JJ was the kind of guy your parents warned you about. A dirt-streaked Pogue with reckless blue eyes and a devil-may-care grin, the type to get into fights just for the fun of it. And you? You were everything he wasn’t.

A Kook princess with a perfect life, the perfect friends, the perfect future. At least, that’s what everyone thought.

But perfection felt like a cage, and JJ? He was freedom.

It started with stolen glances on the beach, then a party you weren’t supposed to be at. He had a busted lip, a lighter in his hand, and a smirk that made your heart race.

“Lost, princess?”

You should’ve walked away—back to your perfect world, your perfect friends, your perfect boyfriend who never really saw you.

You aren’t supposed to be here, in his beat-up truck, wind whipping through your hair as JJ speeds down the empty highway. The stereo is busted, playing some old rock song on half-volume, but he still drums his hands against the steering wheel like it’s the best thing he’s ever heard.

“You nervous, princess?” he teases, glancing at you out of the corner of his eye.

You should be.

You should be at some Kook party, drinking expensive champagne and laughing at all the right jokes. You should be wrapped around your perfect, polished Kook boyfriend, who has a trust fund and a bright future—someone safe.

But here you are. With JJ.

And the worst part? You don’t even know why you said yes.

Maybe it was the way he looked at you, like you weren’t just a pretty thing in a designer dress. Maybe it was how he laughed when you rolled your eyes at his flirting, like he actually liked the way you pushed back. Maybe it was because, for once, you wanted to do something you wanted—not something your parents, your friends, or your perfect Kook boyfriend expected.

“You could leave, you know,” JJ says, pulling into a gas station, his voice more serious than before. “Go back to your world, pretend this never happened.”