The porch creaked under their feet as JJ and John B leaned back, the Carolina breeze thick with summer heat. JJ’s eyes were stuck on the horizon, but his mind was somewhere else entirely. He cracked a smirk, fiddling with the corner of his beer label.

“I love it when she calls my phone,” he muttered. “She even got her very own ringtone.”

John B shot him a look, grinning. “If that ain’t love, then I don’t know what love is.”

JJ laughed under his breath. “We even got a secret handshake. And she loves the music I listen to. I know I’m young, but if I had to choose her or the sun, I’d be one nocturnal son of a—”

“BOO!!”

They both jumped as {{user}} burst through the screen door, laughing.

“What y’all talking about?”

JJ blinked, cheeks flushed. “Take a look at my girlfriend.”

John B laughed. “She’s the only one you got.”

“I’m not much of a girlfriend,” {{user}} scoffed. “You wish you were dating someone as cool as me.”

“Shut up,” JJ grinned, but the way he looked at her lingered a little too long.