Page 59 of The Rules

“Okay, but something had to make it stick, right? Sixth grade comes and you’re not side by side anymore, but you’re still tight.”

Dani cocked her head. “What made it stick for you?”

He shrugged. “Josh is my business partner, and Shawn has an Xbox.” She groaned and he knew he’d have to do better than that. How do you explain why someone is your best friend? Family is decided for you, and love is a cocktail of hormones, but what makes the kind of friendship he had with Josh and Shawn?

One memory did come to mind. “When my dad died,” he said, “I hadn’t been in touch with him for years. Still, it felt like a bomb had exploded. Josh and Shawn took me out that night, just a couple bars near campus, and I started some shit with a guy. Typical twenty-something shit. I was pissed at the world and this guy was nearby. Turned out, so were his friends.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, ouch. But not for me. Shawn, you know he’s a big guy, he pins me to the bar with one hand like the fucking Hulk. But Josh goes and puts himself right in the middle of it, squares off with this dude, ready to take a punch that I deserved. Luckily the guy decided not to bust up his pretty face.”

He laughed and Dani rolled her eyes.

“Anyway, he never said a word about it the next day. Never once held it over my head. Josh and Shawn are two of the most loyal people you’ll ever meet.”

Dani nodded, turning back to the water.

“Back to you,” he said, splashing her again. “What makes you and Cat as close as you are?”

“No one thing, I guess. Cat’s neurotic and her own worst enemy sometimes, but she holds the people in her life to a high standard. You don’t get away with excuses with Cat, but she’ll fight for you like no one else will.”

“Sounds like a good person to have as a best friend.”

“You’re trying to make me forget she’s lying to me.”

“I’m not trying to do anything.”Except maybe get a couple more of those smiles.

“Good.” She pushed her sunglasses up her nose and sighed. “Thanks for taking me out here.”

“Anytime, Dani-pie.” He smiled, already hoping she’d want to go again tomorrow.

Dani might not have any camping experience, but she was pretty sure the feast Shawn and Minnie had prepared for dinner wasn’t standard roughing-it fare. She filled her plate with a second serving of Pinterest-worthy pasta salad, enjoying the way spending the afternoon on the water had loosened her shoulders and dulled the little ache she’d been carrying around about Cat.

She’d kind of hoped she and Cat could reconnect on this trip—bond over their shared lack of desire to get dirty. But if Cat was going to be weird, Dani didn’t hate spending the afternoon with Dylan. He definitely had a way of cheering her up. It was hard to maintain a good self-pity huff when Dylan was around. When he’d joked about her and Cat having a slumber party, she’d wanted to scowl. She’d really wanted to cross her arms and tell him to shut up, that jokes about her and Cat’s strained friendship weren’t funny, but instead, a bubble had burst inside her chest and she’d laughed until she snorted at the image of Dylan and Josh sharing an air mattress and readingSurfer’s Digestby lantern light.

Then she’d looked up at him and found his eyes were sober, like he might really find a way to make that happen if she asked. There was a comfort in that that appeared out of nowhere and squeezed her chest.

Now, he was hovering beside her at the buffet, in a pair of board shorts and a t-shirt with a hole in the collar, popping the cap off of a beer.

“Thanks,” she said, plucking it from his hand.

He laughed and grabbed another. “Slow down, babe. That’s your third one of the night and we just finished dinner.”

“Don’t call me babe,” she said. “And why are you counting my drinks?”

He leaned in and set his hand dangerously on her hip. “I don’t want to have to carry you over my shoulder into my tent later.”

She stifled a laugh, pressing a finger into his chest. She was getting ready to tell him that’s the only way she’d be there, but she caught Sonya staring at the two of them curiously. The same way Shawn had when they’d come up the path together for dinner after stowing Dylan’s paddleboard.

She jumped away, letting Dylan’s hand fall.

That was way too close.

“We’re not,” she said quietly.

“Okay,” he whispered back, adding a wink.

She headed to the picnic table, taking a safe seat beside Minnie. “This is the last thing I’m eating,” she said. “I swear.”

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