ELOISE
The mid-July sun beat down on the winding roads outside the city, casting a brilliant, golden glow over the hood of my brand-new compact SUV.
The windows were rolled all the way down, the hot summer air whipping my ginger waves into a wild, chaotic cloud around my face. For the first time in my life, the suffocating weight of social expectations felt completely miles away. High school was a fading ghost, college was a distant horizon, and right now, the summer belonged entirely to us.
I glanced to the passenger seat, a helpless, giddy smile spreading across my lips.
Mike was leaning back against the leather headrest, his long, heavily muscled legs stretching out as much as the cabin would allow. He was wearing a simple, thin white cotton tee that hugged his broad chest perf
