There were definite benefits to having clout, not only in school, but in Geneva Key in general. Once I’d decided Cora Chase owned my soul that night on the beach, it had taken a matter of days for the student body at Harbrook to fall for her as well. She’d even captivated my best friend once he’d spent time with her and got over the changes. Cora was magnetic, and she had a personality that drew people in once she let down her guard.

Cora had only been in school two weeks before we were out for Christmas break, and in that time, it was no secret that the five-foot-three-inch Yankee had me wrapped around her little finger. And by the time we returned after the new year, we were a solid couple everyone stopped to admire and tried to befriend. She joined the track team in the spring and shined like the star I’d known she was from the moment I’d met her. The other students quickly figured out she was a force to be reckoned with in the classroom as well. This girl had it all. And there wasn’t a soul on campus who didn’t either envy me for having her or wish they were her. A year ago, that would have fed my ego, yet a few weeks with Cora and that part of me dissipated.

I wanted to be better for her, she needed a soft place to land, and I was determined I would be that security in her life. In order to do so, my pride had to take a back seat to her needs. Neil had been the only person who continued to keep his distance. All he saw was her changing me, although he didn’t recognize what she did was make me a better person. Cora dulled my hard edges. She loved the things about me no one else saw: the way I listened when she talked, my ability to be silent when she needed company, my need to show her how special she truly was. It didn’t seem like much at the time, but for a girl who’d just lost both of her parents and had a tumultuous relationship with her new guardians, it was huge.

For the first time in my life, I breathed for someone else. My heart pumped to fuel my body to make her day better. She gave the same in return. There was nothing about our relationship that was one-sided. As soon as Neil recognized that and realized Cora wasn’t going anywhere, he got on board and fell for her just as hard as everyone else who ever came into contact with her. Despite the tragedy she’d faced, Cora had a smile that won over rooms. She was friends with people in the band, on the varsity track team, and in the debate club. Her acceptance had no limits, and truth be told, she made Harbrook a better place to be.

Our senior year, I found myself sitting with people at lunch that I’d gone to school with for a decade and didn’t know their names. That was Cora’s style—she never wanted anyone to be excluded. Everything about her was beautiful—inside and out.

“Have you decided on a college, Carp?” Jordan was one of the many people Cora had made friends with when she first got to Geneva Key, and they’d become close since.

This was a sore subject between Cora and me, and I hated for people to ask about it when the two of us were together. “The University of Kentucky and the University of North Carolina both offered me a basketball scholarship.”

Cora, Jordan, Neil, and I all sat together during study hall. Having finished our homework, we had nothing better to do than chit chat. Unfortunately, this topic occupied the minds of most seniors in Geneva Key—we all wanted out. Cora hadn’t applied to the same schools I had, and we now had to make the choice of one following the other or try the long-distance thing.

“Are you going to take one of them?” Jordan kept digging, though her curiosity was innocent.

“I’m not sure. They’re both good schools with great basketball teams.”

“Except he can’t live without Cora within arm’s reach.” Neil’s sarcasm grated on my nerves, and I shot him a glare to demonstrate just how irritated I was.

The bell rang before the discussion could get heated. Neil knew I wouldn’t put up with his shit where Cora was concerned. She was my world, and if I had to give up a scholarship, then I would. I didn’t need it anyhow. My parents had plenty of money and didn’t give a shit where I went to college as long as I went.

I kissed my girlfriend goodbye with a quick peck on the lips and parted ways, then Neil and I headed to our next class together.

“You’re too young to be making decisions based on a girl, Carp.”

“Says the guy who has never gotten laid.” I rolled my eyes without looking at him.

“Dude, do you have any idea how much pussy you will be abandoning if you two go to school together? I get this is great in Geneva Key where there are no options, but you’re a fool if you let that girl dictate your life.”

I stopped and stared at him like he’d lost his damn mind.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’d say that to any guy about any girl. If she’s it, she’ll still be it after college when you’ve had a chance to enjoy freedom.”

“What the fuck are you talking about, Neil? It’s not like I have parents breathing down my back, or hell, even a chaperone. I certainly wasn’t a fucking virgin when I started sleeping with her. You don’t get the connection because you’ve never felt it. I don’t have a desire to be away from her.”

“That’ll change.” His matter-of-fact tone pissed me off.

