The next morning, I immediately roll over and check my phone. I had it glued to my hand all last night and still not one word from Liam. Disappointed, I continue to lie in bed and gaze at my ceiling while my mind wanders. I have known Liam for almost three weeks now and he has completely taken over my life. It almost freaks me out how fast everything has happened. I can't fully know a person in a few weeks and I can't expect to know him inside out. Maybe I just need to take a breather and slow things down. At least not pursue anything until after homecoming like my original plan.

My phone finally buzzes and I spring up to grab it. I am fully disappointed when I see the message is from Lily.

Lily: Hey gurlll. Let's ride together to Derek's. I will meet at your house around 11:45 and you can approve my swimsuit choice! Maybe I can borrow your pretty sheer cover-up that matches my suit? :))) Xoxo!

Ugh, I forgot about the boating trip. However, this actually might work out in my favor. I have a whole day planned without Liam and without Harper talking about Liam.

Hoping to liven up my mood, I roll out of bed and start picking out my best tanning swimsuit. I know today will be blasted on all of our socials so even though I have no desire to hang with Derek and his friends, I still want to look good on all of their posts. I see I only have about a half-hour until Lily comes over, so I prep quickly. I find my cover-up for Lily and pull out a long linen button up for me. I am applying highlighting spray to my hair when Lily busts through my door. She has on a white retro-style swimsuit that flaunts her curves and her blonde hair is down and wavy.

"Hey, Ellie! You look so cute!" She scans my floral two-piece and grabs the cover-up that I tossed on my bed, "Thanks for letting me borrow this! Do you think Adam will like it?" I watch as she secures the cover-up around her waist and then turns in a full circle. I nod and give her an appraising look. I can tell she's eager to be around the boys today when I could care less.

We trot downstairs and I wave to my mom as we walk out of my garage. We throw our towels and bags inside my trunk and speed off towards Derek's. I don't know the last time just Lily and I hung out and I like the change. A judgmental, rowdy redhead isn't with us and I can feel the calming difference immediately.

When we pull up to Derek's house, I spot three other cars already in the driveway. Brandon is standing outside throwing things inside the boat and gives me a casual head nod when he catches us sliding out of my car. Brandon's personality is the exact opposite of Derek's, but their facial features are proof they are related.

"Hey Brandon, long time no see," I say as I swing my car door shut.

"Hey El, I know right? Today should be fun. Grab your stuff, we can all drive over in my car," Brandon says as he slides a massive Yeti cooler into the back of the boat. I see his big F-150 truck is already connected to the boat's trailer. Derek, Mike, Adam, Aaron, and who I assume are Brandon's friends suddenly yank the garage door open and pile out of the house and into the garage. There are ten of us total and I look back at Brandon's truck knowing we aren't all going to fit.

"I can just drive separately and meet you guys there," I offer, but Derek immediately protests.

"No it's fine, Adam is driving separately so half of us can go with him." I know that means Lily so I'm stuck riding with Derek. I try to refrain from frowning and he slides his warm palm down my arm before tugging on my hand to take me to Derek's truck.

After a short drive across town, we get to the lake and the sun is high above us causing us to melt on the dock. Sweat forms at my hairline and my sunglasses slide down my nose while I watch them launch the boat off the dock. I debate bringing my phone with me, knowing Lily will spend all day posting everything on Instagram and I jealously wish Liam would see me out with Derek. Maybe it would get him to say something to me. Anything at all at this point.

I reluctantly decide to leave my phone in the car, knowing I'll be glued to it while hoping for a text and I want to enjoy the day with Lily. I shove it under the seats along with all my thoughts of Liam.

We quickly get the speedboat into the murky water and zip off to enjoy the somewhat cool breeze the boat creates. Lily and I sit in the front of the boat while the boys clump together in the back. Ted, one of Brandon's friends, brings out a cooler full of beer and we pass them around as soon as we find a spot to anchor. We pop off the caps and my sweaty palms welcome the ice-cold bottles.

Adam quickly finds his way over to Lily and I'm left as the awkward third wheel. Derek is still at the back of the boat with Brandon, so I tilt my head back to catch some rays. I sneak a glance at Derek as he strips his loose tank top off and I unknowingly start comparing him to Liam. Derek still has an athlete's physique but it isn't as toned and defined as Liam's. Liam has more of a swimmer's build, with broad shoulders and a lean waist whereas Derek is broad all over. He definitely doesn't have the hipbones that form a V that makes girls weak at the knees like Liam does either.

After a few minutes of sitting there thinking of Liam's shirtless body in the unbearable heat, I slide off me button-up and decide to jump into the water to cool off.

Soon after, everyone is in the water splashing each other and Lily is the only one left inside the boat. The boys backflip off every part of the boat possible and I stay afloat using a large inner tube that looks like a pink sprinkled doughnut that Mike brought. Eventually, Derek floats over to me and teasingly splashes some water my way.

