The rain pelted me with such ferocity, I felt like I could drown at any moment. Had I known I’d be driving into the freaking storm of the decade, I wouldn’t have tried to get off the island when I had. Pushing my car out of a flash flood lake the size of Delaware, I’d tried to restart it for almost two hours. The walk back seemed a hell of a lot longer when you could barely see ten feet in front of your face. I was soaking wet, drenched with floodwater and rain.

Lightning streaked across the sky, even closer than before. The beach house had never been a more welcome sight. Getting inside, getting in the shower, and passing out was what I needed. Maybe there was some of that top-shelf bourbon left. I’d down the rest of the whole damn bottle.

The guy from the beach just kept turning up, and every time he did, it made me want to destroy something, made me want to pick it up and shred it with my bare hands until it was nothing. When his hand had landed on Avery’s leg, it was either leave or launch him over the balcony railing. The fact that she would flirt like that in front of me? Yes, I’d done the same with the women looking for autographs earlier, but it wasn’t the same. Okay, maybe it was a little bit the same.

Opening the door, I strained to hear any movement. More booming thunder and crashing lightning lit up the room for a split second, and I saw an Avery-shaped bundle of blankets on the couch. I was surprised she’d fallen asleep. Storms always put her on edge—or they had back in high school. Maybe she’d gotten over them about the same time she’d gotten over me.

Using my phone to light the way, I only banged my foot on the furniture once. I swore it was jumping out in front of me at that point.

My clothes were soaking and leaving a trail as I made my way to the bedroom. I’d come back and clean it later, or maybe I’d fall asleep on my feet. I shivered when the cool blast of the AC hit my soaking-wet shirt.

I needed a shower and a bed. The day had gone from bad to worse when I’d gotten to the beach to see Avery talking to that guy, and even more terrible when she’d stood up and raced into the surf. The way her bikini bottoms had hugged her ass, showing just enough tantalizing skin to have me calculating hockey stats in my head to keep from getting wood—I hated that she could still do that to me.

I crept down the hall and spotted my bag on the chair in the corner of the back bedroom. The thunder was so loud, a rumble traveled through the floor. I’d take the quickest shower known to man and pass out, hoping maybe the next day would be better.

Peeling my wet shirt off, I dropped it into a pile with my wet jeans. I was glad Avery was asleep. She would have hated this. I’d never seen someone hate storms more, but I’d always loved the way the rain sounded. It also gave me an excuse to keep her at my place as long as possible. Whenever there was a forecast for a storm, I’d been sure to get her to my house so we could be trapped inside together for a while.

I grabbed my stuff out of my duffle and stepped into the bathroom. The light was already on, which was weird, but I didn’t think twice about it, assuming someone had just left it on. Reaching into the shower, I flicked the water on, and a sharp shriek had me tripping over my feet. I braced myself on the sink, my heart hammering in my chest.

Drawing back the curtain, I came face to face with a sputtering, completely soaked and shocked Avery. She shot up and wrenched the water off. Whipping around, her mouth transformed from hanging open to a thin grim line as reality set in. My heart pounded in my chest for another reason now. Well shit…

“I thought you were leaving.” She said it like it wasn’t at all odd that she had been sitting in the bathtub completely dressed and was now completely drenched.

We stood there, staring at one another with our chests rising and falling as the adrenaline of our scare melded into the realization that we stood in front of each other, closer than we’d been this whole time.

I refused to let my eyes drop to her soaked-through shirt, and I definitely wasn’t looking at the hard peaks of the mounds I knew so well poking out from under her arms wrapped around her chest.

Her eyes dipped, taking me in, and I jolted, remembering my own nakedness. Grabbing a towel off the rack, I wrapped it around my waist. The fiery anger that often lived in the pit of my stomach when I saw her wasn’t there, which threw me off-kilter. It was a feeling I’d grown to associate with her, had forced myself to feel whenever we were even in the same room, but the flicker of the flames was waning. That was dangerous.

She’s a cheater. She doesn’t and never has given a shit about me. I repeated those words in my head.

“The bridge was flooded. I had to push the car out of a flash flood and walk back.” Dropping my hands to my sides, I stared down at her as she scrambled out of the tub.

