And what was she supposed to say to that? Here she was sitting with a guy she was attracted to, and she was going to have to pretend to be madly in love with Nick, just to keep a stupid secret.

But Tyler looked over, and she could read it on his face. He knew.

Her voice was soft, almost lost in the sound of the surf. “No. Not really.”

He started to move the cigarette to his lips, but then he flung it into the fire, unlit. His expression was fierce, all angles lit by the flames. He shifted on the blanket like he was going to leave.

Was he going after Nick? Was he going to take this information and pick a fight, or use it against his brothers somehow? Or was he—

Tyler took her face in his hands and pressed his lips against hers.

Quinn stiffened in surprise—then yielded. He was rough and forceful, but in all the right ways. She’d kissed a lot of boys, but Tyler kissed like a man. No hesitation, no fumbling. First, his mouth, hot and searing and making her feel things low in her belly. Then his hands, finding her waist, pushing her down on the blanket. Then his tongue, pulling at hers.

His body felt secure against her, and his arms caged her there on the blanket. When he drew back to look at her, she wanted to grab his shirt and drag him back down.

But then she remembered what she’d just said.

“Please don’t tell anyone,” she whispered.

“Tell anyone what?”

“About Nick.”

He straightened his arms, pushing himself up until she missed his weight. “Nice,” he said with clear derision. The fire whipped higher behind him. “I kiss you, and you’re still thinking about that stupid f—”

Quinn slapped him. Hard, with all the passion of their kiss and her panic behind it. “Don’t you dare call him that.”

Tyler caught her arm and pinned it to the blanket. He got in her face. “Don’t you dare hit me. I was going to call him a stupid fuck.”

Oh. It wasn’t better, but somehow, it was.

She looked up at him. “I’m sorry.”

“For what.” He said it flatly, not even a question. He didn’t even wait for an answer, just moved off her to sit back on the blanket and stare at the fire.

She sat up next to him.

Talking about Nick seemed like a minefield, but all she could think about was how badly she’d derailed this entire evening. For everyone.

She wanted to touch Tyler—but she didn’t.

“Why did you kiss me?” she whispered.

He had another cigarette between his fingers, twirling it across his knuckles like a miniature baton. He mused for so long that she wanted to throw it into the fire after the first one.

Then he said, “Because I wanted to.”