Catching Summer (16 page)

I’m sorry about tonight. I’ll see you when I get back into town. I only did it because I love you.

Philip

“What does it say?” Evan demanded.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and held it out. “It’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Evan reached for the note and read it, his eyes blazing the entire time. “What the fuck is this? What is he sorry about? What did he do?”

He threw the letter on the bed, glaring at me. Pushing the flowers away, I got to my feet. “Philip told me today that he had feelings for me.”

“And?” he hissed.

“And then he kissed me.”

Seething, Evan stepped back, jaw clenched and fists tight. “That motherfucker,” he growled, pacing the floor.

“Evan, I didn’t know he felt that way, I promise. If I had, I would’ve kept my distance.”

“Did you kiss him back?”

I gasped, taken aback. “No, why would you think that? I don’t care about him like that. I love
you.
After he did it, I made him leave. I don’t ever plan on seeing him again.”

Grabbing a baseball cap off his dresser, he put it on and backed away from me when I tried to touch him. “You sure as hell aren’t going to see him again, but that doesn’t mean I can’t.”

He rushed past me and was out the front door before I could get my shirt buttoned. “Evan, stop!” I yelled. His car roared to life, but I didn’t get outside in time to stop him. He was gone.

Heart racing, I could only see fucking red as I sped down the street. I didn’t know where the hell I was going, but I was determined to get there. I pulled up Jason’s number and dialed it, my hands shaking in rage the entire time.

“This is Jason,” he answered.

“Jason, it’s Evan. I need some information fast.”

“Okay, what d’ya need?”

“I need an address to a Philip Parker’s house. He’s a doctor.”

In the background, I could hear him typing away on a computer. “And why do you need this? Who is he?”

My jaw hurt from clenching so hard. “He’s Summer’s doctor. I need to talk to him.”

“Are you sure that’s all you’re going to do?”

I was growing impatient. “Yes.”

“All right, I trust you. Although from the sound of your voice, I’d say you were pissed. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“I won’t,” I growled.

Once he found the address, he relayed it to me and I headed on my way. I wanted to beat the fucker senseless, but I couldn’t. He didn’t live far from my house, which had me unnerved. I didn’t want him being so close to Summer. His garage door was open, and he was inside putting a suitcase into his car. When he watched me pull up, the cocksucker actually had a smile on his face. Opening my door, I got out and slammed it shut.

“I take it you saw the flowers I sent,” he announced, leaning against his shiny silver sports car.

“And if I wasn’t in a hurry, I would’ve brought them back and thrown them in your fucking face. I guess Summer and I’ll have a bonfire with them tonight.”

Smirking, he shook his head, regarding me as if I was a child. He might have been older, but that didn’t mean shit. “Does she know you’re here? Kind of childish, don’t you think? I told her you were dangerous, and you just proved my point. Only a hotheaded, arrogant adolescent would confront someone like this.”

“So you think you’re better than me? Is that it? You may be older and a doctor, but that’s not going to get you Summer. She loves me, not you. Stay the fuck away from her.”

His smile faded. “No wonder you have enemies. You’re selfish. You know very damn well that whoever’s after you wants your blood. What if they go after Summer to get to you? I’m not going to let that happen. Eventually, she’ll see that I’m the better choice.”

I stepped forward but maintained a distance. If I moved too close, I had no doubt I’d slam his head into the hood of his car. “Stay away from her,” I warned.

“I think you should let her decide what she wants. Judging by the way she kissed me, I’d say her feelings are divided.”

“You’re a fucking liar,” I spat. “She wouldn’t lie to me.”

He shrugged. “Suit yourself. Now if you don’t mind, I have a plane to catch, so…”

Every muscle in my body wanted to propel me forward and just beat the fuck out of him. He was taunting me and there was nothing I could do about it. Sometimes I hated that I was restricted from things because of my profession. The repercussions would be severe, and he knew it. Getting in my car, I glared at him one more time before storming out of his driveway. I couldn’t go back to Summer, not yet. Instead, I drove to the tavern.

When I walked inside, I went straight to the bar. “Double shot of whiskey.”

Grayson sighed and poured my shot. “I take it Summer told you.”

I tossed the liquid back and felt the burn all the way down to my stomach. “Yep, and I just got through confronting the douchebag.”

His eyes went wide. “Wow. I’m surprised you didn’t kick his ass.”

“Believe me, I wanted to. That fucker actually had the nerve to say that she liked kissing him. I wanted to rip out his goddamned throat.”

“He said that? It’s a fucking lie. I talked to Summer right after it happened. I told her she should tell you.”

