Lucas Beck loved summer.

It was the one time of year where the world slowed down just enough for him to breathe. No coaches barking in his ear, no parents arguing off the rink, no pressure to be the next big thing out of New Haven.

Just bonfires on the beach. Ice-cold drinks. Sunburnt skin. And girls - there were always girls.

But for the longest time in his life, summer meant Cousins Beach.

It meant long days spent half-awake under the sun, it meant Conrad and Jeremiah waking him up at the crack of dawn to surf when the sun was barely out and the water was freezing but the waves were perfect. It meant Steven, overly competitive even in beach volleyball, demanding rematch after rematch. It even meant Belly tagging along, just to prove she could hang with the boys.

Lucas Beck used to live for that.

From the ages of five to fifteen, Cousins had been his second home. Maybe even more of a home than his actual house in Connecticut. His mum - Julia - was Susannah Fisher's half-sister, though the two couldn't have been more different. Whilst his mother was uptight and bitter, his Aunt Susannah made everything feel warm and effortless - like the physical embodiment of summer itself.

Lucas had always felt more like her son than Julia's. Susannah didn't mind that, she treated Lucas like her own, always offering a place for him to stay if it got too much at home. Her and Julia weren't on speaking terms, and it was safe to say Lucas' mother was never pleased when her son left to visit Susannah - but she couldn't stop him. Granted, she didn't care enough to stop him, it was free childcare for the summer.

Susannah was the one who told him which sunscreen to use, the one who kept the freezer stocked with his favourite popsicles, the one who watched his hockey highlight reels with genuine enthusiasm when even his own mum barely glanced up from her laptop. When his parents fought (which was often), it was Susannah who would tell him to pack a bag and come pick him up. No questions asked.

And Laurel, she was no different. She loved all the boys and she loved Lucas. Cousins was a place where he felt genuinely cared for - unlike his real home. Growing up alongside Laurel, Susannah and their kids, Lucas felt like he was part of their special family.

Their special Cousins family.

So every summer, he came back.

Until he didn't.

The last summer, Lucas stayed in New Haven. He told Conrad and Jeremiah it was hockey - summer training camps, college scouts, all of that. Which wasn't a lie. But it also wasn't the whole truth.

The real reason was that he liked who he was back home.

In New Haven, Lucas was the man. Star forward. Team captain. Party starter. Girls wanted him. Coaches praised him. Friends rallied around him. He started to crave the attention.

Despite skipping the last couple summers, he kept in touch. There was the group chat - The Cousins Crew, as Steven had named it years ago. Him, Steven, Conrad, and Jeremiah were part of it and despite her constant begging, Belly was never allowed to be part of the 'boys chat'. It was mostly memes, inside jokes, the occasional FaceTime when someone was bored enough to call. But even group chats could only do so much. The longer he stayed away, the more distant everything started to feel.

They were still his people, just...slightly less familiar.

He wondered if they would still recognise him. People changed, bonds stretched and Lucas had done a lot of changing in the last two years. He was an entirely different person to the boy who visited Cousins, granted some things were still the same. He had transformed into a stereotypical jock and his summers were now incredibly different to what they once used to be.

He was now a little more used to the temporary things - flings, fights and feelings he didn't have to deal with.

Lucas Beck was now the infamous party boy, the heartbreaker that girls chased after.

And he loved it.

His junior season could not have gone better if Lucas had tried. He felt as though he had just won the goddamn world.

On top of the state championships, Lucas had a series of accolades to his name: MVP, All-State, captain of the team and the kid with ice in his veins. His high school had won State and Nationals, with Lucas captaining the side. He was even selected to represent the USA junior hockey team. Coaches whispered D1, scouts circled his games and parents pointed at him like he was already famous.

His team had headed out of state for a summer tournament in Philadelphia and when one of the local boys invited Lucas and his friends to a house party, he was never going to say no.

Lucas showed up to the barely-legal house party with his teammates, three beers deep before they had even crossed the threshold. He walked into the house with all the confidence in the world, like he owned the place and surveyed his surroundings.

The place was packed - shoulder-to-shoulder teenagers littered all throughout the hallway, living room and kitchen. It was dark inside apart from the fluorescent lights coming out from an unknown source. Music thumped through the floorboards - predominantly rap music a teenage hockey player would have in his playlist.

It didn't matter what the house looked like or what music was playing, Lucas wasn't here to listen. He was here to celebrate and show everyone what a good time looked like.

Dressed in a simple outfit: just a pair of baggy blue jeans and a white graphic t-shirt, Lucas made his way over to pour himself and his friends a drink and downed it almost immediately.

