At about midnight, Jeremiah announces he needs to sleep if he’s going to get a workout in tomorrow, so I say good night as well and duck into our tent. I thought it might be awkward sharing a tent with him, but I like being with my friend. It’s nice not being alone. In our side-by-side sleeping bags, Jeremiah looks over at me with a smile. “Good night, Winters.”

“Good night, Jere.”

But neither of us can sleep. He can’t get comfortable on the ground. My stomach still hurts from today’s run, and being in the same tent makes me want to curl around his body and rest my head on his chest. Not to hook up or anything—just to be warm. But I don’t want him to think I’m starting something. His breathing hitches each time I move a muscle.

On top of that, Nick and his friends are still raucously drinking beer and telling raunchy jokes.

Jeremiah checks the time on his phone. 2:00 a.m. “God, are they ever going to shut up?”

“Not likely,” I say. After camping, Nick never rolls home before dinnertime on Sundays.

“I knew I should’ve set this tent up farther away.”

“You mean I should’ve set the tent up farther away?”

He grumbles.

“I don’t get it. How can a country boy like you not know how to set up a tent?” I ask.

“My brother and I always wanted one growing up, but we never had the money. My dad’s a teacher and my mom’s a pastor and they had five kids. Things like tents came second to putting food on the table.” Jeremiah starts chuckling.

Not having money doesn’t seem like something to laugh about. “What are you thinking?” I ask.

“When my brother first got together with Kate, he was working at a camp. And he didn’t know how to set up a tent either—this camp had fancy cabins, so when he and Kate would sneak out at night to fool around, he’d just drag this giant parachute out onto the grass and they’d sleep on it.”

“Wait. The big parachute like we used in gym class as kids?”

“That’s the one.” Jeremiah laughs again. “Matt says she found it very romantic…Of course, she found out the truth later on that fall—they went camping and she had to set up the tent because he didn’t know how.”

I grin at that, snuggle deeper inside my sleeping bag, and shut my eyes. This morning’s run exhausted me and I’m begging for sleep to come, but I can’t seem to pass out—I’m too wired thinking about my leg, wondering if it’s really hurt or if I just worked it too hard today. And what the hell is up with my stomach? My body hurts everywhere.

That’s when I hear them talking.

“Who is this guy?” Evan asks. “He didn’t go to our school, right?”

“Nah,” my brother responds. “Jere lives over in Bell Buckle.”

“Are they dating?”

“I don’t think so,” Nick says.

“Is she ever gonna date again?” Alisha asks.

“Did you see that guy’s scars?” Evan asks. “I mean, you can’t possibly let a guy like that hang around your sister.”

Jeremiah tenses up in his sleeping bag next to me, going still as a possum playing dead.

“I think he’s sexy,” Kimberly announces in her I’ve-had-a-ton-of-beer voice. “Goooo, Annie!” Great, we’ve moved on to the cheerleader voice.

“Can we find something else to talk about besides my baby sister’s love life?” Nick asks.

“I’m just kind of surprised,” Evan replies. “I mean, I thought I might have a shot.”

“What?” Alisha hisses.

Nick groans. “That better be the beer talking, dude.”

“I like her,” Evan continues.

“Oh God,” I mumble. Jeremiah stays still as a log.

“But I haven’t asked her out because I never saw an opening after Kyle died, and now she shows up with this random guy none of us has ever heard of before?”

“Let’s not talk about Kyle,” Nick says.

“It’s pretty pathetic Annie’s still swooning over him,” Alisha says. “What’s it been? Like, a year?”

I rush to cover my mouth.

“Shut up,” I hear my brother hiss. “Evan, if Alisha can’t keep her mouth shut, take her home.”

Somebody murmurs something I can’t hear.

“I don’t care how late it is,” Nick says. “She shuts her mouth or she goes home.”

Jeremiah sits up straight and jerks the tent zipper down, ready to pounce. I reach out and grab his shoulder, shaking my head, silently telling him it’s not worth it. I’m not messing up Nick’s birthday because some stupid bitch is stupid.