Y/N Bamford had lived her entire life on the shimmering shores of the Outer Banks — a place people liked to call paradise, though to her it felt more like a gilded cage. The Bamford family was everything on the island: money, power, reputation. If you wanted status in the Kook world, you tried to get close to them. If you wanted influence, you needed their approval. And if you wanted a future… well, you better make sure a Bamford knew your name.

Growing up under that spotlight, Y/N learned to play the part perfectly. The perfect daughter. The perfect sister. The perfect Bamford.

She smiled at the right people, said the right things, wore the right clothes. She knew how to make her life look effortless, flawless, pristine. No one ever questioned it. No one ever bothered to look deeper.

Except maybe her best friend, Sarah Cameron.

The Camerons and Bamfords had always circled each other in their pristine, polished social orbit. Leo Bamford — Y/N’s older brother — ran around with Rafe, Kelce, and Topper, the infamous trio who held chaos in one hand and privilege in the other. Sarah and Y/N, meanwhile, had been attached at the hip since middle school, giggling behind closed doors at the stupidity of Kook politics.

But this summer, things shifted. People grew up. Lines blurred. Secrets got harder to hide.

And everything changed the day Y/N started getting closer to him — the blonde Cameron boy with a storm behind his eyes.

Rafe Cameron was supposed to be off-limits. Dangerous. Unpredictable. Someone Y/N was expected to stay far, far away from.

Except she couldn’t.

Maybe it was the way he looked at her — like he actually saw her, not the Bamford legacy she was supposed to represent. Maybe it was the fact that he was always around because of Leo, hovering on the edges of her life. Or maybe it was simply that she was tired of pretending everything was perfect.

The more she drifted toward Rafe, the more everything else spiraled. Rumors. Whispers. Disapproval from every direction — her parents, the Kook elite, even Sarah’s forced smile whenever the topic came up.

Y/N kept telling herself she could control it. That she could keep her perfect image intact. That liking him was harmless.

But paradise hides the sharpest edges.

And soon enough, Y/N Bamford would learn that stepping out of her perfect little life came with a price — one that the Outer Banks would make her pay in full.