Averie returned the next day.

She told herself it was just to check on her car. But she'd seen the way Wes looked at her - and the way she didn't look away. She didn't need to hear his voice again, didn't need to stand in that garage, didn't need the scent of motor oil and heat clinging to her skin.

But she came anyway.

And he was already there - back beneath that crooked fluorescent light, elbow-deep in a rusted engine, dark curls pushed back by a fraying bandana. The same smirk lifted when he saw her.

"You bring me another secret?" Wes asked, voice rough like gravel and smoke.

Averie stepped into the garage, her heels clicking against the stained concrete. She'd worn flats today - told herself it was for comfort, but she knew better. She was dressing down? to see him.

"My father thinks I'm meeting my stylist," she said dryly. "So technically, I'm cheating on two men at once."

Wes chuckled as he wiped his hands. "Don't worry. I won't tell your stylist."

She narrowed her eyes, but she was already smiling. "Is my car fixed?"

He leaned against the tool chest, arms crossed. "Could be. Depends how long you're planning to lie to your father."

Averie crossed her own arms. "You really don't like him, do you?"

"Your father?" Wes said, pushing off the wall. "He tried to have my brother arrested at seventeen. You tell me."

She lowered her gaze. "I know what they've done. I just? I didn't choose this life."

Wes stepped closer, voice gentler now. "Then what would you choose, Averie?"

She opened her mouth to answer - but no words came out.

Instead, she said quietly, "You ever feel like you were born into a cage with invisible bars?"

Wes nodded once. "Every day."

Their eyes locked again.

Something passed between them. Something quiet and reckless.

And then he said, "Come with me."

Averie blinked. "What?"

He pulled the bandana from his head and tossed it on the bench. "Just for a drive. I've got an old truck out back. We'll be back before your perfect world starts calling."

She hesitated. "Is it safe?"

He smirked. "Nothing about me is safe, Langford."

She should have said no. But her feet moved before her brain caught up.

They drove with the windows down, through the parts of town her family pretended didn't exist. Past shuttered diners, overgrown lots, cracked sidewalks.

The wind tangled her hair. She didn't care.

They stopped just outside the city, at an old field long forgotten, where a lone willow tree bent low over the edge of a pond.

"Is this where you bring all the Langford girls?" Averie asked as they stepped into the shade.

Wes shot her a look. "Only the ones bold enough to lie to their fathers."

She smiled, but her heart was racing. The sun filtered through the willow

branches like golden threads, casting moving shadows across his face.

"This place feels like a secret," she murmured.

"It is," Wes said, watching her. "I used to come here as a kid. It was the only place that didn't feel like war."

Averie turned away, wrapping her arms around herself. "You know? this can't happen. Whatever this is. If anyone finds out - "

Wes took a step toward her.

"My father would ruin you," she continued, the words spilling out. "And yours would never forgive you. And this - this would destroy everything."

"Averie - " Wes started, voice quiet but urgent.

"I mean it," she said, voice shaking. "This is stupid. We're not kids. We don't get to pretend this is some kind of fairy tale - "

She didn't finish the sentence.

Wes moved before she could take another breath, closing the space between them in one step. He cupped her face, his grip firm but not rough, and pressed her back against the thick trunk of the willow. The bark was cool against her spine. His body was warm everywhere else.

His mouth met hers like he'd waited a lifetime.

There was no hesitation. Just fire.

Averie gasped against him, but her hands found his shoulders, his neck, his hair.

She kissed him back like she was drowning and he was the only air. When his hands slid up her waist, slow and sure, she arched into him like her body had already made the choice her mind refused to.

He broke the kiss only to trail soft, heated kisses down her jaw and onto her neck.

Averie's breath hitched. Her fingers tangled in his hair as she tilted her head, letting him.

Then, barely a whisper, she leaned into his ear and said, "If this is what ruin feels like? I hope it swallows me whole."

Wes groaned against her skin, pulling her even closer. "Careful, Langford," he murmured. "You're making it hard to stop."

They didn't stop.

Not right away.

But eventually - when her back was pressed tight to the bark and his hands had wandered too close to where lines blurred - they both knew: if they didn't stop now, they wouldn't.

Wes pulled back first, forehead resting against hers, breathing uneven.

"This can't be a one-time thing," he said, voice raw.

Averie looked up at him, lips swollen, chest rising fast beneath her blouse. "I know," she whispered.

He brushed a hand down her arm, slower now, more grounded. "We'll burn the whole town down if we get caught."

A slow, wicked smile curved her lips.

"Then let it burn," she whispered.