“I’m sitting in one of the hanging chairs on the boathouse porch, watching Chase go by on the wakeboard, when my brother takes a seat next to me and lets out a big sigh.
“I suppose I should be happy for you two,” he says.
“What do you mean?”
“The good news is, you aren’t cockblocking Chase anymore. The bad news is, you’re doing something else to it instead.”
“Damon! What I do or don’t do is absolutely none of your business!”
“It is when the guy you’re dicking around is my best friend. My lifelong best friend. Who is in love with you. I always hoped that, someday, you would realize it and end up together, but this … this could literally ruin everything.”
“How?”
“Well, I guess at least you’re honest enough not to deny it, but what happens when we go home? When we go back to school? Back to reality?”
“One of the prettiest girls in our school has been flirting with him. She’s a senior. Surely, if she could date him, I could, too.”
“Kelsey doesn’t care what people think. She’s not just friends with whoever the popular clique thinks is cool. She’s friends with everyone. You’re not like that. You care about what everyone thinks.”
“You’re just saying that because you want to date her best friend and be fucking legends, on and off the field.”
“You’re an eavesdropper now, too, huh?”
“And you’re pushing your agenda onto Chase, not thinking about what would make him happy.”
“Yeah, well, you didn’t have to deal with him last summer. You didn’t see how badly it hurt him when you started dating Matt. Remember last summer? How you were kissing him in the tree house? How you were still sneaking over to his room even though you didn’t have the excuse of our parents getting a divorce anymore? Then, all of a sudden, you had a boyfriend? You constantly use Chase to make yourself feel better. Are you ever a friend to him? Do you ever ask him how he’s doing? Do you know what he’s gone through in the last year? Do you know how hard it was for him as a starting freshman to earn the respect of the upperclassmen? Add to that, all the national press. The modeling. The hype. The girls. Did you ever once help him through all that?” I start to say something, but he pushes his palm out in front of my face. “The answer to that question is, no, you didn’t. And so help me, if you slept with him because you were pissed that ass Hunter hadn’t called you on vacation, then you’re way worse than he is.”
“Did you say all this to Chase?”
“And ruin his good mood? The guy is on top of the world right now, and I’m not going to be the one to bring him down.”
I don’t get to say anything else because Damon immediately jumps into the water, effectively ending our conversation.
He waves the boat down, indicating that it’s his turn next. Chase swims in and climbs up onto the dock.
I’m headed that way, too, when Jadyn joins me.
“Oh shoot,” she says, looking me over. “Were you planning on going out skiing?”
“No. I was watching. I just washed my hair for the party, so no lake water for me today.”
“Excellent. I was wondering if you’d like to go up to the hotel with me, Haley, and Mimi. We’re going to help the pastry chef decorate the cupcakes for Emersyn’s birthday party.”
“That would be amazing! I bet we’ll learn a ton!”
I love decorating cupcakes, and with Jadyn’s help, I’ve gotten pretty good at it, but I watch those cake-decorating shows and know I still have a ton to learn. And to learn from a trained pastry chef? Sign me up.
“Can I come?” Chase asks as he’s drying off with a towel.
“No, you’re good at many things, Chase,” his mom says, “but I’m afraid you don’t have the patience for an intricate cupcake topping.”
“That’s because he just wants to slap frosting on it, so he can eat it,” I say with a grin. Mostly because I just teased him. And teasing him was normal pre-sex. And that makes me feel less awkward around him in front of his mother.
“Besides, there’s plenty for you boys to do here,” she tells him. “Why don’t you get some dry clothes on and then help your father? The hotel staff will be here soon to start setting up, but we all want to pitch in.”
He salutes her as she turns around and heads back up the hill. I stay here for a moment, just smiling at Chase. He looks really cute, wet.
“So, you’re ditching me,” he says, rubbing the towel against his hair. If I did that, my hair would end up in a ball of tangles. His turns out perfectly, sexily mussed-looking.
I exhale loudly.
“What?” he asks, tilting his head to the side.
“I was just thinking, with your hair wet and messy like that, it reminds me of yesterday.”
