I sidle up to him to settle my hand on his abdomen. “Yes.”

He smirks at our reflection in the bathroom’s vanity mirror across the way. “Your closet is bigger than my bedroom.”

“No, it isn’t,” I say, trying to brush it off, though we both know it is.

He looks down at me with odd reluctance in his gaze.

“What?”

“Nothing, I’m just . . . I know this all feels normal for you. But it’s not normal for me.”

“It’s just a condo! Ashley and Christa are fine living here.”

“They’re not dating you. Or whatever we are.”

I feel a pinch in my chest. “Is this an ego thing? Because, honestly? I deal with fragile male egos all day long, so please don’t tell me you’ve developed one now, too. I’m tired of it.” My voice is escalating, but I can’t help it.

“No, you just don’t understand.”

I fold my arms over my chest. “So enlighten me, then.”

He sighs. “Do you remember those shitty little cabins at Wawa?”

“How could I forget. They were hot and stuffy . . .”

“Mine smelled like dirty socks and dead things.”

I laugh.

Kyle bites his lip. “Sometimes I wish we could go back for a night.”

I reach for his arm, dragging my fingers over the tattoo of the cliff, and us. “So do I.”

His jaw tenses. “I already knew you were way out of my league, but there, it felt like we were on an even playing field. Here . . .” His gaze skates over my bedroom again. “I can’t even afford standing-room-only with an obstructed view in this stadium.”

“But I told you, I don’t care about”—How do I word this delicately?—“our financial differences.”

“Yeah, but I do. Because people are going to think I’m with you for your money. That’s something my shitty father and brothers would do. But I’m not them and I don’t ever want you to think that. I don’t want your money, Piper. I hate myself for ever taking it from your father.”

“Is that what this is really about?”

He bows his head.

“You didn’t have a choice. My father threatened you.”

“Yeah, I did have a choice, Piper. My options might not have been ideal, but I had a choice. I could have cut you out of my life to get your father off my back but not taken the money. I chose to take it and I’m ashamed of that.” He frowns. “And I know that’s going to come up again and again.”

“No, it’s not.”

He gives me a flat look and I have to avert my gaze, because he’s not wrong. Christa condemned him for it. My mother’s opinion of him is low, in part because of the money. Even I chastised him for it, the day he told me.

“If my father offered you money now—”

“No.” He shakes his head.

“More money. Ten times as much—”

“No.”

“A hundred times—”

“No.” His voice is cold and hard, his jaw set with determination. “I’ll never take a dime from him, ever again.”

“So then, what are you worried about? What other people think of you?”

“No, I don’t give a shit what they think about me. But I’m worried about what the people who matter to you think.” Resignation fills his eyes.

“If they really care about me, they’ll accept you.” And as I say those words, I know them to be true.

He swallows, then nods, though he still seems unconvinced.

“Remember when I first got to Wawa? How out of place I was?”

“Yeah.” His gaze drifts over the length of my body. “You were the hot new girl.”

I begin unfastening the buttons of my emerald-green blouse, one by one. I tug the zipper on my pencil skirt and let it slide down and pool at my ankles so I can get to the rest of the buttons. Kyle watches with curious eyes but doesn’t make a move. Taking a step backward, I shed my blouse. “I was the girl whose mom drove her to Camp Wawa in a Porsche, and who didn’t know a single soul.” I reach up to unfasten the clasp to my bra and let it spring free.

Kyle’s eyes flare with heat.

“The girl who fell head over heels for a boy the first moment she laid eyes on him.” I keep backing up until my thighs hit my mattress. “And every time she caught his eye after that, every time he looked at her the way only he did, she felt like the luckiest girl in the world.”

Kyle’s gaze lifts to meet mine. “That’s because he knew he was the luckiest guy in the world for that one summer.”

“Money didn’t matter to them then.” I bite my lip, pushing my lace panties down over my hips, letting them fall to the floor. “Please don’t let it matter to them now.” I let vulnerability fill my voice, a sound that has become foreign to me in recent years, as I’ve learned to maintain the edge I need to become Piper Calloway.

Here, though, with Kyle, I don’t need to wear that armor.

He sighs. “I’m sorry, you’re right.” He stalks forward, taking my chin in his hands and kissing me deeply. “I just don’t know how to fix what I did.”

“Start by always choosing me—us—no matter what, from now on.” I tug at his T-shirt, a sly smile touching my lips. “Starting with right now.”

Chapter 22

 

THEN

2006, Camp Wawa, End of Week Six

“Smirnoff?”

“Hell no. That tastes like ass.” Eric cringes. “Absolut, all the way, baby.”

Kyle rolls his eyes. “You can’t even tell the difference.”

“Sure, I can!”

Kyle turns to Ashley and me. “What do you want me to grab you?”

“Mike’s Hard Lemonade,” Ashley requests, handing him a ten-dollar bill. “I think that should cover it?”

“Piper?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. Whatever’s good. Surprise me. Just not beer.”

“Mike’s Hard, Surprise Me, Smirnoff—got it.”

Eric smacks Kyle in the shoulder. “Absolut!”

Kyle holds his hand out. “Fork it over, and fast. They close at nine.”

“Nah, man, you owe me.” Eric waggles his finger between Kyle and me. “Don’t think I didn’t notice. Seriously? You couldn’t leave me just one?” he adds when Kyle dips his head, grinning.

Meanwhile, my face bursts with heat. The door had barely shut behind Shane this afternoon when Kyle and I landed in his bed, the week of waiting leaving us pent up with frustration and anticipation. He had two condoms and I accidentally tore one with my nails, trying to roll it on him.

And one apparently wasn’t enough for us this afternoon, so Kyle yanked on his shorts and darted over to Eric’s cabin to “borrow” the fresh box.

We didn’t use them all, but we definitely used a few.

“Yeah, fine . . .” Kyle digs out his wallet and thumbs through the few dollar bills in the fold. We just got paid, but he’s been saving his money.

“Here.” I pull out my wallet and count out ten dollars.

“You haven’t cashed those yet?” Ashley frowns at the three Wawa employee checks that are tucked inside.