There’s already a few lines of cars when I pull in with my truck. Tess is riding shotgun, filling the spot I’ve missed seeing her in.

She’s holding, I should say hugging for dear life, a bag of various candy. It’s mostly Hershey bars and those weird crunch things, because somebody picked out all the Reese’s and KitKat bars.

Hint: it wasn’t me.

There’s wrappers of candy that she insists she didn’t eat resting in the cup holder between us. Apparently, the candy fairy ate them.

I back into a spot next to one of the speakers. It isn’t like Tess hasn’t seen these movies a million and one times, so it isn’t like I have to park here. But the spot is somewhat secluded, not to mention it’s close to the concessions stand.

Based on the way Tess is going, we’re going to need more snacks by the time the movie even starts.

I can’t help but smile at it.

I lean toward her, because I notice chocolate smudged on the corner of her mouth.

My thumb absentmindedly swipes across her soft lips. They’re painted a light pink, only slightly darker than the natural color. She rarely wears makeup, not that she needs any at all, but when she does it’s never overbearing.

I notice how she sucks in her breath when my thumbs makes another pass across the smudge. It’s gone after the first swipe, but her skin is tempting and I can’t help myself.

A knock at the window causes her to jump.

We both look out the glass, seeing Ian and Dylan standing outside my truck.

Moment over.

Tess opens the door and hops out, candy still in hand. I wait a few moments before following her lead, meeting the guys on the side of the truck.

Play nice, I remind myself. It’s her birthday.

Dylan and I link hands and grin at each other. Even when Ian and I were tight, Dylan and I got along pretty well. He’s a less overbearing version of Ian, which makes me like him.

Plus, he doesn’t go after Tess. Instant win in my book.

Tess gives Dylan a hug, and he welcomes it, squeezing her before letting her go only moments later.

“I didn’t know you were coming!” Tess exclaims, offering him some candy from her stash.

“I wasn’t going to miss seeing the birthday girl,” he informs her, taking a handful of Hershey bars.

“Plus, the girl he’s been trying to get is here,” Ian adds, nudging Dylan with his elbow.

Tess’s eyes light up. “Who is she?”

Dylan rolls his eyes at her excited face. “Don’t get worked up about it. I’m looking for a one-night kind of thing, not some happily ever after.”

Tess takes away his candy. “I can’t share my chocolate with people who don’t give up the details. It’s my birthday, after all. I should get all the juicy gossip.” Opening one of the chocolate bars, she waves it in his face, bribing him.

Dylan pouts, sticking out his bottom lip. It’s all playful though, because soon he divulges the details she’s drooling over.

That’s how Tess is. She gets what she wants with just a single look. The best part is, I don’t think she realizes she has guys wrapped around her finger.

Does she know how easily people fall for her spell?

Does she know how easily I fall every time?

I hope not.

Dylan swiped the chocolate from her hand. “Kennedy Miller. Know of her?”

I eye him inquisitively. “Isn’t that Opal’s friend?”

“Best friend,” he says, shrugging.

“Best girl friend,” Ian corrects, as if it makes a difference. I guess it does, for Bash’s sake. For as long as I can remember Opal and Bash were inseparable. I don’t think Kennedy really became her friend until years after Bash and Opal met, and even then, their friendship lacked compared to Bash’s.

It doesn’t seem smart to go after a friend of a friend, but who am I to judge? I’m literally feet away from my own best friend, and I can’t even go after her.

“Did you like the group shots?” Tess asks Dylan, giving him another piece of candy.

I stare at them, no clue what they’re talking about.

“They’re badass.” Dylan holds up his fist for her to bump.

She looks at me. “The band hired me to do photos of them for promotional stuff,” she explains. Her voice is sheepish, yet holds a type of excitement that is hard to hear.

She loves taking pictures, using her camera. It doesn’t surprise me that she’s excited.

“That’s great,” I tell her, and I mean it. Every word.

Dylan draws her attention back to him. “When do we get to see the individual ones? Did you highlight my abs in mine? I want them to be the focus. Show the girls what they’re missing.”

My eyes narrow. “You took a picture of him shirtless?”

She laughs nervously. “For the sake of art, Will.”

Dylan rumbles with laughter. “For the sake of orgasm, is more like it. As soon as our female fans see these pictures, our ticket sales are going to triple.”

Ian shoves him. “We want them to like our music, dumbass. If they think we’re selling porn, it isn’t going to help us any.”

Tessa smacks Ian’s arm. “My photos are not going to make people think of porn!”

He lifts his hands. “Fine, fine. Chill, birthday girl.”

