Loving Summer (Loving Summer Series) (6 page)

“I guess so,” Drew says. He obviously isn’t happy about it though as he heads off into the crowds around us.

Astor puts an arm around me. “I’m kind of glad you did that,” he says. “Not that I mind having Drew around, but I’d rather have you to myself today.”

I like the sensation of him close to me like that. “How about if we make a deal then?”

“What kind of deal?”

“I’ll keep us away from Drew for the rest of the day so that we can have it to ourselves, if you promise that we can run the next time a group of girls recognizes you.”

Astor laughs at that, holding me tighter. “I think I can agree to that. Now, where shall we go get lunch?”

I realize that I don’t care. Right then, it doesn’t matter where we go next, or what we grab to eat once we get there, so long as I’m with Astor while we do.

We finally meet up with Drew by the main gate a couple of hours later. He’s with a girl. He must have met her in the park. She’s pretty, in an obvious kind of way, with long red hair, a dress cut low to show off as much as possible, and her arm wrapped around Drew as they sit on a bench by the entrance. Drew’s hand is on her thigh, and it looks like he’s nibbling her ear.

I’ve just spent the day with Astor, and Drew annoyed me by trying to spoil it, so why do I care so much about that? Why do I feel like I need to push her out of the way and take that spot next to Drew? Why does part of me wonder what it would be like to feel his lips on my ear like that?

I don’t know, but suddenly I want to go home to the beach house.

Chapter
6

Drew

I
wake up early to run on the beach, getting dressed in running shorts and an old t-shirt while the sun is still coming up, then heading out onto the sand to stretch and run. I run slowly at first, then quicker as my muscles get used to it, mixing sprints in with slower stretches as I feel like it.

            I’ve been doing this since I got here. Since I first saw Summer. If I run hard enough, and fast enough, then maybe I won’t think about her for a little while. Ever since Rachel showed me that photo of her on her phone, I’ve been thinking about her. She’s more beautiful than any of the girls I’ve been with, and I can’t help thinking about what she would be like. What we would be like.

            I run with the heat of the morning sun on my back, kicking up sand with every step. There are other people out on the beach, the serious surfers and a few other runners, moving past as they concentrate on whatever is in their own heads. A few of them are women and I watch them as they pass, then hate myself for watching them, because they aren’t Summer.

            It isn’t just something physical with Summer. It isn’t just the thought of how good-looking she is, how athletic. It isn’t just the thought that if I’d never met her before, I’d still want to be with her more than anything. It’s the fact that she’s
Summer
. Just thinking about her makes the day better. Just thinking about the fact that I can’t have her makes it worse. She’s so much more than any other girl.

            We’ve spent so much time together. When we were kids, she was always playing videogames with me and Nat, playing volleyball out on the beach or just being there. She was always running around with us, and she could always run as fast as we could. I know her the way I don’t know many girls. With most of them, it never goes deeper than each of us seeing something we like, just the physical.

            Not that I don’t see plenty I like with Summer too.

            I’m starting to breathe just a little harder now as I get warm. I’ve always liked running. It’s just so simple. I run along the edge of the surf for a while, liking the feel of the water spraying around my ankles. None of it gets rid of thoughts of Summer.

            Not that she’ll be thinking of me. If it isn’t Astor Fairway she’s thinking about, then it will be Nat. It was always Nat when we were kids. Summer used to follow him around like a lost puppy, but did Nat care? He wouldn’t be with Chrissy if he did, so why is she still going after him? Summer has pretty much offered up her heart on a platter, and Nat hasn’t even noticed. It kills me to see her like that, when she could be with someone who would appreciate her the way she deserves.

            Someone like me. I run past a group of girls settling down for a day at the beach and I barely even glance at them. I’m too busy thinking about Summer. I know how she feels with Nat, because I feel the same way with her. I’m the brother she never notices. I always was. Either she was too busy trying to get Nat’s attention to take me seriously, or she was hanging out with Rachel. I thought that maybe now I’m in better shape, I’d get her attention. It’s normally enough for most girls. They see me and they see the muscles. They see the football player. That’s enough for them.

