“Hang on, Sam, a little bit longer, we’re almost there.”

Samantha clung onto Tristan’s neck, their heads bobbing up and down from each pull of his breaststroke. How he’d convinced her to do this was beyond her. She’d never even touched Tristan before, and now only the thin, wet fabric of her bathing suit separated them from being skin to skin.

Maybe it was guilt that made her agree. Guilt over believing every bad thing she’d ever heard about him since middle school. Or maybe it was because the thought of making it back by means of the tree branch made her bottom ache… But if she was being honest with herself, being this close to Tristan Montgomery made her feel alive. He did something to her, something exciting and nerve racking. But it wasn’t just that. He made her think, he challenged her in every way possible, and she loved it.

As they approached the small, rocky landing of the shore, she set her feet on the ground, making the rest of the ten or so feet on her own. Tristan was right beside her, his tan back glistening in the faint light of the moon.

Tristan sat down on the rocky beach a few feet away. Long wisps of his hair clung to his forehead before he pushed them back, revealing a soft, contagious grin. He leaned back on a large rock, using it as a pillow, and looked up at the stars.

But he said nothing, just lay there, looking into the sky. Samantha stood beside him, her arms wrapped around her middle, wondering what to do. Going back to the cabin was an option, back to Renee and dry clothes, but for some reason, she didn’t want to. She didn’t want this night to end—not yet.

Gazing up at the sky, she marveled at the millions of stars that were normally impossible to see. She glanced down at the spot beside him, knowing it was a bad idea, but finally picked an area to sit.

They were both quite for a time, absorbed in the magic of the evening when he finally spoke. His voice soft, breathy, mysterious. “This is my favorite,” he whispered.

She turned to look at him, puzzled by this new side of him she’d never noticed before. “What is?”

“This. Seclusion. The quiet… I can actually hear myself think.”

She swallowed. “And what are you thinking about?” She laid her head beside his. Too close. Not touching, but close enough that the pounding in her heart increased a little.

“Not much.” But the way he said it, with the heaviness in his voice, she knew it was the opposite. Tristan Montgomery was thinking about a lot. She only wished she knew what it was.

She turned back to the sky, where the night was so dark it offered a narrow patch of privacy, but she said nothing at all for a good ten minutes. It wasn’t awkward though, even though she thought it should be, lying next to the boy she’d hated for as long as she could remember. She couldn’t figure it out, because sometimes she felt uncomfortable with Steven, and they’d been friends for nearly four years. She played with a rock with her fingers, rubbing the soft edges against her palm. Maybe her calmness was because Tristan affected her more than she cared to admit. Maybe for the first time in her life, she was enjoying herself without the worry of tomorrow.

Tristan finally turned to her, adjusting himself sideways on the rock until he faced her. As if they were lying on a bed, instead of the beach of the lake they’d crawled out of. “You have a good vibe about you, Sammie Smiles. You relax me, and that doesn’t happen very often.”

Her stomach tightened, and she took a deep breath before speaking. “I relax you?” she asked, reluctantly turning her head to face him. She hated the effect he was having on her, but loved it at the same time. He causes a delicious bundle of contradictions to roll around inside her. A push and pull like she’d never felt before.

“Yeah.” The corner of his mouth lifted, but he didn’t say anything else. He just lay there, so close she could feel his breath on her face, so close she could feel the heat radiating off his skin.

She turned back to the sky, needing to put distance between her and the boy she wasn’t sure if she hated any longer. She needed more than that; she needed to get up, go back to the cabin, and put herself to bed. But she couldn’t make herself do it. She couldn’t convince her body to move, no matter how hard she tried. No matter how loud her internal voice yelled, she couldn’t move. Even though she knew she should, even though no good ever came of girls who sat too close to Tristan Montgomery. Because she knew that if she did, if she got up and walked back to the cabin, this moment would never come again.

“I have the same problem as you,” she stated. She wasn’t sure why, because there was no reason to share such a thing, but her voice came again, uneven and vulnerable. “With a boy, anyway.” She hesitated for a moment, her fingers playing with the rocks by her side. She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to talk about Steven, but she did. “He wants to date me. I just don’t know what to tell him. All our friends expect us to get together. I mean, he’s so persuasive—even I expect us to end up together, some days…” She turned to Tristan, too curious about his reaction to keep the distance any longer. “But at the same time, I don’t know what to say.”