“She tried, but when the cocksucker had flowers sent to the house, I lost my temper and left. She’s probably pissed at me right now.”

“You trust her, don’t you?” he asked.

I sighed and pushed the tumbler toward him. “I do. I just let my anger get the better of me. The thought of another man kissing her makes my blood boil.”

Grayson’s gaze lingered on Lara, who was busy chatting with some of their customers. “I know what you mean.” Then he focused on me. “I thought it was strange how Philip came here every night. I kept thinking, how desperate could the guy be? If I was interested in someone, I know very damn well I wouldn’t be stalkerish. Lara would kick my ass if I was like that.”

“He’s been here every night?” I asked incredulously.

He nodded. “Yep, but only for the past week; before that, it was just once a week. Summer always kept it professional, though. I never once thought there was anything going on from her end. He, on the other hand, is creepy as fuck. I’ve seen him looking at her. It’s like he’s obsessed.”

“Then we need to make sure he stays away from her. Have you told her any of this?”

He shook his head. “She always tends to see the good in people. He’s her doctor, for Christ’s sake. She had no reason to think there was anything weird going on.”

Pulling out my wallet, I handed him my card. “Close my tab. I need to get back home.”

Once my bill was paid, I hurried out to my car and dialed Jason’s number. “I don’t need to arrest you, do I?” he asked.

“No, it’s over. However, I do need to ask another favor.”

Evan had been gone for two hours without so much as a phone call to tell me where he was. Even I didn’t know where Philip lived, so there was no way he could get there. Or at least I hoped he couldn’t. I was tired of crying, and for what? I hadn’t done anything wrong. When the garage door opened, my heart started to race. A confrontation with Evan wasn’t what I wanted, but he was going to listen to me. The door opened and his steps thundered down the hall. He didn’t see me sitting in the shadows in the living room.

“Summer?” he called, charging into the bedroom. When he didn’t see me, he turned on the light and rushed out. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” With panicked eyes, he pulled out his phone and called my number. It just so happened that it was in my lap and rang when it went through. His attention snapped in my direction and I stood, shutting off my phone. “Why didn’t you answer me?” he asked softly.

I walked out of the shadows and faced him. “I didn’t know if I was ready. I see that you’re back in one piece. I take it you didn’t find Philip?”

He threw his phone on the couch. “Oh, no, I found him,” he said, stalking toward me, “and it’s clear his intentions are to pursue you. He made it perfectly clear to me.”

I gasped. “Oh no, he—”

Closing the distance, he put a finger to my lips. “Shh, I’m not going to let that fucker get between us again. Just promise me that no matter what he says or does, you’ll always be mine.”

Lifting up on my toes, I kissed him and looked right into his eyes. “I promise. As long as you promise me you aren’t going to run off like that again. I was worried about you.”

He picked me up in his arms and carried me to the bedroom. “I promise, sunshine. It won’t happen again.” Setting me down on the bed, he untied my robe and his eyes lit up. “I see you were ready for me to come home.”

Smiling, I unbuttoned his jeans. “I knew that if I couldn’t convince you I loved you in words, I planned on showing you.” He took off his shirt and slid his pants to the floor.

Crawling over me, he settled between my legs, pressing his cock against my opening. “I think it’s my job to show
you
tonight. I was the idiot.”

He lowered his lips to my stomach and kissed his way up to my breasts, suckling each one. My back arched and he sucked harder, knowing that was what I wanted. I moaned in ecstasy and wrapped my legs around his waist. I wanted him inside me, as deep as he could go. He gave me a sample of my desires and pushed in just a bit, leaving me breathless and ravenous for more.

“Please,” I begged. “I need to feel you.”

He pushed in a little more. “Don’t worry, baby. You’re going to feel it all night.”

My core tightened and I gasped as he thrust in hard and deep. I rocked my hips against him, screaming as our bodies slapped into each other. He was gentle yet hard in his strokes. Our love wasn’t just a simple emotion to feel; it was beautiful, raw, passionate, and untamed. It was as if it all surrounded me and I couldn’t get enough. I felt selfish that I wanted to take and keep taking from him, but I also wanted to give him everything he wanted.

Over and over, he pounded into me and I was so close to losing control. My whole body trembled and I let go, holding my breath as I gave in to my release. It felt as if it lasted for hours, his body connected to mine, the two of us sharing in the joys of being one. He came inside me, hot and thick. One day, when the time was right, I hoped that we’d have a family together. I was ready to begin that part of my life.

Evan’s phone began to ring, waking us up from a blissful two hours of sleep. He had been right when he said I was going to feel him all night. Now I was exhausted, but it was eight in the morning and time for us to face the day. “Are you going to get that?” I asked.

