Jack had been her best friend for as long as she could remember.

They had been inseparable as kids –climbing trees, playing street hockey in the driveway, sneaking out of the house just to sit on the roof and talk about everything and nothing. Jack had always been the loud, reckless one, the one who dragged her into whatever chaos he got himself into. And she had always been right there beside him, rolling her eyes but following anyway.

Which meant Quinn had always been there, too.

Watching out for them, driving them places before Jack had his license, making sure they didn’t get into too much trouble.

She had grown up with the Hughes brothers, spent summers at the lake house like she was part of the family. It was always Jack and her, the two of them against the world.

And then, somewhere along the way, Quinn had stopped being just Jack’s older brother.

She didn’t know exactly when it happened. Maybe it was the summer after high school, when Quinn had come back from Vancouver a little older, a little quieter, a little… different. Or maybe it had always been there, waiting for her to notice.

Because suddenly, she wasn’t just looking at him as Jack’s brother.

She was looking at him as Quinn.

And the best part? He was looking at her the same way.

Now, sitting on the dock with him, her feet dangling in the water, it felt so obvious. How had it taken them this long?

Quinn glanced over at her, his knee bumping against hers. “Jack’s never gonna let us hear the end of this, you know.”

Jack had been insufferable about it ever since he caught on. He swore he had always known, that it was so obvious, that he should get credit for “setting them up” even though he absolutely did not.

Quinn shook his head, but there was a smile playing on his lips. “Kinda worth it, though.”

She turned to look at him, the lake stretching out behind him, the summer air thick with the smell of bonfire smoke and warm grass.

Yeah. It was worth it.