Loving Summer (Loving Summer Series) (7 page)

            “Maybe she’s just a little sick,” Drew suggests, slowing down a little. “Maybe she’s just caught a bad cold, or something.”

            “This feels like more than a little,” I say, and I can’t keep the worry out of my voice. “Like the way she’s eating. Suddenly, it’s like she’s changed her whole diet.”

            “She has lost a lot of weight since I last saw her three years ago. Well, maybe that’s it,” Drew says, finally stopping and looking out at the ocean. “Maybe it’s what she’s eating.”

            “Maybe.” I’m still not convinced by that. It’s true Aunt Sookie had lost a lot of weight from when we were kids showing up here every summer, and she’s changed her sugar-laden high calories diet to all grains, fruits, and vegetables.

            “Whatever it is, your aunt’s tough,” Drew assures me. “And you’ll be there for her. We all will. Now come on. Let’s get back and see if my sister is out of bed yet.”

            We run together most days after that. Sometimes, Drew wakes me up to do it, but mostly, I’m looking forward to it. There’s something simple about running with him along the beach, and it’s like I get to see the real Drew there too. He’s so much more straightforward than I remember, plus he’s funny, and cute, and he runs like he wants to push himself to the limit all the time.

            Plus, it’s like he’s going out of his way to be nice to me. Maybe it’s all the times that I’ve caught him messing around with girls, or maybe it’s just that he wants to show me another side to him, but he starts doing small things that are just so much nicer than I expect. Most days, for example, he makes me breakfast when I get back, and whether it’s pancakes or bacon or something else, he always seems to guess exactly what I’m in the mood for. A couple of times, I don’t even have to ask. He just gets the food ready, puts it down in front of me, and I realize that it’s just what I want.

            Then there are other things. One morning, he brings me a flower, a sprig of purple lupines.

            “Where did you get those?” I ask.

            “They’re down on the beach,” he says. “Come on. I’ll show you when we run.”

            He does, and we spend our run heading out to this spot on the beachfront where the flowers grow wild. It’s beautiful, with the sun and the beach in the background. A perfect kind of spot to stop and catch our breath before we head back.

            This new side of Drew isn’t just limited to our morning runs though. A couple of times, he comes with me to Aunt Sookie’s academy, and he helps me out with one of the classes for kids. He’s a lot of fun there, and he seems to genuinely enjoy it.

            “What can I say?” he says when I ask him back at the beach house about it. “I just know how to get along with kids.”

            Rachel, who’s sitting at the kitchen table, snorts. “Mostly because you never grew up.”

            I see less of Nat than of them in those few days. He’s often out with old friends, or going to places he used to go to, or on the phone to Chrissy. He’s still around though, in the background, and I still find my eyes going over to him from time to time. Occassionally, I find his eyes on me, but when I look over, he’s doing something else. He, Drew and Rachel all do a lot to help out Aunt Sookie, though in different ways. Nat does a lot of the cooking for dinner, while Rachel does more in the way of running errands.

When she’s not doing that, she spends a lot of her time with Ryan, though we have plenty of fun too. I get her involved in a couple of games of volleyball out on the beach, and we have a lot of fun, even though Rachel can’t really keep up. We go swimming together, and meet up with a few friends she hasn’t seen since she moved away. Most of them are a little shocked by her new look, but they quickly realize it’s still the same old Rachel under the surface.

And there’s Astor, too. Rachel wants details of what happened at Disneyland, of course, and she goes all gooey when she hears how calmly he dealt with all those fans. She also promises to never speak to Drew again if he tries anything else like that. Though I suspect Drew will just smile and say it might be worth it if he hears that threat. Rachel also demands more straightforward details.

“Did you kiss him?”

I nod.

“You actually kissed Astor Fairway?”

“Well, he kissed me, really,” I say, and for an instant, Rachel looks completely envious. Then she jumps up and down with excitement again.

“That’s even
better
!” she declares.

“How does it make a difference whether he kissed me or I kissed him?” I ask.

