"Screw you." She plowed past him, heading up the walkway to the house.

But he caught up with her, pulled her close. Oh, hell. Her scent made him dizzy with want, and that look in her eye, all hopeful and soft and warm. He took a step back. He needed a clear head to say what he needed her to hear.

"You can't understand this, but my life isn't my own. It won't ever be. And because of that, I'm not going to pull someone like you into it."

"Someone like me." She rolled her lips, spreading the dark red lipstick. "But someone like Brittany's okay?"

"Someone who comes from my world? Yeah, a girl like that's better for me than someone like you."

Oh, shit. He'd done it again. Only this time he'd brought tears to her eyes. "No, I don't mean it like that. You're amazing, Nicole. I've never met anyone like you." But she'd only had one small glimpse into his life. If she actually knew his life, if she had to come with him when he got the call to come pick up his mom from a bar, her nose bloody from hitting the floor...if she came to a party with him and watched his mom hitting on his friends...she'd be disgusted. Whereas he doubted Brittany would care. "But I have shit to deal with. And I have to deal with it-I don't have a choice." Hadn't he had three days to figure this shit out? Then why was he blowing it so badly? Maybe because looking into those beautiful hazel eyes completely undid him.

She deserved better than this. He had to nail it so she could walk away tonight without feeling hurt or rejected-because, fuck, she was way too good for a guy like him. "My shit is ugly and it's constant. You're a beautiful, fresh, perfect girl, and there is no way in hell I'm going to drag you into the fuckfest that is my life."

"Okay."

"Okay?" That was it? No tantrums, no pleading, no scene?

"Yup. I'm going in now." She gestured to the house. "I'm going to peel off this dress, kick off these torture traps on my feet, and take a long shower."

"We're cool?"

"No, Dylan, we're not cool. We practically had sex up against the wall."

Oh, Christ. Lust spiked through him at the reminder.

"You can pretend all you want, but I know attraction like ours doesn't come around that often." She stopped, dragging the back of her hand across her mouth, removing the red lipstick that transformed her from beautiful girl to vixen. "But you want to be caught up in your drama, then go for it."

Just like that lust morphed into anger. "Caught up in my drama? Yeah, that's what I want. I want to be the sole supporter of my mom. I want an entire store full of people to talk behind my back as I walk through. Yeah. That's me, all right. I thrive on the drama. I get off on being kicked out of a band because someone broke into the garage and stole all the equipment and somehow all fingers are pointing at me." At his mom. And rightfully so.

"The fuckfest you call your life? Is your doing." She poked his chest with a finger. "Yeah, you had a shitty life before you came here. Guess what? In different ways, we all did. But you're two thousand miles away from that fuckfest. For the first time in your life, you're free. And instead of going for it, what do you do? You wear it like an ugly coat covered in cat hair."

"People in perfect families shouldn't throw stones at people from my side of the tracks."

"My perfect family? Are you referring to my drunk of a mom? Or what my family went through when my dad divorced her because she wouldn't go to rehab? Yeah, those were perfect times. Or, wait, no, you must mean the five years I lived with her alone when she moved into an apartment and took me with her. And completely neglected me. But do you see that on me? Do you smell it on me like mothballs? No. Because I don't wear it. It happened, I deal with it, I carry on. I don't let it define me or hold me back from building a better life for myself." She brushed past me. "Now stay the hell away from me."

CHAPTER EIGHT.

A cold wind blew off the lake, making Nicole shudder. Not only shouldn't she have worn a dress, but she should've brought a jacket. It got colder earlier up here at the Finger Lakes. Still, she didn't want to hold anyone up by running home, so she waited for Sydney to dig her keys out of her big black bag.

"Hey, guys." James strode up...with Dylan. He waved the list she'd forgotten on the kitchen counter. "Got it."

"Oh, great. Thank you." James handed it to her. "Sorry about that."

"No problem. Gave me a chance to bring some muscle."

