Page 61 of When You Had Me Adapting

“I was just thinking, I guess.”

“Thinking?” He smiles at me. “What’s on your mind, bud?”

“How do you know when you’re in love with someone?”

“Woah! Hitting me with the tough questions tonight, aren’t we? You’ve got plenty of time to worry about that. Let’s try to get through the third grade first. Don’t you think so?” He pats my knee and unmutes the TV, but I don’t move.

“No, Dad. I need to know. This is important. Tell me.”

He takes a deep breath. “Okay, I guess we’re having this conversation.” He mutes the TV. “Um, I think it’s different for everyone. For me, it was a bunch of small moments with your mom. Our first kiss.”

“Ewww, don’t be gross.”

He chuckles. “Well, you wanted to know. It was also the way she saw me for who I was and stuck by me no matter what. I knew deep in my gut she was my person. One day, I realized I didn’t want to do life without her, and the rest was history. Does that make sense?”

I nod, not really sure what he means, but I think I get it.

“Why do you want to know?”

“Because I think I’m in love.”

A huge grin erupts across his face, and for a second, I think he’s going to laugh, but he doesn’t.

“Annie, you may want to get in here. Jace has some big news,” he yells.

CHAPTER 28: THERE’S A FINE LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE

LACEY - PRESENT

Chris has barely spoken a word since we got in the Uber and left trivia. Poppy and Logan keep trying to make small talk about the Fourth of July weekend but he’s not biting. He’s sitting next to me silent like he’s pissed. It’s a little annoying. Actually, it’s a lot annoying and I don’t know what it all means.

The Uber comes to a stop in the parking lot of our apartment complex and the four of us climb out and head up the stairs. Poppy, Logan, and I make our way into the apartment, but Chris pauses outside the door.

“You’re coming in, right?”

“I’m not sure,” he says. He’s standing there with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders slouched.

I step back outside and close the door behind me. I reach out and try to touch his arm, but he moves away from me to lean against the metal railing of our landing. Both hands remain firmly in the pockets of his pants.

“Did I do something?” I ask. My mind immediately revisits the hug with Jace after we won. Is that why he’s acting so mad?People hug. Friends hug. Fuck, strangers hug. Surely, he can see it was just a hug. Right?

It was just a hug. Right?

“That Jace guy likes you.”

His words stay suspended in the humid air surrounding us.

“No, he doesn’t.”

“Yes, he does, and I think you might like him too.”

I shake my head. “You’re wrong. Up until two weeks ago, I hated him.”

“There’s a fine line between love and hate, Lacey.”

A laugh spills out of me and I shake my head again. “No. Do we have a history? Yes. Are we friends? Maybe, but he’s just another guy in our friend group.” I move toward him, but he doesn’t move. He doesn’t try to invade my personal space at all and I hate it.

“He calls you by a nickname. He reads the books you like. You don’t think it means he sees you as more than a friend?”

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