I pushed my fingers into his hair and smiled widely. "I never said that. I've waited long enough. Let's go."

Paul looked dumbfounded as I rose up from his lap, grabbed his hand and pulled him up to stand. We climbed that big hill and tumbled back inside the tent together. "You've got condoms, right?"

I cocked my head at Paul as he still looked a little dazed. "Baby...condoms?" I prompted, reaching into the front pocket of the bag he packed. "Here they are."

I laid my body out on the sleeping bag and held out the little foil packet for Paul to take. "You want me, don't you?" I clarified as he moved to hover over me, still not touching me and looking very unsure. 

I watched as his shaky hand reached for the packet and held it between his fingers. He stared at it for a moment before shoving it back in the bag where I found it. I could feel the tears beginning to prickle as they welled up in my eyes. I refused to cry because he was rejecting me. When Paul reached for me, I swatted his hand away and scooted back from him. "You are unbelievable!" I gasped. "What was all that shit down by the creek? You telling me how beautiful we look together and how hard it is for you to resist me. What a crock of shit!" I exclaimed, all while digging out clothes from the bag he had packed and shoving them on as fast as I could. 

Paul furrowed his brow as he watched me put my shoes back on and crawl out of the tent. "Keegan, wait!"

I was too pissed to listen, too humiliated to take a second to let him explain. My ego was bruised. I was so certain that he would say yes and we could have this moment, but obviously I made a mistake.

"Good morning, Keegan," my father's voice boomed the moment I stepped inside the cabin. "Come sit down and join us."

I sighed dramatically. "I'm really in no mood to do battle again this morning, Dad. If you still wanna leave, then I'll pack my bags and we can go, but please...I can't stand all this fighting."

My mom approached me slowly, her eyes full of concern. "You want to go home?"

"No," I groaned. "I want to stay and enjoy our trip, but Dad…"

"I made a mistake."

I looked over at my father as he sat across from me in a chair. I slumped onto the love seat with my mother beside me and nodded to Paul's parents who sat on the couch. When my father opened his mouth to speak again, Paul came bounding through the patio door, out of breath and bewildered at the sight of us all together in the living room. "Paul," my father commented tersely, "You should join us. I have some things to say to you as well."

Paul walked around to stand next to me, then sunk down on the arm of the love seat. I felt his hand snake around to my back and even though I was still mad at him, I appreciated his support and leaned into him for comfort.

"I just wanted to let you both know that we all talked until late into the night about this situation between the two of you," my father began.

"I'm not walking away from Keegan. Not unless she doesn't want me anymore. There's no way you can change my mind," Paul countered defiantly. I could feel him tensing up beside me so I wrapped my arm around his waist and pulled him close to me. 

"Just slow down, Paul," his father interjected. "Just let Russell get this off his chest."

My mom got up and crossed the room, moving to stand beside my father. That action told me whatever he was about to say, she supported it. "I shouldn't have spoken so harshly to you, Keegan. To either of you," Dad paused to glance at Paul. I could see how hard this was for him to say. Paul moved to sit beside me, wrapping both of his arms around me in a protective manner.

"I shouldn't have lashed out at you, Paul. You kept your distance from Keegan and respected my wishes. But I realize I was wrong to ever keep you two apart. Our families have been so close that it is only natural that you would fall for each other. You care about Keegan, I can see that. Anyone can. And I guess I was just trying to hold onto my little girl for a while longer." Dad hesitated and took a deep breath. "I love you, Keegan. And I trust you to take care of my baby, Paul. I won't stand in your way."

Paul gave me a quick squeeze before everyone stood up and I moved across the room to hug my dad. "And maybe we should think about getting Keegan on some birth control?" Cindy suggested gently to my mother. I was mortified.

"Mom!" Paul gasped. "We aren't even having sex."

"Yet," my mom and Cindy said in unison.

Our dads shook their heads and wandered off to the kitchen. "Maybe Paul should go get tested?" my mom urged with her head cocked. 

"Oh my god," Paul groaned. "Please stop."

My head dropped into my hands in frustration. "You guys have nothing to worry about. Paul doesn't even want me like that so...it doesn't even matter," I choked out before turning away and bounding up the stairs.

I felt like my head could explode at any moment. I appreciated my father's apology and acceptance but it didn't make up for the fact that Paul had rejected me. I grabbed my robe and bag of toiletries and decided to hole up in the bathroom in a giant bubble bath. I loved the big tub in our bathroom on the second floor and I had yet to indulge in one since we had gotten here.

I don't know how long I had been soaking in the tub when the door eased open and I heard Paul's voice. "Can I talk to you?"

"Go away," I sighed, not even bothering to open my eyes.

"We need to talk."

