One summer. One deal. Two hearts at risk.
Summer Ingram-Ruiz is used to fixing things—her schedule, her friendships, her future. But some problems refuse to bend: her father’s illness, the frequent hospital visits her best friend Lily endures, and the kiss she shared with River Choi—the one they swore to forget. River has always been her constant. Ten years of late-night talks, reckless decisions, and unshakable loyalty. Until one mistake changes everything, now every glance lingers too long, every silence says too much, and neither of them knows how to go back.
River Choi has never followed a plan. Working at a campus café suits him just fine, even if it leaves him standing still while Summer moves forward without him. He’s spent years loving her quietly, convinced she deserves more than he can give.So when Summer proposes a solution—a no-strings summer fling to fix what they broke—River knows it’s a bad idea.
He says yes anyway.
Because losing her slowly might hurt more than risking everything all at once, but summer has a way of blurring lines, and the closer they get, the harder it becomes to pretend this was ever something temporary at all.