The last log collapsed into the embers, sending a shower of orange sparks spiraling up into the inky black sky. A silence, deep and expectant, settled over the beach, broken only by the rhythmic crash of waves and the faint, distant echo of our friends' laughter as they disappeared down the boardwalk.
It was just us.
Allie and I had successfully avoided being alone together for the entire summer, a delicate dance orchestrated by our respective best friends, who were now blissfully coupled up and presumably halfway back to their apartment. The charade was over.
I kept my eyes on the dying fire, feeling the heat on my knees. Don’t look at her. Just don’t.
“Well,” her voice was a low, smooth contrast to the crackling embers. “This is awkward.”
I finally chanced a glance. The firelight pa