“No, dude, it won’t. I don’t care if my dick never meets the warmth of another pussy. She’s it for me.”

“You’re an idiot.”

Neil was once again saved by the bell signaling the start of our next class. By the time the period was over, my anger had calmed and he’d forgotten about the conversation entirely. And when I saw the inky hair and bright smile of the girl I loved, I no longer cared.

I stopped at her locker while she exchanged books. Cora closed the metal door, and instantly, her hands met my hips, her body pulled into mine. She stared up through the fourteen-inch height difference and waited for my lips to touch hers. This was her MO—she did it every time she saw me. I probably should have been embarrassed by her affection and my need to reciprocate it, but I never was. I loved showing the world who I belonged to, and I refused to ever let distance stand between us.

I escorted her to our last class of the day. After, I knew what was coming. I couldn’t avoid the conversation. We neared a time we’d both have to make decisions, and it couldn’t be put off any longer.

“You coming over?” she asked like it was really a question. Her refusal to assume my time belonged to her only served to keep me interested.

“Of course. Anyone going to be there?”

“Is anyone ever there?” Her chest heaved in frustration.

Cora had made a life in Geneva Key, even though she felt slighted by her grandparents. She never came out and said she would have been better off with her mom’s friend Faith in White Plains after her parents passed away, but I knew she thought it. Losing that relationship had almost been as hard as losing her parents. Her grandparents had insisted she live with them, the only problem was that they only maintained a residence in Geneva Key; they didn’t actually live there. All they’d done was ensure she was alone without any adult supervision—not that she’d needed it—or guidance, which she craved.

She hadn’t shared a lot about Gwendolyn and Owen Chase with me. Her father had written his parents off when Cora was just a baby, and whatever had happened in the family left an indifferent taste in Cora’s mouth. Her grandmother tried to connect with Cora, but Cora remained loyal to her father and the legacy he’d left behind. She was never rude—she just wasn’t inviting.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her to my chest to kiss the top of her head. While she missed having adults around, it didn’t bother me in the least. “I’ll follow you home. I don’t have any homework, so I’m free for the night.”

“Good, me too.” She released me, took my hand, and together, we left Harbrook.

I expected her to launch into a persuasive speech about school in the fall, but to my surprise, when we got to her house, she just led me to her room.

Cora dropped her backpack by the dresser and turned to me. Her tiny hand fisted my shirt and pulled me in before closing the door behind us. Her lips turned up in a coquettish grin that drove me wild, and I knew instantly what she was after. She didn’t waste any time. Long fingers wrapped themselves around the hem of my T-shirt and started to lift. She wasn’t tall enough to get it over my head, though all she had to do was start the ball rolling, and I’d take over. I reached between my shoulder blades and tugged the shirt off. With each inch of skin I exposed, her hands roamed further.

The warmth of her touch sent chills up my arms and down my back. She knew what she did to me, and I think she secretly enjoyed being able to bring a man twice her size to his knees. Her soft lips peppered kisses all over my torso, teasing me with a hint of tongue. Cora normally took her time, enjoyed foreplay, stretched things out, yet today, she was more interested in getting down to business. The button on my jeans came undone, and the zipper broke through the silence of her bedroom as it was lowered. She hooked her hands into the waistband of my boxer briefs and slid them, along with my jeans, down to my ankles.

All it took to excite me was a glance from Cora—it never failed to surprise her that I was fully erect by the time my clothes came off. Fuck, she was gorgeous, and she was mine. There wasn’t a guy on the planet who wouldn’t be sporting a chub the size of Texas at the mere thought of sinking into her. She didn’t wait for me to help her with her clothes. As soon as mine were removed, she shimmied out of her own. I never tired of staring at her lean form. Cora had the body of a runner. She was petite and not overly endowed, although every inch of what she had was perfect, and I loved it. Her curves leaned in at just the right places, and her swells rounded in opposition. Even as thin as she was, there wasn’t a hard edge to her.

She took my hand, led me to her bed, and encouraged me to sit on the edge. As little as she was, she had an uncanny ability to lead me in any direction she wished to go. Once I’d settled, Cora climbed into my lap and hooked her arms around my neck. Our height difference made it difficult for her to get much leverage with me standing, but in this position, we were equals. Just before she lowered herself onto my dick, her lips met mine, and her tongue invited my mouth to open for her. She deepened the connection in both places at the same time, and her heat captured me as she sank down.

