Free First Love by James Patterson Page A

was plenty wrong with us. But was that the thing keeping us apart?
    I couldn’t sleep, thinking about it. About him. Close to dawn, I tiptoed into the room where he was sleeping. He lay on his side, his hand tucked under his cheek. I watched him for a long time, counting his slow breaths and imagining I could hear the strong beat of his heart.
    It sounded ridiculous even to me, but I couldn’t stand not being near Robinson—especially now that I’d gotten to spend every night with him since we started this totally-insane-but-also-the-best-thing-ever trip. He made me feel the kind of joy Ihadn’t felt since I was a kid and my family was whole. And he also made me feel… a kind of rush I’d never felt before in my life.
    How could I ever go back to being by myself—being without him—now that I knew these feelings were possible?
    Before I knew what I was doing, I crept forward and lay down beside him, matching my breathing to his. Whether or not he wanted me the same way I wanted him, we were in this together—that was what Robinson had said. It had never occurred to me before what a complicated word
together
was.

19
    I WOKE UP GASPING. T HERE WAS A weight on my chest, crushing my heart, squeezing the air from my lungs.
So this is it
, I thought,
this is what it feels like to die.
    Next:
Oh my God, I haven’t kissed Robinson yet. Except for that one time, ages ago, when I had that beer, which didn’t even count…
    I clawed at the covers, my lungs screaming. My desperate fingers felt something hard and round—a small, bony knee.
    There was a shriek, a high giggle, and suddenly the weight was gone. I sat up, dazed and blinking. There was a boy on the floor, gazing up at me with giant green eyes.
    “My name is Mason Drew Boseman,” he said pertly. “I’m four.”
    “You must weigh fifty pounds,” I gasped, rubbing my sternum, where he’d just been sitting.
    Then a small girl wandered in, clutching a dirty stuffed bunny. “That’s Lila,” Mason said. “She’s two and she doesn’t know how to use the potty.”
    “I’m… Bonnie,” I said, my breath finally returning to normal. “Nice to meet you both.”
    Mason ducked his head, suddenly shy, like he hadn’t just nearly killed me. Lila simply stared, then slowly brought her thumb up to her mouth and began to suck.
    “Maybe I’ll get up now,” I said, untangling myself from the clean but ratty blanket. Still they stared.
    I walked into the kitchen, following the smell of coffee. “Morning—” I began to say.
    But I stopped. Because Chrissy, who was barefoot and in a silky red nightgown, had Robinson pressed up against the counter—and she was kissing him.
    And it looked for all the world like he was kissing her back.
    I turned around and stood shaking in the hall. Had I really just seen that? Was there a chance I was still dreaming? Mason looked up at me questioningly.
    I counted to twenty, then coughed and tried to make it sound like I was coming down the hall to the kitchen. I heard the shuffling of feet, the screech of chair legs against linoleum.
    This time when I rounded the corner, Robinson was at the kitchen table, reading the paper like he was the man of the house. “Morning, sunshine,” he said, pushing a mug of steaming coffee toward me. He needed a shave, and there was a smudge of dirt on his cheek.
    “He changed my oil, can you believe that?” Chrissy asked me. Her cheeks were flushed.
    “That’s not a metaphor for something, is it?” I asked, looking pointedly at Robinson.
    He chose to ignore the question. “I woke up early. Thought I’d do a friend a favor.”
    That was Robinson. He never missed an opportunity to help someone out. Apparently, he also never missed a chance to kiss someone—unless that person was me.
    Chrissy had hopped up onto the counter, and she was looking at him like she was ready to ask him to move in. She might have two kids, but she was probably only a few years older than we were.
    Mason tugged at