When Knight and I arrived home, Jace was sitting on the doorstep. I looked to Knight for confirmation that we were witnessing the same thing, then back to Jace, before looking back to Knight.

"Did you forget about our project meeting today?" said Jace, clocking the confused look on my face.

"Didn't we have a meeting yesterday?" I asked. Yesterday, when we'd fought and kissed and become friends, bonded in multiple ways I never thought I would be with Jace Hartley. I'd always thought I was destined to hate him forever, but apparently Cady had been right when she'd said I had angry sparks with Jace Hartley. Because, dear god, had there been a spark yesterday. Not that I would ever admit that to him.

"We did," said Jace. "But we didn't finish, remember? Because of the, uh..."

"Making out," Knight chirped.

"Yes, that," said Jace.

I groaned. I didn't want to do my homework, and honestly, the sight of Jace Hartley's face at the moment was confusing more than anything. I opened my mouth to proclaim that we could put the work off for another few days—mostly so that the awkwardness could die down—when Knight chimed in. "If you guys are worried about being totally awkward, I'm happy to provide a buffer."

"Do you buffer, or just commentate the awkwardness?" Jace asked.

"Both," said Knight cheerfully. "I'm a great multitasker like that."

"Right."

I climbed the front stairs, past Hartley and slid the key into the lock. Behind me, I heard Jace scramble to his feet and hike his backpack up. Knight came to stand behind me as I unlocked the door and identified myself to the security system.

Peaking around the door, I noted the empty entryway. I'd been forced to habitually make sure that the house was empty of notable residents. Austin was the only one who knew about Knight, and I intended for it to stay that way. But when I saw none of my family or any of our staff—confirmed by the engaged security alarm—I knew that Knight was safe to enter. Liv was probably in Casserine with Elena; our cousin was getting married in a few weeks, and Liv and myself were both bridesmaids, though she was performing the bulk of the duties, since she wasn't at school. Mum was likely at work, and who knew where Dad ever was. Probably some Zumba class, or something of the sort. He was kind of quirky like that.

"Alright," I said to Knight. "Coast is clear."

He pranced past me and through the open door. Knight enjoyed having free reign of the house, and the absence of Liv meant he could spend the afternoon in the study room—what he had fondly dubbed the Jace Hartley shrine—without being caught by my sister, who shared the space with me.

"I will never get over your house," said Jace, stunned as he admired the sleek opulence of the entryway. "It makes me understand your arrogance a whole lot more. Even Daria would be arrogant if she lived like this."

"No, she wouldn't," I scoffed. "Because she would have already donated the entire house to charity. She's better than all of us."

"True."

Knight had made his way into the kitchen cupboard, examining the contents critically. Clearly, the snack we'd had a mere hour ago had not filled his stomach. Feeding teenage boys was hard.

"Get out of the kitchen, Knight," I said. "We need to get started on our project, and our buffer is required."

The boys followed me up the stairs to my room.

It was strange, having them in tow. My two new friends; my enemy turned friend, and my acquaintance turned roommate. But they were chattering away like two old friends, laughing and making jabs at my expense. They needed to stop that.

"Dude, she snores so loud," Knight complained.

"She would," said Jace, snorting a laugh.

"I do no such thing," I said stiffly.

"You do," said Knight. "It's really annoying. The streets had better ambiance."

"Want to go back to them?" I asked.

"No," said Knight. "You have slightly better food. Slightly."

"You suck."

I opened the door to my study, and allowed the boys to file in after me. Thankfully, I'd pulled some of the Jace Hartley memorabilia down and shoved it in a box at the back of my closet. I could always put it back up, if the tentative friendship between us dissolved. But, for now, our scenario was far more Cold War than Great War, so I was content to stick to silent espionage.

Plus, I didn't want to see Hartley making fun of me again. He was far better at hiding his cut outs of my schedule, based on his neat and mostly Lena-free bedroom.

Some people just didn't have my drive and dedication. Those people were weak. Those people, I could exploit. You know, if the friendship didn't work out.

Apparently, I was fairly confident it wouldn't.

When we plonked onto beanbags in my room, Jace immediately pulled out his laptop and set to work. He was the kind of guy who was productive to a fault; he could sit down and start working, and wouldn't stop until the task at hand was complete. Since we were kind of friends now, I could admit his dedication was a trait I admired. Unfortunately, it was not one that I shared.

After half an hour of working—which, in my books, was quite a long time to work efficiently for, though Jace showed no signs of halting his progress—I became distracted by Knight, who was watching a deep dive video essay on the rise of the Kardashians.

"Here's the thing about the Kardashians," said Knight. "I think they promote very unhealthy body ideals for women, and then promote really dangerous dieting products to encourage young girls to get their bodies via those methods. So, it's like, is hating the Kardashians putting women down, or is it lifting other women up?"

"Are you just quoting that video to try and seem insightful?" I asked wryly.

"Maybe," said Knight, bashfully. "Or maybe I just have deep and meaningful thoughts about the unfair societal expectations placed on women."

"Okay, feminist king."

Knight looked rather pleased with himself.