"Yo, Beck!" someone shouted over the bass, handing him another red solo cup. "That blonde's been staring at you for twenty minutes."

Lucas didn't bother looking. "Only twenty? Damn. Must be slipping."

The guys laughed as Lucas downed yet another drink like water before he made his way towards the girl staring at him.

And if there was one thing Lucas knew how to do better than skate - it was flirt.

She was on the dance floor - if you could call a sticky living room floor and a dozen swaying bodies a dance floor - so Lucas headed over, moving through it like it was made for him. The blonde girl's eyes lit up as Lucas approached her, smirking and beginning to dance with her.

She turned around and swayed her hips against Lucas, one hand on her waist and the other on the cup in his hand as he relished the moment. They danced like that to the music until she turned back around, leaning in and her intentions clear as day.

Lucas knew what she wanted, and he was willing to entertain her. He met her lips halfway and began making out with her. Her hands were tugging his shirt as his fingers rested lazily on her chin. They made out for a few minutes before Lucas pulled away, bending down to speak to her.

"I need another drink," he said smoothly, mouth grazing her ear. "Don't wait up."

He left the disappointed girl and passed his group of friends, some of them talking to each other, some of them trying to get with some of the other girls at the party.

His friends had witnessed that entire encounter and they nudged him, teasing their captain who they aspired to be like. The congratulations from his friends meant nothing to him. As cruel as it sounded, that girl meant nothing to him.

He just enjoyed the attention. He enjoyed the idea that he could charm any girl he wanted.

Lucas moved towards the kitchen to fill his cup with another drink when he saw a girl that immediately caught his attention.

She was standing in the hallway just off the kitchen, drink in hand as she spoke to a friend of hers. The first thing Lucas noticed was that she had a pretty face. A killer body too. And the way she dressed tonight, in a short denim skirt and her hair falling wild around her shoulders, it was clear she knew exactly how good she looked.

There was something about her that looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. All that he knew was that he had to talk to her.

Lucas tilted his head, smiled, and then walked right over.

"Well, well," he said confidently, leaning one arm against the doorframe beside her. "Didn't think angels partied this far from heaven."

She blinked, once, then snorted. "Is that your opener? For real?"

Lucas grinned. "It worked, didn't it? And for the record, I am incredibly wasted right now so maybe I'm not on my A-game."

"You think everything works."

He took a sip of his drink. "Only cause it does."

The girl was amused, he could tell. Her posture relaxed, and her eyes sparkled with challenge. This wasn't a girl who'd fall over herself just because he flashed a smirk and that only made him more interested.

"And who are you supposed to be?" she asked, arms folded.

"Beck," he said, easily. "Captain of the New Haven team. Maybe you've heard of me?"

"Oh..." she said, pretending to think. "No. Sorry to bruise your ego."

Lucas laughed. "Damn. Well I haven't heard of you, so a name would be nice?"

She raised her eyebrows. "You can find out yourself."

They continued drinking and talking, and it didn't take long before the banter blurred. Her laughs got louder, his hands got bolder and suddenly she pulled him by the shirt back into the fray of the teenagers dancing.

"Dance with me."

Lucas didn't object as he placed his hands on her hips, dancing with her and pressing her closer towards him. They were moving in sync without thinking as her lips brushed his jaw as she whispered something he didn't catch, but pretended to.

Not long after, he leaned in and their mouths met.

It was fast, it was greedy, it was fuelled by alcohol.

Lucas didn't think. Didn't pause. He just acted.

She kissed like she had something to prove. Like she wanted him to know she could keep up and that she was in control, not just Lucas. He responded in kind - hand sliding beneath the hem of her shirt, testing boundaries and she didn't stop him.

Instead, she pulled away breathless. "Come with me."

He followed without hesitation as she pulled him up the stairs where the hallway was dim. A spare bedroom door swung open with a squeak. Lucas barely registered it before the girl was tugging him inside and locking it behind them.

What followed was messy, but Lucas didn't complain. Neither of them had any complaints. Clothes peeled away and his name - or at least Beck - fell from her lips as his hands roamed her body.

The way everything happened, she was taking control of the moment. It was new for Lucas, he was always in the driver's seat. But something about this, something about a girl being so confident to take control from Lucas, only turned him on more.

He enjoyed the moment greatly. He was seventeen, drunk and adored. He lived in the moment, and the moment burned hot.

After, they didn't talk much. They both got dressed, Lucas cracked a joke. She rolled her eyes but smiled, still flushed. He didn't ask for her number. She didn't offer it. They were two strangers who just happened to crash into each other at the right (or wrong) time.

He slipped back downstairs to his teammates. She slipped out the back door.

End of story.

At least, that's what Lucas thought.