Vinny The Pooh
They’re late AND fucking with our names. The audacity of these girls.
I chuckle at Vince’s reply and the nickname I picked for him. I’m especially proud of myself for coming up with that one.
Cal-ifornia Girl
No shade to Katy Perry or anything, but at least pick a recent song.
Our name for Cal is boring, but we stopped putting in effort around shot number six. Kane’s name isn’t our best work either. We argued for a bit but settled on Candy Kane. It was either that or Kane-dall Jenner.
Ozzy Bear
I knew we shouldn’t have put them in charge of booze and snacks. I’m fucking starving.
Vinny The Pooh
Ladies, respectfully, hurry the fuck up before Scar tries to eat the firewood.
I scroll down to the last messages in our conversation.
Scar sent a meme of a skeleton sitting on a chair, covered in cobwebs, with the words “STILL WAITING.”
I notice I have a text from Kane just as I’m exiting the chat.
Kane
Not to sound clingy, but I’m gonna need you to get your cute little ass to the bonfire right fucking now.
The biggest smile dances on my lips.
I text him back quickly.
Hadley
Almost there.
We climb out of Jamie’s car and empty her trunk, which is packed with alcohol and all the ingredients needed to make s’mores, before aiming for the backyard, grocery bags and booze huddled up in our arms.
We decided to have the bonfire on the private stretch of beach near the house. The beach in Hillford tends to be crowded on Fridays, and we wouldn’t want to risk someone recognizing Kane when he’s managed to stay under the radar this long.
We jog down the wooden stairs leading to the beach and immediately spot Kane, Cal, Vince, and Scar sitting on towels and foldable chairs in the distance.
The boys form a circle around the fire, which is already going strong.
The flames show no sign of slowing down, but as mesmerizing as the fire is, it doesn’t hold a candle to the green-eyed boy sitting next to it.
It’s as though Kane has some sort of Hadley radar because he looks up the next second, noticing me before the rest of the group does.
Our gazes connect, and his entire face lights up, the curl of his lips sending my heart into a frenzy.
His smile might look sweet, but his eyes puncture my skin like a thousand needles.
Dear God…
We’ve seen each other every night this week, but he looks at me like he’s gone months without touching me. To be fair, it has been a while since we did it.
“Thank the fucking Lord. We might not starve after all,” Scar rejoices at the sight of us.