Rachel looks at me like she’s amazed I don’t get it. “Anyone could kiss Astor Fairway. I mean,
I
could. All I’d have to do would be to just run up to him and do it… not that I would,” she adds hastily. “I’m just saying that someone could, if she wanted.”

“Why does it sound like you’ve been forming plans for exactly that?” I ask.

Rachel looks shocked. “I would
never
do that. I’m with Ryan, so why would I even want to? I’m just saying that there are plenty of girls who would. So it means more if he likes you enough that
he
kissed
you.
”

That actually makes a weird kind of sense, which suggests I’ve been spending too much time out in the sun with Rachel today. I shake my head. “Don’t make too big a deal out of it though,” I say. “I don’t know if it will happen again. I mean, we had fun, but there must be lots of hot actresses trying to catch his eye. And they probably won’t have Drew showing up in the middle of their dates.”

To my surprise though, what happened on our date doesn’t put Astor off. He’s waiting to talk to me when I next go into Aunt Sookie’s academy, and again when I’m done helping with the classes. I guess that kind of shows he isn’t the spoiled star Drew makes him out to be, because if he were only interested in me for one thing, he’d have moved on when it didn’t go perfectly the first time. He comes by pretty often, sometimes coming back for dinner after he’s done for the day with his private lessons with Aunt Sookie.

The first time he does that, it’s Rachel who answers the door. She must have seen him at the party, but you would have thought that she hadn’t actually spoken to him yet.

“Oh. My. God. Astor Fairway.” She looks from him to me, to Aunt Sookie. “You’re actually bringing
Astor Fairway
home for dinner?”

“If we can get through the door,” Aunt Sookie says gently.

“It’s all right,” Astor says. He holds out a hand. “Hi. You’re Rachel, right? Summer’s best friend?”

Rachel shakes his hand and then looks at her hand. “I just shook Astor Fairway’s hand. I…”

“Rachel,” I say, taking her back inside and letting the others past. “Will you try to maybe not act like a total fan for a moment?”

“I’m not, am I?” Rachel asks, and then stops herself. “I am, aren’t I? Oh, Summer, I’m sorry. It’s just that he’s so totally hot, and… not as hot as Ryan, obviously.”

“Obviously,” I say, trying to keep a straight face. For me, Astor’s far better looking than Rachel’s new boyfriend, but Ryan’s kind of sweet, and I know she really cares about him, because most of the time Rachel doesn’t spend with me, she spends with him. “And I know you’re excited. Just, could you maybe tone it down a little? When you get to know Astor, you’ll see he’s just a regular guy.”

“A really hot regular guy,” Rachel points out.

“I thought he wasn’t as hot as Ryan?” I say with a smile.

“What? Just because he’s totally wrong for me that doesn’t mean he isn’t hot.
And
he must be
totally
into you, or he wouldn’t be here.”

I shrug. “I hope so. Assuming that
someone
doesn’t spoil it by making him think all my friends are crazy.”

Rachel bites her lip. “I’ll try to be normal. I promise.”

I laugh. “You don’t have to go that far. Just be yourself.”

“Hey!”

Thankfully, Rachel does manage something approaching normal conversation with Astor. She even apologizes for being so star struck. Astor doesn’t seem to mind anyway, and after dinner we go out onto the beach together.

“I hope Rachel didn’t scare you off from coming here too much,” I say.

Astor kisses me, quickly and softly. “Nothing could do that while you’re here, and Rachel isn’t too bad. She must be a good friend.”

“She is,” I say.

“It must be nice, being that close to someone.”

I remember then what Astor said at Disneyland. All his friends are professional friends. He’ll know them through his show, and that will be it. I put my hand in his.

“It is nice,” I say. “But you don’t have to be alone, you know. Whatever happens, I want to know the real you. All of you.”

“I know,” Astor says, pulling me to him and kissing me softly. In that moment he looks so happy.

Chapter
8

I
t’s a couple of days later, and Astor has come around again. We stay inside for dinner, but then retreat out onto the porch by the pool to talk. Well… maybe we start out meaning to talk, but pretty soon we’re making out. Either is good. Particularly with the way Astor kisses. He’s so delicate about it, but at the same time he’s very much the one taking charge as his lips explore mine and his hands drift down my back. It’s a combination that’s hard to resist.

