Seeing Jenna again had affected me even more deeply than I had thought it would when I first invited her. Something had swirled in my chest, a tight feeling when I saw her sleeping, peaceful face. Her lashes were spread across her cheeks, her full lips opened slightly. She was wearing a red bikini, one that made it almost impossible not to look over every inch of her body. I would have done so, but it felt wrong to gaze at her body without her knowledge. I had woken her up after a few moments of watching her sleep, and had not expected her startled reaction when she had fallen out of the chair. I’d noticed the way she’d reacted when I touched her though, had been able to sense the fact that she’d wanted that skin contact as much as I had. She had been so close to me, her body almost touching mine, and if Casey hadn’t interrupted I had no doubt that I would have ended up touching Jenna again in some way. The impulse had been almost too strong to resist after the first touch.

I was pretty sure that Jenna was interested in me but I wanted to keep testing it, to find out subtly rather than just coming out and asking her or making too many assumptions. When I took Jenna, I wanted her to be all in, to give herself to me with no inhibitions. I had to be sure before I made a move; I couldn’t do it if she was uncomfortable with me. There was no way I could take the thought of making Jenna feel uncomfortable when all I wanted to do was pull her against my body.

We went inside the house, walking across the beach together. I wanted to take her hand but I didn’t, knowing that Casey was watching us as we made our way back to the house. Inside, my parents were waiting in the living room. When they saw me, they both stood up, my mother opening her arms wide. I hugged her, grateful to see her. I had always been close with both of my parents, as well as Casey, and I was more than glad to see them in person after so many Skype calls.

Once I’d greeted my parents, I couldn’t keep my eyes off Jenna as we all sat down in the living room to have drinks before dinner. Jenna was sipping a glass of wine, her eyes occasionally meeting mine.

“What have you been up to, Jenna?” I asked her. I wanted to know everything about her, every detail of her life.

“I’m in my last semester at Yale,” she said. “Just finishing up. Crazy busy. I don’t even think I should be taking this time off work.”

“You deserve to take time off,” I said to her. “I think you need to relax.”

She licked her lips. “You’re probably right.”

“I am right,” I said.

“So you’re at Yale?” my father asked her. “I thought you were going somewhere else.”

“I transferred from Chicago after I got my undergraduate degree,” I told him. “Decided to go a different way.”

“What are you studying?” I asked her. I wished my parents weren’t there, that Casey wasn’t there. I wanted to talk to her alone and hoped that I would get the opportunity to do so soon.

“Bioengineering,” she said.

“Wow.” I’d known that Jenna was smart, but I hadn’t known how smart in high school. She had been a couple of grades below me and I had only paid attention to her through the lens of my crush—I had known that she was beautiful and sweet and that had been enough for me as a teenager. Now, I knew better, and the fact that Jenna was working so hard was a massive turn-on.

“That is so impressive,” Alice said, waving her fork at me. “I could never do that. How much does it cost to go to a school like Yale?”

I shot a look at my mother, but she was intent on Jenna, apparently unaware of how rude her question was to ask.

“It’s a lot,” Jenna admitted. “Luckily, I got it all covered with loans.”

“You took out loans?” I asked. I hated the idea of that. There was no reason that anyone I cared for should ever have to be in debt, not with as much money as I made.

“I had a few scholarships, but it’s been loans for the most part.”

“I can pay—”

“I’m going to pay you back for this trip,” she interrupted me. “I just need you to tell me how much my portion is going to cost.”

“No.”

“Travis—”

“You’re family, Jen,” I said. “You belong here.”

“Oh,” she said, biting her lip. She looked away from me then, turning her eyes to Casey. I could tell that she was hoping that somebody would change the subject; it seemed like the money situation embarrassed her, and I could understand why. My family hadn’t always been rich.

“Thank you,” she said after a moment. She took another drink of her wine, her foot bouncing nervously as we waited for dinner. I tried to catch her eye but I couldn’t—she was looking decidedly away from me. Before, she’d been looking at me often. I wondered if it was the money thing or if it was something else. I only hoped that I could fix it. I couldn’t stand the thought of going through this trip without seeing that look of heat and interest in her pretty green eyes again.

“I’m going to run up to my room for a minute and change,” she said, standing up abruptly. “It’s hot in here.”

“Okay,” Alice said. I watched as Jenna disappeared up the stairs. She looked at me over her shoulder when she got up there, giving me a look that was unreadable. I had no idea what to expect from Jenna on this trip, but I had a feeling that it was going to drive me absolutely crazy.