Page 98 of The Embers That Remain

Grandpa pointed at him. “See? I told you.”

“You literally bet me twenty dollars,” Jace countered. They’d been making bets?

“And I won,” Grandpa said with a flourish.

“This is going to be so embarrassing.” Jace melted into a puddle and slid onto a bar stool.

I bit into my sandwich, trying and failing to hide my smile. “You’ll survive.”

Jace groaned. “Everybody at school is going to find out Doc is dating Coach.”

Grandpa grinned. “Just wait till they get married.”

“GRANDPA!”

Forty-Eight

Lane

Ishould’ve known better than to think I’d get through the night without the entire town knowing. My phone was vibrating on my bedside table like it was auditioning for a pop song.

Buzzz. Buzzz. Buzzz.

It refused to quit. I reached over, grabbed it, and found a string of messages taking over the group chat.

Landry: Ohhhhh. I heard some fun news!

Sawyer: Do tell!

Landry: That a certain Lane Massey has been caught “neckin’” with a certain Cali Walton. Lane, care to share any details with the class?

Soren: GIF of person dramatically fanning himself from the heat.

Jonah: Who says neckin’ anymore?

Sawyer: Cowboy, you’re so hot when you use GIF humor. *kissy face*

Soren: GIF of man sending an exaggerated wink.

Jonah leaves chat.

Landry adds Jonah back to chat.

Jonah: Please, for the love of all things, let me leave this circus.

Landry: Nope, bro. You’re stuck with us for life!

Sawyer: GIF of people swaying in a group singing a song with their arms over each other’s shoulders.

Jonah changes group name to *three eyeroll emojis*.

Landry changes group name to Besties4lyfe.

Soren: Congrats, dude! Glad she didn’t freak when she found out everything you’ve done.

Sawyer: Yeah, that was actually really sweet.

Landry: I knew you were down bad, but man . . . this is an entirely different level of commitment.