Ezra swam over to me, his dark hair plastered to his forehead. “Is everything okay?” He asked. “It looked like you were having an intense conversation.”

“Everything is fine,” I assured him, “but we’re going to have a sleepover tonight. Emma wants us to…reconnect,” I said, for lack of a better word.

“Reconnect, huh?” He arched a brow.

I shrugged. “We haven’t hung out much in a long time.”

“Ezra!” Maddox called, drawing his attention away from me and over to his friend. “The girls are having a sleepover tonight, which means we are too! Are you ready for me, buddy?” Maddox raised his fists in the air. “I’m going to whoop your ass on Call of Duty.”

“You wish.” Ezra rolled his eyes.

They began bickering back and forth about different video games and Emma swam back to me.

“We’ve lost them to nerd land,” she declared, but she smiled when she said it. She glanced over at Maddox and love shone in her eyes.

I wondered if I’d ever looked at Braden like that—like he was my whole world. I doubted it.

I swam away from Emma and onto the shore. I grabbed my towel and shook it out before lying down on top. Emma joined me, doing the same with her towel. The guys continued to goof around in the lake. No surprise there.

It grew quiet between us when Emma picked up a book to read, but a little while later she voiced, “Are you happy?”

I glanced over at her, puzzled by the random question.

“I’m just wondering,” she defended, “after everything that’s happened the last month if you’re happy now.”

I looked away from her and out at the shimmering water of the lake. “No,” I answered honestly. “I mean, I’m not miserable, but I’m not exactly happy either.” How could I be when I felt like a shell of the person I used to be?

Emma rolled over onto her stomach and propped her body up on her elbows. “What can I do to help?”

I gave her a small smile. “No one can help me with this. This is all on me. Don’t worry,” I assured her, “I’ll find my way back to my happy place one day.”

“Good.” She reached over and gave my arm a playful squeeze. “I miss the peppy Sadie.”

I laughed. “Admit it, you totally want to choke me when I get hyper.”

She grinned. “Okay, so I have had some fantasies of knocking you out when you get a little crazy, but I miss that you’re not like that anymore. Maybe the sleepover will be step one into resurrecting you,” she winked.

“Yeah, maybe so,” I agreed.

I really hoped so.

“I can’t believe you’re abandoning me so soon after our…arrangement.”

I turned around sharply at the sound of Ezra’s voice.

“That’s it, you need to wear your boots all the time so that I can hear you, because otherwise you sneak up on me all stealth-like. Stop trying to be a ninja, Ezra.” I scolded him, taking a deep breath to calm myself.

He chuckled, leaning against the doorway. His hair was still damp from his shower and the woodsy scent of his soap filled the air. He’d changed into a white wifebeater and a pair of basketball shorts. I hated how he made such a simple ensemble look so amazing. It was completely unfair.

He strode into the room and sat on the edge of my bed. Or—er—I guess technically it was his bed, since this was his house, and—why the hell was I obsessing over this? The answer was simple, because I was trying to ignore the searing force of his dark gaze.

“Going away for a while?” He arched a brow.

“I’m a girl,” I defended, zipping my overnight bag closed, “we need a lot of stuff.”

Sobering, he bowed his head and his shoulders tightened with tension. When he looked up at me there was worry in his eyes. “You’re not leaving tonight because of me, right? Because of what we did?”

I expelled the breath I’d been holding. “No, definitely not,” I shook my head. “I…I don’t regret what we did.” My hands shook at the memories.

He cleared his throat. “Good.”

He looked so awkward sitting there that I had to feel sorry for him.

“I promise I’m not running away. And,” I grew bold and sat down in his lap, his hands landed on my hips and the tips of his fingers dug into me, “I’m really looking forward to doing it again.”

Before he could reply I kissed him.

His body instantly relaxed at the feel of my lips and a low growl rumbled in his throat. His hands fisted the fabric of my t-shirt, like he was tempted to tear it off of me but knew he shouldn’t.

The kiss quickly grew heated and desire blossomed low in my belly.

I felt him harden beneath me and within seconds he’d maneuvered us so that I was lying flat on the bed with him above me.

I wrapped my legs around his waist, our lips never breaking.

He began to ease my shirt up while I reached for the band of his shorts and that was when the doorbell rang.

Ezra tore his lips away from mine and rested his head in the crook of my neck while he tried to regain his breath. “Fucking hell. I’m going to kill Maddox. He has the worst timing ever.”

Maddox and Emma had left a little over an hour ago so that they could shower and Maddox could grab a change of clothes since he was staying the night here. Emma was supposed to ride back with him and pick me up.

“Hello!” We heard called downstairs. “Honey, I’m hoooome!”

Ezra cursed and pulled away from me, muttering under his breath. “And why the fuck did I ever think giving him a key to my house was a good idea?”

I laughed, biting my lip. “Uh, Ezra…you might want to hide that?” I pointed to his hard-on tenting his shorts.

He cursed again and headed for the bathroom.

“Are you seriously going to jerk-off?” I hissed under my breath.

He started to close the bathroom door, but poked his head out so he could see me sitting on my bed. “I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” He slammed the door closed and I dissolved into a fit of laughter.

“Is everything okay?” Maddox called and I heard him start up the steps.

“Yeah,” I yelled back, grabbing my bag. I met Maddox at the bottom of the stairs and he took my bag from me.

“What the hell do you have in here?” He groaned against the weight.

“It’s not that heavy.” I smacked his side, heading for the door.

He mumbled, “Yeah, it is.”

I shook my head and stepped outside. I was surprised to see Emma had brought her car, but I guessed that made sense because she hated driving Maddox’s since it was a stick shift. She didn’t like the SUV very much either, but that was only because she thought spending a lot of money on a vehicle was ridiculous. It was a nice car though, a pretty white Porsche Cayenne. I’d been happy when Maddox got it for her. The old Volkswagen beetle she’d been driving had definitely seen better days.

Maddox put my bag in the backseat and leaned in through the open driver’s window to kiss Emma goodbye.

“I love you,” he told her, grinning widely.

“I love you too.” She kissed him quickly one last time as I climbed into the car.

Maddox jogged up the porch steps and disappeared inside.

“Ready for girl time?” Emma asked.

“Definitely.”

“I like that color.” Emma pointed to my pale blue toenails as we left the nail salon.

“Me too,” I agreed.

When we left Ezra’s house we ended up stopping off to get a manicure and pedicure. I’d been shocked when Emma pulled into the parking lot, because I knew this wasn’t really her thing. I had to give her credit; she really was trying to cheer me up.

We walked over to the nearby pizza place to grab our order that Emma had called in a few minutes ago.

Once we had that we got back in her car and she drove us to her house. Well, it wasn’t really a house since she and Maddox still lived in the guesthouse behind his parent’s house. It was funny, since they could afford to live elsewhere, but they loved the guesthouse. I knew they were planning to move soon though since they were getting married in a few months.