His brows furrowed, and he reached out to brush a strand of hair back behind her ear. The action caused goose bumps to run the length of her body, but he acted like it was something he did all the time, like it wasn’t the most intimate thing she’d ever experienced in her entire life. “Do you like him?”

She swallowed, because a tight ball of something had lodged itself in her throat. “Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don’t.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because—” She shook her head, unsure why she was confessing all this. “Because he’s my best friend. He’s been there through everything. I just…”

“You don’t like him like that.”

She bit her lip, wondering how he’d known what she was going to say before she said it. “Yeah… I guess that’s it.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Sammie Smiles. Don’t settle for anything less than what you want.” He ran his thumb across her chin, touching her in such a comfortable way you’d think they’d been friends for years. “Tell him the truth.”

“I can’t. I don’t want to ruin our relationship.”

“So you’d rather give up on what you want to make him happy?”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“I just don’t know what to say.”

“Tell him…” His eyes trailed down her face, stopping at her lips. “That you met another guy. A guy who’s trying damn hard to be a gentleman right now.”

He met her eyes again, as though trying to read her thoughts. “Have you ever been kissed before, Samantha?”

She turned away, too shocked by the turn in conversation to get her mind to focus. “Why does that matter?”

“Because I need to know.”

“Why?”

“Because.” He touched her cheek gently with his fingertips, easing her face back toward him. “If this is your first time, I want it to be unforgettable.”

Her chest rose and fell with each breath. She was sure it was visible, but there was no point in trying to hide it now.

He smiled. “You have no idea, do you?”

“No idea about what?”

He pushed himself to his elbow. “How goddamned sexy you are.”

She covered her face, wanting to hide away with embarrassment, but he reached out softly and brushed her hands aside. “You’re beautiful, Samantha, but I think what amazes me most is the fact that you don’t know it.”

He leaned over, his forearm baring all his weight. “I normally don’t ask, I normally don’t have to, but I’m trying damned hard to keep my promise. I want to kiss you, Samantha.” His mouth moved slowly toward hers. “Now’s your chance to tell me you don’t want me to.”

She looked up into his eyes, her heart pounding like a wild stallion, but no matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried to make her lips form the words, she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t say no. She wanted Tristan to kiss her, even though an hour earlier she would’ve been horrified by the thought. But in this moment, right now, it seemed like she couldn’t live if he didn’t.

His lips moved closer, her silence inviting him in, telling him it was okay, that he could take the thing she’d built up to fairy tale proportions, because this moment felt like one. A fairy tale.

His mouth came slowly, settling upon hers, warm, soft, and full. But he didn’t move at all after that, he just stayed there, right there, perfectly still. Their breaths mingled together, both hard and soft. Breaths that were full of excitement and anticipation, and made every nerve in her body abundantly aware of his every move.

It was erotic. Invigorating. Made her whole stomach tighten with tiny flutters. Just the simple act of breathing the same air as someone else, not touching, or even really kissing. When she exhaled, he sucked it in, taking so much more of her than a breath. He was taking her girlhood, her hope and her dreams, and leading her down the path she’d never been before. Making her think she’d never really known her body, because it was doing things she’d never felt in her life.

When his lips finally moved, her body melted. Like she’d been frozen, too afraid to do anything but breathe for fear she’d wake, but his lips were there, warm like a fire, slowly heating her from the inside out. He kissed her bottom lip, pulling it into his mouth slightly before letting it go. “Are you okay?” he whispered.

Because goddammit, he was being a gentleman. Being everything she never thought he could be. Being everything she always wanted but never knew it until now. She nodded, her grip on the rocks loosening.

He smiled against her mouth and took both her hands, relaxing them with his. “Relax,” he whispered, then slowly moved her hands until he laced them up around his neck. “Hold on to me.”

She felt so silly, not knowing at all what to do, but he didn’t seem bothered at all. He kissed her bottom lip again, pulling a little harder until she opened her mouth. His lips were soft, full, and nothing like she thought they would be. His tongue entered her mouth, touching hers gently with the tip, as though he was coaxing her to do the same. He felt so wonderful, tasted like winter-mint gum, and she couldn’t resist kissing him back.

