"You’re the one thing I can’t have. That’s why I can’t stop looking."

It was the eyes.

Warm, brown eyes that locked onto yours every time you crossed paths. On the beach. At The Wreck. In passing glances from across town.

They always found you.

Sometimes it was subtle. Other times? Blatant. He’d turn mid-convo just to stare, until JJ had to nudge him and mutter, “Bro, chill.”

But John B couldn’t. Not when it came to you.

He was whipped.

Not that he’d ever admit it. Especially not for someone like you.

A kook.

The picture-perfect girl from Figure Eight with glossy hair, designer sunglasses, and diamonds that probably cost more than his van.

Everything he wasn’t. Everything he wasn’t supposed to want.

But he did. And every time your eyes met his, something in your chest fluttered—something dangerous.

You’d always noticed the way he looked at you. Like you were some forbidden daydream he couldn’t shake.

And you couldn’t lie. Your heart sped up every time your gaze lingered on him just a little too long.

The rivalry between kooks and pogues had always run deep on Kildare Island.

Words turned to shouts. Shouts to fists.

It’s why you and John B had barely exchanged more than a casual “hey.”

But tonight, everything felt different.

You were at The Wreck with a group of your kook friends. Laughing. Pretending like you didn’t feel that heavy stare settle on your back the moment you walked in.

But you did.