“Oh.” She covered her wet, clothed body with the other towel.

“It’s my turn for the room, so I’m going to need you to leave.”

Her eyes narrowed to angry slits. “Actually, I think the fact that you stormed out like you did should mean you forfeit your spot for the night,” she gritted out.

Damp strands of her hair stuck to her collarbone like a portrait painted to capture her easy beauty, only it was her anger that came through now, bursting out so sharply.

“We had an agreement, right? Then again, I know how much trouble you have with keeping promises.” I glared right back. The muscles in my neck were so tight, I thought I might snap something. My jaw ticked.

She fisted her hands at her sides. When another loud crack reverberated through the small bathroom, her hands shook and her eyes got wide, and it wasn’t just from being soaking wet anymore.

I took in the entire scene. As a thought pushed itself into my mind, I cocked my head to the side. Why was she sitting in the bath fully clothed?

There was another earsplitting crack of thunder, and Avery jumped. The blood drained out of her face and she clenched the towel, white knuckles ready to shred the fabric at any second.

In the heat of the moment, her fear hadn’t even registered. Thinking of the way she used to whimper and burrow into my side if we ever got caught outside or in the car during a storm…the edges of my anger were smoothed out by those old protective feelings.

“Avery—” I took a step forward before I thought better of it.

She stepped back, banging her hip against the sink and wincing. Running her trembling fingers through her hair, she shook her head. “You know what? Fine, you take the room. It’s late.” Her shoulders sagged. “I don’t feel like fighting.”

My nostrils flared. “Fine.”

“Just let me change since I’m soaked.” She shot me another look with her arms locked in front of her, and it seemed like the earlier fear had been edged out by anger. She brushed past me and into the bedroom.

“I’ll take a shower. You get dressed.”

She shot a glare over her shoulder, looking up from rummaging in her bag. “I’m only here for another week, so we can try to make this as uneventful as possible.”

I took a deep breath. If she brought that Noah guy back to the house, keeping my cool was off the table. With the way things were going, neither one of us would be invited to any more group events if we didn’t stop going for each other’s jugular. Was this supposed to be her get-out-of-jail-free card? Oh, sorry I cheated on you, but let’s just pretend like that never happened so I can have a fun summer frolicking in the water with my friend. A flash of a bikini-clad Avery laughing in the waves invaded my mind. I locked it up tight in a chest and sank it to the bottom of the ocean.

She cringed as the room was lit up with more lightning. The storm outside had intensified, if that was even possible, and rain lashed against the rattling glass.

I snatched up some of my clothes from my bag and stormed back into the bathroom. Nearly ripping the handles off in the shower, I stepped under the spray and tried not to think too much about the fact that she was on the other side of the door—naked. I was asking for trouble, but what the hell could I do? It was automatic, so hard to fight against.

I rested my forehead against the cold, wet tile. Get through it one day at a time. That was my only option. I’d already made it a week. If that Noah guy came around again, though, I’d make it a mistake he wouldn’t make again. I wasn’t going to have her making out with some random dude in front of me. I had to draw the line somewhere, for my own dignity and sanity.

Drying myself off, I threw on my sweatpants and stepped into the bedroom. Avery had changed her clothes. Bent over, she folded clothes into her suitcase. The baggy t-shirt with an extra wide neck slipped down over her shoulder, exposing a smooth expanse of skin—the same one I would slide my thumb along while we’d sit on the couch together watching a movie or when she’d fall asleep. I couldn’t help but watch her. Each breath passed her full lips, drawing me in. The boxers she had on did nothing to hide the long legs I’d known so well, the ones I’d run my lips and hands over more times than I could count, each time seeing something new and different.

She snapped up straight and zipped her bag.

I turned away from her and squeezed my eyes shut. The storm outside perfectly illustrated the maelstrom happening in the room. Spending more time around her was a terrible fucking idea, especially without anyone else around. I was in over my head, already drowning in her exquisitely excruciating beauty. It was like she’d been crafted as the perfect woman to dismantle every protection I’d created over my heart after years of disappointment and neglect. We’d been near each other for a week, making it so easy to remember everything I’d tried to tell myself I didn’t miss.

