The Girl in the Love Song (Lost Boys #1)(22)

Everyone couldn’t stop telling me how I’d “blossomed” in recent years, but Shiloh Barrera was a natural beauty largely because, like everything else, it came so naturally to her. I’d never met anyone as confident as Shiloh. Comfortable in her own skin.

“Hey, you,” I said, flopping next to her. We hugged, and I smelled sweet perfume that she made herself out of flowers from her grandma’s garden.

“What’s with you?” she asked, studying me. “You don’t look like your usual First Day of School self.”

“Mom’s putting me on birth control, and I’m beginning to suspect there’s no money for my college. How was your morning?”

It took a lot to shock Shiloh. Now her eyes widened. “Sorry…what?”

“It’s more of my parents’ drama. Forget it. How was Louisiana?”

“Hot,” she said. “And do not go changing the subject after dropping little gems like birth control and… Really? No college fund? I thought that was a done deal.”

“So did I. Dad denies it, but Mom suggested I look into scholarships. But what if it’s worse than that? What if they’re broke?”

“Your dad still has his job, right? Your mom still drives the Jag?” She gave my arm a squeeze. “It’s probably not as bad as you think.”

“Maybe. But God, I wish they’d just be honest with me. I’m going to apply for merit-based scholarships anyway. They’re competitive as hell, but I can’t sit around and do nothing. And if there is a situation they’re not telling me about, I should help out.” I inhaled and exhaled easier. Making plans and following a course of action always made me feel better. “I’ll do what I have to do.”

“Of course, you will,” Shiloh said. “Now let us revisit the Birth Control Situation. What gave your mom the idea that you needed to get on the pill, you hussy?”

“My parents busted into my room last night, and I had Miller over.”

“Did you two…?”

“No,” I said, ignoring how Shiloh looked almost disappointed. “You know the deal with us. My mom’s paranoid because Miller comes over all the time and because I was assigned to the Whitmores as a Patient Care Volunteer.” I lowered my voice. “River’s mom is sick.”

“I heard.” She brushed her hands off on her lap. “Okay, tell me the real deal. You and Miller. You and River. What’s going on with…all of you?”

“Miller and I are—”

“Just friends. Uh huh. Does he know that?”

My head whipped to her. “Of course, he does. Why? Has he mentioned something to you?”

Shiloh looked at me for a long moment, then said, “No. He hasn’t.”

I eased a small sigh of relief. “Good.”

Shiloh rolled her eyes. “Because you’re afraid of messing things up and you don’t believe in real love anyway.”

“I believe in love, but yes, I’d be afraid of messing things up with Miller. He’s too…special to just date or whatever and then have things go south. It’d ruin us.” I shook my head. “I nearly lost him once, Shi. I can’t do it again.”

“So Miller lives permanently in the friend zone but River gets a free pass?”

“I’ve had a crush on River since always, you know that. But he’s the most popular guy in school, in his senior year, and on his way to a storied career in the NFL. I’m completely busy studying and prepping for college. Neither one of us have time for anything serious. I mean, he’s barely spoken to me, but yeah…we could date. That would be nice.”

“You mean safe.”

“Well, yes. I don’t want to get to college with zero experiences, but if it turns out there’s no college money, I’ll have to work even harder than I am now.”

“So, you want to date River and have what kind of experiences? The kind that require birth control?”

“Maybe.”

Shiloh’s brown eyes widened. “You’d let him punch your V-card?”

“What? You think because I’m a dork who spends all her time in the library that I don’t have the same sex drive as everyone else? I’m a geek, Shi, not a nun. And God, I haven’t even been kissed yet. I’m ridiculously behind.”

“It’s not a race,” Shiloh said. “And anyway, you’re not a geek anymore. You’re going to be in the Homecoming Court and probably Prom Queen. Especially if you start dating the future Prom King.”

“No way. Evelyn’s got Prom Queen locked up.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Shiloh leaned back in the grass on her elbows. “What if you fall in love with River, despite your best attempts to remain a casual slut? What if he falls in love with you?”

I laughed. “If something happened with us—and that’s a pretty big if—we’d be practical about it. I’m going to UCSC, which doesn’t have a football team. River has to go somewhere else, like Alabama or Georgia. It would be stupid to get serious and then go our separate ways.”

“Wow, you have it all figured out, don’t you?”

“I have big plans, Shi. Trashing my heart isn’t one of them.”