Evan rolled over and put his arm around my stomach. “No, let’s pretend it’s not ringing.”

Laughing, we stayed in bed and I closed my eyes again, only to have them burst open when
my
phone started to ring. “I swear,” I grumbled. My eyes weren’t adjusted to the light, so I answered it without seeing who it was. “Hello?”

“I think I’m just going to start calling you since Townsend has a problem with answering his phone,” Jason grumbled.

Immediately, I sat up. “Jason, hey. What’s going on?”

“Are you with Evan?”

“Yes.”

“Then put me on speakerphone. You both need to hear this.” Doing as he said, I set the phone between Evan and me, both of us wide awake and alert.

“All right, you’re good,” I said.

“In the middle of the night, the station got a call about a wrecked vehicle on Stowe Road. Imagine my surprise when I find out that it’s a lifted blue Dodge Ram.”

I gasped and looked up at Evan. “Is it the same one that ran Brianna’s car off the road?”

“Yes,” he replied. “There were red scratches and dents on the side, as well as on the front bumper.”

“What about the driver?” Evan growled. “Who is it?”

Jason sighed. “The driver’s dead. He was found in the vehicle. His name was Peter Trazinsky. He was arrested a few years ago on drug charges and had several DUIs. From the looks of him, it appears he might have overdosed on something. I’ll get the full report once they run some tests on him.”

“So are you saying he was probably just fucked out of his mind that night?” Evan questioned.

“I’m almost ninety percent positive that’s what it was. But I’m not going to say that’s it yet. We still have the issue of Levi receiving that large sum of money, presumably for doing a job on Evan, though we have to prove motive and intent before we confront him. I’m going to check Trazinsky’s bank accounts and see what I can find.”

“Why doesn’t someone out in Arizona just ask Levi where the money came from? Can’t you give him a warrant or something?” I said.

“We found the money by snooping, Summer. Levi has no clue that we know. What I find with Peter will determine our next step. We’ll have some answers soon—don’t worry. I’ll be in touch later today.”

After we hung up, Evan and I lay back on the bed. “What do you think?” I asked. “Do you think this Peter guy was just strung out on drugs?”

Evan released a sigh. “I don’t know. It still doesn’t change the fact that Bri died senselessly. I thought it would give us some sort of satisfaction to bring the fucker to justice, but now he’s dead. It’s over.”

“Are you going to call Derek and tell him?”

He sat up and got out of bed. “Actually, I’m going to go to his house. Do you want to come with me?”

“What about practice? You’ll be late.”

“I don’t care. This needs to be done.” We both got dressed quickly and I grabbed a granola bar before leaving the house. Derek lived just down the road, but every time we’d driven by we hadn’t seen any movement. He wasn’t answering the door, and his grass had grown about a foot tall. Evan parked in Derek’s driveway and we sat there.

“After practice, I’m going to come by here and cut his grass. I thought maybe he’d come around by now.”

We got out of the car and I followed him to the door. Evan knocked and rang the doorbell, but there was no answer. We spent about fifteen minutes banging on the door. “Where do you think he could be?”

Evan peered into one of the windows and huffed. “The bastard’s inside. I can see a mound of liquor bottles. Follow me.” He rushed around to the side of the house and through the gate.

“What are you going to do?” We climbed up the steps to the back porch, and Evan fiddled with the glass door. It was locked, but that didn’t stop him. He slammed his elbow into the glass, shattering it into a thousand pieces. He reached inside and unlocked the door, opening it carefully. “Evan, what the hell are you doing?”

Stepping inside, he reached for my hand. “I’m going to see my best friend, whether he likes it or not.” I could hear the sound of a television in back, and Evan led us in that direction. The house was a mess of food wrappers, beer bottles, and trash. It smelled horrible. We followed the sound down the hall to a bedroom at the far end. Evan kicked the door open and I closed my eyes, afraid of what I’d see.

“What the fuck,” Evan growled. I opened my eyes and saw Derek sitting there with a liquor bottle at his lips and an assortment of pills lying about. He glanced up at us, clearly drunk and doped up on pills.

“You owe me a new door, shithead,” he mumbled to Evan.

“A new door is the least of your problems, brother. What the hell are you doing?”

Derek held up his bottle. “What does it look like?”

“It looks like you’re wasting your life away. This isn’t the way to handle Bri’s loss. I get that you’re hurt, but you have to keep on living.”

“Easy for you to say. Your girl is still here.”

Evan clenched his fists, but before he could lash out, I grabbed his arm. “Don’t,” I warned. “Let me talk to him.”