He gripped her head on both sides, and her tongue touched his. A growl came from the back of his throat as his body shifted on top of hers. She may have been inexperienced, but she knew the reaction was a good one. She also knew his reaction was caused by her, and that made her feel more powerful than she’d ever felt in her life. His weight sank into her, anchoring her body to this very spot. His kiss grew deeper, more urgent, as his tongue pushed farther into her mouth, pulling out feelings she never even knew existed.

She couldn’t think anymore; his mouth was all-encompassing, his lips soft and firm at the same time, his teeth occasionally clashing against hers, and his tongue softer than any material she’d ever felt in her life.

Tristan Montgomery was kissing her, really kissing her, and she wasn’t holding anything back. The thought never entered her mind until the sounds of laughter and crunching leaves sounded from behind them.

Pushing at his chest, she scrabbled to sit as fast as she could, but it was too late. When she whipped around, the girls from across the lake were making their way through the trees, and weren’t hiding the fact that they’d noticed them. Samantha pulled in a breath, squeezing her eyes shut. Thank God it’s not Renee. Thank God it’s them and not Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery.

The girls continued to laugh, making their way down the path again and back to their cabin. But all Samantha could think about was her and Tristan’s kiss. About how easily it had happened, how quickly it had deepened, and what would have happened had the girls had not come along to stop it.

Samantha sat forward, wrapping her arms around her thighs and resting her chin on her knees. All of a sudden there was a hard pit at the bottom of her stomach. One that was large, and growing rapidly by the second.

Tristan moved beside her. His arm brushing her leg as he pulled himself to sit. “You okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah.” But her mind kept rolling with fear. What would’ve happened had it been her best friend coming to look for her? What would she have said?

“You?” she asked, trying to push the thoughts to the back of her mind.

“I’m good,” he said. His voice low and textured, but there was something else. Curiosity, or maybe confusion.

She took a deep breath, trying to figure things out. Why had he kissed her? Why now? Why her? The girl he’d never seemed to notice once until tonight. She began playing with the rocks again, because she was too inexperienced to know what was expected after a kiss like that. Too inexperienced to know if the tingles she felt all over her body was a normal reaction. If a kiss between practical strangers was always so mind consuming and passionate.

She’d kissed her best friend’s brother, something she never would’ve expected in a million years. But that wasn’t the worst of it. What bothered her most was that she wanted to do it again. A thousand times over again.

Tristan stood, grabbing her attention as he offered his hand and pulled her up to stand beside him. She wobbled slightly, her legs like soft rubber that refused to hold her. He reached out to wrap his fingers around her waist. To steady her at the small of her back before she fell. She swallowed, not sure what to say. He’d taken a part of her. A precious piece she’d been saving for that special person, but she herself had told him there was nothing owed after a simple kiss. Nothing promised.

“We should get going,” he said softly, exerting the slightest amount of pressure to pull her forward. As though he wanted her next to him. As though he wanted her lips as much as she wanted his. “Before we get into trouble.”

She looked up, knowing he was right. If she stayed out here much longer, she wasn’t sure what would happen. She could feel the pulsing of her body, the blood coursing through her veins in every spot where he’d touched her. She reluctantly moved away and walked steadily toward the dock, taking all her concentration to do so. She fetched her towel from the edge of the platform, only turning when she heard him move behind her. The red-striped towel clutched at her chest, her eyes vulnerable, but she didn’t see the boy she hated any longer. She saw Tristan. A guy who all the girls wanted, and who was misunderstood by the masses. He wasn’t the self-centered heartbreaker she’d always thought him to be. He was kind, he was thoughtful—and he was the first boy who had ever said she was beautiful.

They walked back to the cabin in silence, but it was a different silence. Because under the surface was something else. A shared secret; a kiss she vowed to remember for all eternity.

The porch light was still on, like it was earlier, but so much had changed since they left. She’d walked out that door as an innocent girl, and come back with that part of her missing.

He walked ahead of her up the steps, pausing a moment before pushing the door open. As if he was waiting for something. For her to stop him, for her to tell him it was a mistake. But she remained silent, and eventually he walked into the house ahead of her.