Dylan’s face lights up. “That reminds me.” He digs something out of his back pocket. It’s two rectangular pieces of paper. He passes them to her.

She squeaks. “These say Madison Square Garden … and Relentless.”

Ian grins. “We’re booked to be one of the performers that night. We all thought that it would be a good birthday present. Maybe you could snap some pics if you want, or just come and enjoy the show.”

She jumps up, and wraps her arms around Ian and Dylan. “I told you guys not to get me anything, but this is awesome!”

Ian looks over her shoulder at me and winks. I glare at him.

“You should bring Will,” he tells her in amusement. “I’m sure he’d love the show.”

She pulls away, giving him a warning glare. “Behave.”

He sighs heavily. “Whatever you say, but you’re draining my entertainment for the night.”

The large screen flickering indicates that the movie is about to start. I gesture for Tess to follow me, grabbing some pillows and blankets from the cab of my truck and moving them to the bed.

It’s tradition to build our own little spot in the bed of my truck whenever we come. Usually, it’s filled with just about any junk food you could imagine. Last time we were here, Tess insisted we stop by the pizza shop and order dinner. We had enough food to feed everybody who showed up.

Did we share?

Hell no.

Tess looks back in the cab, her eyes focusing on the guitar I have sitting on the backseat.

“You brought Betty?”

My eyes furrow. “Betty? You named my guitar.”

She shrugs. “It needed a name, since it’s important to you.”

I chuckle. “Yes, I brought … I’m not calling it Betty. I brought my guitar because I have something for you.” She gives me a look, but I shut it down. “I know you said no gifts, but I didn’t buy anything. I wrote something.”

Her eyes widen a fraction. “You wrote a song?”

I nod, smiling at her. “I know it’s not much, but—”

She tackles me in a hug, holding me close to her. “Will, it’s everything.”

Wrapping my arms around her waist, I smile into her hair. I breathe in her scent, taking in the familiarity of the raspberry apple lotion she uses, mixed with the green apple shampoo.

I pull away first, brushing a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. She smiles up at me through her thick lashes, her blue eyes glistening in what light is coming from the lamps around us.

She takes my hand and I entwine our fingers together. “You don’t usually write songs, and when you do, you never share them. If you wrote me something, then that means everything to me. Really. It’s the perfect birthday present.”

I can’t help but laugh. “You haven’t even heard it. For all you know, it sucks.”

We finish making our make-shift bed in the back of my truck, and Ian comes waltzing over. Dylan is already over talking, or flirting, with a group of girls a few cars down.

Maybe one of them is Kennedy. I don’t know. Can’t say I care.

“Well doesn’t this look all cozy?” Ian teases, glancing back and forth between us.

His eyes land on me a little longer than I want.

Tess shoves his shoulder, but doesn’t say anything.

I look over at the concession stand, where there isn’t a huge line of people. Reaching into my pocket, I pull out twenty bucks.

“Why don’t you grab us some stuff before the movie starts?” I suggest, giving her a smile.

She looks at me with a weird expression on her face. “You willingly want me to leave you alone with Ian?”

Ian snorts. “Think we’ll murder each other?”

She shoots him a glare. “I sure as hell hope not, but you never know. Not with you two anyway.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m not going to do anything. The line just isn’t that long, and I know you’re going to want popcorn and a few other things. I’m being considerate.”

Passing me her candy, she give me the eye. “Fine, but don’t eat all the candy.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I muse. “I would hate to see it disappear like the rest did.”

She sticks her tongue out at me.

Ian looks between us, an amused smirk on his face.

Not going to lie, I want to smack it off.

But Tess wants us to play nice. She told me there’s nothing between them. I’m willing to let old feelings rest. It’s been a long time since I could look at him without wanting to match the black eye I gave him three years ago.

Tess walks away, leaving Ian and I alone.

Ian steals a piece of candy from the bag. I don’t stop him. I figure, it’s his funeral. If he doesn’t think she’s counted these, he’s an idiot.

“So you going to give me the talk, or finally end this stupid war between us?” he questions, leaning against the side of my truck. Unwrapping the chocolate, he pops it into his mouth.

Ian Wells, ladies and gentlemen. Right to the point.

“She told me there’s nothing between you.”

“I could have told you that.”

I shrug. “I wouldn’t have believed you.”

“No shit,” he muses sarcastically. “So does that mean you’re going to stop cocking your leg every time we’re both around Tessa? No need to mark your territory, bro. She’s always been yours.”

It’s a bad analogy, but the picture is clear.

Was I still threatened by him? Yeah.

