Dean walked into the large lecture hall for his Marketing Management class and sat in a seat towards the back of the room that was already almost full.

That's when he noticed Zander two rows ahead of him wearing his coast guard uniform talking to another guy in a coast guard uniform next to him.

He overheard Zander's friend say, "We're throwing it down this weekend at the barracks and those fine ass honeys from Theta Kappa Nu are coming. You in?"

Zander said, "I don't know man. I'll think about it. I've been seeing this girl named Berkley for a couple weeks and things are starting to get pretty hot and heavy. I've been laying the groundwork if you know what I mean, laying it on real thick. We have long talks and go for walks on the beach and all that kind of sappy bullshit you have to do to get in a chick's pants. I think I'm almost in. It's probably gonna happen this weekend."

The guy next to him gave him a fist bump and Dean could feel his anger rising.

"So you really like this chick or what man?"

"I mean, she's alright. She's hot but I've learned that pretty faces are a dime a dozen. If you've seen one hot chick you've seen 'em all. She's nothing special. It's not like I'm ready to get tied down to her or anything if that's what you're asking."

Listening to this asshole talk about Berkley like that made him want to punch his face but he had promised Berkley he wouldn't scare this guy off like he always did the guys in high school. He promised he'd give her space. He was really regretting making that promise right now.

He just couldn't believe he said Berkley was nothing special. Was he blind? Berkley was gorgeous but in a natural way that didn't require makeup and fancy clothes. She was hilarious and playful and she knew about cars and she could kick any guys' ass on video games that she came across. She was so easy to talk to and she was a great listener and she was way more laid back and easy going than any other woman he had ever met. How could he not think she was special?

He felt a strong urge to walk over there and tell Zander how much of a piece of shit he was and how wrong he was about Berkley not being special, but he had made her a promise not to scare him off and he planned to keep it. He was going to have to figure out another way to get her away from this douche bag without kicking his ass, even though nothing would've made him happier than punching that cocky smirk off his face right now.

Berkley finished her last class of the day and went back to her dorm room and collapsed on the bed, feeling so thankful it was finally Friday. She had only been in college for 2 weeks but it felt like 2 months. She was already overloaded with projects and quizzes and it was a lot harder to keep up with all of it than it had been in high school.

Her door swung open and Dean walked in and plopped down onto the bed next to her.

"Hey slut," she said, rolling on her side and cuddling up against him.

"Hey prude," he said, wrapping her up in his arms and kissing the top of her head. "Hey I was thinking we should get away this weekend and do something since we have a 3 day weekend because of labor day."

"I don't know," she sighed. "I've got a lot of work to do and I have a test to study for."

"Which is the whole point of labor day, to take a break from work and school."

She laughed, "I don't think my professors will care about the reason why I didn't get my work done."

"Well why don't you just bring it with you? You can work on it during the car ride there and back. We won't get another 3 day weekend like this for a long time."

"Maybe," she exhaled deeply. "It depends. Where were you thinking about going?"

"I was thinking about driving down to the Hamptons and staying in my Aunt's beach house for the weekend."

His aunt's beach house in the Hamptons was her favorite place in the world. His family always spent a week there in the summers and he had been bringing her along every year since they were little. She loved laying out on the beach and swimming in the ocean. There were also a lot of night clubs they could get into there even though they were underage. It was the perfect place to unwind and de-stress and there was no way she could turn that down and he knew it.

"Ugh! You're killin' me," she groaned.

He sat up on the bed and looked at her with a pouty face.

"Please Berk? The stress of being in college is already getting to you. I can tell you need this. Please?" he begged.

She took a deep breath in and exhaled in frustration.

"Only if you promise I'll be able to get my work done and study for the test."

"I promise. Scout's honor," he said, making the scout sign with his hand.

She glared at him and poked him in the chest.

"You were never a boy scout Dean."

"Eh, I could've been but no way in hell was I gonna look like a sissy dork in that stupid outfit they make you wear. Sue me," he laughed.

She laughed and shook her head. "If you did try to sign up for the boy scouts you probably would've gotten kicked out at the first camp out for making moves on somebody's Mom."

