The sliding glass door opens and Sydney steps into the dining room with an empty glass.

“Do you want another drink, babe?” I ask away from the phone.

“I got it.” She snags a toasted rav on her way to the fridge.

“Is that Amelia?” my sister asks excitedly. “Did you convince her to come up sooner?”

“Nah, Sydney’s with me.”

“What about Amelia?”

“We broke up.”

“In the five hours since I’ve talked to you, you’ve managed to break up with one girl and replace her with another? Jesus, Tanner,” my sister admonishes. “Insensitive much? I need to call Amelia and check on her.”

“It’s just Sydney, and Amelia’s fine. She broke up with me.”

“Not without reason, I’m sure. You were so good together. She was nice and decent.” She sighs and then her voice softens. “What happened?”

“Can we talk about this later?” I glance at Sydney and force a smile.

“Yes. Are you okay?”

“Never better.”

Sydney makes another drink and takes it and the plate of raviolis out to the deck.

“I gotta go. I’m starving and Sydney’s about to eat all the toasted ravioli. I’ll call you next week to hash out plans for the Fourth, and I’ll see you in a few weeks with my sweet summer tan.”

“Jerk,” she says playfully. “Bye T.”

I pocket my phone and hustle outside. The sun has almost completely disappeared, and the only sound is the water lapping and the boats speeding by. I love everything about being on the lake. The heat of the sun out on the boat, zipping around on jet skis, party cove, but sitting outside after dark chilling with a drink in hand, might be my favorite.

Taking a seat next to Sydney, I raise my beer. “Cheers to the best summer ever.”

8

SYDNEY

When I wake up it takes a few seconds to remember where I am. Smiling, I throw back the comforter and pad across the hall to the master bedroom where Tanner is spread out face down on the king-size bed.

“Wake up.” I bounce onto the bed. “It’s after nine.”

He groans. “We’re on lake time. Nothing good happens before noon.”

Still, he turns over, hair mussed and face lined from the pillow. His gaze drops to my chest and over my body and he smirks. “You’re already in your suit?”

“I slept in it.” I get up on my knees and bounce. “Get up. Get up.”

He grabs me around the waist and pulls me down beside him. “Five more minutes.”