lips and dipped his tongue into my mouth. Currents of electricity flowed through my body as he caressed my tongue with his. Then he playfully nipped my bottom lip before our mouths parted.
“I don’t want you to get the idea that I came over here just to make out,” he said.
“I don’t mind.” I was still in a slight haze of arousal.
He sat up straight and grabbed both of my hands in his. “I wanted to let you know that you don’t have to go up North with us if you really don’t want to. I didn’t want you to feel pressured into going.”
“I want to go,” I said.
He lifted my right hand to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. “You may change your mind when I fill you in on some of the details.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why is that?”
“Well, we’ll be staying overnight in a campground on the beach. We’ll be sleeping in tents. Have you ever slept on the beach in a tent before?”
I shook my head. I wasn’t sure I wanted to admit that I had never actually been inside of a tent. The closest I had ever gotten to camping was staying at a Motel 6 outside of Chicago.
“The guys can get a little crazy. They like to drink. A lot. And have casual hook-ups.”
Of course, my first thought was whether Daniel also liked to engage in casual hook-ups. As if reading my mind, he said quickly, “I don’t do casual hook-ups. Just so you know. It’s not my thing.”
“I still want to go,” I affirmed, although I felt my voice lacked some conviction. I was torn. I really wanted to spend the weekend with Daniel. I just wasn’t too sure about the rest of it. I didn’t know what frightened me more, though—camping or spending time with his wild friends.
A smile crossed his face. “I was hoping you’d say that.” Then he leaned over and kissed my cheek. “If the guys say or do anything that makes you uncomfortable, just let me know.”
“Okay,” I said.
“Be sure to bring a bathing suit and a change of clothes. We leave early Saturday morning and come back late Sunday afternoon.”
I nodded.
“And don’t forget sunscreen. I don’t want you to get burnt.”
“Yes, sir,” I said and we both smiled.
Daniel stared at me for a moment. I wondered if he wanted to stay. He didn’t make an effort to leave.
“There’s more wine,” I offered. “Would you like to watch a movie?”
Daniel smiled. “I’d love to. But I have one request.”
“Okay, what’s that?” I asked.
“Do you mind if we cuddle on the coach?”
I grinned. “Sounds good to me. What would you like to watch?”
“I heard you have a thing about action movies.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Eddie talked about me? He told you about my movie collection?” That made me nervous. I wondered what else Eddie and Daniel had said to each other about me.
Daniel scrunched up his nose a bit. “I didn’t know he was talking about you exactly. He mostly referred to you as that hot chick next door or that chick next door I want to bang.”
I cringed. “Your roommate has so much class.”
“That’s Eddie.”
I grabbed Daniel’s hand and pulled him up from the couch. “Let’s forget about him and pick out a movie.”
***
It took me two days before I finally decided to open the letter from my sister. I grabbed a glass of wine, just in case, and took a big sip before I read its contents.
Dear Lexie -
I know you probably hate me and I don’t blame you. What I did was wrong and there’s no excuse for my behavior, but I am sorry. I miss having a big sister. I miss having you to talk with about everything and anything. I miss our adventures in shopping. I miss your encouragement and your kicks in the butt.
I know you’re probably wondering why I did it. I’ve been wondering that myself. To say that it ‘just happened’ isn’t exactly true, but I can certainly understand why people say that. It happened before my brain could really process it, and way before I thought about the consequences. I’ve had a lot of time to think about why it happened. Obviously, Jeff is hot, and he came on to me, but I should have said no and I didn’t. At the time, I thought it was flattering. It was the one time I could actually be as good as you.
I made a mistake, probably the biggest mistake of my