“Yesterday was pretty amazing.”
“Yeah, it was.”
“And you teased me,” he says. “In front of my mom. Which is good. I know you were worried about feeling different around everyone.”
“Years of practice,” I say, swatting him. “If you give me a quick kiss, I might bring you back a cupcake.”
He gives me a sweet kiss on the lips. Quick. Simple. The BFF kiss.
Which makes me even happier.
I practically skip up the hill and then go in the house, finding everyone ready to go.
“Is Grandma Mac not coming with?” I ask.
“She’s going to stay here with the birthday girl,” Haley says.
“And oversee things,” Mimi adds. “Make sure the menfolk get their honey-do lists done.”
Grandma Mac is just rounding the corner to join us in the kitchen when Ryder and Madden jump out from behind the wall, scaring her.
“Ah!” she screams out, which causes the boys to run away, laughing hysterically.
“They’ve been on a mission today to scare everyone,” Mimi tells her. “It’s getting annoying.”
“They’re just having fun,” Jadyn says.
“Well, two very large babies, combined with my age, make for a weakened pelvic floor. Enough said,” Grandma Mac counters.
“What does she mean by that?” I whisper to Mimi.
“It means, she’s mad because when they scared her, she might have peed a little.”
“I’m going to kill those kids,” she says even though she’s now smiling.
“That’s not very grandmotherly,” Haley dares to say as her grandma shoos us out of the house.
Decorating the cupcakes is awesome. Not only because I learn a ton about marzipan and edible glitter sugar, but also because I get to spend time with the girls, laughing and having a great time. Creating memories for ourselves while baking memories for Emersyn’s party. And it’s fun, seeing our different personalities and how they relate to the process.
Haley—who, like her brother, is not very patient—has managed to perfect the perfect frosting-swirled top.
Jennifer isn’t all that interested in the decorating. She’s all about the baking, and she has been working with the chef like a mad scientist on flavor combinations. I think that Mimi is just glad to be here. She’s been helping us all, making sure we have everything we need at our disposal and insisting on helping the chef with cleanup.
Jadyn loves to bake—always has—but for this party, I can tell she’s obsessed with the details. She wants a memorable party for her baby girl.
And there’s something about the pomp and circumstance of all of it that makes me think about my wedding—that, or maybe it’s because another pastry chef who is sharing the kitchen with us is working on an extravagant cake.
When I was little, I was a typical girlie girl who loved to dress up, even going as far as putting on one of my mom’s satin nightgowns with a tiara and making Chase be my groom. I mean, my only other option was my brother, and someone had to be the person to pronounce us husband and wife. Damon used to giggle when he would tell Chase he could now kiss the bride, but Chase never seemed to think it was funny. He always held my hands during our vows without complaining and put a big plastic jeweled ring on my finger when the time was right. And he always kissed me on the lips.
When the unicorn cupcakes are done, I ask if I can make another one.
Something different.
Something special. And when everyone else goes back to get ready for the party, I get to work.
A couple hours later, I get back to the house, immediately wanting to give my creation to Chase. But ohmigosh! The backyard has been totally transformed since I left and is full-on glitter unicorn-ified.
There are unicorn floats in the pool.
A doughnut wall filled with doughnuts covered in rainbow sprinkles.
Pink and gold crepe paper crosses the sky from tree to tree, almost forming a ceiling. There’s a little unicorn waterslide and a big bounce house.
A huge rainbow-colored balloon arch with a unicorn head, somehow fashioned out of balloons, hangs over a pink-and-gold tablecloth-covered banquet table, ready for food.
There are unicorn midway-style games like Pin the Horn on the Unicorn, Unicorn Ring Toss, and others.
And an adorable sign.
A table full of gifts.
Pastel patterned ribbons hanging from the trees along with strands of gold foil stars.
Unicorn piñatas.
And a rainbow cotton candy machine.
It’s all just adorably perfect.
“Hey, Devaney,” my dad says. “Whatcha got there?”
I open the lid and show him.
“Did you make that?” both he and Phillip say at the same time.
