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tiara on her head.
    On the way home, Brooke leaned over toward Ryan while he was driving. Her eyes were half-closed and sleepy . . . so freakin’ sexy. When he felt her warm breath on his ear, he momentarily swerved out of the lane lines.
    “Thank you for tonight,” she whispered. She stayed close, her warm vanilla scent holding him hostage. His grip on the steering wheel tightened. He came to a stoplight and worked up as much nerve as he possibly could to turn his head two inches to the right and look at her.
    His heart pounded, aching, sending a fiery burn down his limbs. He refused to look away from her but was terrified to make a move. She reached up and ran her fingers along the straight edges of his hair. Then she pressed her soft lips to his. Ryan felt a deep part of himself soar. He opened his mouth enough to make Brooke open hers, until their breaths came together.
    A shrill honk sounded from behind Ryan and he jolted to see the light had turned green.
    Ryan pressed the gas hard enough to squeak the tires and thrust them backward in their seats. She didn’t move away from him. While Brooke nuzzled his neck, he stared straight ahead for half a mile before speaking.
    “I’m going to marry you someday, Brooke.”
    He felt her shiver before she pulled away, biting her lip. She lifted her knees and curled up on the seat, closing her eyes.
    “You’re too good to me, Ry.”

CHAPTER SIX
    A fter graduation everyone hung out on a sandy patch at the river. It was mostly baseball players, both JV and varsity, and the groupies of the teams, like Brooke’s friends. Ryan wasn’t as ripped or big as the other guys, so he kept his shirt on unless he was going in the water. Brooke and all the other girls were in bikinis, sitting on towels in the sand. Ryan tried hard not to stare. He really did. But he ended up pulling the bill of his hat down low and allowing himself a moment to take in all of her shining skin—she must have been wearing some sort of tanning oil. She looked happy with her hair pulled up on top of her head, laughing with her friends.
    He thought about the kiss—that too-brief moment they’d never again mentioned. He knew it had been her way of saying thank you, but it meant so much more to him.
    When Brooke stood up to walk down to the water with Jackie, Ryan thought he might die from the beauty of it. Her body was his exact idea of female perfection. She had curves that showed she was soft in all the right places, and a waist that dipped inward. And, oh God, when Ryan saw she had those little dimples at the bottom of her spine, just above her bathing suit bottom, he had to breathe deep and get control of his thoughts.
    He could hear two girls talking a few feet away.
    “. . . should really wear a tankini or a one-piece.”
    “Or at least a cover-up.”
    It was two of his classmates, Michelle Vasquez and Sarah Picard. They were looking at Jackie and Brooke, but they couldn’t possibly be talking about their weight, because neither one of them was fat. Then again, Michelle and Sarah were skin and bones. Ryan wasn’t scared of girls his age, so he scooted right over and boldly asked, “Who are y’all talkin’ ’bout?”
    They looked at each other and giggled.
    “Nobody,” Sarah said, bringing her knees up and swishing her long blond hair to cover more of herself.
    Michelle was wearing a tiny black sundress, but he could see the red bathing suit tied at her neck under her curly, dark hair. “Let me ask you a question,” she said. “Does it totally gross you out when you see a sort of . . . chubby girl wearing a bikini?”
    “Uh . . .” Ryan scanned the entire riverfront of students and didn’t see anyone who matched that description. “No. I guess I don’t really think about it.”
    “I mean, like, when you see thighs rubbing together when she walks?” she prompted.
    He looked at Brooke and Jackie standing knee-deep in the gentle waves. Brooke’s toned thighs met in the center.