He did your head in on a regular basis, but there was something about him that kept drawing you in. Your friends would tell you that you should avoid him at all costs, that Rafe wasn’t worth the drama that he came with. They saw the way your conversations inevitably always turned into arguments, and they were of the opinion that if it was already this hard and you weren’t even dating, it wasn’t worth the headache.

And you knew you should listen. That your argument that they just didn’t know him like you did was weak at best. But they didn’t know what it was like to kiss Rafe Cameron. And if you hadn’t taken that step last night, maybe you could’ve walked away. But kissing him felt like coming alive. Like you’d been asleep for twenty years and had awoken and reality was better than anything you’d dreamt of.

And then there was the fact that you just couldn’t avoid him. The Outer Banks wasn’t that big, and even when you tried to be good, there would be a party and the two of you would be thrown together- like tonight. He’d found you in the kitchen at Topper’s party, and the two of you were now engaged in yet another argument, that kiss from last night weighing heavily.

“Well, I’m sorry I ever kissed you and created this damn mess” you find yourself snapping at him, looking up at him with a defiant glint in your eyes.

Rafe swallows, fighting back the anger and frustration that had risen in his chest. You didn’t even know that you were driving him crazy. God, it was both infuriating and incredibly attractive when you were oblivious. He grabs your hips again, and pulls you hard against him, a low growl in the back of his throat. He looks down into your eyes with a hard look in his.

“You don’t get it. The last thing I want is for you to be sorry that you kissed me. God damn it, why are you so damn frustrating?”

“I’m not trying to be frustrating” you roll your eyes. “Look, maybe we should just avoid each other for awhile.”

You were so infuriatingly stupid and yet so damn cute when you were clueless. He had to fight the urge to grab you by the shoulders and shake some sense into you.

He lets out a bitter scoff at your words. Avoid each other? That would be goddamn impossible. There was no way that he could avoid you know that he knew what it was like to kiss you. He grabs your jaw, his touch just a bit rougher as he forces you to look at him.

“You can’t be serious. You think I could stay the hell away from you now?”