My hands gripped her tight ass, kneading the firm flesh as she rolled her hips and lifted herself up and down. I spread my knees to allow for deeper penetration and couldn’t help the moan that escaped from deep within. When our lips parted, her head fell back, and her long hair tickled the tops of my thighs. Nothing ever felt as right as becoming one with Cora Chase. Heaven found Earth in those moments and shed light on even the darkest of times. We worked in tandem, her giving, me taking until her face was crimson from exertion, and I knew her thighs burned from the workout. The way she clenched her muscles inside left me a slave to her touch.

Wrapping my arms around her waist, I rolled her over onto the mattress, allowing her to rest while I took her to a place I never wanted to share with anyone else. I cocked one knee up under her thigh and lifted myself slightly onto the other for better leverage and made love to the most beautiful girl I’d ever encountered. When her heat intensified from within, she was close, and I drove longer and deeper. Each plunge took her closer to the place of ecstasy we both strived to reach. Her back arched, she gasped and held her breath, and I kissed the tender spot beneath her ear that sent her into orbit…just before I whispered, “I love you, sweetheart.”

And we came apart, together.

Those last few rolls of our hips were my favorite part of the entire experience. Only the sounds of ragged breaths lingered in the air followed by the explosions of color behind my eyelids. It was my own personal nirvana.

I touched my forehead to hers briefly before rolling off to her side and tucking her frame next to me. I’d be the laughing stock of the school if anyone ever got wind of how much I enjoyed just being with her after sex. There was something peaceful in those moments I hadn’t experienced any other time in my life.

She peered up at me with eyes so green Crayola would be envious, and a sated smile graced her lips. We didn’t normally talk much after sex, but I could see words lingering on her tongue. Cora had something to say, and she’d used her body to prime me for the blow.

I pulled back slightly in anticipation of hearing something that would rock my world and prayed it wasn’t anything that would destroy us.

“I got into UK and UNC.”

My mouth hung open in shock, unsure I’d heard what I thought I had. Cora and I had gone round and round about colleges, yet never in a million years did I think she’d take the initiative to apply to one of the schools I’d gotten a scholarship to. “What?”

She propped her head on her hand, and that just-fucked look morphed into love. “I applied over the holidays. I didn’t say anything in case I didn’t get accepted. I wasn’t sure since I’d waited so late to send in my applications. But I got both letters in the mail this week.”

There were so many thoughts running through my head that she’d left me speechless.

The tips of her fingers traced soft circles on my chest while Cora refused to meet my eyes. “So all you have to do is decide whether it’s going to be Kentucky or North Carolina.” She paused and took a deep breath. “And if you want me there with you.”

I’d never witnessed this side of my girlfriend—the one that was unsure, insecure.

With little effort, I raised my arm lifting her at the same time to move her on top of me. She immediately adjusted and pushed herself up to straddle my waist. I grinned at the pink tinge still kissing her cheeks and the glow that us being together had left on her skin.

“There’s no question whether I want you with me. The question is, what changed your mind?”

She shrugged, and I couldn’t help but laugh at how timid she suddenly appeared. “You’re my only family, James. UK and UNC are great schools, and I just need an education. It doesn’t matter where it’s from. And you’ve got fantastic opportunities at both, so I didn’t want you to feel like you had to choose between basketball and me.” She cast her gaze down to my sternum in uncertainty.

I loved that in the year we’d been together, Cora had never taken to calling me Carp. She was the only person in the school, including teachers, who used my first name. “Babe, there’s no way I could go anywhere without you.” I lifted her chin with my fingers to force her to see the truth in my eyes. “I gave you my heart on the shore of Geneva Key. I have no plans to take it back.”

She couldn’t fight the smile that tugged at her lips and met her eyes. “So where’s it going to be? Mid-west or the South?”

“Your grandparents don’t care where you go?” I shouldn’t have asked. As soon as the words came out of my mouth, they were a reminder that her parents weren’t around to bounce ideas off of and talk things to death. I’d filled in the best I could, though sadly, we were teenagers living adult lives without much influence. “Forget that. Where do you want to go?”

She worried her bottom lip with her teeth while she contemplated her answer. And with wide eyes, she said, “North Carolina.”

And just like that, we became Tar Heels.

***

“You two are going to the same college?” Neil didn’t try to hide his agitation at my declaration while we jogged around the island.

