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“Maybe,” I say, but I won’t get my hopes up. As much as we’ve had the occasional text, it’s rarely more.

When we reach the back of the Hive, still hidden from view from most of the campus, Lane pulls me to him and kisses me again. He breaks the kiss too soon, pulling back with an apologetic smile.

“I should go. I’m not even supposed to be on campus.” He shoves his hands in his pockets again. “I’ll see you tonight, though. Seven?”

“Sounds good.” I watch him head the long way round to the car park before walking around to the front door.

As I head inside, I exhale, the weight I’ve been carrying on my shoulders over the past few weeks suddenly lighter. I know Aldo will forgive him if I have. He was only angry on my behalf, and he’ll understand why he did what he did when he hears the full story.

Pulling out my phone, I scroll through our group message thread until I find the photo Doug sent of himself at the beach. I’m still smiling at it as I let myself into my room. Closing my door with my foot, I lean against it and type out a direct message. I haven’t sent him one from just me since he went missing and my heart pangs at the stream of unanswered texts I sent over those frantic few days.

ME: Miss you

I lock my phone and shrug off my cardigan, but I’m only halfway through pulling my arms from the sleeves when my phone vibrates. Frowning, I unlock it.

DOUG: Miss you too

I stare at it until my eyes start to blur. Part of me wants to message back and tell him that if he misses me, he should come back. I know it’s not that simple, though, so I fight the urge and click onto Aldo’s name instead to tell him about dinner with Lane.

Putting my phone down on my nightstand, I force myself to my desk. I have an hour before I need to go to Lane’s so I can get a little more of this paper written. Firing up my laptop, I glance over at my phone again, wondering whether things will ever feel complete again.

LANE

“There’s no way you would have turned up with a fake mustache,” Aldo scoffs from the backseat of my Golf.

“Fake?” I chuckle, smoothing my fingers over my top lip. “Who said anything about fake? I was going to grow one.”

Joy laughs beside me. “The baseball cap seemed to do the job. I don’t think anyone noticed you hiding at the back.”

I really hope not, because I’m not allowed on campus, and I was certainly not invited to graduation. There was no way I couldn’t show up, though. I’d made my peace with the fact I might end up being escorted away mid ceremony, but it didn’t happen. Hiding at the back of Rosalind Hall, I kept my baseball cap low and made sure that whichever side of the room Emi Blake was on, I was as far away as possible.

“I’m so proud of you both,” I say, smiling at Joy before meeting Aldo’s eye in the rearview. “You’re both college graduates.”

Joy lets out a groan and slouches down further in the passenger seat. “The knowledge that I’ll never have to write another paper as long as I live makes me so unbelievably happy, I could cry.”

I laugh, but the honest truth is that the two people in my car make me feel that way. When Joy found it in her heart to forgive me, I swear I felt like the luckiest guy on the planet. She had every right to turn and walk away from me, but I plan on spending the rest of my life proving why she was right to give me one final chance.

The last few weeks have been a blur. Thanks to finals, I’ve barely seen Joy and Aldo. I got a job bartending at Extra Credit just to wait out until they graduated, so most evenings I’m not at home. It’s good being busy, but I can’t wait to spend some quality time together now our schedules align again.

Of course, there’s still the final missing piece. Doug messaged in the group yesterday to wish them luck for graduation today, but we haven’t heard from him since.

“Last chance to back out,” Joy says, twisting to look at Aldo. “Are you sure you want us crashing your fancy pants apartment?”

Aldo just rolls his eyes, looking hot as hell in his tailored charcoal gray suit.

My grip tightens on the steering wheel as I pull onto my street, my stomach doing a flip of excitement. I’ve applied for a couple of assistant coach jobs in San Francisco, but I haven’t heard anything yet. Part of me wonders whether Joy’s mom has been badmouthing me, even though Joy’s dad has assured her she hasn’t.

We park up outside my building and I take a deep breath as I climb out and close the car door behind me. “Just think, this time tomorrow, we’ll be in your apartment, Aldo.”

“Ourapartment,” he says. “How many times do I have to say it?”

“More, obviously,” I say, elbowing him gently as I start toward the entrance.

Joy pushes between us, looking incredible in her fitted cream dress and heels as she starts up the stairs in front of us. “Break it up, boys. Let’s get inside. I’m starving.”

Any witty retort disappears as I watch her ass in front of me. When I glance at Aldo, he’s watching too, and I grin.

The second we reach my floor, I wrap my arms around Joy and nip at her neck, making her squeal. “Maybe we should just skip straight to dessert.”

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