            “Why don’t you come out to my house in the Canyons?” he suggests.

            “You’re inviting me to your place?”

            Astor smiles. “Well, I’ve spent so much time at yours, it only seems fair to return the favor.”

            “Right now?” I shake my head. “I don’t think I can go just like that…”

            Astor brushes a hand down the line of my cheek. It’s such a soft movement, and a sensual one. “Tomorrow then. I’ll come by and pick you up once you’re done at the acting academy.”

            I nod automatically. Astor wants me to go see his place in the Canyons? How can I turn him down? “I’d love that.”

            Rachel loves the idea almost as much as I do the next morning, and she insists on taking me shopping for something to wear. Apparently, I can’t just go to Astor’s house wearing any of my normal clothes. We have to find something special. Actually, I don’t mind that. It’s a good opportunity to spend more time with Rachel while doing something other than staying on the beach.

            The main trick is keeping her out of the boutique Goth clothing stores long enough for us to shop for something I might wear. Though we do spend some time in one, while I try to think of things to say about the clothes she picks out other than “It’s very… um, black.” Actually, now that I’m used to this new look of hers, I actually find myself thinking that it kind of suits her, and we quickly pick out a couple of skirts and tops for her that work.

            Then it’s my turn. Finding the right thing to wear to Astor’s place is tricky, because Rachel is determined that I won’t go in anything that is less than perfect.

            “I thought you were over the whole fan-girl thing?” I point out, when she rejects my fifth choice of outfit on the grounds that it isn’t great enough. “I don’t have to dress up just because it’s Astor.”

            “No,” she says, “you have to dress up because he’s invited you to his house and that’s a big deal. You’re going to look perfect for this if we have to shop all day, Summer.”

            “Not
all
day,” I point out. “I have to help out with an afternoon class that starts in… um, I think we’d better start to wrap this up, or I’m going to be late.”

            “Just one more dress?” Rachel suggests. “I think I see the perfect one.”

            Perfect for her or for me? Except that, when she comes back with the one she has in mind, it
is
perfect. It’s a peach mini-dress cut low both front and back, and Rachel has brought back silver heels too, so that the combination is almost dazzling.

“This dress and shoes would show off your long legs and flawless skin. Lots of it! I hope Astor knows how lucky he is,” Rachel says, “because you’re going to look
great
in this.”

I know as soon as I see it that it’s the outfit for tonight, which is probably a good thing, because as soon as I have paid for it, I have to run for my SUV so that I can make it to the class I’m helping with.

            That class seems to drag out forever. Normally, I’m really into what I’m doing at Aunt Sookie’s school, so the time just flies by. Now though, I’m busy thinking about Astor, and the time we’re going to spend together, so that the class can’t end soon enough. Almost as soon as it is over, I rush back to the beach house to get changed for when Astor shows up. The dress looks every bit as great on me as I knew it would. It’s the perfect choice for tonight.           

            I hear a knock at the door- Astor’s here already?- and rush out to meet him. I almost run straight into Nat, who’s standing there by the stairs as though he were about to go down to get the door. He takes a long look at me, and something in his face changes.

            “What are you dressed like that for?”

            “I have a date with Astor,” I say. “I’m going to Astor’s place out in the canyons.”

            Nat’s eyes narrow slightly. “Don’t you have anything less revealing to wear? Come on.”

            He takes hold of my arm, pulling me back towards my room. How dare he do that? He’s been more or less ignoring me for days, yet now he thinks he can do that?

            “Let go of me, Nat.”

            “Summer, you’re
not
going to a guy’s house alone dressed like that. You know what that could lead to.”

            “Since when do you care?” I demand.

            Nat looks hurt by that. “I’ve always cared, Summer. More than you think. And I don’t want you making a big mistake. You shouldn’t even be with this Fairway guy.”

            “You can’t tell me who to see and who not to see,” I argue. “I’m not your little sister. In fact, forget that, because Rachel wouldn’t let you treat her like this either. I can make my own decisions. I’m not a little girl anymore, Nat, whatever you might think.”