(Lucy's POV)

The mountain road curved again, and I braced my hand against the dashboard.

"Can you check the next turn?" Brian asked. "My phone's in the cupholder."

I picked it up. The screen lit up, and I was about to tap the maps app when I saw it - a notification pinned at the top of his messages. A photo preview. A woman in a bikini, sitting back in a beach chair, legs crossed, smiling at the camera like she owned the world.

The preview text beneath it read: Sorry, sent to the wrong person.

I stared at it for a second longer than I should have.

"Well?" Brian said.

I set the phone back in the cupholder. "I can't figure out the navigation. You'll have to pull over."

"Lucy-"

"It's fine. I just couldn't find it."

He glanced at me, then at the phone. He picked it up, saw the notification, and his jaw tightened slightly. He didn't say anything for a moment. Just kept driving.

Then: "That's Nina."

"I didn't ask."

"You didn't have to." He exhaled. "She sent it to the wrong person. She said so herself. It's not a big deal."

"I didn't say it was."

"You didn't have to say it." He tapped his thumb against the steering wheel. "Nina's just like that. She does stuff like this. It doesn't mean anything."

"Okay."

"Okay?" He shot me a look. "That's it?"

"What do you want me to say, Brian?"

"I want you to not make this into something it isn't." His voice had an edge now. "Nina's been part of our group forever. We don't even think of her as - I mean, she's just one of the guys. Like Owen or Cole. She's just Nina."

I turned to look out the window.

"Right," I said.

He waited for more. When it didn't come, he let out a short, frustrated breath. I didn't laugh, exactly - it was more of a quiet exhale through my nose, the kind that says I heard you, and I'm not convinced. He heard it anyway.

He didn't bring it up again.

(Author's POV)

The campsite parking lot was unpaved, ringed by tall pines. Brian pulled in and cut the engine. He got out, leaned against the hood, and lit a cigarette. He looked completely at ease - one ankle crossed over the other, smoke curling up into the cold air.

A few minutes later, two more cars rolled in.

The first door that swung open was Nina's.

She jumped out before the car had fully stopped rocking, wearing a red-and-black flannel shirt and cargo pants, her short hair spiked up at the front. She landed on both feet and immediately scanned the lot. Her eyes found Brian. She paused - just for a beat - and something shifted in her expression, sharp and quick, like a calculation being made. Then her gaze moved to the passenger window, where Lucy was still sitting, and her face smoothed back into its default setting: easy, open, unbothered.

Brian stubbed out his cigarette and walked back to Lucy's side of the car. He knocked on the window with two knuckles.

Lucy grabbed her backpack and climbed out.

Nina was already crossing the lot toward them, arms spread wide.

"Lucy!" She pulled her into a hug before Lucy could fully straighten up. "I swear, every time I see you, you're even prettier. How is that fair?"

"You're sweet," Lucy said.

"I mean it." Nina stepped back but kept her hands on Lucy's shoulders, looking at her like she was presenting her to the group. "Seriously, Brian, how'd you manage this?"

Cole - tall, wearing a vest that was entirely wrong for the weather - pointed at Nina. "Speaking of managing things, are you jealous he found a girlfriend before you did?"

Nina dropped her hands and turned to him with a flat look. "If I were looking, I'd want someone exactly like Lucy." She gestured at her. "Kind, gorgeous, the whole package. So no, Cole, I am not jealous."

Everyone laughed. Even Lucy smiled.

"Although," Owen said, nodding at Nina's outfit, "you look like you came here to fix someone's truck, not go camping."

Nina didn't hesitate. She kicked him in the shin - not hard, but sharp enough to make him yelp - and kept smiling the entire time. Then she turned and clapped a hand on Brian's arm.

"Owen and Cole brought a ridiculous amount of food. Go help unload before it gets dark and we're all standing around in the cold."

Brian looked at Lucy. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

He turned to go.

Nina moved behind him and looped her arm around his neck from behind, pulling him forward like she was steering a shopping cart. "Come on, or we'll be setting up tents in the dark."

Brian laughed and let himself be pulled.

They walked. After a few steps, Nina glanced back over her shoulder at Lucy. She gave a small wave - fingers only, the kind that's technically a greeting but lands like a dismissal.

Lucy watched Brian. She waited to see if he'd shrug Nina off, or at least turn around. He didn't. He walked alongside her, relaxed, his hands in his jacket pockets, as though Nina's arm around his neck was the most natural arrangement in the world.

"Hey, why didn't you text me back earlier?"

Nina's voice carried back clearly in the cold air.

"I was busy," Brian said.

"You replied to Owen in like two minutes."

Brian laughed. He didn't answer.

Lucy kept watching until they rounded the back of Owen's truck and disappeared from view.

"Hey, Lucy."

She turned. Owen was standing a few feet away, hands in his pockets, looking slightly like he'd rather be somewhere else.

"Hey," she said.

He rocked back on his heels. "You good?"

"Did Brian forget something?" she asked.

Owen blinked. "What?"

Lucy smiled. It was a perfectly composed smile. "He forgot his girlfriend is still standing here."

Owen made a sound - a short, uncomfortable laugh - and his eyes drifted in the direction Brian and Nina had gone.