            Not for Summer. If she’d just give me a chance…

            What would I do? I pause on the sand, looking out over the ocean at the shifting waves. What
wouldn’t
I do? I’d move to LA if I thought I had a chance with her. I’d go to college here, and for football… I’d even risk that if it meant that I could be with Summer. She’s what matters.

            But I know right now it just isn’t going to happen. Even Rachel doesn’t want me with her. She thinks that I just want some one night stand with Summer. She thinks that I’m going to hurt her, or ruin their friendship, or something. If I even look like I’m going near Summer, she’ll probably find something to do that will make me wish I hadn’t. Though apparently, she can do what she likes with that Ryan guy.

            Did I do the wrong thing with Astor Fairway? No. I just didn’t want him sweeping Summer off her feet and using her. She shouldn’t have to deal with guys like him. Anyway, he isn’t that good-looking. He isn’t as buff as I am, and what kind of name is that? He sounds like a golf course outside a hotel.

            I hear someone running towards me along the beach. I guess it’s probably one of the girls I passed and I turn with a smile. Then I see who it is and my smile widens. Summer is dressed in a grey, long-sleeve shirt and black jogging pants, with her hair tied back in a ponytail while she runs. She looks amazing, even like that. I don’t think there’s any way she could ever look less than perfect.

            “Hi Drew.”

            “Hi Summer. Did you enjoy Disneyland yesterday?” With Astor. Without me there. I don’t say it, but I want to.

            “It was great,” Summer says, and when she smiles, it’s like the world lights up. “Astor is so considerate and sweet. You saw how he was with all those fans, and with him afterwards, it was great.” She pauses, while I wish I hadn’t asked. “Did you have fun with that girl?”

            “What girl?” It takes me a second to remember that there are girls other than her. “Oh, yeah. She joined me after we went on Space Mountain together. We kind of hit it off.”

            Summer laughs then. “I bet you did, Drew. I could see you were getting along.”

            She saw all that? Why does that keep happening to me? “It didn’t mean anything,” I say as quickly as I can. “She doesn’t mean anything. I can’t even remember her name.”

            “I wonder if she feels the same way,” Summer says. “I mean, is you not being able to remember her name meant to be a good thing?”

            Why is she angry now? “She knew it was just a one-time thing.”

            Summer’s mouth drops open. “A one-time thing? You
slept
with her? In Disneyland? That is just wrong on so many levels. How did you even manage it?
Where
did you manage it?”

            I can’t help smiling at that. “You’d be surprised how many places you can find where you won’t be disturbed when you really want to.”

            Summer throws up her hands. What? What did she expect? It isn’t like anyone is getting hurt. “Incredible. Drew, you really are a girl’s worst nightmare. I mean, you look great. You have this amazing body and your eyes are such a dreamy blue, but you behave like a total jerk.”

            “I think I liked it better when you were saying how great my eyes are,” I say. I don’t want Summer thinking I’m a jerk. Anyway, why should she care? She’s already made it clear that it isn’t me she’s interested in. If she were, then I’d stop even looking at other girls, but until she is, what I do with them is my business. I can’t help it if they all feel that way about me, or if I want to have a little fun.

            “What do you want me to say?” Summer asks. “That they’re kind of stormy, like the sea? They’re not quite as blue as Rachel’s, but it’s more kind of an intense look. I like that. I like that a lot.”

            “So there’s one part of me you like, at least.”

            Summer moves close to me, close enough that I could almost reach out and pull her into a kiss. “I like all of you, Drew. I just don’t like some of the things you do.”