"Hey beautiful, you're looking pretty hot in that little skimpy swimsuit of yours." He raises his eyebrows and I splash water back at him without saying anything.

"Hey! I can enjoy the view if I want to," he jokes as he swims back towards the boat. I call out to Lily to join me in the water but she refuses to get her hair wet and keeps sipping her white claw while flirting with Adam instead. It's weird to be with my boyfriend and best friend yet sitting alone in my own section of the lake. I catch Mike holding up a long blue rope and he starts fastening a knot on one end.

"Hey Ellie, come back in here we are going to go tubing!" Aaron calls out to me. I groan as I was enjoying the sunshine and solitude.

It only takes me a few unenthusiastic strokes to get back to the ladder attached to the back of the boat. Derek helps me up and quickly kisses me on my warm lips before letting me go back to the front where I was sitting before. This time, he decides to join me and hands me another beer and a fluffy beach towel to sit on. Brandon put on his loud rap Spotify playlist, so between the music and the wind, I am glad I don't have to do much talking. I can just sit here and continue to enjoy the afternoon.

Mike and Aaron agree to climb into the tube first and we all watch as they glide over the waves until Brandon hits a lip, sending them both soaring across the water. As we all point and laugh at the boys bobbing around in the water, Lily and Adam volunteer to go next- after much convincing from Adam that she will still look hot even if her hair gets wet.

Adam helps Lily into the tube and they interlock their legs to help her from falling out. I see him grab her hand as they hold onto the handles and I can't help but think of Liam. I get a weird pang of jealousy looking at their clasped hands and I swore I'd leave Liam out of my thoughts when I shoved my silent phone under the seat.

Brandon starts to pull the tube forward and it isn't long until they're both flipped out of it. Lily squeals as her head pops out of the water and I can't help but giggle as she freaks out over her hair. Derek volunteers us to go next and I am less than thrilled. He hands me a bright orange life vest to strap on and I smile as I think of the paddle boats. I start down the ladder and he helps pull me into the slippery tube.

Brandon yells, "I'm not going easy on you two! I'm going to flip you out in record time!" The tube jolts forward while we grasp the handles and at first, it's fun skipping and bouncing across the sparkling water. But then, Brandon starts fishtailing and creating his own large waves that the tube can't handle. From how hard we are sliding over the white caps, I know the inevitable is about to happen so I release my death grip from the handles. We are instantly flipped out of the tube and I hit the water hard. Too hard. The wind gets knocked out of me as soon as my back slaps the water. I push myself to the top of the settling waves and try and keep my head above water as I choke on gross, fishy lake water. Derek spots me struggling and swims over to grab onto my life vest. I see Mike dive into the water and he too is quickly by my side. I bob in the water and let both of them pull me back to the boat as I cough up the rest of the lake water. Brandon grabs the sides of my life vest and hauls me back into the boat.

"Sorry Ellie, I didn't think you'd hit the water that hard." I'm still gasping for air and Derek grabs me and folds me into his arms.

"It's okay El. Just breathe, you'll be okay. Let's get you a towel." Someone hands him a towel that he quickly wraps around my shoulders followed by a water bottle. I slosh the water around in my mouth, glad to get rid of the nasty lake water taste. I spit back into the lake and I can finally breathe.

"I let go of the handles too early, it was my fault," I breathlessly tell the concerned group. Derek kisses my forehead and moves my wet hair away from my face. He then glides a gentle hand between my shoulder blades and then kisses my temple. It's moments like this when I remember why I fell for him in the first place- at times he can be caring and compassionate. He leads me back up to the front of the boat as Lily rushes over to me.

"Are you okay, Ellie? You probably got five feet of air before you smacked the water." She is beyond glad it happened to me and not her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just hate the feeling of having the wind knocked out of me." We both lightly laugh off my embarrassing tube ride and Brandon gets the boat moving again. I tell Derek I am done with the tube and he doesn't push it.

We spend the rest of the day tubing, drinking, and laying out in the sun. Derek ended up drinking half the cooler of beers by himself, so he's pretty toasted by the time we get back to the dock. He can hardly stand and his heavy eyes look like he's fighting to stay awake. Brandon gets the boat back onto the trailer while Adam pulls his Jeep over to where we stand. Lily begs me to ride back with Adam, but I know I should make sure Derek is okay. He doesn't normally drink like this so this level of drunk might be new to him.

They decide to take Mike and Aaron with them so it just leaves us with Brandon's friends. I somehow manage to get Derek into the truck and he passes out within minutes. Brandon's friends joke about Derek being a lightweight, but I know he out drank them today. The alcohol and the heat are proving to not be a good combination, he's blonde with light skin so the sun was not kind to him today. His blue eyes pop against his sunburned skin and I know he's fried all over.

I find my purse that I stashed under the passenger seat and immediately grab my phone. I see I still have no new calls or messages and I'm shocked to have not even heard a word from Harper or the cheerleader group chat. I toss it back into my purse annoyed and lean my head on Derek's shoulder. It isn't long before I'm passed out too.