ADA

"Hmm. I've never..." Wesley glances around the fire at each of us, eyes narrowed. "Made out with a co-star off camera."

"Oh, come on," Liam groans.

"Drink up, bitches!" Wesley throws his hands in the air in victory.

Faye and Ariani both take a swig, and Liam drains his water bottle before chucking it at Wes.

Thinking about which of the many impossibly beautiful actors Liam might've kissed off-screen is like taking a punch. Comparing myself to Mia Harlow is bad enough, and I've been doing my best not to go there. I hadn't thought about who else he might've been with.

I force a laugh, not wanting everyone else to know I'm having a minor meltdown over here.

Liam must pick up on my tone because his eyes dart over to me. He folds me in his arms, tucking me close to him and kissing the top of my head. I snuggle in, letting the familiar smell of him wash away my insecurities.

"Hey, wait a second! Didn't you hook up with that one girl last week? The one with the pink hair?" Faye takes another gulp, shuddering. The more drinks she pours, the stronger they seem to be and the lighter and buzzier I start to feel.

"I said co-stars, not extras."

"Oh, boo!" yells Ariani. "That totally counts."

"Nah-ah. It's my turn, so I make the rules."

"I'm over this game." Faye stands, snagging a box of graham crackers off the table. "Anyone else want another s'more?"

"Right here." Liam holds up a hand.

Faye tosses him a bag of marshmallows. He catches it, popping one on the end of a skewer and holding it over the fire.

"I have to say, I'm impressed by your level of sugar consumption tonight. I think you've outdone even me." I take a small sip of my drink and scrunch my nose, setting it down.

"Don't believe the lies about celebrities never eating normal food." Liam grins at me. He's so handsome in the flickering light of the campfire, I grab my Nikon and sneak a couple photos while he turns the marshmallow above the flames.

He notices the ch-ch of the shutter and looks over, sticking his tongue out sideways.

I laugh, snapping another shot. "That one's going on the next cover of StarTracker." I hold out the LCD screen so he can see the photo.

Liam chuckles. "Well, it's better than some of my other pictures on there." He slides the marshmallow on a cracker.

"So are we all in for the movie premiere next weekend?" Faye asks, carefully stacking her chocolate and graham crackers.

"You better be. The after party is gonna be off the hook." Wes lifts his hands up, bobbing back and forth. He has a minor role in a rom-com that's premiering at Lincoln Center next week. It's sure to be the biggest event in the city all month.

"Are you having a stroke, or is that supposed to be dancing?" Ariani stares at him, looking appalled.

Liam snickers and turns to me. "You busy Friday night? Or will you be my date for this thing?"

"Hmmm." I bunch my lips to the side like I have to think about it. "I might be able to make that work."

Agnes gave me a press pass for the event earlier this week. I was planning to work it, but I'm sure she won't care as long as she can sell some shots of Liam and me together.

I put my camera down and sit on Liam's lap, looping my arms around his shoulders as he traces his fingers up and down my back and bites into his s' more. The marshmallow stretches into a sticky string that clings to his chin.

I giggle. "You've got—" I tap my own chin.

"I've got what? A gorgeous girlfriend?"

My breath catches. The sound of the waves rushing against the beach fades until there's nothing but the echo of that word and the beating of my own heart. Girlfriend. Girlfriend. Girlfriend.

His eyes sparkle in the firelight. He's watching me closely, gauging my reaction. He can probably see my flushed cheeks, but I try to play it cool. "Besides that."

Liam gives me a lopsided grin that makes me tingle all the way through my fingertips.

I swallow. "You have marshmallow." I gesture at my chin again.

"Here?" He wipes a hand across his face, nowhere near it.

"Not even kind of. Right here." I point at the spot.

"Where?" He bends forward like he wants me to brush it off for him.

I roll my eyes, reaching to wipe it away with my thumb. I'm just leaning in when Liam pounces. He locks his arms around me, so I can't get away and smashes his face against mine, rubbing his chin across my cheek and smearing sticky bits of marshmallow all over me.