I smile big. “I did. It was so amazing to get to work with a real pastry chef. I learned so much. And I guess if being a sportscaster doesn’t work out, I have a fallback plan.”
“You’re incredibly talented,” my dad says sincerely.
“Thank you. What are you two up to? It looks like the party’s all set up.”
“Just finishing up with some last-minute details,” Phillip says, but then he looks guilty and pulls two rainbow doughnuts out from behind his back.
“Taste-testing,” my dad says with a laugh.
“Busted,” I tease. “Are Damon and Chase in the boathouse?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Awesome. I’m going to take this down to Chase.”
I don’t find Chase in the living room, so I make my way up to his bedroom and find him standing in front of his closet, wearing just a pair of white shorts.
And those white shorts. I know I went on about the all black the other day, but I’m thinking he should just wear these instead. Possibly forever.
And he must be shirtless, like he is now. Because the white shorts contrast with his tan body.
My mom always jokes that a tan hides cellulite—not that she would know; I think Richard must vacuum it out daily. But in this moment, I agree with her about one thing—a tan can make a body look even more attractive. And carefree. And beachy. And downright sexy.
And I’m only looking at his muscled back, great ass, and tight calves.
He turns around—probably ’cause he could hear me drooling behind him—and flashes a white-toothed smile at me.
I set the box down on a nearby dresser just in time because he takes two steps toward me, closing the door with one hand and pulling me close with the other.
His lips land on mine, and I feel like someone who was lost in the desert and just found water. Like he’s giving me life with his lips.
Okay, that might be a little over the top, but whatever.
It feels good.
As does running my hands across some of the places I was just admiring.
“Mmm, what was that for?” I ask him.
“I missed you,” he says in between kisses. “It’s been six hours since I kissed you properly before I went out on the boat this morning.”
“Addicted to me already?” I murmur.
He doesn’t reply, just kisses me deeply. Lots of tongue. Lots of roaming hands. The kind of kiss that gets you all hot and bothered and makes you care less about unicorn birthdays.
When he finally ends our kiss, minutes later, he says, “The addiction isn’t new. The kissing like that is. Now, what’s in the box? I smell sugar. Actually,” he says, sniffing my neck, “you smell like sugar.”
I smile. “It’s a present for you.”
“I could totally make a dirty joke about that.”
“What do you mean—Chase! My box is not a present.”
He gives me that naughty little-boy smirk.
“Well, it is the gift that keeps on giving,” he practically howls.
“Chase Mackenzie!” I say, shaking a finger at him. “You need to stop hanging out with my brother. He’s warping your mind!”
“Am not!” I hear my brother yell back.
“Shit,” Chase mutters.
“He knows,” I whisper.
“That means Haley does, too,” he says.
“Let’s tell everyone today,” I suggest. “Or just be natural, holding hands. Kissing. If they ask, we’ll say we decided to date.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Damon says.
I swing the door open to find my brother standing there with his mouth half-full of a cupcake.
“Hay Girl did me a solid and brought me a few,” he says as he chews. Then, he looks directly at Chase. “Course, I guess maybe I should have offered to thank her the way you were just suggesting.”
“Don’t you dare,” Chase says. “You know she’s off-limits.”
“Bro,” Damon says, “you know I love you, but you can’t control who your sister gets freaky with any more than I can.”
Chase grabs what’s left of Damon’s cupcake, tosses it in his mouth, and then shoves his way past him and goes downstairs. Needless to say, I grab the cupcake box and follow him.
I sit next to Chase on the couch and set the cupcake box in his lap.
“You really don’t think we should tell them?” I ask Damon, who is now sitting across the coffee table from us.
I notice two more unicorn cupcakes in front of him.
He picks one up, licks all the icing off, and says, “These are so good.”
When he doesn’t respond to my question, Chase opens the lid and pulls out my creation.
