Page 89 of Losing the Rhythm

“My crap doesn’t make whatever is going on with you any less important. And I’m your friend, right? Friends help. I want to help if I can.”

Justin’s expression softened. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “I know. I know. But friends also recognize a time and a place. We don’t just unload all our crap onto each other without thinking about how the other person is doing. You had a panic attack. You’re going through enough right now. It can wait. I don’t need to unload it all on you at this moment and only make you feel worse than you already do.”

“Okay, so we don’t talk about it. But what can I do to help?”

Justin’s response was slow as he said, “I’d like to have a friendate with you tomorrow.”

“Another one? Meet after school?”

“No. In the morning. And this is because I need it, but I want to do it with you.”

“You want to skip school?”

“Yes.”

I frowned. Did he have a habit of doing that? Shadows in Justin’s eyes made my chest ache. He needed this. And I probably needed it too.

“Done.”

The small sad smile only made me want to pull him into a tight hug.

“Good. Seth is already letting me spend the night.”

“Laura is okay with that?”

“She understands.”

That only made me more curious about what was going on with him. I didn’t push.

“Here.” Seth came in with a glass of water and my pill bottle.

“How’d you know.”

Seth leaned down and kissed the top of my head. My gaze flickered to Justin, who watched the display, but his expression gave nothing away.

“I pay attention.” Seth didn’t say anything else and retreated back into the kitchen.

Eventually, Seth called us for dinner. We ate in relative silence. Once we were done, we decided on a movie. I ended up on the couch between the two of them.

Awkward didn’t begin to explain it. I was sitting between boys who I had kissed. Seth was very open about his thoughts, but I had no idea about Justin, and the fear and nerves were enough to keep me from asking.

Seth settled on a weird horror comedy movie about a family moving into a town near Halloween. They moved into an old house and the daughter accidentally released a dangerous ghost into the small town.

I was passing out before we were even halfway through the movie. As soon as we all got comfy, it became impossible for me to keep my eyes open.

As I fell deeper into sleep, someone repositioned me. I instantly became more comfortable and fell completely into darkness.

Chapter Twenty-seven

~Seth’s POV~

“I kissed Cadence.”

I looked over at Justin. We were on the couch with Cadence stretched across the two of us, her legs and feet in my lap. I held on to her ankle, enjoying the reassurance that she was there and okay. “Yeah? And?”

Justin looked down at Cadence, playing with her hair. “I want to kiss her again.”

“Good. As long as she wants it.”

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