The Summer We Stopped Pretending

*BROTHERS BEST FRIEND trope*
Every summer, Eli Monroe returns to Donner Lake expecting the same thing:
sunburned afternoons, familiar laughter, and the comfort of a life that never really changes.
This year, everything falls apart before it even begins.
Her friends cancel last minute.
Her parents are called away unexpectedly.
And suddenly, Eli is stuck at the lake house with only her brother-and his best friend, Carson Foster.
Carson has always been there.
Always around. Always just out of reach of anything she's allowed to want.
But this summer, something is different.
The way he looks at her lingers too long.
The way silence stretches between them feels heavier.
And the way her heart reacts to him stops feeling like something she can ignore.
Eli tells herself it's nothing.
Just a long summer. Just familiarity. Just nostalgia playing tricks on her.
But Donner Lake remembers everything she tries to forget.
And Carson... is starting to look at her like he remembers too.
As the days stretch hotter and the nights grow quieter, the line between what is safe and what is forbidden begins to blur. Friendship turns fragile. Loyalty starts to crack. And one truth becomes impossible to avoid:
Some things don't change in summer.
They unravel.
And once you stop pretending... there's no going back.