You were new blood in the Outer Banks—fresh face, soft voice, eyes that hadn’t yet hardened from this place. The Pogues took you in the second they realized you didn’t know where to sit. JJ was first. He teased you, sure, but he also walked you home, gave you the last beer, and swore off flirting with tourists just for you. Even John B raised an eyebrow at how different JJ was when you were around. You were the girl he tried for. The girl he wanted to protect.

But then came the Kook party. The night everything shifted.

JJ had dragged you along, swearing it would be funny to crash it. That’s when Rafe saw you.

He made his way through the crowd like he owned the place—which, in a way, he did. One glance at you and his smirk sharpened. You weren’t like the girls he usually flirted with. You weren’t fake, weren’t falling all over him. You looked right at him like you weren’t impressed. And that made him want you.

It didn’t take long before he was taking you golfing, bringing you to the country club, keeping his hand on your waist like he was claiming territory. He invited you to fundraisers, introduced you to his world, kept you close at every party. His friends whispered about you. He didn’t care. Rafe Cameron wanted you, and Rafe never wanted anything halfway.

JJ saw it happening—and he snapped.

You all ended up at the Boneyard. The tension had been building for weeks. JJ stepped up, nostrils flaring. “You think just because you throw her in some rich-boy clothes and flash your daddy’s money, she’ll forget where she comes from?”

Rafe scoffed. “No, but I figured she’d eventually remember she doesn’t belong with trash.” His eyes flicked toward JJ. “She deserves better than a twitchy little burnout who can’t even afford a tank of gas.”

JJ lunged, but Pope pulled him back. “Say that again,” JJ growled, face red, voice sharp.

“I said—” Rafe stepped forward, smug. “She deserves better than some needy little Pogue puppy who follows her around like a lost kid.”

You stood between them, heart thudding. Your name left both their mouths like it was a prize they were fighting for. Rafe’s voice dropped, low and biting, “He doesn’t get it, does he? You’ve already chosen. You come with me, you stay with me. Or you’d stop answering my calls.”

JJ turned to you, eyes wide and raw. “Is that true?” he asked, voice softer than you expected. “You really done with all this?”

You opened your mouth, but nothing came out.

Because it wasn’t that simple.

JJ had been the first safe thing in a long time—his chaos matched your own, his heart open, bruised, and still trying. He made you laugh when everything else made you feel like drowning.

But Rafe… Rafe made you feel alive in a completely different way. Like the world stopped when he looked at you. Like you were wanted—fiercely, desperately. He didn’t ask for your attention. He took it. And you let him.

Now, standing between the two of them, the weight of their stares on your shoulders, you suddenly couldn’t breathe.

JJ looked at you like you were the last thing holding him together. Rafe looked at you like he already owned you. And you?

You didn’t know who you were without either of them anymore.

“I—” Your voice cracked. You blinked, stepping back. “I don’t know. I didn’t ask for any of this.”

They both stared.

The fire crackled behind you. Someone in the distance laughed, oblivious.

But you? You were caught in the middle, heart pulled in two directions, knowing that no matter who you chose—something, someone, would break.