The sun was setting, casting streaks of orange and pink across the sky as they stood alone on the dock behind his family’s beach house. The water lapped gently against the wood. It was quiet — too quiet for how loud Kali’s heart was pounding.

She hadn’t meant to say anything.

But standing next to Conrad, watching the way the light softened his features, the way his fingers brushed against hers but didn’t quite hold them — she couldn’t hold it in anymore.

She turned to face him, breath shaky, curls swaying in the breeze.

Kali (blurting out): “Okay, so, I’ve been trying not to say this because it’s stupid and intense and probably going to ruin everything—”

Conrad blinked, brows lifting, watching her carefully.

Kali (rambling fast): “But I like you. Like, really like you. And not in the way that’s chill and casual and flirty. It’s in the way that keeps me up at night and makes me check my phone a hundred times a day and replay our conversations like a lunatic and—”

Conrad: “Kali—”

Kali (panicking, still going): “—and I know this might make things weird and I don’t want to lose what we have, but I can’t pretend anymore because being near you and not telling you actually physically hurts and—”

And then he did it.

He kissed her.

Right in the middle of her sentence, he stepped forward and crashed his lips against hers — slow at first, then deeper, like he was pouring everything he hadn’t said into the kiss.

She melted into it instantly, her hands grabbing at his shirt, her heart flipping over itself.

When they finally broke apart, breathless and wide-eyed, she stared at him.

Kali (softly): “You kissed me…”

Conrad (smiling): “Had to. You wouldn’t stop talking long enough for me to say it back.”

She laughed, cheeks flushed, and he touched her face like she was something fragile and golden.

Conrad (quietly): “I like you, too. So much it freaks me out.”

They stood there, forehead to forehead, silence full of everything they hadn’t dared admit until now.

Then she whispered—

Kali: “Let’s get out of here. Just for a few days.”

Conrad (instantly): “Where?”

Kali (grinning): “Anywhere. Just… not here.”

Conrad (taking her hand): “Say less.”