Page 119 of Sincerely, Your Enemy

Hell, I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but on a good day, I’d even go as far as to say that I’m a great tutor. Unfortunately, Chance might feel differently.

I couldn’t focus during our lesson—ironic, considering my student is the one with a bad concussion. All I could think about was joining TJ upstairs and picking up where we left off in the observatory.

Not to mention, I’ve been grinning from ear to ear all morning.

I can’t believe I have a boyfriend—scratch that, I can’t believe I haveTHEboyfriend.

Chance and I tried to study for over an hour before I had no choice but to face the facts. This wasn’t going to be a productive use of our time, so I wound up telling him that my head wasn’t in it. I did, however, promise to tutor him again sometime next week when I’m not practically bouncing off the walls and overstimulated.

Our friends were waiting for us to finish our lesson before leaving for the hike—all of them except Aveena and Xavier, who didn’t feel like tagging along—and so, here we are now, on our way to Crimson Ridge National Park. Chance claims to know the park’s trails like the back of his hand. He and his dad used to hike there all the time when he was a kid.

We had to take two cars, and TJ insisted on sitting in the back seat of Xavier’s car with me—Xavier was nice enough to let us use it, and thank God he did. I could hardly see myself sitting between Aaron and TJ.

TJ then proceeded to hold my hand and rub my palm with his thumb for the entire drive. It all seems too good to be true. It’s as though I’m just waiting to wake up from a dream, waiting for the moment reality hits and my new, perfect boyfriend goes up in smoke.

We pull into the national park’s visitor parking a little after one. We ate way too much at breakfast, so I’m hoping moving my body will help with my stomach pain.

Chance’s car isn’t far behind, and he snatches the parking spot next to us. We all climb out of the car and meet near the entrance, each carrying a backpack.

“How many miles did you say it was again?” I ask Chance.

“Fifteen for us. Five for you.”

I blink at him. “Five for me? What does that mean?”

Chance’s eyes widen like he accidentally said too much.

“Goddamn it, man. Way to ruin the surprise,” TJ tells Chance, an unwavering smile on his face. He doesn’t seem too mad about it.

I spin to face TJ. “A surprise? What surprise?”

TJ reaches for my hand. “We’re not going with them.”

My jaw drops. “We’re not?”

“Nope.”

My eyes dart around our circle, and the smiles spreading across our friends’ faces tell me they were all in on it.

“Then where are we going?”

TJ wraps his arm around my body from behind and pulls me closer. “Like I said, it’s a surprise. Think you can handle waiting a little while longer?”

I squint. “You’re not going to drag me off to an isolated corner of the woods and murder me, are you?”

He laughs and kisses my forehead. “Nah, I very much need youalivefor what comes next.”

Somehow, that doesn’t reassure me in the slightest.

“Well, lovebirds, this is where we part ways,” Theo says.

Dia pulls me into a hug before we separate. “You better tell meeverything, you got me?”

I give her a nod, but the look on my face must be giving me away because she adds, “Breathe. You’re going to love it.”

Just like that, we dissolve from the group, and TJ leads the way to a different trail located on the other side of the park, named Crystal Pathway.

I don’t know where this Crystal Pathway is going to take us.

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