Hayes swam towards me, sweeping the longer strands of his sandy hair away from his eyes.

“Apparently your siren buddies didn’t like me too much. I was too handsome to kill.” He joked as we stepped onto the beach once more.

Ezra stood with his arms crossed over his bare chest. His skin had grown tan while we were here and with his dark curly hair and eyes he reminded me of a Greek god of some sort.

“Does this mean I won?” He smiled crookedly, one foot resting on top of the soccer ball.

“Only losers have to ask if they’ve won.” I winked at him as I adjusted my bikini top. When I looked up his eyes were zeroed in on my boobs. If Hayes noticed he said nothing.

Clearing his throat, Ezra said, “I think I’m going to go make a sandwich. Are you guys hungry?”

I nodded.

“Starving.” Hayes rubbed his stomach.

“Cool, I’ll go…uh…yeah…sandwiches.” He was still staring at my chest and apparently my boobs had magical mind jumbling powers.

“I’ll help.” I clapped my hand on his shoulder and the gesture seemed to snap him out of his thoughts.

Hayes headed on down the beach to where Arden and Mia were building a sandcastle with Mathias and Remy’s help. Maddox and Emma were where I left them. Emma was laughing at something he said, and with as crazy as Maddox could be there was no telling what came out of his mouth.

I walked up to them, and Ezra paused behind me.

“Hey, we’re going to make sandwiches for everybody. Do you guys want some?”

“Yeah,” Maddox nodded, “and bring some diet Pepsi.” He waved an empty bottle around.

“You got it,” I nodded. I looked at Emma and arched a brow. “Do you want something to eat?”

She turned a bit green at the mention of food. “No. I’m good. Just more water, please.”

I nodded. I hoped she wasn’t getting sick. I honestly didn’t think she’d drunk enough last night to feel so ill, but then again she rarely drank so maybe it just hit her hard.

Ezra and I walked up the deck steps and into the back of the house.

The air-conditioned space felt like heaven. I hadn’t realized I’d gotten so warm outside.

I followed Ezra into the kitchen and he got out the meat and cheese from the refrigerator while I grabbed plates. We worked in silence as we made the sandwiches, but it wasn’t an awkward silence. The air was charged with the energy between us and I think we were both afraid that if we spoke sparks might ignite.

It was getting harder every second to pretend there was nothing between us. At least for me. It was impossible to know what was going through his mind sometimes. Ezra could be extremely difficult to read since he internalized things. He was the person that stood in the background, carefully reading and interpreting a situation, instead of jumping right in. He liked to know all the facts and predict all the outcomes before moving forward. And maybe that’s why he refused to give into what I knew already—that we were perfect for each other—because he was scared, since he couldn’t see where it would lead.

He was afraid of losing me forever.

I was afraid of never getting to experience what it truly meant to be us.

The rest of the day passed in a blur and as night fell we all gathered outside.

I was dressed in shorts and a lightweight sweater, with a blanket wrapped around me.

The fire pit was lit and we all sat around, roasting marshmallows, and telling silly stories. Mia was asleep, so luckily we didn’t have to worry about filtering ourselves.

When my marshmallow was toasted to perfection I layered it between a graham cracker and a piece of chocolate. I took a bite and moaned. S’mores were one of my favorite things ever.

Ezra chuckled beside me and reached out, brushing his thumb against my bottom lip. “You’ve got some marshmallow stuck.”

He swept it away and started to put his thumb in his mouth, but instead wiped it on his jeans when he realized what he was doing.

Across from us on the opposite side of the fire pit Emma cleared her throat and stood up so that we could all see her better.

Eyeing the two of us, she said, “I think we should all play a game of truth or dare.”

My body stiffened. Something told me this wasn’t going to bode well for me.

“I don’t know…” I mumbled.

“It’ll be fun,” she protested. “Besides, it’s our last night here and we might never be able to go on a trip with all of us ever again. Things are changing.” She looked around at all of us with a sad look. “We’re growing up and starting our own lives.” Her gaze settled on Mathias and Remy before moving on to Maddox.

She did have a point there.

“Okay, fine,” I agreed.

“Yay!” She clapped her hands together and sat back down, this time propped on her knees.

My stomach coiled with tension.

“Can I go first?” Hayes raised his hand like we were in elementary school.

“Sure,” Emma shrugged.

“Cool.” He grinned, rubbing his hands together. “Who shall be my first victim?” He looked around at everyone before his eyes settled on me. “I dare you to kiss…” He paused and I expected him to say Ezra, but instead he surprised me. “Arden.”

“Me?” She squeaked, pointing a finger at her own chest. “Why me?”

“A little girl-on-girl action never hurt anybody.” He grinned widely.

I laughed and shook my head. “Aren’t I supposed to get to pick truth or dare?”

His smile grew even more. “Not the way I play. There’s dare or dare.”

“Ooh, that makes it even better,” Emma chimed in.

“So...”Hayes sat back, “get to it.”

I shook my head and stood up, walking over to where Arden sat.

“Just a quick peck, right?” She questioned.

I shook my head. “Where’s the fun in that?”

Her eyes widened and before she could freak out even more I took her face tenderly between my hands and sealed my lips over hers. It wasn’t a quick peck like she wanted. Instead I kissed her like I would any guy. I was never one to back down from a challenge. I swiped my tongue past her parted lips and she gasped. She surprised me when she kissed me back and behind us I heard Hayes mutter, “Fuck, that’s hot.” I threw in a little hair pulling to make it even hotter.

When I turned around I smiled smugly at him. “Was that good enough for you?”

“Yes.” His voice sounded like that of a prepubescent teen boy. I noticed he conveniently covered his crotch with one of the outdoor throw pillows.

I sat back down beside Ezra and glanced at Arden. “You taste good,” I told her. Hayes made some kind of noise of distress.

Her cheeks reddened. “It’s strawberry lip gloss.”

“Does this mean I get to dare you now?” I eyed Hayes.

“Uh…sure…I guess.” He seemed extremely uncomfortable now.

I tapped my lips, trying to think of something good. “I dare you to shave your legs.”

“What?” He gasped. “Come on!” He extended one leg out and pretended to pet it. “Do you have any idea how many years it took me to get a nice fur coat?”

I snorted and everyone else laughed. “Well, I mean I could’ve asked you to make out with Mathias…so…”

“I’ll shave my fucking legs,” he grumbled. “Give me the stuff.”

I hurried inside and grabbed a razor, shaving gel, and a bucket of water.

I set the bucket of water down in front of him and held the other items out to him.

“Both legs too,” I eyed him, “don’t get skimpy on me.”

He dunked one leg in the water and then slathered it in shaving gel. “Oh, fuck, now not only am I going to be hairless but I’m going to smell like a girl too. I think I would’ve rather kissed Mathias.”

Mathias glared at him, his dark brows knitted together. “Try it and I’ll bite your tongue off.”

“Sounds kinky,” Hayes jested. Taking a deep breath he made the first swipe over his leg. Seeing the bare patch of skin he let out a small fake cry. “I’m so sorry,” he muttered to his leg, cracking all of us up.