I sighed and when I opened my mouth to respond, I felt his lips on mine, his hand gripping the back of my neck and his body lowering on top of mine. "Paul," I whimpered against his mouth.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and turned us both so I was on top. His hands ran up and down my back, pausing to squeeze my ass and forcing me to squeal into his mouth. When we backed off from the kiss, we were both breathless. Paul wouldn't let me move away from him, holding me tightly against him.

"Are you still mad at me?" he smirked and I swear I wanted to smack him because he knew exactly how cute he was in that moment.

"Yes." I wriggled out of his arms, turning so that my back leant against his chest. "I don't even know why you're in here. You can see I'm naked."

"I needed to talk to you...and you being naked is just a bonus."

I cocked my head a little when I felt his lips on my shoulder, kissing and licking my skin. "Were you hoping I'd make an ass out of myself again and you could reject me?"

Paul pulled me tightly to him, his arm wrapped securely around my waist as his other hand cupped my jaw. I felt his mouth on my ear and his tone was unmistakable. He was angry. "I didn't reject you. I want you. I always have."

"But you didn't…"

"I want it to be special, Keegan." His breath was hot on my neck as he spoke. His hands smoothed across my stomach and down lower, making it hard for me to focus on his words. "We've waited a long time for this, haven't we, Keegan?"

I nodded absently as his fingers tiptoed down the front of my thighs, close but not close enough. Not touching me where I needed him. "I've thought about it for so long," he cooed into my ear as his fingers dipped between my thighs and squeezed the sensitive skin there. "I want it to be perfect for you. I wanna give you the best first time a girl could ever imagine, Kee. You deserve that. You deserve the absolute best."

I was melting against him, trying to formulate an argument, a word, anything that wouldn't betray how badly I wanted his fingers inside me. "Paul," I moaned, lifting my hips and twisting them to get his fingers where I needed them.

When I felt him glide up the seam of my sex and land on my clit, I pushed my head back against his chest and groaned. "Is this what you wanted?" Paul smirked into my ear. "You should have just asked me and I would have been more than...fuck."

Paul didn't have much to say when I shifted around and gripped his full length, gliding my hand up and down and loving the face he made when I did. We got lost in each other, his thumb circling my clit as his finger pressed inside me. 

I tumbled so quickly, all caught up in all the emotions of the day. He wanted me...all of me. And I wanted him just as much.

….

After we got cleaned up, we left the bathroom together, me in my robe and Paul with a towel wrapped around his lower half. He pulled me toward his room when I tried to escape into mine. He walked us back to his bed, stopping when the back of his knees hit the mattress. "Come here," he coaxed me with a hungry look in his eyes like we just hadn't both gotten off.

I gazed down at him as he sat on the edge of the bed. He pushed my robe open and brushed his lips across my stomach. "Come on, Paulie, let's go get some food. I'm hungry."

"Me too," Paul growled as his head moved lower and I could feel his breath between my legs.

"Oh no no no," I countered, gripping his chin and bringing his eye contact back to mine. "You can't do this to me. I need food," I whined. 

Paul sighed but finally agreed when his stomach growled ferociously. We went our separate ways and met up in the kitchen. I was so grateful that our moms had left us a generous supply of breakfast foods and all we had to do was heat it up. When I held up a bite of French toast for Paul to taste, he moaned in delight, causing me to plant the biggest kiss on his lips.

"Good morning."

I giggled when Paul pulled away from me, smiling at Embry when he came into view. "Hi! Want some food?"

Embry nodded and forced a smile. "Save me some. I need a shower first."

I glanced at Paul when Embry disappeared and Paul already knew what I was thinking. "Go ahead, baby. Go talk to him."

I caught up with Embry when he reached the top of the stairs and stepped inside his room. His back was to me when he tore off his shirt and threw it in the chair. "Hey," I said quietly from the doorway. "Is everything okay?"

Embry shrugged. "It's great. I just need a shower." He kept his back to me as he collected some clean clothes and his body wash. 

When he stood in front of me, I searched for his gaze and hated that things weren't different between us. "I'm sorry, Embry. I never meant for…"

"Just don't, Keegan. I'm fine. I'll probably just go home later. No offense but this hasn't been the most fun for me. And now you guys are sleeping together and I feel left out."

I cupped Embry's jaw and gave him a small smile. "I'm not. We're not. But that doesn't even matter. We're all friends and I promise we can make this more fun for you."

Embry shook his head. "Please don't bother. You don't need to babysit me, Keegan."

I lifted my arm to trap Embry when he tried to retreat from me. "Just let me make this up to you...please?"

Embry glanced down at me with his jaw tense and his eyes running all over my body. I felt stupid for trying to block his way and being flirty when he just wanted to get away from me. He was too good to deserve being ignored by us and I couldn't keep him from leaving if he really wanted to go. Before I could give it another thought, Embry lifted me by my waist and put me back down in the hallway. He didn't say a word, but his eyes said it all. He wasn't over me. I watched him retreat into the bathroom, shutting the door without giving me another glance.

….