Sydney hit the keypad, the car beeped, and yellow lights flashed. "Is there anything more fun than a trip to Costco?"

"You don't eat anything," one of their housemates said.

"They have stuff other than food," Sydney said. "We can get enough toilet paper and paper towels to last the entire school year. How fun is that? Oh, and I need printer paper and batteries."

"I'll bet you need batteries," someone said, and everyone burst out laughing.

The doors opened and people started climbing into the SUV.

"What're you doing here?" she asked Dylan. Seriously, what the hell did he want?

"I'll just get in the car now." James left them alone.

"I got back from the gym, James was on his way out the door and asked me to come help carry the heavy stuff..." He shrugged.

"I think between us we can manage a twenty pound bag of flour, but thanks."

"You don't need me? That's great, because I've got a paper to work on this morning."

"Dylan." James gave them an exasperated look from the side of the car. "Are you part of Sweet Treats or not?"

Dylan's gaze flicked over to Nicole, his features blank. "Obviously."

"Then get in and help us shop for the ingredients. We're a team, right? Act like it."

"Whatever." Nicole headed for the SUV, but Dylan grabbed her arm, drew her back to him. The moment his gaze hit hers, all that need and want bubbled up. Not fair. She'd been doing so well. But the vulnerability in his eyes, the way he swallowed so hard, it just rocked her to the bone.

"Can't we be friends?"

She hated the way he looked at her, so intense, so serious. Why did he even care? She pulled her arm out of his grip and got into the car, forcing James to climb over the seat to the back row. Dylan shoved in next to her, sandwiching her between him and Terri, another of their housemates.

"Nic can sit on your lap," the girl behind them said.

"No," Dylan said. The car went silent from the snap in his tone. She looked at him, wondering why he'd find the idea so repulsive. "She uses a seatbelt."

Dylan dug under Nicole's ass, pulling up the strap. Then, he reached across her, his shoulder and arm rubbing against her breasts, and locked it into place.

There was no way he didn't know what he was touching. His nostrils flared, color infused his cheeks. But he didn't stop until she was securely buckled in.

The girl on the other side of Terri rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll take the jumpseat." She crawled over into the back row. Dylan stared straight out the tinted window.

She honestly didn't know if she could be friends with him. No, wait, she did know.

Her feelings ran too deep, her attraction too strong. It would kill her to see him with other girls.

Turning to him, she gazed up into those guarded eyes. "No. We can't."

Well, that was a great idea-spending an entire morning at her side, watching her face light up with happiness as she tossed peanut butter, chocolate chips, and bags of confectioner's sugar into the cart. Not to mention her rapturous expression as she tasted the various samples around the warehouse, all while acting like they barely knew each other? Fun.

And now he had to sit jammed up next to her, looking down on her breasts as they jiggled with every pothole they drove over. Her scent rising up to him every time she whirled around to talk to someone in the back seat.

Why the hell had he come on this trip? Because he was part of Sweet Treats, and he did have to do his share. So far his contribution had been limited to deliveries and website updates. Other than that, he didn't interact with Nicole at all. She avoided him, and he couldn't stand it.

"If my family didn't summer on Nantucket," one of the girls said. "I'd totally work in Costco. Those samples? Did you try the cheesecake?"

"No, you'd get fat," another one said. "You'd never do it."

"Don't say that," the girl said, laughing. "Way to ruin my fantasy."

"Spending your summer hauling crates of tampons is no one's fantasy."

The tinted windows brought him back to his bedroom at night. And Nicole's body pressed up so close reminded him just how it felt to sleep with her tucked against him. How many times had she shifted in her sleep, jamming that tight ass right against his junk?

Fuck. He couldn't go hard. Not here.

"Where do you summer?" Terri said, turning around to face James.

"My dad and I take off for a month somewhere. Last year we surfed Bondi Beach. Uh, let me rephrase. The summer before this last one. This past summer, I was in lock-down. Spent it at the beach house on St. Simons Island. Can we say bor-ing?"