“Why are you so surprised? I’m going to one of the best schools in the country, and it also happens to have a kick-ass basketball program.”

“You’re also toting a serious amount of baggage with you. I don’t get it. It’s like you can’t breathe without her filling your damn lungs with oxygen.” He’d picked up the pace, making defending myself more difficult—not that I should have to.

“Why do you care?” My heart pounded like a bass drum at a rock concert. Each beat crashed in my chest more forcefully than the last.

“Just hate seeing you throw your life away on a high school girlfriend.”

“Jesus, are you my father or my best friend? You love Cora. Where’s this coming from?”

“Forget it, dude. Do what makes you happy.”

I stopped and dropped my hands to my knees. We’d taken to a pace that left us nearly sprinting on the sand. I couldn’t keep up and focus on the conversation at hand. Surprisingly, Neil remained with me. “Are you jealous?”

“Of a chick? Hell no.”

My stare met his, and it was easy to see he wasn’t lying. He wasn’t jealous, he was hurt. “Then what gives?”

He gave me a half-assed shrug. “I guess I just thought we’d always play college ball together. But ever since you met Cora, basketball has played second string to a female. That was never you. It was never hoes before bros.”

“Neil, we aren’t ten anymore. I didn’t choose for Cora to walk into my life, but I’ll be damn sure I don’t let her walk out.”

“So you’re willing to walk away from a friend of eighteen years, instead?”

“I’m not walking away from you. Just because we don’t go to the same college doesn’t mean we won’t be friends.” Damn, I needed a tampon and a Hallmark movie. Neil could bring the fucking chocolate.

“I guess we’ll see, huh?”

“Georgia Tech and UNC are like four hours apart. It won’t be like walking down the street as a kid, but it certainly doesn’t require a plane ticket to get there.”

He stood with his hands on his hips, watching me pant like a bitch trying to regain normal breathing function. “We’ve still got two miles. Are you done being a pussy?”

I didn’t have anything else to say to my best friend to get him past this mental block he had going on. There weren’t words that would erase his trepidation, and I wondered where his sudden need for security came from. He’d never been clingy, and now, he could have given Saran Wrap a run for its money. Our friendship had always been effortless, even after I’d met Cora. Abruptly, in the last couple of weeks, he’d gone from being a carefree playboy to an uptight asshat.

“You’re the one who needs some fucking Midol.”

He grinned back at me with a cocky smirk and slapped me on the chest. “Let’s go.”

Something weighed on Neil’s mind, and without going all emo on him, I had no idea how to get him to confide in me. It was more than Cora joining me at UNC. Though I didn’t have a clue just how much more until I tried one more time when we got back to my house, right before he got into his car.

“Neil, man, you going to tell me what the hell’s been up your ass the last couple weeks? I know it doesn’t have a damn thing to do with my girlfriend.”

He removed his sweaty shirt, tossed it through the open car door, and then leaned against the side of the vehicle. “You don’t want to hear me bitch and moan.”

“You’re right, but I’m doing that anyhow, so it might as well be about what’s really bothering you instead of the cheap shots you keep taking at Cora.”

He wiped his hand down his face and took a deep breath. “My parents filed for bankruptcy.”

My jaw dropped. Like legit, came unhinged and hung open, leaving me completely mortified.

“Apparently, my dad has somewhat of a gambling problem.”

“Holy fuck, what the hell was he betting on to have lost millions? And why the fuck didn’t your mom put a stop to that shit?”

He rolled his eyes in my direction to glare at me. “Clearly, she wasn’t aware his business trips to Vegas were poker tournaments where he lost his ass and kept betting trying to recoup the deficit.”

“There’s no way he lost everything playing poker.” I couldn’t hide the shock in my voice.

Neil’s parents not only came from a large fortune, they’d also made a vast sum with the invention of some rubber-mesh material used by NASA. There should be money for five generations after Neil.

“Unless they’re lying and something else happened, that’s the story I was told.”

“Is that why your sister came home?”

Natalie was six years older than her brother and married right after she graduated from college. Another trust fund relationship in the books—thank you, Geneva Key. She’d shown up a couple weeks ago, about the same time Neil started whining all the time. I hadn’t put the two together. I assumed her marriage hadn’t worked, not that she’d come home to bail her parents out.