While Paul and I finished our breakfast, we discussed some things we could do to include Embry. We finally made it to the lake, spending the day on Paul's dad's boat. We made time to swim and packed a picnic too. In the evenings, we sat outside and talked around the fire. Paul entertained Embry with stories of stupid stuff we did when we were kids.

At night when everyone was asleep, I sneaked into Paul's bed where we kissed and cuddled and talked endlessly about when we would finally have sex. The buildup was making me nervous. Sometimes I just wanted to get it over with so I wouldn't be a disappointment to Paul. But he kept insisting we wait, so we did.

On the last day, I was so conflicted. I was eager to return home but this trip had been so amazing, I wasn't sure I was ready for it to end. I found myself wandering into Embry's room as he packed up his bag. I sat on his bed and watched him fold his clothes carefully. "Did you have fun?" I asked as I poked him in the ribs.

Embry tried to bite back a smile with his gaze not quite meeting mine. "Yeah, I had fun."

"When we go back to school, I'm making it my mission to find you a girl. I'll set you up with someone amazing and then you can double date with me and Paul."

Embry scoffed. "Yeah, like that's gonna happen."

"Are you doubting my matchmaking abilities?" I teased, smiling brightly as Embry stood over me.

"No," he scowled. "I'm doubting how serious Paul is about being seen with you at school."

"He's not like that," I argued. "He isn't afraid to be seen with me."

"Yeah, right."

I stood up in front of Embry, refusing to back down or be intimidated. Paul had earned my loyalty and Embry would just have to deal with it. "I trust Paul. He asked me to go to prom with him and I said yes."

"You wanna know what I think?" he pressed with a little smirk on his face that I felt was very outside his character.

"What?" I blinked up at him, noticing he had stepped even closer to me.

He lifted his hand and cupped the back of my neck as his gaze dropped to my mouth and then back to my eyes. "I think you don't know what the hell you want." Embry paused and licked his lips, lowering his face closer to mine. "I think you still want me. I think you wouldn't even try to stop me if I kissed you right now."

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. All this time I had managed to keep my distance from Embry and those feelings had died off. At least I thought they had. Maybe it was only because he had stopped pursuing me? I didn't know but at this moment, I was frozen. I didn't lean in, but I didn't back off either.

"I love Paul," I sputtered nervously. 

"But you still want me," Embry gloated, ghosting his lips over mine. "Don't you?"

I leaned away from him, narrowing my eyes at him. "Why are you doing this?"

Embry gripped my hips and pressed his forehead to mine. "Because I'm tired of you following me around all the time. Because I'm tired of 'being just friends' when I want so much more than that. I'm tired of pretending like I don't want you anymore." He raised his head and looked deeply into my eyes. "And I'm tired of you acting like I never meant anything to you."

"Embry," I sighed. "You know that's not true…"

When he leaned in to kiss me, I pressed my hands to his chest and gave him a firm no. "This isn't you," I whimpered. "You've never acted this way before."

Embry turned his back on me and began pulling open all the empty dresser drawers. "Actually I have. But last time, Paul stopped me. I told you then I could be an asshole. And maybe that's what I should have done from the beginning. I mean...shit, it worked for Paul. He got the girl and he's been an asshole the whole time."

My mouth hung open as I stared at him, wanting to argue but knowing he was right. The good guy lost, just like he thought he would. But I still wanted Embry to be happy, even if it wasn't with me.

"Are we ready to head out?"

We both looked at Paul and nodded. "My bag is ready for the car."

Paul glanced at me and then back to Embry. "I'll grab it and see you both down there then?"

I nodded and waited for Paul to leave before approaching Embry cautiously. I stood close to him, watching him fiddle with the socks in his hand while he refused to make eye contact with me. I tugged on his shirt sleeve and leaned in closely.

"You wanna know what I think?" I didn't  wait for him to respond before continuing. "I think you're pretending to be an asshole, because we both know you're not. I also think you're scared and it's easier to push me away than admit how you feel. But Embry…" I paused when he looked down at me. "I still love you. I know I hurt you and I don't deserve you, but there's still a place in my heart for you...if you want there to be."

Embry just stared at me as I pushed up on my tiptoes and pressed a small kiss to his cheek. "You'll always be my friend."

When I turned to walk away from him, I heard him swear. "Don't go," he urged. I whirled back around to find him standing before me with his arms spread wide. I stepped into his embrace and sighed a deep breath of relief. "Why are you so damn hard to get over?" he mumbled into my hair as we continued to cling to each other.

I laughed and pulled away. "Why are you so damn irresistible?" I teased, poking a finger into the dimple in his cheek. 

Embry squeezed me one more time before finishing his packing and following me downstairs. When I saw Paul leaning against the Suburban, I launched myself into his arms and held him tightly. "Let's go home," I sighed into his ear.

...

A/N: I promised you more, didn't I? Thanks for all the votes and love, you guys. I can't wait for you to see what happens next.