It was getting closer to Savana's birthday, April 3rd. She was excited to spend it with Landon. It was the first birthday she had with a boyfriend. She didn't know what to expect. As long as it doesn't turn into another Valentine's Day.

Besides tutoring after school, her dad pressured her to spend more time with Jade. She and her mom, Jacklyn, spent more weekends at Gavin's house for a change. Savana and Landon saw even less of each other in the last few weeks.

Gavin explained that Jade felt left out, with Savana always hanging out with her other friends. Nobody knew that Savana used Cully and Faye as an excuse to leave and meet Landon.

It was working smoothly without anyone suspecting anything until she had to start staying home more with Jade. For the most part, Savana didn't mind her. But she was annoyed with being forced to spend time with her when she preferred Landon. They would mostly watch TV or listen to music. Jade would fill her in on gossip from her school in Sumner and the drama her other friends faced.

Jade made her laugh and had fun. And there were the other days when Savana wanted to scratch her eyes out if she had to watch another episode of Jade's favorite reality show. Or rip her ears off if they had to listen to that one pop song again while creating their own choreography.

Savana was looking up something to entertain herself on her phone when she heard Jade giggle like a little schoolgirl.

"Are you texting someone?" She heard multiple pings from Jade's phone.

Jade blushed and smiled at Savana. "It's Wade."

"Who's Wade again?" She raised an eyebrow. She remembered hearing the name before but didn't know who it was exactly. But she was intrigued since it seemed to be a guy Jade liked, and their names rhyme.

"He's the friend I mentioned before who comes to my dad's cabin sometimes. He's really funny and nice." Jade smiled as she looked at her phone.

Jade wasn't often seen using her phone, so seeing her eyes glued to it was strange.

As soon as she realized Jade had a crush, Savana asked, "What does he look like?"

"Here, I'll show you." Jade scrolled through the pictures on her phone.

Savana was nervous about what kind of picture it would be. But then she realized it was Jade, and there was no way it could be inappropriate.

Jade's grin widened, and she sat up on the couch and scooted over to Savana. She seemed proud of whatever picture she wanted to show off.

Once the screen was in front of Savana's face, she studied it. It was a picture of what she assumed was the cabin and a handsome man standing on the porch, holding a giant fish. His smile made his eyes squint, and he had shaggy red hair with a five-o'clock shadow.

"Wait, how old is he?" Savana thought the man was good-looking but realized there was no way he was still in high school like she assumed he was.

"He just turned twenty-eight and a half on March 6th." Jade grinned at herself for knowing such a fact.

"I didn't realize he was that old. How are you friends with him?" Savana sounded somewhat concerned.

"Oh, he's a family friend. I've known him since I was little." Jade continued to type the keys on her phone.

"Okay, cool." Savana leaned over to see if she could read the messages between the two but had no luck.

She then leaned back on the couch and looked at her own messages. Or lack thereof. She hadn't heard from Landon all day. Strangely, Savana began to feel jealous of Jade. Though she never thought she would ever be jealous of her for anything.

Gavin and Jacklyn returned from their date hours later. It was late, but Savana and Jade were still in the living room with the TV on.

"Hey, girls. How was your day?" Gavin asked as he removed his jacket.

"Fine." Savana waved her hand to shoo her dad away. Her eyes were glued to the TV. The reality show had claimed another victim.

"How about you, dear?" Jacklyn asked her daughter.

"It was fun. I talked to Wade." She smiled at her mom.

Jacklyn knew of her daughter's crush on Wade. She also liked him and thought he would be a suitable match.

"Who's that?" Gavin asked curiously.

"Oh, he's one of Brad's old buddies from work. He spends time with them to the cabin sometimes. He and Jade really get along." Jacklyn took her shoes off and walked through the dining room to the bathroom.

Gavin followed and wanted to ask more, but she shut and locked the door. He turned back to the living room. "Savana, I noticed something in your room needs fixing. Come look."

That snapped Savana out of her reality tv trance. "What? When were you in my room? What the hell is it?" She quickly stood up and followed her dad into her bedroom.

