He gives her a rundown of the rules, but within a couple of rounds—after she’s chugged two cups of cheap beer and her toes have gone tingly—it’s clear that Willa is not good at beer pong. She wanders away from the table, oblivious to the groans of frustration as she abandons the game, and when she looks toward the corner, Taylor is gone.

Willa searches out Campbell and finds him leaning against a doorway with his red cup dangling from his fingers. The pomade has failed and he pushes his hair back as a tanned girl wearing frayed cutoffs and dangly gold earrings walks up to him. She leans in to say something over the music and party chatter, something that makes him grin. She cocks her head toward the kitchen, then says something else.

“Please don’t go off with her,” Willa says quietly to herself.

Cam couldn’t possibly have heard, but he shakes his head a little and the girl’s smile fades. He watches her walk away, then brings the cup to his mouth. Even though she—and all the girls that came before her—should serve as a warning, seeing him standing alone cracks open something inside Willa. Courage crawls out, filling up her chest. She is done playing it safe.

“Hey,” he says as she steps into his space. Closer than she’s ever intentionally been. A smile takes over his face, but before he has a chance to speak, Willa rises onto tiptoes and touches her lips to his. Beer splashes her feet and his arms go around her, one hand cupping the back of her neck as the other pulls her against him. Only then does it register that he dropped his beer to touch her.

Campbell’s lips are as soft as she imagined, but kissing him eclipses any kiss she’s ever had. His fingers tangle in her curls, and she slips her arms up around his neck. The soft sweep of his tongue makes her dizzy, and the party falls away. At least until someone yells, “Get a room!”

They smile against each other’s mouths, and Cam raises his middle finger to the room in general. “Let’s get out of here.”

Willa nods. “Yes.”

“Boat?”

“Yes.”

Taking her hand, he leads her through the crowd, out the door, and into the cool, quiet night. Taylor is far from her thoughts as Cam pins her gently against a tree and kisses her again and again. The five-minute walk to the boat stretches out longer and slower as they stop every few feet to kiss. The buzz is better than beer. Better than anything. Willa could so easily get addicted to him. He could so easily ruin her. But she follows him toward the lake, dark and glittering in the moonlight. Through the marina. Into the cabin. Onto her bunk.

Taylor