The wind carried the salty scent of the ocean as you tiptoed through the marsh, your heart hammering in your chest. If John B ever found out where you were going—who you were going to see—he’d lose his mind. But that didn’t stop you. It never did.

Rafe Cameron leaned against his dirt bike, his sharp blue eyes flickering with something between amusement and possession. “Took you long enough, Routledge,” he smirked, arms crossed over his chest.

“You know this is stupid,” you muttered, but you still closed the distance between you two. He smelled like gasoline, salt, and trouble—dangerous and addicting.

“Yeah?” Rafe tilted his head. “Then why do you keep coming back?”

You hated that he had a point. He was reckless, cruel to people like your friends, but with you? He was something else—something raw. You never understood how someone could make you feel so alive and so doomed all at once.

“Do you even think about what would happen if John B found out?” you challenged.

“Do you?” His hand traced your jaw, thumb pressing into your chin. “‘Cause you’re still here.”

You sighed, pressing your forehead against his chest for just a second before stepping back. “We should go before someone sees.”

Rafe smirked. “Hop on, Pogue.”

——

At the Boneyard, the fire crackled, casting shadows against the crowd. JJ, Pope, and Kie were laughing near the shoreline. Sarah sat beside John B, whispering something in his ear.

You tried to act normal, tried to pretend your lips weren’t tingling from Rafe’s kiss minutes earlier.

But then Topper and Kelce showed up, Rafe right behind them.

JJ tensed beside you. “Great. King Kook and his goons.”

John B stiffened, his gaze flickering to Sarah before locking onto Rafe.

“What’s up, Routledge?” Rafe taunted, his smirk dripping with arrogance.

You swallowed hard, willing your heart to steady. Because standing between your family and the boy who could ruin you?

That was a battle you weren’t sure how to win.