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going to hurt you, Trish. I just want you to let me love you,” I whispered into her shoulder. She sighed and wiggled a little bit back and toward me. Taking a risk, I snaked my arm around her waist. She froze for a minute, but then relaxed again. Looked like she was going to let me leave it there. I closed my eyes and let my head sink into her pillow. It smelled like her. This was so much better than being on the floor.
     

     
    I WAS FREAKING the fuck out, thank you very much. I tried to tell myself that this was Max. I liked Max. He was cute and sweet and smelled good and said things to me that made me think I was a fraction worthy of him.
    When he put his arm around me, I almost bolted. But I let myself feel it and it was nice. Warm. Comforting. He smelled really good, and I made my mind focus on that and the sound of his breathing in my ear. It was lucky that I wasn’t facing him. I didn’t think I could have dealt with that. Too much.
    I really did want to try for him. I was going to. I wouldn’t do it for anyone else. He was damn lucky that I liked him so much.
    I refused to think about the fact that he’d said he loved me. I was too busy dealing with the sleeping situation to cross that bridge right now.
    It took a long time for me to even get over the fact that I was sharing a bed with someone to even start to think about sleep. But then my eyes finally closed and the next thing I knew, my alarm was going off and I was groaning. I sat up. Or I tried to.
    “Ow!” I’d completely forgotten about Max and had sat up so fast my skull smacked into his nose.
    “Shit, are you okay?” I asked as he held onto his nose and writhed around.
    He moaned a few times and then moved his hands. Gross, it was bleeding.
    “Let me get you a tissue. Is it broken?” He put his hand under his gushing nose so it wouldn’t get on my sheets. Such a gentleman.
    “I don’t think so,” he said, his voice all nasally. I grabbed a box of tissues and shoved them at him. He staunched the flow and started grinning at me.
    “What are you smiling for?” I asked. Maybe I’d also damaged his brain.
    “I can’t believe you let me stay the night with you,” he said, his voice even more stuffed from the tissues.
    “You’re ridiculous,” I said, and I wanted to punch him in the shoulder, but I’d already inflicted enough violence on him for one morning. “I’m going to take a shower.”
    He just nodded and tipped his head back to stop the bleeding. I grabbed my shower stuff and escaped.
     

     
    I FELT WEIRD during breakfast, and I swore everyone was staring at us.
    “No one is looking at us,” Max said in my ear. I turned and glared at him.
    “Shut up.”
    “Are you two fighting?” Simon said from across the table. He, Brady, Will and Audrey had joined us. I was regretting that we were all eating together. I would have rather eaten in my room. By myself. Or at the very least, with just Max.
    “No,” Max and I said at the exact same time.
    Simon put his hands up in surrender.
    “Whoa, sorry I asked.” He went back to his French toast and I glowered over my coffee. I wasn’t much of a morning person.
    “Did something happen to your nose? It looks a little red,” Audrey said to Max. He was fine with talking when we were alone, but he was unusually quiet around my friends and my brother. I wasn’t sure why, but it didn’t bother me. I could talk enough for the two of us and Lottie talked enough for five people.
    “Just bumped it this morning,” Max said, feeling the bridge of his nose and wincing. It did look a little red and swollen, but I’d already apologized a bazillion times and offered to do his laundry for the next month. He didn’t take me up on the offer, but he did accept the apologies.
    “Hey, so you guys are coming this weekend, right?” Will said.
    “Uh yeah. My brother is getting engaged,” I said and Audrey shushed me.
    “Sorry, I just don’t want it to get spoiled. He’s been working so hard on