The cupcake I made for him is mint chocolate—Chase’s favorite flavor. The body of it—the cake part—is triple chocolate, and the frosting is white chocolate with a hint of mint. The frosting is swirled into a neat pile with iridescent edible glitter dust coating it. But it’s the teeny, intricate pieces of marzipan decorating the frosting that are the real masterpieces. There’s a green-and-white striped mini football field, complete with goalposts. A red number one, which looks like the one on his home team jersey. A black-and-silver microphone. A brown football with little white laces. And the word dream, hand-crafted with white chocolate and little rhinestones. It was the last item placed on the cupcake, and then I put it in the freezer to hold its shape.
He studies it intently and then looks up at me. His expression is one of awe. And I don’t think it’s because of the cupcake’s beauty. It’s because of what it all means.
We’ve always talked about our dreams. About how we want certain things for each other. But this is the first time they’ve ever really been together as one. All mashed up.
Our dream.
Us together.
And as I was making each bauble, I couldn’t help but wonder if, someday, maybe we’d have a story—a journey—that might lead us to serving cupcakes like these at our own wedding.
“This is like a work of art,” he says to me. “I don’t even want to eat it.”
“Dude,” Damon says, interrupting our little moment, “they’re the bomb. You gotta eat it.” He stands up and takes a closer look. “Wait. What all is on yours? Mine was a unicorn. The pointy little cone was like hard cotton candy. Incredible.” He studies it some more. “Hmm. You make that, Dani? Like, yourself?”
“I did,” I say proudly.
“What’s the microphone for? Chase’s rock-star backup plan?”
“Yes,” I say quickly before Chase tells him otherwise. “It’s a little inside joke.”
“It’s pretty. You’re really talented,” my brother says sincerely, giving me a high five—which is like the ultimate compliment.
And it makes me feel good. “Thank you.”
Chase gets up and grabs his camera from the console table in the entry. Then, he takes a million photographs of the cupcake.
“While he’s doing that”—Damon finishes eating the last of the cupcakes—“back to the parents. I think you should tell them when we get back home. Like, immediately upon arrival. Seriously, no one will even be surprised. Dad, on the other hand, will have mixed feelings about it.”
“You don’t think he’ll approve of me dating Dani?” Chase asks, looking concerned.
“Oh, he thinks you’re awesome. And practically perfect. But he’s not going to be thinking about the dating part. He’s going to think about the screwing part. And because of it, if you tell him now, he’s going to want to know where we all are and what we’re doing, negating our current carefree summer vacay with no real rules, which we all are enjoying.”
“So, this is about you getting laid?” I can’t believe my brother sometimes.
“Come on, Chase. You’ve stared at it. Photographed it. Damn near cried over it. If you don’t eat the dang thing already, I will,” Damon says, ignoring my comment.
I nod at Chase, agreeing, and then watch as he carefully picks the decorations off the top and sets them to the side before taking a bite. Damon reaches over, pushes his finger through the frosting, and then shoves it in his mouth.
“Oh, mint. That’s good,” he says as Haley comes through the door. “Hay Girl. Sit. We were just discussing why they shouldn’t tell our parents about their relationship just yet.”
She sits down next to him.
“So, as I was saying,” Damon continues, “this is about us coming to an agreement that’s best for all of us. One where we will cover for you regarding whatever alone time you need so that we can continue to hook up with hotties at the resort.”
“Oh my gosh, yes,” Haley says.
“Also,” Damon says, his voice turning serious, “we know. Which means you don’t have to hide it from us. Come hang out with us. Meet the people we’re hanging out with. Lauren and Collin are awesome. We’ve been having a blast, swimming in the lake at night—”
“You mean, skinny-dipping,” Haley corrects with a grin.
“Haley! You didn’t?” Chase says. “You barely even know these people.”
“No one saw anything, Chase. It’s the fun and excitement and freedom of it. I mean, we have a lake in our backyard. Why haven’t we ever skinny-dipped? It’s so freeing, being naked in the water in the moonlight.” She turns to Damon and starts laughing. “Well, it was until Damon got bit by a fish.”
Chase’s eyes get huge, and he reacts by covering his crotch from the nonexistent evil fish.
“It was on my nipple,” he says. He gives Haley a little punch in the shoulder. “And that happened during the day. Fish sleep at night. Everyone knows that.”
“We want to spend time with you. Make memories together. Okay?” Haley says to Chase and me.
