“Best way to save.” It’s the truth, but it’s also a lie. The fact is, I don’t need the money. I have an account that Mom transfers money into plus my Mastercard that she pays off each month. “Here. Just use this for everything.” I hand Kyle the credit card. I don’t have enough time to get to a bank machine to pull out more cash, and the card will definitely cover whatever he’s buying for us.

“Dude.” Eric’s eyebrows rise. “Must be nice.”

I ignore him. “Do you think they’ll check against the signature?”

“Probably not. This place is small.” Kyle studies the card sitting in the palm of his hand a moment, as if considering whether to take it.

“Tick tock!” Eric taps his watch. “Five minutes left.”

“All right.” He shrugs. “Let’s see if this works.”

“And grab me another box of condoms, too, you thief!” Eric hollers after him.

“Why? They’ll just expire,” Kyle throws back.

We pile into the car and wait for him, because a bunch of teenagers loitering outside a store that sells booze on a Saturday night is a touch suspicious.

As it is, I’m wary of bringing alcohol back to Wawa. “Is this a good idea?”

“Darian’s chill on Saturdays. And we’re not gonna be dumb enough to get caught,” Eric says, biting on his thumbnail, his eager eyes locked on the entrance to Provisions. He’s the main instigator in this whole plan to get drunk tonight, though we are willing accomplices.

Kyle returns five minutes later, his arms filled with brown paper bags.

“No issues?” I ask when he climbs into the driver’s seat after loading the trunk.

“Didn’t even I.D. me. I didn’t know what to get you, so I grabbed some coolers and Jägermeister. Hope that’s okay.”

“It’s fine.” It’s not like my mom will have any idea what I bought. Provisions sells everything.

He slides my credit card into my hand and leans in to kiss me. “Thank you.”

“Of course. I don’t mind at all.”

“Let’s rock and roll!” Eric drums his hands on the back of the driver’s seat.

“Shhh!” Ashley warns as Eric stumbles over his own two feet in the dark and the bottles stuffed into his backpack clang together, the sound unmistakable.

“Shit, I’m not even drunk yet,” he whispers, tipping the bottle of vodka back to take a swig of it straight. He smiles through a cringe. “Wait ’til I’m drunk.”

My attention veers to Darian’s cabin. Light flashes in the tiny window. She doesn’t usually venture out on Saturday night, preferring to spend the night in front of her TV. However, a loud and obnoxious Eric might draw her out.

I have to admit, while a part of me wonders if maybe we should just stay in our respective cabins and keep out of trouble, the other part feels the thrill of a Saturday night, having fun with friends. We’ve been under watch for too long.

“Where are we hanging out tonight?” I ask.

“My cabin, I guess?” Kyle offers. “Unless you think Christa wants to play drinking games with us.”

“Uh, my guess would be no to that. So . . . what kind of drinking game are we playing, anyway?”

Kyle and Eric exchange a look.

“The only drinking game.”

“Oh, God, have I told you guys how much I hate black licorice?” Olivia’s tongue hangs from her mouth as if that will dispel the taste of it.

“Only, like, a thousand times already,” Avery mutters, rolling her eyes.

I grin from my spot sprawled across Kyle’s bed, my body relaxed and buzzing from more shots than I can count. Kyle sits on the floor in front of me, the perfect spot for me to draw lazy circles over the back of his neck and toy with his wild hair, reveling in the feel of gooseflesh sprouting along his skin every time I touch him.

We picked up Avery, Olivia, Colin, and a counselor named Frank—a decent-enough guy whose only fault is his crush on Olivia—on the way to Kyle’s cabin, and the eight of us have been playing Never Have I Ever as the rain softly pitter-patters against the roof and the glow of a camp lantern casts a dim light. Much cozier than the naked bulbs overhead and perfect to hide flushed cheeks and sheepish smiles as the questions quickly turn more risqué.

“It’s your turn,” Avery prompts Ashley.

“Aren’t we done yet?” Ashley whines, falling back into the bunk across from me.

If she’s irritated about Eric messing around with the beautiful redhead, she doesn’t show it anymore. “Fine. Never have I ever . . .” Ashley’s nose pinches with thought, “experienced love at first sight.”

Colin groans. “Seriously?”

Kyle looks over his shoulder at me, smiles, and then takes a shot.

I follow suit, cringing at the taste of black licorice. I sense Avery’s curious eyes on us. I know it’s wrong and petty and unnecessary, but I feel somehow victorious, that I have achieved something that she—even with her allure and beauty—could not.

I won Kyle’s heart this summer.

“My turn,” Eric warns with an impish smile, filling our plastic shot glasses for the next round. “Never have I ever rubbed one off while fantasizing about someone in this room.” He tips his head back and downs a shot. Frank and Colin follow almost immediately.

Giggles erupt around the cabin, but slowly, hesitantly, everyone else takes a shot. Kyle casts another knowing glance my way, his eyes hooded and slightly red, as he downs his.

“Okay!” Eric tips the bottle upside down to drain the last of the Jäger. The emptied bottle of vodka has rolled under one of the beds. “Well, that didn’t last long. Last question. Never have I ever—”

“Hey, it’s my turn!” Colin scowls.

“We brought the booze, we get the last question. You assholes are buying next weekend, by the way. Never have I ever gone skinny-dipping with my fellow Wawa camp counselors!”

They all let out a cheer and down their shots.

“Really?” I whisper, the only one left with a drink.

Kyle gives me a crooked smile. “It was fun.”

“So much fun,” Eric climbs to his feet, stumbling a step, and then claps his hands, “that it’s now tradition!”

A surge of adrenaline courses through the cabin. Everyone fumbles for support as they climb to their feet and then dart out the door, engulfed in a bubble of laughter and excitement.

I let out a nervous laugh. “They’re actually going skinny-dipping? Now? In the rain?”

“It’s barely raining and they’re going to get wet anyway.” Kyle gets to his feet and holds out a hand.

My stomach flutters.

“Trust me?”

“Of course.” I hesitate. And then I weave my fingers through his.

The light rain is a mere drizzle by the time we reach Wawa’s sandy beach, to the sound of laughter and splashes. We couldn’t be more than a minute behind everyone else, and yet most of them have already peeled off their clothes and darted into the lake. I catch glimpses of movement from two shadows nearby, but without the glow of a fire it’s impossible to identify anyone.