“Thanks for coming out tonight,” he said, as he held the door wide for her to enter.

She ducked under his arm, careful not to get too close, then nodded. Because for the life of her, she couldn’t think of anything else do. Her mind was still mush, her pulse still racing. She tightened her grip on her towel and chewed her inner cheek. Because God help her, she was completely unaware of what happened next. Did they talk? Not talk? She looked up to the loft, where Renee’s faint snore still traveled down the staircase. Guilt washed over her and she turned back to Tristan.

He stood against the closed door, his face intense, but his body relaxed like always. She wanted to explain, to tell him she should never have let it happen. But before she could, he pushed himself from the wall and walked down the steps to the basement. He didn’t say a word, and was gone from sight before she could even comprehend his leaving.

But he left the door open—just a crack, and she knew what it was. An invitation for her to join him—and she couldn’t stop staring at it. Her stomach flip-flopped, and her knuckles became white where she clutched her towel too hard at her chest. It was an invitation for another kiss. To get to know the man she’d never allowed herself to truly see. But as sure as she was about the invitation, as sure as she knew he wanted her to take it, she couldn’t do it.

She turned toward the stairs, not allowing herself to think about what happened. Not allowing herself to wonder what would happen if she were to follow him down to his bed.

She fetched her pajamas from her suitcase, slipped them on, all while hoping and praying Renee wouldn’t wake. She climbed into bed on the queen-sized mattress, thinking she’d just made it, when her best friend turned around and grumbled in her sleep.

Renee’s expression was groggy and tired, and she slowly opened her eyes. “What time is it?” she asked, with a voice full of gravel.

“Almost eleven,” Samantha whispered.

Renee closed her eyes, but her lips transformed into a reluctant smile. “Those girls from the lake came over tonight,” she whispered. “Just a little while ago.”

Samantha’s throat went dry, and her stomach churned with sour grapes. They told her. They told Renee what they saw. Told her about her and Tristan.

Renee rolled to the nightstand and grabbed a red and white can of soup from the bedside table, before turning back. “They brought me this,” she said, shaking the can half-heartedly in her hand. “Chicken noodle.” She studied the label, tracing the words over and over with her fingertip. “Do you want to guess how long it took them to ask about Tristan?”

Samantha shook her head, her eyes shut as hot tears threatened to spill through her lids. A thousand excuses rushed to her mind, but none of them were good enough. None of them would make a difference. She’d kissed Tristan willingly. She’d kissed her friend’s brother, and the only reason she’d stopped was because those girls had interrupted them.

“Do they think I don’t know?” Renee asked, her head tilted to one side as her face filled with disgust. “Do they think I’m so stupid that I don’t realize what they’re doing?” She placed the can back on the end table, the frustration and emotions oozing from her skin. “I’m so sick of people being nice to me just to get to my brother.” Her voice was harsh and broken, but there was something else there, too. She was defeated.

Samantha pulled in a sharp breath, realizing what her friend was telling her. That those girls hadn’t told her what they’d seen in the woods. In fact, they’d probably come from seeing Renee when they found her and Tristan on the rocks.

Renee closed her eyes, sandwiching her hands beneath her head and pillow as she faced Samantha. “At least I have you.” She yawned. “The only person I can trust.”

A hundred bricks landed on Samantha’s shoulders. She knew exactly what Renee was trying to say. Because up until this point, Samantha was the only girl who hated Tristan as much as she did.

“Will you get the light?” Renee whispered then.

Tears burned in Samantha’s eyes, but she nodded and turned to switch off the light.

“Night, Sam,” Renee said in a groggy voice.

“Night, Ren,” Samantha whispered back, squeezing her eyes shut, but the tears fell to her cheeks anyway. Right now, she thought to herself. Right now would be the perfect time to confess. To let it out. Right now, before it festered. But she couldn’t. She flipped over, facing the stairs that would take her back to Tristan’s, and more tears slipped down to her cheeks and fell to her chin.

“I love you,” Renee whispered through the darkness. Her voice was half asleep, so quiet Samantha would’ve never been able to make out the words had she not heard them a million times before.

She swallowed, barely able to contain her own sorrow. “I love you too.”