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Slowly but surely, I was being backed against one of the stately old trees. Will’s fist tangled in my long hair, pulling my head back so he could kiss me more deeply. His hand was inside my dress, cupping my breast. I gripped his shoulders and pulled on his tie. Bark, rough and solid, pressed against my bare back.
“What are you doing?” I panted.
Will flashed a smile, white in the darkness. “Feeling you up.”
A thumb found my nipple, tender and pointing, rubbing it until the little peak ached with need. I jerked against his sudden pinch, my hands sliding down rolled-up shirtsleeves and bare forearms. Will’s skin was warm and a little sticky from the night air, his muscles wiry. Need radiated out from his touch on my breast. My panties were damp.
“Stop,” I breathed into his mouth.
“Cute,” he muttered, his gaze on my cleavage and his large hand fondling my small breast. “Such a hard little nipple, as soon as I touched you.”
“Will!” Shouts, distant shouts from the circle of lanterns. “Hey man, where are you? We need you!”
Relief flooded my body. “They need you,” I whispered.
“They always do.” He stepped back and tucked my hair behind my ears. Shivers tightened my skin at his casual touches. “Let’s go.”
A warm hand wrapped around mine, leading me back to the party. But when we entered the pool of light, Will was swallowed up by the crowd, and I slipped back to the shadows.
Chapter 2
The next morning, sunshine teased my eyes open. My head throbbed, buried in down pillows. Combed cotton sheets brushed my legs.
It took a minute to remember where I was. My summer bedroom, more spacious and airy than any brick dorm, campus apartment, or my cozy childhood room, still felt unfamiliar. My body, naked against the sheets, felt unfamiliar. I ran my hands over freckled skin, soft curves asking to be squeezed, pink nipples hard against my palms.
I’d rolled out of bed earlier this morning, shaken from scattered dreams by shouts and laughter outside. Half the party had spent the night on the lawn. The younger half, to be exact. Sleek bodies stretched and stood on the rolling grass, brushing off their bright clothes, shaking out blankets and buttoning themselves up. I’d spotted Spence and Pax strolling out of the rustling woods with a girl between them, crooked ties dangling from their necks, and smug expressions. No sign of Will.
Sitting up in bed now, I pushed damp copper waves of hair off my shoulders. My lips and breasts buzzed uncomfortably, remembering those hot kisses, those insistent hands, that Mmm, little cousin.
He’d been drinking last night. There wasn’t any more to it; there couldn’t be. I’d fended off drunk guys before, though none of them had gone that far. None of them had been my cousin. And none of them had left my body flushed and aching.
Will’s kiss shocked me. Yet deep down, in a secret place I’d refused to acknowledge, I wasn’t completely surprised.
I’d tried to forget what happened, the last time we’d seen each other. It felt like a lifetime ago, and nothing good could come of it.
I thought Will had forgotten too.
Chapter 3
Four Years Earlier
In the spring of my senior year in high school, an envelope arrived in the mail. The paper was thick and cream-colored, like a wedding invitation. I’d been hovering over the mailbox for college acceptance letters, and the envelope caught me off-guard.
Inside was an invitation to the graduation party of a boy I’d never heard of. It was a lavish event, taking place over a weekend in the Hamptons. Convinced there’d been a mistake, I slipped my fingers into the envelope to find a scrap of paper. A few words covered it, quick and dashed off.
MEET ME THERE, ANDIE. I’VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT YOU.
WILL
Heat stained my cheeks and trickled down my neck. I quickly folded the scrap of paper.
I hadn’t spoken to Will since the day of the family argument at my house. But sometimes, late at night, I thought about being in the woods with him, the sharp scent of the pines and the gold light slanting through the branches, his hand on my cheek, so unreal that it was like a dream. And I tracked him furtively on social media, drinking in his clear green eyes and the curl of brown hair on his forehead, his high cheekbones and sensuous lips. I gossiped about his posts with my best friend, Ivy, while we stayed late at school to work on the newspaper.
“He’s so rich, it’s sickening.” Ivy’s eyes flicked from Will’s latest post to the computer screen where she was copy editing an article on next year’s cafeteria updates. “And here I am, worrying about prices being hiked a dollar for lunch, even though we’re about to graduate.”
“Yeah. Sickening.” I cradled my phone, glancing at Will’s gleaming smile and tanned shoulders as he stood shirtless on the deck of a yacht. Quickly, I dug in my backpack. “Hey, look at this.”
“What?” Ivy’s eyes widened as she read the invitation to the Hamptons. “Bryce Wingard the third wants you to come celebrate? Andie, what have you been hiding from me?”
