His thumb circles my clit and then one long finger slides under the material and pushes it to the side. I shift and he guides his dick into me slowly. At this angle he fills me so completely. I hadn’t expected it to feel different for me without a condom, but it does. I close my eyes and enjoy every sensation before slowly moving.

“So good,” he says as he nips at my neck and collarbone. “You feel incredible. Hot, wet, fucking amazing.”

His hands roam all over my body and settle on the curve of my waist. He lets me set the pace even though I can tell he wants me to move faster. I’m enjoying it too much. I don’t want to rush it. Just us on the boat, nothing around, nothing between us—it’s perfect and I want to hold on to this perfection before I go back to worrying about all the stupid things trying to make me forget why it’s worth the risk.

The next two days, Tara and Corinne go out on their own more than they hang with us, which honestly is fine by me. It feels like good fortune to escape with Tanner back into our little bubble.

My good luck runs out on the day Emily is set to arrive. A downpour of rain that starts in the early morning continues on and off into the afternoon.

Tanner and I are snuggled up on the couch while Tara and Corinne are in the kitchen baking cookies that smell amazing but are probably laced with her disapproval and contempt for me.

I’m looking forward to Emily getting here so that I’ll have someone to talk to. If Tanner has noticed the lingering weirdness between me and Tara, he hasn’t mentioned it., and I haven’t brought it up again. How do you tell your boyfriend that his sister called you his fuck buddy anyway? And even if I told him, what could he do? He might talk to her and then she’d just dislike me even more. I think I’m going to have to accept that Tanner’s sister may never like me. I hope he’s okay with that. I get an awful feeling when I try to picture holidays together or meeting his parents. Can we really make a relationship work when someone so close to him dislikes me?

“What time is Emily getting here?” Tanner asks. “Going out on the boat is probably out but we could take her to The Cove.”

A knock at the door gets all our attention.

“Guess that answers that.” He stands. “I’m going to jump in the shower while you two catch up.”

I hurry to the door and fling it open with a big smile, but come up short when it isn’t my best friend on the other side, but Tanner’s ex.

“Amelia?”