“Knigh…Knight…go…s…s…slow…slower,” I stammered as his sweat began to rain down my face. It was so hot, I was nearing my third orgasm. Fourth, if you counted the water tower.

His lips dragged along mine. He bit the tip of my lower lip and tugged it, like a lion warning his cub. “Fuck her, baby. Come for me again.”

I’d always giggled when I read about women coming on demand. It seemed oddly unlikely. Like sneezing on demand. And I was seventy-five percent sure my coming had nothing to do with Knight’s request. But I came nonetheless. He pulled out, ripped the condom from his penis, flipped my hoodie up and came all over my breasts, watching me as he did with a smirk on his face.

A minute later, he collapsed beside me. I stared at the wood of the upper bunk, to which I’d glued stickers of bands I liked and inspirational quotes that had helped me get through the period of time without him.

Knight flung his arm behind his head. I did the same. We both stilled as April shifted in her bunk, groaning something unintelligible. When she got back to softly snoring, we let out relieved breaths. I turned toward him, placing my hand on his chest, my other one plucking my phone from between the wall and the mattress, texting him.

Luna: Can I ask you something?

Knight: Anything.

Luna: Actually, two things.

Knight: …

Luna: How do I taste?

He didn’t look up from his phone, which I appreciated.

Knight: Like cheap rubber.

Luna: ???

Knight: The condom from the water tower. But also sweet. And hot. And perfect.

Luna: That’s better.

Knight: But also like the condom.

I swatted his chest. He grinned.

Knight: What’s your second question?

Luna: You said what we did should answer my question. I don’t think it did. What are we, Knight?

This time, he did look up, his gaze holding mine. He opened his mouth, not whispering the words, but uttering them, loud and clear.

“We’re everything.”

I tossed all three mini bottles of mouthwash I’d consumed into the trash in my hotel room, washing them down with a bottle of water and mint gum. Luna and I were going to meet up at a diner three blocks from Boon, and I preferred not to smell like a piss-ridden alleyway. The alcohol on my breath was starting to stick, even when I wasn’t drinking. It was in my sweat. In my odor. In my fucking veins.

This morning I’d snuck out of her room, but not before parting from her body in the most glorious way. She’d pressed her ass against my dick, wiggling it back and forth, begging for friction. I jerked off, came on her ass, then fingered her to an orgasm before leaving, because—why, yes, I was a perfect gentleman.

Before going to meet Luna, I called Mom. Her voice was strained, breathless, but she tried to hold back the coughs, asking me how I was doing in North Carolina.

“Good,” I said. “Luna’s my girlfriend now.”

It felt stupid to say it in the same way it felt stupid to think it. We were so much more than steady. I was going to marry her. I’d known that with every fiber of my being before I was fully potty trained, for fuck’s sake. I just hadn’t known how to label it back then.

“Oh my goodness,” Mom shrieked into my ear. She sounded relieved more than happy, and I tried not to let it dampen my mood. “I’m so happy to hear that.”

“Happy or relieved?” I threw her tone back at her.

“Both,” she admitted.

I had a flight booked for tonight. Missing school wasn’t on my agenda—not because I gave a shit about it, but because I didn’t want to add any more concern to my already troubled household. They were going to find out soon that the only reason I was still in school was because I had been the football captain and Coach would hunt me down and kick my ass if I dropped out. My grades were every teacher’s nightmare. Based on them, you wouldn’t guess I was literate, let alone smart.

I loved Luna, but nothing could keep me away from Mom for very long. This was the longest and farthest I’d ever been away from her.

There was silence on the other line.

“Mom?”

More silence.

“Rosie!” I barked impatiently, kicking the trash can in the hotel bathroom. The mouthwash bottles spilled over, rolling on the floor, knocking against the top of my boot. Without thinking, I reached for a fourth bottle and unscrewed it.

Damn it all to hell.

“Sorry,” she choked on the word. “Drifted off for a second. I’m fine, baby. Totally fine. Just really tired.”

“I love you,” I growled, annoyed.

“Love you, too.”

I texted Dad asking about Mom, and he said everything was cool. I texted Lev and Aunt Em, cross-examining them, but they gave me the same laconic update.

Fine, fine, fine. I understood fully now why Luna loathed this word.

I sat across from my girlfriend in a dirty little diner that smelled like it had been deep-fried in its entirety. The walls, the red-vinyl booths, the tables—everything smelled of fried food, with the undertone of stale coffee.

Real talk? I wasn’t Boon’s biggest fan. If I had to give it a twin city, it’d be hell. Call me a shallow dipshit, but I liked my life in Todos Santos. With the perfect palm trees and mile-long white beaches and sparkling private pools and diners that were squeaky clean and brand new. You could eat from the fucking floor at my local Denny’s.

But Luna was here, wearing a tight green top that made her puckered nipples poke out, so naturally, Boon was my favorite place for this moment.

“How’s Rosie?” She squeezed my hand from across the table. I wanted to sit on the same side as her, but reined in my clingy-ass tendencies. I still hadn’t told her the L word. She had enough leverage on me as it was, so I held on to it like a nun holds her V card.

“She’s fine.”

Then I remembered I couldn’t bullshit Luna, and she didn’t deserve to be bullshitted, anyway.

“That’s what they tell me, anyway. Wanna know what I think? I think it’s nearing the end.”

Luna bit her lip, looking down at her thighs. She was a terrible liar, so I deducted there was something she wasn’t telling me.

“Do you know something I don’t?” I dipped my chin, my throat working.

She shook her head, flipping the greasy, plastic menu a few times, pretending to read it. Upside-fucking-down. Nice.

Drop it, my mind told me. Eighteen years later, you finally got the girl. Don’t pick a fight and ruin this. Not now.

What could Luna know about my mom that I didn’t, anyway? Nothing. I was on top of my shit in that department. I grilled Mom, Em, and Dad on a daily basis. Her doctors, too. Short of gutting a random, healthy person of their lungs and shoving them in my mom’s chest, I did everything I could. Luna wasn’t keeping anything from me.

“I’m hungry for something sweet. I think I’m going to go for the pancakes.” Moonshine tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, her eyes roaming the menu. “What do you want to eat?”

“You,” I deadpanned, flicking my menu across the table. She looked up. Giggled.

Her voice. Her fucking voice. I could drown in it.

“No, really?” She covered her giggling mouth and that chipped tooth she thought made her imperfect.