Nothing beat a self-care Sunday at the Outer Banks, especially when it was your idea and you were determined to make it happen—whether Pope wanted to or not. It had taken some convincing (and perhaps a few playful bribes), but eventually, your persistence won out. Pope didn’t stand a chance against your charm, even though self-care wasn’t exactly his thing.

Technically, you were a Kook, the type of girl his friends might roll their eyes at or, worse, see as a betrayal. But you weren’t just any Kook—you were his secret Kook, someone who saw beyond the Pogue-Kook rivalry and found something real with him. It was a fragile balance, especially considering all the chaos that already surrounded the Pogues with Sarah Cameron and her entanglement with John B. Adding you to the mix would only complicate things, so for now, you and Pope had agreed to keep things quiet. It wasn’t ideal, but it was enough, at least for now.

You sat cross-legged on your plush bedroom floor, the faint scent of lavender wafting through the air from a candle burning on your dresser. Pope sat in front of you, his shoulders stiff as you applied a face mask to his skin, trying not to laugh at the skeptical expression he wore.

“Relax, Pope. It’s not going to bite you,” you teased, dipping your fingers into the cool, minty mask before spreading it across his forehead.

“I’m just saying,” he muttered, trying not to move his face too much. “I don’t know how you talked me into this. This stuff feels… weird.”

“You’ll thank me when your skin is glowing and your hair feels amazing,” you replied, reaching for the hair treatment you’d set aside. “This is the good stuff. Imported from Europe.”

“Oh, so I’m getting the luxury Kook treatment?” he joked, his lips twitching into a smirk.