“You know she has a thing for you, right?” Cameron teased from the driver’s seat as we drove past Lewis plantation. I was staring out the window watching Cassidy Lewis climb out of the front seat of her brother, Nate’s truck.

I shot him the coolest look I could muster, even though my cheeks were on fire. “We’re just friends,” I argued. “Anyway, she just started dating some senior jerkoff.”

“Whatever you say, little brother. He’s just a place holder. A speed bump of shorts. Keep your head in the sand for as long as you want, but trust me, she’s totally in to you.”

It wasn’t a secret that I had had a crush on the girl next door for as long as I could remember. It probably started when we were little and I punched Nate in the stomach for knocking Cassidy’s popsicle out of her hand and stomping it into the dirt at a Fourth of July party their parents were throwing.

It didn’t matter how I felt about Cassidy—even though I was head over heels for the damn chick—she was my best friend’s little sister, a complete no-fly-zone in my opinion.

“Do we have everything we need for the fire tonight?” I asked as Cameron turned into the back field to drop off the old Christmas trees we had scrounged up earlier in the day.

“Gonna pick up the kegs in an hour and then we will be all set.” He shot me a quick wink before putting the dusty old truck into park and hopping out.

Having an older brother with a fake ID made life as a freshman in high school that much better. It helped that he wasn’t a douchebag like most older brothers seemed to be. Cameron was a mentor and instigator for most of my friends, treating them all like family and helping the woes of high school be a little bit more bearable. He didn’t let older kids bully us, always would lend a friendly ear with good advice and never failed on getting the beer.

As dusk fell, the fire started to blaze. It was the best kind of Friday night—truck speakers blaring, beer flowing, girls dancing in cut-off shorts and cowboy boots.

Sitting on the tailgate of Nate’s truck, I watched Cassidy laughing with a few of her friends on the other side of the fire.

“This is living,” Nate remarked while scooping out the foam from the top of his plastic cup.

“You got that one right, man.”

“When’s Cameron shipping out?” Nate glanced over at me with a knowing glare. He knew that it was hard as hell for me to admit but I was ready to kick Cameron’s ass for joining the Marines. I hated that he was leaving. It felt like he was abandoning all of us.

“Middle of next month.” I didn’t stop blatantly staring over at Cassidy, I wanted to look anywhere other than the sympathetic eyes of my best friend.

“Who are we going to get to buy us beer from now on?” I knew Nate was trying to make light of the situation, but there was no amount of joking that would be able to deflect from the weight laying heavy in my chest.

Before I could make a smartass remark, Cassidy’s new boyfriend walked up and pulled her to the side. I sat up straighter, wishing that I could eavesdrop on their conversion. Jealous wasn’t the right word for how I was feeling but it was something nagging. I didn’t know the guy, all I knew was his name was Parker and he was the biggest jock at our school. I hated him on principle alone. He got the hold her, kiss her, make her laugh—all of the things I wished that I was able to do. But Cassidy wasn’t smiling, her faced twisted and contorted until her cheeks were red and her thumbs were battling tears pouring down her face.

“What the fuck?” I jumped down from the tailgate, Nate following as we rushed over to his sister.

Right as I was about to tackle the guy to the ground, Cameron flew up into his face and cold clocked him in the jaw.

“What the hell are you doing making a chick cry?” Cameron was an inch away from him, yelling at the top of his lungs.

Cassidy leapt into my arms as she sobbed into the crook of my shoulder.

“What’s going on, sweetheart?” I asked in a low voice into her ear.

Through sniffles, she answered, “He cheated on me with Becky Anderson.”

I saw red.

I passed Cassidy off to her brother, grabbed Parker by the shirt and threw him into the side of his truck faster than I could even process what I was actually doing. I had never been in a fight before, Cameron usually intervened before anything could get that far, but I didn’t care. I punched and kicked as Parker futilely tried to defend himself.

Cameron and Nate let me do it.

Cassidy didn’t protest.

I didn’t stop until my knuckles were bloody and Parker was a swollen, bleeding, sobbing pile of shit at my feet.

“Are you seriously crying?” Cameron pulled Parker to his feet. “You’re lucky we didn’t join in. Cheating on one of the sweetest girls in school? You’re a fucking scumbag. Get the fuck off my property.”

Parker tried to apologize, but we didn’t let him. Cameron shoved him into the driver’s seat of his truck as fast as he could and slammed the door shut.

“Are you all right?” I asked Cassidy as she stared down at my swelling fists.

“Not that I am one to condone violence or anything, but thank you. That did make me feel a little better.” She kissed my cheek.

The tingles at fluttered and crashed throughout my entire body made all of the pain in my throbbing hands worth it.

“We’ll always protect you, Cass.” I didn’t know what else to say, but it was the truth.

“How about we get you cleaned up and get some ice on those knuckles.” Cassidy put her hand on my shoulder and I started to follow her over to a cooler filled with ice.

“Thanks.” I muttered as I tried not to wince from the cold stinging my open cuts.

“Ryan Axston, my hero.” Cassidy shot me a little wink and I felt like I had died and gone to heaven.