They say the third times the charm, and I think it might be when I slide into a white dress with three-quarter length sleeves, a cut-out back, and silver, sequin scrollwork. The hem hits mid-thigh, and though it’s shorter than I imagined myself wearing, it’s my favorite.

“Are you planning on showing me any of the dresses?” Carson asks, as he sticks his head around the corner so I can hear him.

I open my door, running my hands down the front of the dress, making sure the sequins are lying flat against the material of the dress. “The first two didn’t work, but I think I like this one.”

“Shit,” Carson says, catching my attention.

When I look at him, his eyes are fixated on my legs, and they slowly work their way up the rest of my body. He says nothing, just continues to stare at me with a nearly blank expression. “It’s too short, isn’t it? I can try on another one. Just let me get changed.”

He shakes his head, words failing him. “No,” he mumbles.

“Tell me the truth. I want your honest opinion.”

Finally, he says, “You look amazing, Kinsley. That’s the one.”

“Really?”

He holds out his hand, and I walk toward him. “You want the truth?”

I nod my head. “Always.”

“Okay, the truth.” He pauses for a moment, and I have no idea where his mind is. Wherever it is, it looks pretty serious. “Rhett’s a lucky guy. I hope he knows it.”

I take my hand out of his, letting it drop to my side. “I hope so too, Carson.”

Like he’s trying to pull himself out of a fog, he blinks a couple times. I catch my reflection in the mirror once more before walking back into my dressing room. Closing the door, I lean against it, needing a second to shake off whatever just happened out there.

I take my time getting changed. I even fiddle with my phone for a couple minutes, but reception is spotty inside the store, and my wi-fi doesn’t even work. When I can’t stall any longer, I leave my safety net.

“Carson?” He’s no longer sitting in his chair. In fact, I don’t see him anywhere. Where’d he go?

“Over here.”

I follow his voice, and find him with a pair of shoes in his hand. “What are you doing?”

“This is always the next stop, right?”

I look at what he’s holding and realize they’d match my dress. “I was going to borrow a pair of Kate’s.”

“Na,” he says. “Pick out ones you want. They’re on me.”

“No, Carson. I can’t let you do that. You bringing me here was enough.”

He pins me with his stare. “Tough. I’m buying.”

I don’t bother arguing, considering he doesn’t look like he’s going to budge. I browse the rest of the shoes, but end up coming back to the ones he showed me first. They’re perfect—and now it’s really obvious he’s done this before.

We go to one more store, The Loft, before I leave with an outfit so sophisticated, I’ll probably wear it to a job interview someday.

“We make a good team, Kinsley. I’m just sorry I won’t get to see you in any of this.”

“You won’t be here this weekend?”

“I was planning on leaving Friday afternoon for Penn State to watch Wyatt play on Saturday, but if you need me, I’ll wait and go on Saturday.”

“Oh. That’ll be fun.” I try to hide my disappointment that he’s not going to be around, but he sees it, even if he assumes it’s because I’m not going to get to see my brother.

“Maybe one weekend you don’t have plans, we can go up together and catch a game.”

“Really? I’d love that.” It’s been Wyatt’s dream to play for Penn State since we were little. Being able to see that for myself, would be amazing. Especially since I know how much it bothers him that his parents aren’t there to see his dream come true.

“You got it, we’ll figure out which game when we get home, and then make it happen.”

“You’re the best, Carson. Seriously.”

“I’d do anything for my best friend.” He accentuates the friend part of his statement, reminding me the friend zone is the last place he wants to be; let alone stay.

Rhett’s not going to like it if I go away with Carson for even an hour. Which is why I panic a little when we pull into my driveway, and he’s sitting on the stairs leading to my apartment—waiting for me.

I EXPECTED TO find Kinsley asleep when I got to her apartment. What I didn’t expect, was to find her car sitting in the driveway while she’s nowhere to be found. She hasn’t answered any of my texts since she left school, and my calls went straight to voicemail.

It’s not like her to ignore me.

All I can picture in my head are her tears, and the way she fought to keep it together, even though she was out of breath, and practically hiccupping. When she told me all she wanted was for her dad to come home, I hurt for her. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to be in high school without parents. Mine may drive me crazy sometimes, my mom over-protective, and my dad always expecting the best from me, but to not have them—it’s unimaginable.

Most days, she hides her pain well, but today, it came tumbling out of her—and it killed me. Though I don’t feel quite as torn up when Carson’s car pulls in next to Kinsley’s and she’s in the passenger seat, laughing at whatever he’s saying to her.

Suddenly, I’m more possessive than I ever thought possible, cracking my knuckles and grinding my fist into my palm. She’s my girl, and he’s testing my patience. I’ve tried my best to overlook their roommate status, even told myself I was overreacting or making something out of nothing, but this is proof that Carson has an agenda of his own that has nothing to do with honoring my relationship with Kinsley.

Better yet, they’re so wrapped up in their conversation, neither of them spot me until they’re practically on top of me. Kinsley doesn’t notice until she almost falls into my lap. “Rhett, you scared me. What are you doing here?”

“I was worried about you,” I say, with my eyes directly on Carson’s. He gets the hint, and moves past me, carrying a bunch of bags in his hand.

“I’ll be inside, Kinsley.”

“Okay,” she responds quickly before sitting on the step below me, her body angled toward mine. “You’re mad, aren’t you?” she asks, nervously.

I think about how I want to answer her before I say something I’ll regret. The more I think about it, it’s not her I’m really mad at—it’s Carson. Considering they live together, he has so many opportunities to take advantage of her situation, and it bothers the piss out of me. Plain and simple. “I’m trying to keep my cool.”

“I had to leave school, Rhett. I’m sorry. I just couldn’t do it today.”

“I get that. We all need a break sometimes, but you ran from me to him, Sunny.”

She reaches for me, and all I want to do is hold onto her, but I can’t pretend her being with him doesn’t bother me. If I don’t speak up now, I risk losing the only girl who’s ever meant something to me because I didn’t fight hard enough to keep her when I had her.

When I don’t accept her into my open arms, she sits back down on the step, completely defeated. “Don’t do this, Rhett. I didn’t run to him.”

“I can’t help the way it looks, Sunny. Watching you run away from me today—again, hurt like hell. I wanted to be the one to put a smile back on your face. I wanted to be the one you needed.”

“You are all those things. It was his idea to go to the mall, not mine. I was content going back to bed and waiting until school was over to talk to you, but I needed clothes. Clothes for a weekend I don’t even want to deal with.”

“Then why go?”

“Because I have to. Look, Rhett. All Carson did was drive me to the mall. It’s the kind of thing my brother would do for me if he wasn’t away at school.”

Hearing her compare Carson to Wyatt, helps some. It still doesn’t take away all the time they spent together, but I can’t stay mad at her. It’s my job to build her up, not tear her down. So, I swallow my pride and get over my jealousy so we can move on. “Okay.”