “Come on, babe. If we don’t leave now, we’ll get stuck in rush hour traffic.”

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