My face burns. I inhale, trying to put out the fire kindling deep in my chest.
My relationship with Holden may not conform to standard norms and boundaries—we’re hardly your standard couple—but wedo haveboundaries. And hewill payfor breaching them.
I square my shoulders.
“I’ve been where you are,” Indiana whispers. “Acting on impulse cost me two friendships.”
I squeeze his hand lightly as I remove it from my arm. “Ineveract on impulse.”
I walk across the room as if nothing’s wrong—as if my best friend and my boyfriend haven’t crossed a line none of us can ever uncross. Holden and Pen are laughing. They don’t know I’m there until I lean down between them andpluck the joint from Penelope’s hand.
“Thanks.” I take a long hit and hold it for a second. Then I blow it into their faces. “Since we’re obviously sharing things now.”
I leave them staring after me as I head down the stairs toward the beach.
75 HOURS EARLIER
MADDIE
Something pokes me in the side. My eyes open, and bright bolts of sunlight spear my head. “Wha ... ?”
Someone groans near my ear, and the entire world seems to sway around me. And beneath me.
“Maddie!”
I freeze, then roll my eyes to see as much of my surroundings as possible without triggering another nauseating sway.
Ryan stares down at me through a fine sheet of mesh, which my groggy mind labels “mosquito netting.” Because I’m in Parque Tayrona, in a hut on the beach. In a hammock.
That groan comes again, and an arm falls over my bare stomach.
Oh, shit. I’m in a hammockwith a guy.
“Help me up,” I whisper, humiliation burning in my cheeks. How did I wind up in a hammock with a guy half wrapped around me?
My brother pulls back the mosquito netting and helps me climb out of the hammock without waking ... Um ...
Benard.
The boy from Belgium who speaks French, Spanish, English, and German. Who knows about Greek philosophy, French wine, and Caribbean tides.
The boy I spent the night with.
No no no no ...Panicked, I glance down and am relieved to see that I’m still wearing my bikini and board shorts. The rest of my memory falls into place as Ryan shoves my T-shirt at me.
Benard and I shared a couple of puffs of whatever Nico passed us, then came back to his hammock, where we made out for a while, then ...
Did I fall asleep in the middle of a hookup?
My flush deepens. Two drinks and a couple of hits shouldn’t have been enough to knock me out. Should they?
I check my insulin level as I follow my brother down the steps to the beach. It’s a little low, but not terrible.
“Are you okay?” Ryan drops a granola bar at my feet as I plop down on the sand. “Do I need to go beat some manners into that predator?”
“Relax. Nothing happened.”
My brother sighs as he sinks onto the sand next to me. “I’m not judging. I’m worrying.”