He was competition in one way or another. He’d always be annoying and arrogant, cocky and overconfident. Everything I’m not. He’s always somebody Tess will look up to.

And that … that pisses me off.

“Yeah, something like that,” I mutter. “And, for the record, I’m not your bro. I’m still pissed at you.”

He goes to take another piece of candy, but Tessa is suddenly there smacking his hand away. It makes me laugh, especially seeing the murderous expression on her face.

She’s cute when she’s angry.

Like a kitten with its tiny claws out.

She’s holding a bucket of popcorn, which looks like it’s glistening with butter. Extra butter, if I know her as well as I think I do. Under her arms are two bottles of water, a packet of Twizzlers, and a bag of Swedish Fish.

She tosses the Twizzlers to Ian, who grabs them greedily. To my surprise, she hands me back my twenty dollars.

I give her a look. “You didn’t spend any of your own money, did you? Tonight is on me.”

She grins. “Actually, no.” She turns to Ian. “The girl at concessions told me it’s on the house if I got Ian Wells to go over and sign a few autographs and take pictures.”

His eyes light up as he bites into a Twizzler, a smirk tipping up half his mouth. “Is she hot?”

Tessa’s smile wavers, like she’s trying to hold in laughter. “Oh, yeah. I’m sure she’s a real fire-starter in the bedroom.”

Ian and I both look over at concessions, and I see why she’s trying so hard to keep her composure.

Ian frowns just as I burst out laughing. Tessa soon joins in, until we’re almost doubled over with our popcorn all over the ground.

Because standing behind the concession booth is Mrs. O’Reilly. A sixty-something-year-old woman who is known to be the town cougar.

I let out a loud snort, trying to catch my breath.

Ian grumbles something under his breath.

I slap him on his shoulder. “You better get over there. Wouldn’t want to keep your biggest fan waiting.”

I think he mutters, “Oldest fan,” as he trudges over, giving Tessa a narrow glare as he passes her.

“That was good.” After helping her up into the truck, I pass her the popcorn once she’s settled in. She sets it beside her, along with our drinks and candy, and waits until I’m settled in the spot next to her.

There isn’t much room on the bed, but it’s comfortable. I notice how she cuddles into the blankets, tugging one over her legs as she fiddles with her water.

“Comfortable?” I ask, popping some popcorn into my mouth.

She gives me a small smile. “Yeah. You?”

I contemplate telling her no—to readjust so we’re closer and touching. But I don’t push my luck.

“Yeah,” I tell her quietly. “Happy birthday, Tess.”

Her smile melts into a puddle of warmth.

“I still think you have an awful choice in movies,” I add once the previews are starting.

She shoves me, giggling. “You know you love Ghostbusters. Don’t forget I was there when you considered buying the T-shirt with the Staypuff Marshmallow Man.”

And just like that, we were back.

Will and Tessa.

Two halves of a whole idiot.

Throughout the movie, our hands would brush as we reach for popcorn. Our arms would brush whenever either of us shifted. When a breeze would blow she would move closer to me until my arm was around her shoulder hugging her into me. She cuddled into my side, her hand going to my chest. I tugged the blanket up over us, tucking it around her so she was bundled up.

I don’t remove my arm from around her, it feels natural where it is.

Her head rests on my chest, using her hand as a pillow. I lean my chin on the top of her head, trying to watch the movie. It’s hard when she’s this close, like she was during our movie night at my house.

And it’s not until the night sky darkens the field, and the stars blanket the blackness that I realize … Ian never came back.

I look over, seeing him hanging with Dylan a few cars down.

Once he sees me, I swear he winks.

Maybe he isn’t so bad after all.

When the first movie is over, it’s after nine o’clock. Our popcorn is long gone, along with the candy we brought. Tess stifles a yawn, melting her body into me. My arm is asleep, still resting on her shoulder. I don’t mind though, because this is where I want to be.

The sound of her phone beeping next to her turns her attention from the opening of the second movie. I keep watching as she reaches for it, but when her entire body stiffens next to me, I can’t help but look at her.

“What’s wrong?” I whisper, squeezing her shoulder.

She doesn’t even look like she’s breathing.

“Tess?”

She stares at the screen, but her eyes seem a million miles away.

“You’re worrying me,” I plead, pulling away. I scoot over, so I can see her fully.

She blinks, her eyes completely hollow. “I’m fine …” She doesn’t sound convincing enough, so I tilt her head so I can see her eyes.

“Please don’t lie to me.”

As soon as our eyes lock, her lip quivers. “I-I don’t want to be broken anymore, Will.”