Savana panicked as she looked around her room for anything out of place. It wasn't like she had anything to hide from her dad, but he usually didn't go into her room if she wasn't there. She didn't want him messing with her stuff. Things were placed the way she wanted.

Gavin shut the door and shushed Savana. "Calm down, it's nothing. Just wanted to talk in private."

Savana paused and raised an eyebrow at him. Usually, he didn't have a problem talking about whatever it was in front of Jacklyn and Jade. "What's up?"

"So, this Wade guy. Did he come over while we were out?" Gavin was serious.

"No, my god, Dad. I've never met him. Jade texted him a lot." Savana rolled her eyes.

"Oh. Well, what did Jade say about him?" He asked.

"Why are you so worried about who Jade talks to?" She knew how concerned her dad could be about guys.

"I'm worried about her just like I worry about you." He kept his voice low.

Savana sighed. "The only thing she said was he's a family friend and twenty-eight."

Gavin's face instantly twisted. "What? What?" He started coughing as his face turned red with a vein popping out of his forehead.

"Dad! Calm down!" Savana got scared whenever he got that upset, expecting a heart attack.

Gavin coughed it out and rubbed his face. He sighed loudly.

"You said the man was twenty-eight? And he texted Jade all day?"

"Yup, I think she likes him." Savana regretted saying that and shut her mouth. He's definitely having a heart attack now.

"What the fuck?" Gavin raised his voice.

The bedroom door slowly opened.

"Is everything alright in here, honey?" Jacklyn looked around.

Gavin waved his hand, instructing her to come into the room too.

"What's going on?" Jacklyn asked.

"Did you know about the relationship between Jade and that man?" Gavin's face turned red again.

Jacklyn looked down at Savana. The hint of rage in Jacklyn's eyes caught Savana off guard. Jacklyn snapped her head back up and laughed. "Oh, honey. It's not like that at all. They've been friends since she was a ten. He's a sweet guy. He's like an older brother to her."

Savana knew Jade didn't think of him as a brother but let it pass. She had no right to say anything since she hid her boyfriend from everyone.

"Hmph. That's still very strange for a man of that age to be so friendly to a young girl." Gavin huffed.

Jacklyn smiled, put her hand on his shoulder, and guided him out of Savana's room. "I understand honey, but there's nothing to worry about. Not with my Jade anyway."

At that moment, Jacklyn glanced back at Savana and gave her a weird look. Savana didn't know what to think of it. It was like Jacklyn told her, 'I know your secret.' Goosebumps covered her arms.

"I'm going to bed then! Good night!" Savana shouted out and shut her door again.

Whenever they stayed at their house, Jade slept on the couch. Sometimes Savana would feel guilty for not inviting her to sleep in her room. It felt weird. No one else besides Cully and Faye slept there with her. She almost felt like she would betray them. But she was even more curious about Wade and how Jade felt about him.

Savana opened her door again and stepped into the living room. She saw Jade get settled with a pillow and blanket on the couch. "Hey, want to sleep in my room? We should be able to fit in my bed."

"Oh, yeah, cool!" Jade quickly got up from the couch.

Once they entered the bedroom and Savana shut the door, she whispered to Jade. "So, you like Wade, right? Like-like him?" She got straight to the point.

Jade blushed. "A little. But he has a girlfriend."

"What?" Savana was really confused now. "You have a picture of her too?"

"Yeah, hold on." Jade logged onto her social media page and searched for Tess Buckley.

Savana glanced over all the pictures of Tess. She wasn't impressed. "Eww. She looks like a bitch." She studied the pictures longer. "How old is she then?"

"She's nineteen." Jade said.

"Oh wow, she looks like she's forty." They both laughed.

Jade was happy to have someone else to talk to about Wade. Even though she told her mom some things, she still felt uncomfortable discussing everything. She knew her mom liked to gossip with her work friends, and some knew Wade and Tess. And Jade's school friends ignored the subject because of his age. It creeped them out.

Savana didn't care about the age difference. She always considered herself more mature and could relate to older people better. But she was shocked to learn that Jade was friends with someone much older.