He didn’t move. Hell, he didn’t even so much as glance in my direction. Apparently, Chris was wrong. We weren’t all eager.

Hot tears filled my eyes, but I was not going to let him see me cry. If things had changed that much over the summer that he couldn’t even say hi, then I wasn’t going to stay there to be humiliated in front of all of our friends. Just as I was about to move away, Jeremy grimaced and moved his hands to his swim trunks. My eyes flicked down and widened when I saw the bulge in his shorts.

Oh my God.

He was hard.

No wonder he wouldn’t look at me. Had Heather just been here? Was she coming back?

The questions kept rolling in my brain, and I knew I had to get out of there. I started to back away.

“Sierra, wait,” he called, his voice hoarse and tight, sounding almost pained.

Waves of relief poured over me when he pushed up from his beach towel. His large hand reached for mine, sparking an unexpected jolt of electricity as our fingers curled around each other’s. He pulled me away from the group, taking us far down the beach, and didn’t stop until we were hidden behind a sand dune, away from all eyes. So much for them witnessing our reunion. Not that I minded the privacy.

“Miss me?” I asked, breathless as he wrapped his arms around me. I nearly gasped when his erection pressed against my bare stomach. But I didn’t move away. I just laid my head against his muscular chest and inhaled his familiar scent, wondering how in the hell I had gone two months without this.

His hand came to my lower back, where he stroked my skin. Goose bumps rose underneath his touch, and even in the ninety-plus-degree weather, I couldn’t stop the shiver of pleasure from running down my spine. His head fell to the curve of my neck. Then he turned his head, his hot breath heating my skin.

“God, yes. You have no idea how much. Never go away again.”

My heart fluttered. I wanted to promise right then and there that I’d never leave him. To tell him that, for as long as he wanted me, I’d be his.

But I didn’t.

“I won’t,” was all I could muster.

I have no idea how long we stood there in the sand, holding each other close, nothing but the sounds of the surf and distant beachgoers filling the air around us. It was as if we were soaking each other up like all of those sunbathers were soaking up the sun. I was Jeremy Banks deficient and only being held by him could remedy that situation.

Finally, he pulled away, much to my disappointment. His eyes were hooded as his they roamed over my body. Unlike Ryan’s lecherous stare, Jeremy’s was appreciative. I didn’t feel uncomfortable. I felt beautiful.

He ran a hand through his messy hair then cleared his throat. “We should probably get back. I didn’t mean to steal you away from everyone the second you showed up. I just…I just missed my best friend. That’s all.”

I nodded and allowed him to lead me back to the blanket where everyone else was hanging out.

That’s all?

That was everything and nothing at the same time.

And it was finally time that I had to let Jeremy Banks go.

Because he was right. He’d missed his best friend. That was all.

That was all it’d ever be.

AS EXCITED AS I’D been for Sierra’s return, I had been completely unprepared for what had greeted me that day on the beach. She was still Sierra, of course—but holy hell, she blew me away. I didn’t want to be a shallow asshole, and I’d gotten hard for her many times since that day in my bedroom. This was different, however. She had curves in all the right places, and any angst she’d had the last time we had seen each other about her…small boobs…could definitely be eliminated. To say she had blossomed over the summer would be an understatement.

When I had taken in her long legs, her perky breasts, and her curvy hips, I’d wanted to wrap my arms around her and feel every inch of her bare skin pressed against mine. I’d wanted to wrap my beach towel around her, shield her from all the other eyes I just knew were staring at her, checking her out, wondering how they could get into her pants. Or, in this case, her bikini bottoms. I’d wanted to shout out a resounding, “NEVER!” but that would have given me away.

What I didn’t want was to show my boner off to everyone sitting around me. Knowing Chris—and I knew him better than anyone—he’d have pointed at it and informed the whole damn beach. So, instead, I jumped up and took Sierra away from prying eyes.

After holding her and telling her how much I’d missed her, I finally realized my erection was pressing into her stomach. Embarrassed, I jumped back and insisted we return before I did any more damage.

What I hadn’t planned on was taking her back to where Danny Moyer was already waiting for her. But, alas, he was, and once again, I was left cursing myself.

Long story short.

Danny asked her out.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled.

Freaking smiled. It was closed-lipped at first, but then her lips parted and she beamed.

Freaking beamed.

I couldn’t believe he was asking her out in front of all of our friends, and I hated that he was so confident she would say yes that he’d risk humiliation.

“That’d be nice, Danny,” she said, nodding her head.

If I were a cartoon character, steam would’ve been coming out of my ears. Was that really happening right in front of me? All summer long, I’d been thinking about Sierra, running the conversation we’d have about how I felt about her in my head over and over again, yet she’d been home for only a couple of hours and already had a date?

Livid couldn’t even describe me.

“How’s Sunday? One last night out before school starts?”

As soon as I heard that, I placed a territorial arm around her shoulder and pulled her to me, giving her one of those side-hugs I’d begun to dread. “Sorry, Moyer. She’s gonna have to take a rain check. We always end the summer with a movie night. It’s tradition. Sierra’s mine on Sunday.”

I wished I could say that Sierra was mine permanently.

Sierra's nose wrinkled and her eyes went round with surprise.

I shrugged. “I didn’t think this summer would be any different, but I guess, if you want, we can just do it another time,” I offered, hating myself in the process but still backing off in case she really did want to go with him.

Danny glanced back and forth between us, waiting for a response from Sierra. She went poker-faced, and my heart skipped a beat at the thought of our tradition ending. When I dropped my eyes from hers, she answered him.

“Jeremy’s right. And I’m not one to mess with tradition. We’ve been doing it for years. If I change it up now, I’ll probably end up failing all my classes or something.”

Tradition. But what I’d heard was obligation.

Jenna was shaking her head at me, and I just turned my gaze to the ocean, trying to tune everyone else out. Sierra and Danny were making plans so I stepped away from them and sat back down on my towel, hoping my face wasn’t reflecting the way I felt.

“What’s with the face?”

So much for that hope. Someone plopped down in the sand next to me, and I nearly groaned when I saw Heather sitting there.

Don’t get me wrong. Heather Perkinson was one of the prettiest girls in our school. She was friendly and intelligent, and she didn’t have a reputation for getting around. Any guy would have been lucky to have her attention, but I didn’t want it.

And when Danny and Sierra left the group and started walking down the beach, I nearly went for what Heather had been offering all summer. Sierra clearly wasn’t interested, so why should I have kept holding out for her? It would’ve been so easy to ask Heather out, hoping that she’d be a good distraction until I could get my head on straight.