            I almost do it then. I almost kiss her, but I know I can’t. She doesn’t want me, and kissing her will just ruin the friendship that we have. I can’t be anything to her other than her best friend’s brother, and if I try, I won’t even be that close. Summer will push me away, and I’ll never be this close to her again. I think for a second or two that Summer will do this for me; that she’ll kiss me and I won’t have to choose, but she doesn’t. Maybe it’s better that she doesn’t. I’m better off with other girls. Girls who don’t want more from me than one night.

            I wish I could believe that as Summer pulls back from me. I can feel the heat that’s there between us, but I don’t dare do anything about it. Not now. Not when she won’t close that gap either.

            “Are you out here to run?” Summer asks.

            I nod. “I’ve been running every morning since we got here. I need to keep in shape.”

            “Then I’ll run with you,” she offers, and sets off down the beach. For a moment or two, all I can do is watch her running, then I set off after her. I think it will be easy to catch up to her, but Summer is even faster than she used to be, staying a little ahead of me for quite a while before I draw level with her and then keeping up the pace as we run along the sand. What do we look like, running together? It must be pretty good, because almost everyone we pass watches us as we run.

            Eventually, when we’re both sweating with the exertion, Summer turns for home.

            “You’re done already?” I joke, even though I’m just as tired as she is.

            “Breakfast is nearly ready,” she says. “That’s why I came out to get you in the first place. If we don’t turn back now, we’re going to miss it completely.”

            She starts to run back to the beach house and I follow in her stride. I could keep pace with her, but for now, I want to watch her as she runs. I want to watch every movement of her body as she almost glides across the sand. It occurs to me then that I’ve spent so long chasing after her, not quite catching her. I want more than that. I
need
more than that. Like the moment before we started running, when I thought we might kiss. It feels like my whole life has been that moment. I’ve gotten plenty of things. Plenty of girls. But never her.

            I chase on after her along the Malibu beach and I know that I can’t leave things like this any longer. I don’t want Summer to be the girl who might have been. I don’t care if that makes things difficult. I don’t care if Rachel will
kill
me for it. I’m not going to miss this chance. I’m going to do whatever I have to do to be with her.

Chapter
7

Summer

T
he day after I first run with him, Drew wakes me up with a knock at my bedroom door. I quickly get dressed and go see what he wants, noticing that he’s in his running gear again.

            “What is it, Drew?” Rachel moans from her bed. “Can’t you see that some of us are trying to sleep?”

            “Then go
back
to sleep,” Drew suggests. “It’s Summer I want to talk to.”

            Rachel looks at him from her bed, and I can tell it’s a warning look, but she doesn’t say anything. She’s obviously decided to believe me when I say that I can handle Drew.

            “What do you want, Drew?” I ask. “You’re going to wake Aunt Sookie up.”

            “I don’t want to do that,” he says. “I just thought that you might like to come for a run again this morning.”

            “Are you still obsessing over not falling behind with football training?” Rachel asks.

            “I’m just trying to stay in shape,” he shoots back. “So how about it, Summer?”

            “Well, I do like to run,” I say. “I have to keep in good condition for volleyball.”

            “And it can get pretty boring, running alone,” Drew points out.

            I nod. “I guess so.”

            “Great,” Rachel says, pulling the covers up over herself. “Go run. Just do it quietly, so I can go back to sleep.”

            I smile at that and nod to Drew, who goes to wait for me downstairs while I change into my running gear and tie my hair back. Rachel is already snoring by the time I go to run with her brother.

            Like he said, it’s far better running with him than it would be alone. I still have the sensation of the breeze on my skin and the sun on my face. I still have the soft sand giving way beneath my feet or the harder sand making it easier to run. There are still all the morning people out on the beach, used to me by now in the case of a few of the regulars. It’s just that with Drew there with me, I have someone to keep me going and to push me on, so that I run harder than I would have alone.

            It’s good having someone to talk to, too.

            “I’m a little worried about Aunt Sookie,” I say when we’re about where we turned for home yesterday. “Ever since coming back to the Pad this summer, I noticed she’s been tired constantly, and the least little thing seems to take it out of her.”