Dating your brother’s best friend requires an impressive amount of lying by omission.
It meant standing in a packed, sticky-floored living room at the Maplewood athletic house, holding a red Solo cup of ginger ale, and maintaining a totally blank expression while Liam raved about his line mate’s third-period defense.
It meant nodding along, smiling politely, and acting like Jace Donovan was just a talented captain I happened to manage compliance logs for, instead of the boy whose midnight whispers were still vibrating in my bones.
"I'm telling you, Vi," Liam shouted over the deafening bass pounding from the DJ setup in the corner, gesturing wildly with a plastic cup. "Jace was an absolute cheat code tonight. The scouts from the Rangers were literally writing novel-length notes after ev
