I put my hands on his lapels. “I could never, ever say no to you in that tux,” I whispered, biting my lip. That was the most utterly true thing I had said today.

He smiled playfully. “Well, now. That is a piece of information I will be storing for later.”

I took his hand. “I want to show you something.”

“Man, this night keeps getting better!” he said.

I laughed as I led him down the shoreline. “You aren’t drunk, are you?”

“What? No.”

I nodded, hurrying him along past the lights and noise of the busiest part of Juniper Shores, toward the darkness. We turned left into a practically deserted parking lot, and I led him to an old-timey billboard—no lights, no flashing screens—peddling Dollar Beer Night at the Tavern. This was nothing if not a town of inconsistencies, of high highs and low lows, a place where a party that was raising more than a lot of people paid for their houses was beside an Airstream serving slushies.

I bunched up my skirt and put my foot on the first rung of the ladder on the billboard, then looked back at Elliott. Maybe it wasn’t my best idea to climb in a ball gown. “This is why I wanted to make sure you’re sober.”

“Wait. We’re climbing this?”

“Are you scared?”

He smiled. “Doesn’t matter. I could never say no to you in that dress.”

“I’ll remember that for later,” I said, starting to climb the ladder that I had scaled dozens if not hundreds of times in my youth.

I was out of breath by the time I reached the top, less from the twenty-foot climb and more from nerves. It had been at least twenty years since I’d been up here. And never once had I brought a man.

I sat, as I had so many times before, and with more care than I’m certain I took as a girl, I scooted out far enough that my legs dangled over the edge. For the first time, I imagined plummeting to my death. Taking care not to tear my skirt, I scooted back and pulled my legs back on the billboard’s ledge.

Elliott laughed and sat down beside me. “You know, I think of myself as kind of an adventurous guy. But it has never occurred to me to climb the billboard.”

I shrugged. “Well, what can I say? With me, the thrills never cease.”

“You can say that again.”

I’d give Elliott credit. He was true to his word; he was patient. I’d seen him almost every day this week, and we’d held hands and done a lot of talking. And even when the energy was palpable between us, when the air crackled with the electricity we could make together—like it was doing now—he hadn’t so much as tried to kiss me.