Chapter 7
Summer
“L et me get this straight. Yesterday he said he loves you?” Piper echoes back over the phone with just as much shock as I’d expect from a driver about to blow a red light.
“Ya.”
“Okay. But when exactly did he say it?”
“I told you, while we were having sex. Do I need to be more specific?”
“Yes.”
“Right when he orgasmed.”
“Okay.” She huffs out a sigh. Relief. Kind of as if that driver just realized that there was no camera in that particular intersection. “It’s fine. Guys say all kinds of shit during sex.”
“Ya. But this is Eli—”
“Shake it off, girl. You can’t dwell on that. You’ve still got the calendar shoot to finish with him. It sounds like you actually want to date him—”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe? You just said that it was the best sex of your life. Why wouldn’t you date him?”
“Because it was the best sex of my life. What if we continue, have sex again, and it’s terrible?”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, Summer. What’s really going on?”
“What if it gets toxic?”
“He’s not one of your exes.”
“What if we lose the passion and he gets mad at me and we can’t stay friends and I can’t stay in this cute little town with you because it’s too painful to be around him?”
“Summer, listen to me. You can ask all the what-ifs that you want. You can imagine all of the worst case scenarios that you want. But you can only live one scenario. Do you want to try living the scenario with him or without him? That’s all you have to ask yourself.”
“I dunno. I’m so confused.” I’m curled up under a blanket on the couch in my hotel room knowing that in five minutes I have to head out the door to go do that stupid firefighter calendar. “Why am I doing this again?”
“Doing what?”
“All of this.”
“You’re here because A, you love me. B, you fell for this town, and C, you fell for Eli.”
“I haven’t fallen for him.” I know it’s a lie.
“Sure. Okay. Let’s just not touch that for now. Go do the shoot. Go on a date. A real one this time, and then decide.”
“Fine.”
“And don’t go out with the blanket wrapped around your waist. It’s the middle of summer.”
I grumble out another fine while stopping right in the middle of wrapping the throw around my midsection.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m back at the firehall looking for Eli. And if it’s not the most awkward thing I’ve encountered, I must have blocked out the first place memory.
From the get-go, it starts off rocky. He goes in for a kiss, I go for the hug. He’s bearing a goofy grin, and I’m cringing. He’s trying to do the poses I suggest, but I’m giving terrible instructions. After a few minutes, I stop clicking away and hope that we got enough shots.
“Wanna meet up at Hoppy’s for drinks with some friends tonight?”
That hopeful glimmer in his eyes is scaring the shit out of me. Every other time I’ve ventured into the realm of intimacy with a friend, it has turned out badly. Having the best sex of my life surely means I’m setting myself up for the biggest disappointment yet.
But I can’t outright say no to him.
I find myself nodding while he says he’ll text me the details later. Neither one us willing to broach the subject we both really need to talk about.
He gives me a quick kiss on the cheek and I head back to my hotel. The perfect reminder that my stay here is temporary.