Jace looked up from his assignment. He didn't criticise my lack of concentration, but the sight of him working away tirelessly had me shamefully returning to my work. He would never ask me to keep plodding away as he did, but I couldn't let him beat me at hard work. How could I gift him that sort of victory?

But it didn't take long before I was distracted again. Knight was showing me a picture from Taylor Swift's Instagram. "Doesn't she look incredible? I'm so obsessed with her."

"I love her silver bracelet," I gushed, snatching the phone from Knight's hand to zoom in on Taylor's wrist. "I want a silver charm bracelet."

"You should buy yourself a silver charm bracelet then," said Jace. He'd taken a short break from his assignment to take a swig from his water bottle and comment on our conversation. "Aren't you ridiculously wealthy?"

"Well, yeah, but jewellery is always way cuter when someone buys it for you. Sentimental value and all."

"That's true," said Knight.

"Want me to buy you a cute best friends' necklace, Knight?" Jace asked, laughing.

Knight was absolutely serious when he replied. "Absolutely I want that. I'm thinking gold, it matches my skin tone." Jace rolled his eyes, amused, and went to look back at his laptop, when Knight cut in again. "You should take a food break, best friend. Your brain needs fuel."

"We've been working for less than 45 minutes."

"Oh, God, that's even longer than I expected. Do you need a nap?"

Jace smiled.

"He's right," I chimed in. "We should get some food."

The last time I'd offered to feed Jace Hartley, he'd yelled at me, infuriated by my seemingly random kindness. Then he'd kissed me. Thankfully, Knight was here to offer a buffer, because I couldn't help the traitorous glance my eyes made as they dropped to his lips. Knight noticed, because he smirked, but he didn't say anything. I would definitely hear about it later, though.

Knight pulled out his phone instead of mocking me, looking through the UberEats app thoughtfully. "I'm thinking Chinese. Fried rice, dumplings, sweet and sour chicken. Oh, yum."

"How do you plan on paying for all of this?" said Jace.

Knight looked at his phone, which displayed many dishes of delicious-looking Chinese foods, mournfully. "I'm hoping some rich guy in a Porsche hits me with his car and I can sue him."

"Why does he have to be rich?" I asked.

"Because I'm like Robin Hood," Knight said. "I steal from the rich and give to the poor. The poor being me."

"Well, you haven't been hit by a Porsche yet," said Jace. "And unfortunately, I don't know that the restaurant will accept an IOU with the terms that you are potentially hit by a Porsche."

Knight seemed stumped by Jace's logical explanation. Then he turned to me. "Hey, you're rich. I can steal from you."

"You already do. I've bought you like three meals today."

Knight looked at me sweetly, batting his eyelashes. The effect was not quite as adorable on an eighteen-year-old boy. "Can I borrow some money for lunch?"

I scowled. "Money doesn't grow on trees, you know."

Knight snorted and his lip quirked upwards when I handed him my credit card anyway. "If it did, I wouldn't be asking you for it."

"Yes, you would. You'd be too lazy to go find a tree."

Knight pondered over this for a moment. "You know what? You're right. This is exactly why I keep you around."

"Wow, friendship goals right there. I am basically being used."

He slung his arm over my shoulders. "Basically."

Lending Knight money had become a regular occurrence. While he hated having to live off my charity, he was used to spending money with little regard for a limited bank account, as rich kids often do. So, it was easier to pretend that he didn't mind borrowing off me, because it seemed a little bit less like he was my charity case if he asked for money like an annoying, cheap friend.

Jace shrugged and closed his laptop. "Yeah, fair enough. We probably don't need to do any more. I mean, we did have a meet yesterday."

I kicked my legs up in the air. "Oh, yes!"

Jace smirked at me. "I've never seen someone so excited by the prospect of not having to do work anymore."

"You should see me every day after school," I said, releasing my hair from its tie and letting it fall loose around my shoulders. I shook my curls free and stared over at Jace, who was looking at me with a slight tilt to his head and a glaze to his eyes. I met his gaze with one of my own, blue eyes boring into gold, challenging and steady.

"Do you two always look at each other like you're about to bang," Knight asked innocently. "Or is it just something you do in front of me?"

"Just for you, Knight," Jace said drily.

"Thanks, guys, I feel special."

"Why does everyone think we want to bang?" I demanded.

Knight rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I don't kn0w," he said slowly. "You're right. I have no idea what the reason could be. The obvious sexual tension? No, can't be that. Hmm, maybe the constant and incessant chatter about each other that borders on obsession? I mean, hardly suggests banging territory. I suppose some could suggest that, given the last time I saw you two, you were making out, but I mean, you're right, I really have jumped to conclusions there."

"Okay, dick, you can stop now," I said grumpily. Laid out in a list like that, some would suggest it served as damning evidence. But Jace and I were barely friends, and the nuances of our relationship were completely left out of Knight's stupid list. "We don't want to bang."

"We don't," Jace echoed.

"Sure," said Knight in a singsong. "I can't wait to hear everyone else's thoughts at the picnic. I wonder what they all think."

Annoyingly, I thought they might share Knight's stupid opinion. And suddenly, I was dreading the scheduled picnic.