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  a lightweight, right?"

  Half an hour later, and we definitely know that Grace is a lightweight. She is very tipsy, despite only having a few sips of the moonshine. She's sitting on the patio furniture, her legs stretched out on me while Aiden reclines in an armchair across from us, his feet on the table. We've been passing the moonshine around and as a result, Grace's cheeks are flushed light pink and she's far more animated and giggly than she normally is.

  We're sitting around talking about the things we've never done, and Grace has never been skinny-dipping.

  "Never ever been skinny-dipping," she says. "How stupid is that?"

  "You're sheltered," I say.

  "I'm not," she protests, wrinkling her forehead. "Okay, I am. But I'm not. Does that make sense? I've met foreign heads of state. I've met the Dali Lama."

  "But you've never been skinny dipping," Aiden says.

  Grace sits up, pointing at him. "I've never been skydiving, either."

  I shrug. "I've never been skydiving."

  "That's because you have a fear of heights," Aiden points out helpfully.

  "Just because I don't want to hurl myself out of a plane doesn't mean I have a fear of heights," I protest.

  "You're afraid of heights?" Grace asks.

  "I'm not afraid of heights!"

  "No skydiving for me either," Grace says. "Aiden, you're next. What have you not done?"

  Aiden looks thoughtful for a second. "I've done everything."

  Grace stands and takes the jar of blackberry moonshine from the table. "This stuff is getting less strong now," she muses.

  Aiden raises his eyebrows. "You better watch yourself. We don't need to be peeling you off the bathroom floor."

  "I've never been drunk," she notes.

  "You were a little tipsy when I met you," Aiden says.

  "I know!" Grace says, sipping from the jar, her eyes wide. "That was from two glasses of wine."

  "Alrighty then. I'm just going to take that from you for a little bit."

  "No, no," she protests. "This must be really weak. I can't feel it."

  Aiden gives me a look. "Are we going to be holding her hair back when she pukes later?"

  "Awww," Grace says. "That's so nice of you to offer. But you didn't say what you haven't done. Rock climbing? Snowboarding?"

  "Done and done. Come on, I grew up in Colorado."

  "Scuba diving," she says.

  "Done it. Got certified." He pauses. "Okay, I have one. I've never been in love." Then he grins stupidly.

  I groan and make a vomiting sound. "That's so fucking lame, dude."

  "It's not lame," Grace protests. The edges of her words slur a little. "I've never been in love, either."

  Aiden looks at me expectantly.

  I roll my eyes. "Fuck, fine. Me neither. Are you happy now?"

  "Actually, yes," Grace says, taking another gulp of moonshine.

  "You're getting cut off, darlin'," I tell her, reaching for the jar.

  "Stop being bossy," she says, smacking my hand, but she lets me take it easily. "And you interrupted me."

  I laugh. "Excuussse me."

  "I was saying something important," she insists, then starts giggling.

  "Go on."

  She stares blankly at both of us for a minute, then sighs. "Nope. It's gone. I can't remember."

  "You were saying that–" Aiden starts.

  "Oh!" She holds her hand up. "Happy. I don't know if I've ever been happy."

  "You just said you were happy," Aiden says.

  "I am. That's what I just said," she says, exaggeratedly frustrated. "I'm happy right now. Here. I'm happy here. Oh, and skinny dipping."

  "Let's focus on the skinny dipping," Aiden says. "Nudity is my favorite topic of conversation."

  "We can fix the never-been-skinny-dipping thing," I point out. "The pool is right there."

  Aiden rolls his eyes. "That's bullshit skinny dipping. It doesn't count unless it's a public place where you can get caught."

  "If we're loud, the Secret Service agents might hear us and catch us," Grace points out.

  "Well, shit, that's good enough for me." Aiden stands and starts undressing. "Get your ass out of that chair and take those clothes off, sugar."

  "What? Now? The water is going to be cold," she protests.

  "I know. The pool isn't even heated," I agree.

  "No excuses. We're checking two things off your list of shit you've never done, right here and now: drinking moonshine and getting naked in the pool. Move it, girl."

  Grace mock-salutes as she stands. "Yes, sir."

  "Ooh, I like the sound of that," Aiden says.

  Grace shimmies out of her shirt and jeans, then starts for the pool clad in her bra and panties until Aiden stops her. "What?"

  "Nice try. Take it all off, sugar. Besides, we've already seen the goods. Fuck, we've already been inside you tonight."

  Grace swats at him. "You're so crude. Both of you."

  "What did I say?" I ask innocently.

  "You were thinking the same thing," she accuses.

  "What?! Never," I lie.

  She leaves her bra and panties in a heap on the ground. "If my nipples freeze off, it's your fault," she says before running across the patio and jumping straight into the pool. She hits the water and lets out a little shriek. "Oh my God, it's really not heated, is it?"

  The three of us make it in the pool for all of about ten minutes. Inside the house, I wrap Grace in a giant bath towel and she stumbles against me. "I think I might be a little drunk," she says.

  "Checking more off your bucket list," Aiden says, grinning.

  "You guys are bad influ– influencesh," she says.

  "Not me," I protest. "Aiden is the bootlegging lawbreaker."

  "You are!" She points accusatorily at him. "I've slept with a criminal."

  "Yeah, we're practically Bonnie and Clyde," Aiden deadpans.

  "Bonnie and Clyde." Grace points at herself and Aiden, then drunkenly at me. "And Clyde."

  I roll my eyes. "Thanks."

  She leans against me, standing unsteadily, so I pick her up and carry her to the bed, where I lay her down on the sheets. She settles in between me and Aiden, her head on Aiden's chest. Her eyes close softly, then flick open again. "Are you happy?"

  Aiden laughs. "Are you kidding?"

  "But you guys didn't want to share me before – when we started," she says. "Do you feel like if you're sharing me you’re shettling … shuttling … settling?"

  “I’m happy,” I say, even as her eyelids flutter closed again. And for the first time in my life, I think that’s actually true.

  The problem is that happiness like this – with this girl – can't last.

  35

  Grace

  “I’m surprised you made it out of the house,” Vi says, putting her champagne glass to her lips. “I was beginning to fear for your safety.”

  “It’s been weeks since I got finished with the camp, not months.”

  Vi sighs. “I’ve been working eighty hours in Miami and you’ve been getting laid like good tile in Denver. Our roles are suddenly reversed. The student has become the master.”

  “Keep your voice down,” I hiss. “Someone’s going to hear you.”

  “Oh, please. Half of the people here are wearing hearing aids anyway,” Vi says. “Why did you force me to fly in for this?”

  “Because you’re my only friend, so you have to be my plus-one. Don’t forget you forced me to fly in to Miami back in March to help you cast models. And you get to showcase your new line on me.”

  Vi cocks her head. “You were helping me cast male runway models. It was hardly the equivalent of a boring political function.”

  “Trust me, listening to all of your lewd comments about the models was as taxing as this evening will be.”

  “What are you wearing tonight?” A reporter asks the question as we stop and pose in front of a backdrop with the event name printed across it while camera flashes go off