I shriek, desperately trying to wriggle away. "Eeeeeew! Let go! Let go! Let go!"

Laughing, Liam loosens his grip, pulling back just enough to look into my eyes. His expression has my toes digging into the sand. "You sure you want me to let go?" he asks.

"Yes," I say, but there's no conviction in my voice.

He brushes his lips against the spot on my neck right behind my ear. "You still sure?"

My head spins. I'm having a hard time thinking clearly. "Ummm, maybe?"

He laughs, kissing me on the forehead and gently scrubs the marshmallow from my face with his hand.

Ariani's voice brings me tumbling back to Earth. I'd almost forgotten his friends even existed. "We have competition for the title of cutest couple." She turns to Faye. "I don't like it."

"Nonsense." Faye rests her head on Ariani's shoulder. "Nobody's as cute as us."

"Y'all are all too cute." Wesley hops up and stretches. "I'm gonna grab the sleeping bags."

Ariani rubs a hand over her eyes. "I think that's our cue too, Boo." She jumps up, brushing off her legs and holding her hand out to Faye.

"Cue too, Boo? Who are you? Dr. Seuss?" Faye laughs, letting Ariani pull her up.

"Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one else who is youer than you!" Ariani quotes, dancing around the dwindling fire.

"Oh, dear. She's delusional. I need to get her to bed," Faye says, giggling.

"Yeah, you do." Ariani wiggles her eyebrows.

Faye blushes, shaking her head. "Do you want us to get your sleeping bags too?"

"That'd be awesome. Thanks," Liam says.

The sound of their footsteps disappears into the darkness, and then it's just me and Liam and the empty beach. A flutter of nerves batters the inside of my chest. I fix my eyes on the embers, toying with my necklace.

Liam nudges my shoulder. "Want to go for a walk?"

I look up at him, wondering how he always knows the perfect thing to say. I smile. "A walk sounds amazing."

He takes my hand in his, helping me up. The sand is still warm between my toes as we make our way down to the edge of the water. The sky is dark and unblemished, cloudless. Out here, away from the city lights, it's like I can see every star in the galaxy. We wander down the beach, just past the reach of the waves.

"Have I told you I'm glad you're here?" Liam raises my hand to his lips, kissing it.

"You might've mentioned it a couple of times." I give his hand a squeeze.

"Good." He stops walking, tugging my arm and pulling me against him. "Because I am."

I run my hands up over his chest, lacing my fingers behind his neck. His eyes find my mouth in the moonlight, and our lips meet, making me dizzy.

"Listen, Ace." Liam clears his throat. "I know we started this whole thing to help our careers, but things are different now. And it just—I don't know. It's like I used you to get that part, and I feel like shit about it."

"Oh." I'm not sure what I expected him to say, but it wasn't that. "It's okay. I understand." It's nice to hear him say it though. I want to be supportive of his career always, but it's been getting harder and harder to trust his feelings when I know how much dating me helped him get that part.

"I'm not going to do it anymore. Use our relationship, I mean," he says. "If you still need pictures of the two of us together to land that job or whatever, it's cool. I understand, and I'll help however you need me to." He rubs the back of his neck like he's nervous. "I guess, I wanted you to know that from here on out, there are no ulterior motives for me. I just want to be with you."

And suddenly the vast ocean crashing beside us feels small. The infinite sky above us feels insignificant. Because Liam wants to be with me, and that feels like the biggest thing in the entire universe.

I think of how lying to him has been like ripping apart pieces of my own heart. I think about the guilt that's hung over me ever since I took the picture of him and his dad. I'm deleting it the second I get home.

I have no idea what's going to happen with my internship, and that terrifies me. But I do know I want to keep my work life separate from Liam and me. I might not have anything to compare it to, but this thing between us, I know it's special.

"I just want to be with you too," I whisper into the warm breeze coming off the water. "No more ulterior motives."

The smile on Liam's face is brighter than the flashing cameras that've followed us around all this summer. "You sure?" he asks.

"Positive."

Liam kisses me slowly, tenderly. I can still feel the grin on his lips.