Dylan forced his thoughts elsewhere. He thought about all the hours he'd wasted coming on this shopping trip. He had a paper to write-no, forget school. Instead of fucking off, he could be earning money. The lunch crowd at the restaurant didn't tip much, so he should be grabbing any extra cash he could. The only way to keep his mom away from assholes like Jeff Blakely was to make sure he covered her costs.

And Sweet Treats would never bring enough money to make an impact. Even if they made a profit from selling cupcakes, they had to split it three ways.

Who was he kidding? The only reason he was involved in the business was to stay connected with her. Which was pointless, because nothing would change. He'd never have Nicole in his life. He looked down on her shiny hair.

It took everything he had not to touch her. He had to stop this. It was a dead-end. Worse, it distracted him from what mattered. Maintaining his scholarship and keeping his mom safe-those were the only things he should be thinking about.

"Where do you guys summer?" Terri asked Nicole and Dylan.

"We don't-" Nicole began.

"I summer in Gun Powder. At the Lazy Days Trailer Park."

A terrible silence strangled the car.

He'd meant it as a joke, but still. Why would they talk about "summering" in a group of people from different backgrounds? Not every student at Wilmington had gone to prep or boarding schools.

"Well, no more summering in the Hamptons for me." Terri broke the tension. "I'll be doing internships from now until I graduate." She leaned across Nicole to address him. "You should, too. There's not much value in a finance degree without work experience. You're getting an MBA, right?"

"No."

"According to my dad, if you're going to get a job on Wall Street, you really do have to get the MBA."

"I won't be working on Wall Street."

"Well, maybe not literally. But for a hedge or private equity fund."

"Not sure they have any of those in Gun Powder."

Once again, he'd shocked the car into silence. Only this time he hadn't been joking.

"You're going back to your hometown after you graduate Wilmington?" Terri asked.

He felt the press of Nicole's thigh against his-was she trying to tell him something?

"Yup."

"Why bother getting a degree from Wilmington just to go back to Gun Powder?" James asked.

"Oh, look, there's a service plaza in two miles," Nicole said. "Anyone hungry?"

Dylan shot her a look. She couldn't be hungry, not after all those samples. So, she was either taking the heat off him or she was embarrassed by his answers.

"Seriously, you have to get the MBA," the girl in the jumpseat said.

"That'd be nice." He'd be lucky to graduate with the way things were going with his mom. Add on another two years of school? Forget it.

"Well, in any event, if you change your mind, my dad works for Pearson Greene, and they have a great college internship program. I know you're super smart, so I wouldn't mind hooking you up there if you wanted."

Pearson Greene was one of the world's biggest hedge funds. Landing an internship there would be golden. "Thanks."

"That's awesome." James nudged Terri. "That'd be so great if you could do that for him."

Oh, Christ. He had to stop things before he wasted anyone's time. "I appreciate the offer, but I'll be going home for the summer."

"You have to do the internship, man," James said.

"Gotta make bank." Dylan bore down on his rising frustration.

"Wall Street internships pay," Terri said. "It's the smartest thing you can do."

"Opportunity of a lifetime."

"Guys," Nicole said, softly.

He didn't need her damn protection. Did she think he'd never faced this kind of shit before? "It's not like I have a choice, okay? I don't get to choose between summering in Nantucket, interning on Wall Street, or surfing in Australia. Not everyone has choices. Now, seriously, thank you for thinking of me for the internship, but I can't do it."

"You can," Nicole said. "Everyone has choices. You just choose to believe you don't."

Sydney pulled into a parking spot in the plaza.

"I choose to wash my cheesecake down with a Venti soy latte." James climbed over the seat, his big black boot nudging between Terri and Nicole. He fell onto the girls, making them laugh. As everyone got out of the car, Dylan found his anger billowing out of control.