“In other words, do we have an accord?” Damon asks in a pirate’s voice.
Chase and I look at each other, and I can’t help but smile at the idea of dating Chase. Of hanging out with other couples. Of all of us having fun together.
“We have a deal,” Chase says, but when Damon holds up his palm, Chase slaps it away with a grin.
The birthday party is really fun. Emersyn looks adorable. Her dress has a white slip underneath it and sheer fabric in pastel rainbow colors on top. The bodice of the dress has appliquéd flowers, and on her head is a gold elastic band with cream flowers and a gold unicorn horn. She seems to love all the excitement. She smiles for her photos and tears into her unicorn cake.
We all play games, eat a lot of sugar, and do make a lot of memories.
As soon as everyone goes to bed, Chase and I sneak up to my bedroom.
He throws me on the bed and covers my body with kisses, and we have sex again.
And it makes me think about sex and how it affects your emotions. Because right now, I feel in love. I feel cared for. I feel happy.
And I can’t help but wonder if that’s how it feels, no matter who you are with.
A few of my friends have had sex. Most of them with boyfriends, but one of them just enjoys hooking up with different guys. Some of the other cheerleaders call her a slut, particularly after she’s been with one of their boyfriends, but she doesn’t care. She totally owns it and says sex is just sex. That you can love someone and still want to have sex with someone else. She says sex feels good but makes it sound like she never gets emotionally attached. She plays it off as just hormones at work. Says she’ll never be married. That it’s an antiquated social standard, back from when women didn’t have rights. When men thought women couldn’t take care of themselves. She says the last thing she wants is to replace some guy’s mother, taking care of him for the rest of his life.
And, surprisingly, she comes from a family where her much older brothers are all happily married and her parents just celebrated their fiftieth.
Right now, all I can think about is how soft Chase’s skin is. And how much I want him.
I can see why people say that once you start doing it, you’ll want to do it all the time.
“Let’s take a bath together in that big tub of yours,” Chase says, slowly running his fingers across my stomach.
“Oh, that sounds fun.”
I kiss him quickly and then go run the bath while he throws his clothes on and goes downstairs to get a snack.
He returns with a plate of white chocolate–dipped strawberries, decorated to look like a unicorn’s head, complete with a glittered pretzel horn; a half-dozen more cupcakes; and a bowl full of pink cotton candy.
I know I shouldn’t feel nervous. But when I said yes to the bath, I sort of forgot that we’d be naked.
I mean, Chase has seen me naked. We’ve done things.
But mostly under-the-covers things. Or partially dressed things.
In the shower, I kept my eyes closed most of the time.
And in front of the fireplace and tonight, I had a blanket or sheet obscuring things a little.
“We’re going to be naked in the bathtub,” he says, probably reading my thoughts.
“Yeah. Is it bad that I’m a little nervous about it?”
He gives me a hand towel. “You can always cover up if you want. Do you want me to turn around while you get in?”
“Actually,” I say with a smirk, “you need to strip and get in first. Then, I’ll sit between your legs. I think that’s the only way we will both fit.”
“Okay,” he says with a shrug, reaching behind his head and pulling his shirt up and over it, pushing off his shorts, and hopping into the tub.
I will admit, I watch this process carefully. And I might have possibly been watching one specific part of him. I’m just going to say it. His penis—boy part, dick, whatever I should call it without it sounding gross—is sort of amazing. I can see why boys are so obsessed with their own.
It’s crazy how they can just sort of hang out, be used for going to the bathroom, but then due to, what, hormones, blood flow—magic?—they can grow right in front of your eyes.
And even more amazing is that it then fits inside of you.
I mean, who would have ever thought of doing that? Can you picture Adam and Eve or whoever was first on the earth, doing this for the first time in mankind?
“Hey, Evie, I was thinking …”
“Earth to Dani,” Chase says.
“Oh, sorry,” I reply. “I was just thinking, um”—what was I thinking?—“that we should maybe light a candle, dim the lights or something.”
“Isn’t there a candle on your desk?”
“Yes! There is. I’ll go get it.”
