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cupcake.
    “You caught me out.” He slapped his forehead. “Bad Gabe. I must be punished for my sins.” The blanket rustled as he leaned to whisper. “It’s the washing up. I loathe nothing more. At least I’m saving the water though, eh?”
    Before I began to sweat, I wriggled out of my cardigan. He watched every movement, his eyes hooked to the slow reveal of flesh.
    “You’re gorgeous,” he said softly.
    I blushed. “Gabe—”
    “That’s the first time you’ve said my actual name, you know.” He shifted a little closer so that our shoulders bumped. Silence swelled between us. “You didn’t answer my question earlier.”
    “Mmm?”
    “When I asked if you’d ever thought about being with a man.”
    “ Oh.” Oh. “That.”
    He brushed the hair from his eyes. “Actually…ignore me. You don’t have to answer that. I’m sorry.”
    “ I’ve thought about it.” I chewed my lip; I couldn’t admit that I’d thought about him . His mouth. His hands. His—
    “So…you’re a virgin,” he went on, “technically speaking.”
    “I can’t believe I’m talking about this with you.”
    “Hey.” He rubbed his shoulder against mine. Pressed our arms together. “We can stop if you like.”
    “And talk about the weather?”
    “Yep. Or ferns. Badly named ghosts. All sorts.” He took a deep breath and pressed his palm against my bare thigh. “But I don’t think you want that, do you?”
    “We’re both adults.” I stared at his hand and swallowed. “We can do whatever we like.”
    My skin warmed beneath his; my stomach flipped and my blood burst to a fizzing rally of dominoes. I knew then that I was going to let him do whatever he wanted. Couldn’t see the sense in asking him to stop at all.
    “I do want to kiss you, Gabe.” I tugged up a big handful of grass and squeezed it until my knuckles ached. “I want you to kiss me like you did in the woods. But I have Esmé and—”
    “I’m not looking to be the love of your life, you know. The way things are, it wouldn’t be right.” Now he stroked along my cheek, just as he’d done earlier. “My point is, we’re attracted to each another. It’s getting hard to ignore, isn’t it? But nobody gets hurt if nobody knows about it.”
    “I suppose.” Except us.
    But it wasn’t like that. We’d known each other barely a few days. It took longer than that to hurt someone; it took longer than that for the truth to get a slap in.
    I hoped.
    “If you’re still not sure,” he said hoarsely, “you tell me right now and I’ll go back inside.”
    “I don’t mean to—”
    “I won’t be angry. But I can’t promise to sit here and behave myself.”
    “I’m the teenager.” I managed a smile. “I’m meant to be the one with no will power. You said it, right? The one who does stupid—where are you going?”
    He’d sprung back up, jogged towards the cabin. I hadn’t even given him an answer and he’d already made his decision. Gone back in. I sat for a second with my arms wrapped defensively around my knees, the silence of the clearing weighing heavy in my ears. I hadn’t even given him an answer.
    Then he reappeared in the doorway, kicking off his shoes before he walked back toward me. I wanted him to smile, to make that filthy chuckle--anything that would indicate I hadn’t somehow pissed him off--but his features were almost vacant. Vague smile, pupils fat, his bottom lip bitten; I’d never seen him like that before.
    Then he bent to drop a pack of condoms beside the plate of cupcakes, and my heart spluttered in my chest. I blinked furiously, glancing between his strange expression and the packet. “Um—”
    I fell back beneath the bulk of him. Crack, quake, split—I was just pieces of Danni. He pinned my hands above my head, we seeped into cool blades of turf, and he captured my bottom lip between his teeth. Released it slowly.
    “I’m going to tell you a secret,” he murmured, the edge of his tongue against my ear. “We