Chapter 1
Avery’s POV
The screen door creaked when I pushed it open and stepped out onto the deck.
Cool evening air hit my bare arms and legs right away, raising goosebumps after the long hot day on the lake.
I tugged the loose tank top down over my damp bikini lines, the thin cotton already clinging where my skin was still slick from swimming.
Flip-flops smacked against the wood planks as I headed down the steps toward the firepit, following the low crackle and the smell of pine smoke mixed with charred burgers from earlier.
I expected the usual scene—Mark crouched by the pit arranging logs, Jake sprawled on a log nursing a beer,
Tyler messing with his phone or throwing sticks into the flames. Instead the three of them went quiet the second they heard my steps.
Mark straighte