I run out there and grab it, finding long matches, too, and then rush back in with them in hand. I’m slightly out of breath when I return, and what little breath I have catches when I see Chase, leaned back in the tub, waiting for me. His legs spread apart, his knees bent.
I can literally see everything.
Definitely the candlelight.
I set the candle on the counter and light it, turn off the lights, turn around, and then slip out of the robe I had wrapped around me.
Chase lets out a quiet little whistle, causing me to blush.
But it also makes me feel … empowered. I slowly turn around, toss the robe on the counter, and give him a full view of the front before maneuvering into the tub with him.
Although it isn’t as easy as I imagined. I have to step between his legs and then sort of bend over, going down on my knees. And when my butt is practically in his face, I feel his teeth on it, giving me a little nip.
“Hey,” I say with a laugh, partially horrified, partially turned on as I pull my knees out from under me so that I’m now lying down, my back resting on his chest.
He leans forward, nibbling on my neck.
“If you’re that hungry,” I tease, “there are treats.”
“Hungry for you.” He flirts, kissing across the side of my face until I turn my head around and kiss him.
We kiss and kiss and kiss.
I think I could kiss him forever.
“What’s that smell?” he asks about five minutes’ worth of tangled tongues later.
“If you are implying that I farted,” I start to say, but then I smell it, too. I hop up out of the tub and turn around to see that my robe is on fire. “Oh shit!”
Chase jumps up, grabs the robe, and throws it in the bathtub, but just as he does, the smoke alarm starts shrieking, which is followed by the sound of howling dogs.
“What the foxtrot?” he yells out.
I toss him a towel, throw on the other robe hanging on the back of the door, and push him into the closet, shutting the door behind him, just as the dogs come flying into the room, barking.
“It’s okay, girls,” I start to say just as Chase’s mom comes barreling into the bathroom.
“Dani!” she cries out.
“I’m so sorry! I decided to take a bath before I went to bed, and I brought the candle in from my desk in, and then—”
“Is there a fire?”
“I smell smoke.”
I hear numerous voices coming from the hallway as more people join us. I can’t even tell you who. Phillip, my dad, Ryder and Madden maybe.
I pull the robe around my waist tighter, trying to pretend this isn’t happening.
Finally, Jadyn says, “It’s fine. There was a small fire.” She points to the charred robe in the bathtub. “But due to Dani’s quick thinking, it’s out. Why don’t you all go back to bed? And no one else use the candles, okay?”
Everyone does as she asked and exits my room. She pulls the robe out of the tub, wrings it out, then lays it over a towel bar inside the shower, and says, “Just let it dry here, and then you can throw it out tomorrow.”
She’s just leaving the bathroom, and I’m thinking, Thank goodness!
But then she suddenly turns around, seemingly wanting to tell me something else.
Which is when her eyes come in contact with the tray of treats sitting on the side of the tub, waiting to be eaten. Then, with Chase’s clothes, tossed carelessly on the floor. She squints at them. Glances out to my bedroom, probably at my tangled sheets, and then back at me.
“If I were you, I’d drain the tub before I got back in it,” she says, her eyes narrowing. She looks toward the closet, and I know she knows.
I know she knows.
I’m about to call Chase out.
To confess.
To dating.
To sleeping together.
To everything.
But then I think of something better. Something that Jadyn herself told me about when her and my dad got caught in his room.
I roll my eyes and say, “Chase, your mom knows you’re in there. You can come out.”
He does so, wrapped in a towel, but his eyes are wide, and I can tell he has no idea what to say.
But I do.
“I was in bed when Chase came up and asked if he could soak in my tub. He had a towel wrapped around himself, so it’s not like he was naked or anything, and I was just sitting on the edge in my robe, talking to him. Then, he got hungry, so I brought up some snacks. I got the robe down for him to put on when he got out, and it must have gotten too close to the candle.”
She nods her head and looks up at the ceiling before saying, “That sounds plausible. Night.”
Needless to say, after that, I send him back to the boathouse.
Just in case.
Because I know exactly what she didn’t see—the wet towel that Chase had supposedly covered himself with while in the tub.
