Eric’s bare feet slap against the wet sand as he exits the lake. Without a flashlight, there’s nothing to see, not until the overhead light catches him stumbling across the path, highlighting his lean body and bare white ass. Several whistles and catcalls sound, followed by laughter.

“Is he insane? If Darian catches him, he’s gone!”

“Trust me, Darian is going to hide in her cabin all night to avoid the chance of seeing a naked Eric running across the lawn.” Kyle chuckles. “He’s a nut case when he’s drunk, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“I’m noticing.” I giggle, picturing him doing laps around the cabins. Someone’s going to get an eyeful.

“You’re shivering,” Kyle notes, pulling me closer to him. “Do you want to get out?”

“No!”

He begins moving us toward the beach. “Let’s get this over with.”

I take a deep breath as nervous flutters erupt in my stomach. “Are we actually doing this?” Both the boys’ and girls’ cabins are a good five-minute walk in either direction, beneath pathway lights. Five minutes, dressed and sober, that is. Drunk and naked . . . this is going to be a disaster.

“We don’t have a choice. She’s not bringing our clothes back.”

“Maybe we should wait?”

“You want to do this with Colin and Frank?”

“Good point.” I’ve been crouching for as long as possible. Now I stand. The cold air hits my bare, wet skin.

“Ready?”

“No!”

Kyle grabs my hand. “Come on!” We leave the lake and dart up the path. I hold my breath as we run beneath the impossible-to-avoid floodlight and a round of whistles and catcalls sounds out from behind us. “Oh my God!” I giggle, but I’m less bothered by the fact that five other counselors have now seen my bare ass than I expected to be. Probably because I’m drunk.

We run hand-in-hand, my free arm held across my breasts, adrenaline coursing through my veins. Getting to the boys’ cabins takes less time than I expected, my breaths ragged as we do our best to avoid all the lights, my eyes scanning the cabin doors and windows to make sure no one’s watching.

Thankfully, we make it into Kyle’s cabin without a humiliating run-in with any unsuspecting counselors.

“Holy shit.” Kyle pushes the door shut, his chest heaving with exertion. “I’m fucking cold.”

Now that we’re inside and safe, my teeth begin to chatter wildly and my entire body shakes.

“Here.” He grabs his towel and quickly dries me off. “Get under the covers.”

I scramble to get into his sleeping bag, shivering violently as I watch him towel-dry himself with frenzied hands. He dives into the sleeping bag in another minute, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close to him, chest-to-chest. Our ragged breaths and sporadic giggles are the only sound in the cabin for what seems like forever, until our bodies begin to warm and calm, and the fact that Kyle is naked and pressed against me finally moves to the forefront of my thoughts.

“That was fun,” I admit. “Even the running-through-the-camp-naked part.”

He chuckles. “We won’t forget this night anytime soon.”

“I won’t forget anything about this summer anytime soon.” I press a kiss against his lips.

“We’ll have to do it again next summer. Darian just upped the stakes on the skinny-dipping tradition to include streaking.”

“Right.” Next summer. I try in vain to push aside the dread that comes with talk of next year. It’s so far away.

“You warm enough now?” he whispers, his mouth finding my throat.

I let out a soft moan of yes.

“Good.” His lips begin moving downward—along my collarbone and over my breasts, pausing to suck on a nipple, the cool metal of his lip ring tickling me. “I need to undo this.” He pulls down the zipper on the sleeping bag, opening it up so he can shift freely. He keeps moving downward, his mouth trailing softly against my skin, the nervous flutters in my stomach growing.

He pauses at my belly button, and I giggle as his tongue dips into the center, as his eyes lock on mine.

And then Kyle’s shifting farther down.

To let me experience another of so many firsts.

Chapter 23

NOW

I’m absorbed in monthly financial reports when knuckles rap twice against my glass door. I look up, expecting my dad.

When I meet Kyle’s golden eyes, I can’t help the wide grin that erupts.

“Good morning, Miss Calloway,” he says in his calm, professional tone. He holds up a small rectangular box. “You have a package.”

I lean back in my chair, taking in the sight of his hard body in that uniform. I watched him dress for work from the comfort of my warm bed at five thirty A.M.—as I have all week. It’s become routine—we part with a kiss and then I study the clock all day, counting down the hours until we’re home and we can be just Piper and Kyle again.

“Mark just stepped out to grab coffees.”

Kyle strolls in casually, coming around to my side of the desk, to set the box down. It bears my brother’s store label. “I know. I saw him and Renée leave.”

“You could have given this to him to bring on his way back.”

“I could have. I wanted to see you, though.”

“Really.” I can’t help but stare at the way he’s standing so close to me, his belt buckle and those fitted pants at eye level, the strain behind the zipper taunting. My body begins to stir. I tip my head up to find him peering down at me with heated eyes.

And, I’ll admit, as much as I can’t wait to be Piper and Kyle at home, playing senior VP and the security guard in the office garners a high level of thrill.

“Busy?” he asks.

“Always.”

His eyes flip to the numbers on my screen. “That looks . . . enthralling.” The boredom in his voice says otherwise.

I sigh. “This part isn’t, exactly. But what all these numbers and plans and meetings turn into at the end is . . . spectacular.” Skyscrapers and condo buildings, homes and jobs for thousands. A mark on an entire city.

He eyes me strangely.

“What?”

“You work a lot.”