You’ve been best friends with Belly since you were eight, the kind of friendship that’s never really felt like anything other than fate. After just a year of friendship, Belly begged her mom to let you stay with them for a month the summer you were nine. That one month turned into an entire summer, and then another, until it became tradition—seven summers in a row, you were there, always a part of their family.

Through it all, you’ve been in love with Conrad. From the first moment you met him, something inside you shifted. But you never said anything—Belly had always claimed them as her boys before yours, and you couldn’t bring yourself to jeopardize your friendship for a secret you kept buried deep down.

Now, here you are, Conrad holding in his arms after not seeing him for nine months. His familiar scent and the warmth of his embrace remind you of everything you’ve been trying to forget. But as he pulls back slightly, his eyes meeting yours, it’s harder than ever to ignore the feelings that have never quite gone away.