I had to climb over all the clutter around Derek’s chair to reach him. His glassy eyes stared back at me, but they were dead; the spark of life was gone. “Derek, listen to me. I know the pain you’re feeling. I don’t know if you know what happened to me, but I was there when my husband was murdered. I heard his bones break as they hit him and the way he gasped for air. For as long as I live, I will remember the terror of that night. I miss my husband and I will always love him. It took me two years to realize that even though he’s dead, I have to move on. Brianna wouldn’t want you to be like this.”

He closed his eyes and slowly set the bottle down. “I’m angry,” he admitted. “All I want to do is kill the fucker who ran us off the road. Better yet, I’d love to beat him with my bare hands and watch him die.”

“He’s already dead,” Evan murmured.

Derek’s eyes flashed open. “What do you mean he’s dead? What happened?”

Evan trudged over the pile of garbage and kneeled at Derek’s other side. “We got the call this morning. They found the guy who ran us off the road. He had a drug and DUI record. They think he overdosed.”

Derek sat up, growling. “So it’s over? He gets an easy escape. What kind of justice is that?”

“It’s not,” I replied softly, “but there’s nothing you can do.”

“Except come back to the team,” Evan added.

Derek snorted and picked the liquor bottle back up. “Fuck it all,” he said, lifting it to his lips. “I don’t give a shit anymore.”

Before he could take a drink, Evan smacked the bottle out of his hands and jerked Derek up by the neck. Gasping, I stumbled to the edge of the room and watched Evan carry Derek into the bathroom. “You don’t give a shit anymore?” he repeated, shouting the words. Turning on the shower water, he turned it to cold and pushed Derek inside, holding him in place. Derek hollered and tried to fight, but Evan had the advantage. “It’s time for you to wake up and figure out what’s important. Whether you like it or not, me and the guys are going to come here and drag your ass out every single fucking day until you come to your senses. We’re not going to let you quit.”

Stepping back, Evan let him go and Derek collapsed to his knees, sobbing. I broke down and cried as I watched Evan put his arms around him and let him cry on his shoulder. The water beat down on them both, but he didn’t care. It was a tragic yet beautiful moment, and I could only hope it was going to be the beginning of Derek’s transition back.

Derek passed out not long after the shower episode, and while he was asleep, Evan called Coach Joel and told him what had happened. Practice was canceled and everyone showed up at Derek’s to help clean the place up. They really were a team, on and off the field. By the end of the day, his house was clean, but that was just the beginning. Derek still had a long way to go before he’d be completely healed up.

“Do you think he’ll come around?”

Shrugging, Evan blew out a tired breath and started the car. “I don’t know. Today was a start, but you of all people know it’s a day-by-day type of thing.”

I nodded. “You’re right.”

Both of us were worn out, mentally and physically. Thankfully, Grayson and Lara were fine handling the restaurant again. I felt like I was letting them down, taking so much time off. Instead of eating inside, Lara brought our food out to us and we took it home. I was starving and ate my food within minutes.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you eat like that,” Evan said, laughing.

I put the last bite of potato in my mouth and chewed it up. “You’ve neglected me. All I’ve had today is a granola bar. Not to mention, we had sex all night, which depleted all of my energy.”

He chuckled. “I promise to leave you alone tonight so you can rest.”

Winking, I threw my box away and sat back down at the table. Once Evan was done eating, we took our showers and climbed into bed. It was early in the night, but I was exhausted. As soon as my eyes started to close, the damn phone rang.

“It’s Jason,” Evan said, looking down at my phone. “He said he was going to call us back today.”

Evan answered and put it on speaker. “Jason, what’s up?”

“I got the report back from Peter Trazinsky’s tests. He overdosed on a lethal amount of heroin.”

“Do you think that’s what he was high on that night?” Evan asked.

“Possibly, but this is where the bad news comes in.”

Evan and I glanced at each other and my stomach rolled. “What is it?” I said.

Jason sighed. “I researched his bank account and a large amount of money was deposited into it on the day of the accident. It’s from the same place that put money in Milner’s account.”

“Holy fucking shit,” I exclaimed. “What do we do now?”

“We’re going to ask Levi some questions and get him to tell us where the money came from. If he doesn’t help us, we’ll make his life difficult. Mason’s good at that. He’s already headed out that way. Until then, all we can do is wait.”

“So there
is
someone trying to come after me,” Evan stated.

Jason agreed. “That’s what it looks like. Just be on your guard.”

“Are you still looking into that favor I asked of you?”

I looked up at Evan, furrowing my brows. What was he talking about?

“Yes, I’m starting on all of that today,” Jason replied. “I’ll call you when I have more news.” He hung up and I stared at Evan as he turned off my phone.