A wave surges in, and icy water gushes across my feet. I squeal, jumping back. "Holy crap! That's so cold!"

Liam scoops me up into his arms, spinning me around. I whoop in surprise.

"Oh, my hero." I put the back of my hand against my forehead as though in a swoon.

"That's not sarcasm I hear, is it?"

"Absolutely not."

"It better not be, because you know I could—" He takes a couple running steps forward, swinging me like he's going to toss me in.

"No! No! No!" I shriek, clinging to him.

Another big wave smashes into the beach, launching splashes of frigid water against the back of my legs. I yelp.

Liam walks further into the surf, holding me out in front of him like he's going to drop me.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh yeah?" He lets his arms fall, and I plummet a few inches toward the water before he catches me. I screech.

"If you throw me in there, I'm taking you down with me." I wrap myself tightly around his neck in a death grip.

"That sounds like a challenge." His hand reaches up to my waist, tickling my side until I'm squealing and twisting in his arms. My hold breaks.

"Don't!" I scream as he launches me into the air, and I hit the water with a splash.

The breath leaves my lungs in a whoosh as the glacial water rushes over my head. I come up spluttering. "Liam Anders, you are dead." I thrust my arms forward, sending a spray of seawater right at his face.

"Oh, I'm going to come in there." He takes off his shirt, throwing it on the sand behind him. Moonlight gleams off his abs. I stop breathing, not nearly as upset about being soaking wet and freezing cold anymore.

He dives in, splashing me again.

"Hey!" I squeak, scrambling back.

He pops up a few feet away, swimming toward me without saying a word. When he's close enough to touch, his eyes meet mine, and he reaches for me. I think he's going to kiss me when he spits a stream of salty water in my face.

"Oh, you're going down!" I jump on his back, dunking his head under the waves.

He comes up laughing. "Okay. Okay. Truce!"

"Promise?" I ask, standing on tiptoes as the cold water skims my shoulders.

Liam reaches under, grabbing my ankles, tugging me toward him.

I cry out, clutching onto him to keep from falling backward. My legs wind around him as he pulls me in. His hands grip my thighs, so our bodies are pressed together.

Our faces are only inches apart.

Liam pushes my damp hair back from my face, trailing his fingers over my cheek and across my mouth. The look in his eyes makes the muscles low in my belly clench, and all I can think about is touching him. I run my hands over the curve of his shoulders and the planes of his chest.

"Ada." His voice is thick, but the sound of my name on his lips is the sweetest thing I've heard in my entire life. "I'm falling for you. I'm falling for you so goddamn hard."

"Liam," I whisper. The whole world has fallen away, and the only thing I see is the beautiful, wonderful boy in front of me. I want him like I've never wanted anyone before.

My lips collide with his, and my fingers twist in his hair as our tongues tangle together. Liam's hands move, so one is cupping my butt as he holds me up out of the water. The other knots in my hair as he tilts my chin up, trailing kisses down my throat, across my collar bone, inching lower. I gasp, and my fingers dig into the muscles of his back. We're completely wrapped up in each other, but I cling to him like I'll never be close enough.

He pulls back, eyes dancing over my face. "You're shivering," he says, and I realize I am. I'm not sure if it's from the cold or the kissing, but all I care about is making sure Liam knows exactly how I feel about him.

"In case it wasn't clear, I'm falling for you too."

He chuckles, flashing me that crooked smile, which undoes me every time. "Yeah, I got that." He leans in, kissing me gently. "We should go get you dried off."

"I'm totally dry." I nip at his ear.

He sucks in a breath, and if his friends weren't across the beach from us right now, there's so much more I'd want to do with him.

"Come on." His mouth brushes against my breastbone, turning my bones to liquid. "Let's go find you a towel."

I pout my bottom lip. He bites at it, grazing his teeth over the tender skin, which does the exact opposite of making me want to get out of the water.

I'm shivering so hard though, my teeth are starting to chatter. I untangle myself from him, running my fingers over as much of him as I can in the process.

"Ace?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really, really glad you're here."

I laugh, pressing one last kiss to his lips. "Me too."