Dropping her bag to the floor, she tightened her hand around the handle when lightning streaked across the sky. Tension radiated off her body as she turned toward the door with a blanket tucked under her arm.

“Where are you going?”

She nibbled on her bottom lip. “I’m going out to the living room. It’s your turn for the bed, like you said.”

The house rumbled, and she clutched the blanket to her chest. Closing her eyes, she let out a deep, shuddering breath.

I resisted the urge to pull her into my arms. That was what I’d always done whenever there was a storm. Sometimes I’d thought maybe she used the storms as an excuse to stay with me, but I could see now it was a deep-seated fear, something she hadn’t grown out of or been able to escape. I’d never thought to ask why she was so scared of storms before; I’d just been so happy for the excuse to hold her close.

We’d watch a movie, or I’d crank up the music and we’d dance around the house, or I’d take her upstairs and go down on her until she was so wet my face was covered with her slick heat. That was my favorite way to help her forget.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

Her head snapped up. “A movie?”

“I’m a little wired after my car getting stuck, and getting any sleep with the storm going on will be rough. I think I saw some classics out in the entertainment center.”

She nibbled her bottom lip. Outside, a flash streaked across the sky, lighting up the house next door as clearly as if it were midday.

“Okay.” It came out rushed. She’d gotten better at pretending the storm didn’t get to her and I didn’t know if anyone else would have noticed her tense muscles or small jumps, but I did. I noticed everything.

I stepped back, giving her space. She walked past me into the hallway, careful not to brush against me.

Following her, I tried not to look at her ass in those shorts. “Do you want to pick one?” I shoved my hands into the pockets of my sweatpants.

“Sure, I’ll see what’s there.” Water from her hair dripped down the back of her shirt.

I sat on the couch while she went to pick one out, knowing letting her choose would take her mind off things. What I didn’t remember was that the DVDs were all below the TV in a nice straight row on the bottom shelf. She crouched down on her knees and bent to read the titles.

The position exposed even more of her legs, including the faint hint of the curve of her ass as she reached inside the cabinet. Pure fucking torture.

Her fingers traced along the spines of the DVDs, and a mouthwatering spark danced its way along my spine. She plucked a case out and slid the disc into the player then came back to the couch and tucked her legs underneath her.

“This is a great one. I haven’t seen it in forever, and I’ve only ever seen the TV version.”

“You’re in for a surprise then.” The opening credits of Weird Science scrolled across the screen. I grabbed a half-full bowl of popcorn sitting on the table and shoved some into my mouth. She shifted, moving the cushions.

“I totally forgot Robert Downey Jr. was in this.”

“And he’s a total dick.”

“He always plays at least a little bit of a dick. Can I have some?” She motioned to the bowl on my lap.

I held out the bowl to her. She grabbed a handful and shoved it into her mouth. I couldn’t hold back my smile. Her cheeks flushed. Glad the storm hadn’t affected her appetite.

I couldn’t keep myself from watching her out of the corner of my eye: her hair piled up on top of her head, the beauty mark teasing me from the inside of her right thigh, the small smile curling the edges of her lips. Her eyes were riveted to the movie.

I pushed the bowl toward her. Laughing at the scene unfolding on the screen, she glanced at me, her eyes darting toward my offering.

She plucked a few pieces out and held them in her hand, eating them one by one.

“Too bad they don’t have those movie theater packs of Kit Kats or Skittles here.”

The corners of her eyes crinkled as she smiled. “I don’t even think they sell them anymore. Now the theaters all have gourmet snacks and full meals. Usually, I settle for buying the candy from the store ahead of time and smuggling them in. I bet you still buy all your snacks at the counter.”

“It’s hard to shove nachos and cheese into your pockets without making a mess.”

She laughed. “Fair enough.” Grabbing for more popcorn, her hand grazed mine. She snatched it back and held it in her lap then yelped at a lightning strike close to the house. “I know this is the last place you wanted to be right now, but thank you for sitting here with me.” Her voice was just above a whisper, so sweet and gentle, like the mornings she’d slept over and woken me to taste something she’d whipped up in the kitchen. Those memories were so strong I’d effectively banished myself from the kitchen after we broke up. Too many emotions.

