I didn't sleep.
The walls of the beach cabin were paper thin, but it wasn't the muffled voices or waves crashing that kept me awake—it was the storm in my own chest. The memory of Pierce stepping in. Caleb's almost-kiss. Delancey's smug little smirk. And Dax—always Dax—there in the background, watching everything like he already knew how it would all fall apart.
By morning, the tension hadn't faded—it had hardened.
I slipped out early, hoping to find a moment alone on the empty stretch of shoreline. Instead, I found Jason and Phil by the water, talking in low voices. Their conversation cut off the second they saw me.
"Hey," I said, brushing my hair out of my face.
Jason nodded stiffly. Phil gave me a faint smile, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"You alright?" Phil asked.
"Do I look al