He put his hand to his chest with a pained look on his face. "I'm offended. I would never do such a thing."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"Yeah. OId ladies aren't my thing. I would never hook up with my friend's Mom. Now their hot sisters, that's a different story," he said raising an eyebrow with a devious smirk on his face.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head laughing.

He stood up and smacked her butt and said, "Let's go. It's time to get packed so we can get on the road. Daylight's wasting. We have a 4 hour drive to the Hampton's ahead of us. I'm going back to my room to pack and I'll be back."

He walked out the door and then opened it back up, poking his head in. "You better be ready to go when I get back or there will be consequences."

She scoffed.

"No one's scared of you. You act like Mr. Macho tough guy but I know the truth. You're really a softie Dean Bradshaw."

"You're lucky I'm in a big hurry or I would make you pay for that remark. Maybe later," he laughed, closing the door behind him.

She threw everything she could think of into her big rolling suitcase and zipped it up right as Dean came strolling back in.

"Done!" she said proudly, dusting her hands off.

"You got lucky this time, punk. If you hadn't been ready there would've been hell to pay," he said in his best Al Pacino mobster voice, grabbing her suitcase and rolling it out into the hall towards the elevators for her. He always did that. He always opened doors for her or carried her stuff. He was a gentleman without even realizing it which she thought was so strange considering how much of a dog he was with women.

On the way there she got one of her reports done and was able to study for the test for a while. They arrived at his Aunt's luxurious beach house right at 8:00 and she noticed there were no other cars in the driveway.

"Where is everybody?" she asked.

"Oh. It's just us this time. My Aunt and her family stayed home in New York this weekend because they were busy and my family's busy. I planned this at the last minute so it's all ours."

"Really?" she asked, surprised. They had never stayed here in the Hampton's by themselves before. Usually the house was bustling with a large group of people.

She opened the trunk and Dean grabbed out her suitcase along with his and started carrying them to the house and she followed behind, taking in the sight of the beautiful beach house as sunset was just starting, reflecting orange and pink in the house's window glass. She could hear the seagulls in the distance.

She took a deep breath in and let it out, just feeling more relaxed already from being in this beautiful place. She followed Dean inside and looked around the modern nautical themed living room with a big white sectional couch and an open floor plan where the kitchen was visible when you walked in with a whole wall of windows that looked out onto the ocean.

She loved this place so much. Her dream was to have a house like this one day.

"I'm gonna start a fire in the fire pit before it gets completely dark," he said.

Her phone rang and she saw that it was Zander calling.

"Hello!" she answered.

"Hey you! What are you up to? You wanna hang out?"

"Oh I'm sorry. I can't this weekend. I'm up in the Hampton's until Monday."

"The Hampton's?" he asked, confused. "Isn't that really far away?"

"Yeah. It was a four hour drive but it wasn't too bad."

"I thought the Hampton's were like, crazy expensive. Like you have to be a billionaire to stay there or something," he said.

"Well Dean's Aunt is super rich. She's a doctor and her husband is this big shot lawyer in New York City. They let Dean's family use the beach house whenever they want because his Aunt says she hates the thought of this beautiful place going to waste."

"Oh so you're staying there with Dean's family?"

"Ummm. Yeah," she said. She didn't want to tell him she was staying here alone with Dean. She had enough experience with boyfriends being jealous over the fact that her best friend is a guy to know that would be a bad idea.

"Ok. Well, I guess I'll see you on Monday when you get back then?"

"Yeah. I'll see you Monday. Bye," she said, hanging up and instantly feeling bad for lying to him. He wasn't even officially her boyfriend, but they had been on a few dates and they talked every day.

Dean came in and opened the fridge and tossed her a cold beer and opened one for himself, taking a big drink.

"So what exactly are we going to do this weekend since no one else is here? We can't really play volleyball, football or croquet like we always do with only two people. Isn't it gonna get boring?"

"Let's just worry about tonight first. What do you say we stick to tradition and toast some hot dogs and s'mores out on the fire?"

She smiled because she loved s'mores and said, "Sure. Sounds like a plan," as she popped the cap of her cold beer and took a long drink.