"Hey, hey, hey. Do NOT go all "Dawson loves Joey" on me, okay? I like you too much for that," I said, patting his shoulder and sliding out the car door.

"Oh, yeah. No, sorry," he mumbled, most to himself.

"I'll race ya," I said, just for the sake of snapping him out of his weirdness.

It seemed to have worked, because in a second Jack was off towards the group of high schoolers gathered on the beach. He beat me, obviously, because he was a boy and an athlete and I was a girl and, well, not. When I did finally make it to the group he was waiting by the keg with a beer in either hand.

"Winner buys," he said, handing one to me as a peace offering, "no more weirdness. You just caught me off guard is all."

"No problem, buddy," I said, slugging him in the arm. Apparently that was too much too soon, because the group of guys next to us laughed and Jack blushed a bright pink.

"Oh, buddy, huh? I'll show you how good of a 'buddy' I am," he said. Clearly I'd embarrassed him by friend-zoning him in public and now he was going to take it out on me in an act of masochism that I just new I was not going to appreciate.

He threw me over his shoulder and started running towards the water. Knowing all too well what was coming I pounded on his back and kicked and screamed the whole was in. I really did expect for him to stop- didn't he realize he was embarrassing the both of us? Apparently not, as he ran straight into the water, holding me hostage, and dunked a time or two before returning to the bonfire and dumping me unceremoniously into the warm, dry sand, which only served to coat me like a breaded chicken cutlet. So not the look I was going for. We were in the tenth grade now, this was our first official high school party, and here he was tossing me into the water like I was a little kid. It didn't help matters much that the water was freezing and my, ahem, high beams were up.

"Baby brother," came a voice above my head and I froze. After a display like the last thing I wanted was to face Ben- the two were bound to get into it, they always did.

"Ben," Jack answered, shit-eating grin wiped from his face as he surveyed his work from his brother's point of view.

"I trust you took care of my truck?" Ben asked, noticing the keys laying easily accessible in my bag, which had been abandoned in the earlier scuffle.

"The trucks fine Ben," answered Jack, pointedly. Jack was in a mood now, and the two would have been at each other's throats in a matter of seconds, if I hadn't caught Ben's attention at the exact moment.

"God, Kay," he said, looking at what was decidedly not my face, "You're soaked; you're going to get sick. Jack, that was pretty childish, don't you think?"

Before Jack could answer, I intervened, saying, "I'm fine, really."

I was so not fine, between being freezing cold and on the verge of death by embarrassment I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

"Oh, I'm sure you are," Ben said smoothly, pulling me up from the ground and slipping his arm around me as he directed me closer to the fire pit, "Let's go get you warmed up anyway, just to be safe."

I appreciated the warmth, although the looks I received from the girls at the party were not as welcomed. It didn't help that Ben sat down behind me and started rubbing my arms up and down through the fabric of the fluffy white towel he'd wrapped me in. Glancing at the tag I noticed the initials were decidedly not those of a Hunter brother; typical Ben- it probably belonged to whatever stupid girl he'd shown up with.

Leaning into his chest, honestly just enjoying the warmth and sturdiness of his body behind mine, I focused my attention across the fire to look for Jack. Instead, I caught the eye of my other best friend, Emily. I guess Ben and I must've looked pretty cozy, because she was staring at us and her eyes were all bugged out like they get when she's excited about something. She was always pushing for me to hook up with more guys; she said it was a sin to be as hot as I was and to be so awkward around guys. Not that I've never been kissed or gone out on a date or anything, it's just that I'm more into being friends with guys than dating them. In other news, I don't think Emily understands the concept of sinning at all, but that's beside the point.

I finally found Jack, standing by the keg and talking with the two boys from earlier, who were laughing now as they pointed to Ben and I. Jack looked upset and, since I knew how bad the relationship between him and his brother was, I almost wanted to get up and go over to him. Instead, I decided to punish him for throwing me in the damn water, which had been the catalyst for this whole thing anyway and was totally his fault. Plus, I didn't want his crush on me to get any worse, and between my constantly babying him when he was being overly sensitive and the fact that my top was now both clingy and see-through I didn't think going over would help matters much.

A little while later the party kept going, but nothing much was happening. Ben and I were still sitting together, and I was wondering how to move out of his lap without being awkward. I couldn't remember if I'd ever seen Ben Hunter sitting with a girl as long as he'd been sitting with me without making out with her, and I didn't want the other guys around to think I was defective or something. Ben apparently had other ideas.

"Hey, wanna get out of here?" asked Ben, leaning down to whisper in my ear. His breath was hot on my neck and I inadvertently let a shiver run down my spine. The party hadn't been going on long, but honestly, I was over it.

Still, I couldn't do that to Jack and Ben knew it.