Now she was so open and vulnerable, and if I could have seen her eyes in the dim light, I’d have sworn she was on the verge of tears. They were the nicest words she’d had for me in a long time, and it was also the first time I’d really given her a reason to be civil. She jumped as a thunderclap boomed and lightning lit up the room. I ran my hands along my legs so I didn’t reach out for her.

“I love this part. It’s always so awesome when they get to stick it to a bully.” She shook her shoulders with giddiness when the two bullies’ mouths hung open as the heroes got into a sports car with a gorgeous computer created woman.

“It certainly has its appeal.” The woman on the screen had nothing on Avery.

Slowly, she relaxed as the storm settled into background noise. Her feet stretched out in front of her along the couch, close to my thigh but not close enough. It was familiar and foreign all at once. Back when we were dating, she’d nestle against my chest so I could breathe her in, absorb her warmth, and maybe cop a feel.

On the screen, the computer-generated craziness was reversed and all was well just in time for the kids’ parents’ arrival, their lessons of self-discovery and standing up for themselves wrapped up in a nice, neat bow as they rode off into the sunset.

The credits rolled and Avery turned to me, clutching her knees to her chest. I tried not to look at the gap between her thighs and the boxers that disappeared into the space I’d known so well for so long.

Why did she have to be like this? Between Alyson’s speech and the fact that everyone else seemed to have welcomed her with open arms, it was really hard to rev up the old anger. The hurt was there, that was constant—so constant sometimes I forgot there was anything else—but the anger had fled the second she’d stared up at me with her light brown eyes ringed with flecks of green and I’d seen the fear in her gaze back in the bedroom. These were questions I should have asked the night of the party. Even before that, I should have asked more about what was really going on with Aly. So many things seemed to have gone unsaid between us.

“The storm seems like it’s passed.” The bitterness in my voice at the unpleasant and unwelcome realization caught me off guard. I didn’t want this to end. I cleared my throat and glanced at the window behind her.

She turned and watched the quiet spatter of rain against the window, no longer accompanied by the harsh roar of thunder and lightning.

“Looks like it has. You can go to bed.” Her expression closed off again, hardened, like she thought I was dismissing her. “You must be tired. I’ll be good out here.”

“I can sit out here for a while. I’m still a bit wired.” My eyes were drooping, but I didn’t want to leave. “I can put on another movie.”

She nodded, her gaze tracking me as I picked out a different one for us—post-apocalyptic motorcycle madness at its best.

I sat beside her, so close yet so far away. Like an invisible pair of hands wrapped tightly around my chest, bear-hugging the shit out of me whenever I tried to get closer to her, she was driving me insane slowly. Minute by minute, hour by hour, I was losing my grip on all the promises I’d made to myself when it came to her. The frustration was getting harder to ignore. Not even using my hand in the shower had I been able to come since she arrived. I was minutes from boiling over.

It hurt to look at her, but I couldn’t avert my eyes, like staring into the sun during an eclipse—you knew you were doing damage, but how could you look away from something so rare and spectacular? Looking at her took me back to some of my best memories.

The way she’d grumbled when we went on our hikes to leave everything else behind…her standing in the stands, screaming at the top of her lungs at a bad call a ref had made during a game…opening my arms and having her jump into them at the end of eighth period… The bombardment of happiness hit me so fast, I had to swallow past the lump forming in my throat.

I’d thought those moments were only the beginning, but it turned out they were just a fleeting bright spot in an otherwise empty existence. Money and privilege bought a lot of things, but they didn’t buy someone who loved you for you without a shadow of a doubt.

She snuggled down deeper, her blanket-covered toes brushing against the side of my leg the slightest bit. The tiny fragment of connection sent a jolt through my body.

She leaned her head against the back of the couch. The threat of the storm had passed, and Avery was out in seconds, her chest rising and falling steadily. I was under her spell again, like I had been for years when she’d slept in my bed. The waves I’d wrapped around my fingers too many times to count were longer now, reaching to the middle of her back. Some had escaped her bun and curled around her face.

Was her skin just as soft as I remembered? I needed to get up and go into the bedroom. Get up, Emmett. Instead, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. I’d wait a little longer to make sure the storm hadn’t just hit a lull. What are you doing? Why are you torturing yourself like this? Didn’t you learn enough the first time around?