A Matter of Heart Read Free

second.
    Yes
.
    Connor is standing by the edge of the pool, his cap and goggles in one hand, his chest still heaving. Tanner and Logan are giving him high fives. Connor’s hair is short enough that even wet it doesn’t cover his eyes, so I can see how happy he is, how pumped, and I don’t blame him. Connor lost the top spot to Alec when he got sick in the middle of September. It’s hard to believehe’s got his times back so quickly, but the scoreboard doesn’t lie. Two meets into October, and the king has his crown once again.
    “Chalk up another one for the good guy,” Jen says.
    “He wants to celebrate tonight,” I tell her.
    Her eyes zero in on mine. “You mean…
celebrate
?”
    She knows what I mean. Connor and I have gotten closer over the past few weeks. Just not
that
close. Not yet.
    “Abby, you can’t. Your frontal lobe.”
    “Yeah, I know.” Jen and I both took Childhood Development last spring and our teacher told us that a person’s frontal lobe isn’t fully functional until the midtwenties. She said no teen could make an informed decision about sex with only half a brain. Or something like that.
    Jen decided long ago that she was saving herself
at least
until college, so frontal lobe development makes perfect sense to her. It makes sense to me, too, but in a logical, light-of-day sort of way. After all, I just turned sixteen in September. But Connor is nearly eighteen. And the topic doesn’t usually come up in the light of day. It’s generally more in the light of his dashboard clock while we’re in the backseat of his car.
    “Don’t worry, I’m not going to say yes,” I tell Jen.
    “But are you going to say no?” She waggles her eyebrows at me.
    “That’s my plan.” My gaze shifts back to Connor in time to catch the ripple of his muscles as he stretches his shoulders. I sigh. “It’s not as easy as you think.”
    Jen folds her arms over her chest. “I’m not the one who told you to date a guy who looks like that.”
    “So I’m supposed to date someone ugly?”
    “For the sake of your frontal lobe, yes.”
    Garrett wasn’t ugly
. That’s what I think, but I’m smart enough not to say it. Garrett was Jen’s one and only crush, and it all went wrong in middle school before either of us knew what a frontal lobe was. “So where’s your ugly boyfriend?” I say, playing along.
    “I’m saving myself. I haven’t met anyone hideous enough yet.”
    I hear Connor’s laugh and look over. “You think maybe he’s a little happy?”
    “You think maybe someone else is a little
un
happy?” Jen says, knocking my arm with her elbow and gesturing past Connor.
    Alec is standing alone, rubbing a towel over his dark hair. It doesn’t take an expert in reading body language to know he’s pissed.
Good
. “Serves him right. All those stares he’s been giving Connor.” Plus, I don’t like to admit it, but I’m still mad that he had me fooled when we first met. I thought he was a cool guy. Then he turns out to be a bad loser. I hate bad losers.
    “What’s up with that, anyway?” Jen asks. “Did you ever ask Connor?”
    “He says it’s nothing. Just tells me Alec can’t handle finishing second and to stay away from the guy. Like I need to be told.” I pretend to shiver, but it’s not completely fake. Alec’s glares have spread my way the past few weeks. Maybe he hates me, too, because I’m dating Connor. I know I should ignore him, but it isn’t easy.
    There’s something about Alec’s eyes—they’re deep set and so brown they’re nearly black. You can look into them, but you won’t see anything but shadows.
    Mystery Man. That’s what Jen called him when he showed up at our first practice in August. I already knew him because hewas a new hire at the gym where I teach swim lessons. We’d said hello a few times but worked different shifts. Still, I’d seen how much the kids loved him. I’d also watched him in the lap pool, and the guy
worked
. I liked that.
    Then