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wished I could see their faces better. They knew something I didn’t.
    â€œAll right. I’ve got one,” said Winn. She arched an eyebrow and smirked at Ransome. “Never, never have I ever been busted by Abe while hooking up on a camp boat.”
    Buzz elbowed Ransome in the ribs, and he reluctantly raised his hand.
    â€œIt wasn’t during camp!” Ransome protested.
    â€œAre you sure about that?” Buzz goaded.
    â€œI promise.” Ransome was laughing now. I could feel his body shaking next to mine.
    It was ridiculous to feel jealous, but I didn’t like knowing that Ransome had hooked up with someone— anyone. Even stranger was knowing that everyone else, like Winn, knew about it.
    As the game went on, I started to feel like a prude. The exploits admitted by everyone around me were like badges of honor, not scarlet letters. It made me wish I was one of those girls who bent the rules more often, who snuck out at night and answered dares with an attitude that said, “Watch me.” So I got a little carried away in the laughter and once—maybe twice—raised my hand for things I’d never come close to doing. In the moment it didn’t seem to matter that I was lying. Out here at the riflery range that smelled like gunpowder and was littered with spent bullet shells, we were a band of thieves creating our own legends.
    But it was something I didn’t raise my hand for, chickening out at the last minute, too scared I might get caught, that got Ransome’s attention.
    â€œLumberjack, you’ve never been skinny-dipping in the lake?” Winn asked when I was the only one who didn’t raise my hand to Sarah’s “Never, never.”
    I shook my head, my face flushing at Winn’s use of the less than flattering nickname in front of Ransome. Never, never had I ever been in the lake after dark. After sundown the waterfront was strictly off-limits to campers.
    Now everyone was looking at me. “No.” I heard my voice falter. “Never been skinny-dipping.” I tried to recover with confidence.
    â€œWell, Lumberjack,” Ransome said, raising an eyebrow and spitting again into his dip bottle, “we’ll have to change that before the summer’s over.”
    I thought—but couldn’t be sure without seeing his face—that Ransome . . . was flirting. Oh my God, my mind raced. Why? How? What?! I couldn’t be making it up. There was an unmistakable attraction or electricity or something that flowed across the short space between us. Say something , I commanded myself. Don’t let this chance slip away.
    â€œBetter hurry,” I joked. “We only have four weeks and six days left.” Oh, it was lame—so lame—and a few seconds too late, like I’d been formulating my response too long, but thankfully Ransome laughed anyway.
    He turned to grin at me—a huge, beaming smile. For some reason, in the moonlight, what I noticed were his teeth. They were perfectly white and straight, except for one on the side, which stuck out at an angle, disrupting the whole symmetry of his mouth in an adorable, approachable way.
    â€œWell, all right then,” Ransome challenged. “I didn’t realize we were on a timetable. Next time we’re going skinny-dipping,” he announced, turning to confirm this with the other counselors still there.
    My heart thudded so loudly in my ears I was afraid everyone could hear it. “All right then,” I said.
    â€œGot one!” Winn interjected suddenly. “Never, never have I ever . . .”
    The night slid by until the game wound down and the cigarettes ran out. People drifted back to their respective camps and cabins, complaining that Reveille would blow in just a matter of hours. Already I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep even for the few precious ones we had left.
    Using a flashlight I’d borrowed from Ruby, I helped Winn pluck the