This cave felt like a liminal space, a world where it was just us and the other things didn’t matter. A before and an after. The end of my friendship with Penny and the beginning of something that could potentially be amazing with Levi. If I chose him, I would be giving up everything that this summer was supposed to have been. Was a boy, any boy, even one as great as Levi, worth a best friend?

My heart stuttered. “Levi, I don’t know if we should do this,” I said quietly, the words tugged from my mouth almost unwillingly. He was a summer boy. They always went home. But Penny wasn’t going anywhere. I couldn’t think just of my present anymore. I had to think of the future. And that was a future Levi probably wouldn’t be part of—Penny would.

It wasn’t just about Penny, though. It was because when he left, I wouldn’t be able to come to this cave without remembering our kiss. I wouldn’t be able to look at his regular table at Busy’s without imagining him sitting there. I wouldn’t be able to be eat shrimp without remembering the cautious way he’d peeled back the shells and licked his fingers. His departure would turn me into a ghost town of us.

He bit his lip. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No! It’s just…”

He nodded as if he understood. “This is too fast.”

“No, it’s not that. I…” It felt like I was choking on the words. “I don’t get involved with summer boys.”

“Summer boys?”

I heard it the way he must have heard it. Like a slur. I hadn’t meant for it to sound that way—when locals used it, we knew it was derogatory, but it was also accepted. But hearing it now made me feel sick. “Um, it’s just what we call the guys who wind up in Oar’s Rest during the summer. The tourists. Because they go home at the end of the season.”

Hurt flashed in Levi’s eyes. He turned away. “Oh. Um, yeah, that, uh … that makes sense.” He stretched his arm behind his head to scratch his neck. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

“No, it’s not you. I wanted to. It’s just that I got caught up in the moment and…” I sucked in my cheeks and turned away, facing the mouth of the cave. The faintest spray of water wetted my cheeks. “We’ve had a lot of fun tonight. And we’re friends, right? You and me, we’re good?”

Even though I still felt the delicious tingle of his mouth against mine, friends I could handle. Just about.

“Definitely,” he said at once, like he’d just been waiting for me to offer. The palpable relief in his voice was impossible to miss. He opened his mouth, but I held up my hand.