“Yeah. She’s trying to help them determine the best way through of all this. Although, her husband is over my parents’ crap and told her she needs to come home. That left them with no other option except to tell me the truth.”

“At least their house is paid for, so they don’t have to worry about losing that.”

He raised his eyebrows as if to say, “Not quite.”

“Seriously? This is like the worst game of Monopoly ever played.”

“Yep. My sister’s husband—the lawyer—advised them to sell it to try to get out from under the debt and the second mortgage. If they’re lucky, they’ll break even, though that does nothing for their future.”

“What about school?” College was probably the last thing on his radar. It seemed to be a huge issue the last few days so I couldn’t help but wonder where his head was in regard to his future.

“I didn’t get a scholarship. My parents can’t pay for it.”

“So that’s it? You’re just going to stay in Geneva Key?” It was hard to imagine my best friend’s life was crumbling around him while the world just kept spinning. And if he stayed here, he’d get sucked into the black hole that ate the youth in this town.

“You’re kidding, right? My family can’t stay here.”

“What are they going to do?”

“No clue what they’re going to do, but I’m moving to Syracuse after graduation. Natalie and Nathan offered to pay my tuition, as long as I’m far away from Mom and Dad.”

“When the hell were you going to tell me?” I didn’t have a right to be angry. I sounded like a jilted girlfriend.

Neil had some heavy shit weighing on him, but damn, he’d raked me over the coals about Cora, and all this time, he was hiding a monumental secret.

“I kept thinking something would happen and they’d find a way to send me to Georgia. And then last night, Natalie told me she needed a decision. So I took the only opportunity I had.” His expression held nothing other than defeat.

I wanted to be positive and tell him how great it was that his sister had come through, though knowing Natalie, there were strings attached, and Neil would owe her more than he could ever repay…and it wasn’t going to be a monetary sum. “What’s the catch?”

“Apparently, I’m going to law school.”

And there it was. Neil was a bright guy—however, he’d never shown any interest in becoming a lawyer. “And I guess that means you’ll owe Nathan’s firm several years of service after graduation?”

“Yep. So goodbye, basketball.”

There was no point in trying to tell him he could do both. Neil was good, but I wasn’t sure he could walk onto Syracuse’s team much less do that and maintain the GPA his sister would require to keep footing the bill. She had him by the balls, and that was how she liked to keep the men in her life.

“Have you considered taking out loans for Tech?” No kid should be saddled with that kind of debt, but it beat the alternative.

“I’ve already tried. I didn’t qualify for any type of assistance this year because of my parents’ income last year. Funny how that works. The government doesn’t care if you’re broke now; they only care that your family wasn’t broke—at least on paper—twelve months ago. So that would mean figuring out what to do for a year before I could reapply. And then I’d be two semesters behind everyone else.”

“I’m getting an apartment. Live with me. Get a job for a year. Dude, your sister doesn’t need to own your life for the next decade.”

“Your girl won’t go for that.” He tried to dismiss my offer by sliding into the driver’s seat of his sedan. The dumbass didn’t realize his window was down.

“Cora and I aren’t going to live together, Neil. She’s going to be in the dorms. At least think about it before rejecting the idea. Call Natalie and tell her to hold off for a week.”

Even though he bobbed his head as if he agreed to what I asked of him, I could tell by the look on his face he’d resigned himself to his fate.

“One week. Seriously, Neil.”

“Talk to Cora. If she doesn’t have any objections, I’ll consider it.”

“I’ll talk to her, but I can already tell you she won’t care. She considers you a friend.”

He started the car and put a baseball hat over his sweaty hair. “Let me know what she says.” He lifted his head as the only acknowledgment that he was leaving and backed out of my driveway.

An hour later, I hung up the phone with Cora. Her heart was going to get her in trouble one of these days. She not only believed it was a good idea for Neil to come to North Carolina, she also wanted to pay for his tuition out of the money her parents had left her. There was no way he’d ever agree to that, yet I adored her even more for trying to do it. She loved Neil because I loved him, and she couldn’t bear to see anyone suffer or go without, so for her, what Neil’s parents had done was unforgivable.

When I called Neil, it took less than fifteen minutes to convince him to tell his sister to piss off, and all of three seconds for him to refuse Cora’s offer. But I had managed to get him to move to North Carolina, and somehow, I’d help him figure out the rest before the semester started.