“I had to be alone for a little while, but I’m okay now.”

“All right,” he whispered. “But next time, don’t go where I can’t find you.”

I didn’t doze off so much as relax. It seemed like the longer I sat there, the quieter my head became, the more the aches and knots in my body worked themselves out, leaving me as soft as the dirt under us.

Eventually, someone brought out a decades-old boom box, and even the kids with guitars stopped playing in deference to the Beach Boys. I seemed to be the only one in the entire camp who didn’t dance, but it was fun to watch the others. Zu, in particular, as she twisted her hips and threw her arms in the air—at least until she ran up to us and began to tug on our arms. I managed to beg off, but Liam didn’t have nearly as much willpower.

They were both laughing when the track switched to “Barbara Ann,” twirling when “Fun, Fun, Fun” came on. I should have known something was up when they both turned to me wearing identical devious looks.

Liam held up a finger in my direction, beckoning me over to him. I laughed and shook my hands in front of me. “No!”

He grinned—his first real grin in days—and I felt something tug at my belly button. The sensation was warm, tingling, and familiar. Liam pretended he was hauling a line in, and Zu actually stopped her frolicking to act it out with him. Their faces were flushed and glowing with a sheen of sweat. With nothing but fine dust and mud between us, I slid right over to them—right into Liam’s outstretched hands.

“No fair,” I whined.

“Come on, Green,” he said. “You could use a good dance.”

Zu spun around us, waving her arms in time to “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.” I put my hand over Liam’s, letting him drop it over one of his shoulders. He took my other hand without asking, and held it lightly in his own. “Step up on my feet.”

I gave him what I hoped was an incredulous look.

“Trust me,” he said. “Come on, before our song is over.”

Against all my better judgment, I put my feet over his, waiting for him to wince at my weight. At least his bones felt sturdy under mine.

“A little closer, Green; I won’t bite.”

I leaned forward, close enough that my cheek was resting against his shoulder. Liam’s hand tightened around mine, and I found my other hand bunching the fabric of his shirt. And I was embarrassed because I was positive he could feel my heart hammering in my chest.

“No spinning,” I said. I wasn’t sure if my head or heart could take it. Up close, he was so warm, and so beautiful. I was already dizzy enough.

“No spinning,” he agreed.

When we began to move, it wasn’t really dancing—just some glorified swaying. Back and forth, nice and easy. For once, my brain was perfectly content to keep its hands to itself. My muscles moved slow, like honey. We were completely out of sync with the song, and then we weren’t even moving at all. My cheek rested on his shoulder. The hand on the small of my back slipped under my shirt and curled against the skin there.