Chapter 22
Summer
“Shortie,” he grunts.
I stop at the couch and take a seat beside him. “Did you get any sleep?” He nods. “Enough?” I ask. He doesn’t seem very tired today. There are no bags under his eyes.
“Yeah,” he grumbles in his deep voice.
“Okay Grumpy. I’m leaving an open invitation to come crash with me if you need sleep, okay? Just crawl into bed if you need to. I don’t mind.”
He looks me over, probably trying to determine if I’m serious, but I am. I wait patiently as he works through things in his head. He finally nods and returns his attention to the television.
I get up to grab a water bottle and a snack from the kitchen and decide to start an egg bake for breakfast. After chopping the veggies, I fill a deep pan with the veggies and eggs.
I find sausage in the fridge, so I set it on a cookie sheet.
Both go into the oven to cook while I clean up after myself.
Rejoining Nick on the couch, we watch tv until the timer goes off. I dish up a plate for Nick and me at the island, then put the remaining food on the warm setting in the oven.
Alex is the first to join us just after 7am, ready for the day. I fill a plate for him as he prepares his coffee. “Thank you, Summer,” he smiles.
Before I’ve taken my seat, E steps out of our bedroom, so I make him breakfast as well.
After we’ve eaten, I walk back into our room to get my books organized for the labs today.
I send a good morning text to Zander and then pack up my dress and shoes from yesterday.
An arm snags my leg as I’m walking back to my bed.
“Sunshine,” Seb whines. “It’s too early. Come snuggle.”
I place my dress on the bed, then lay down beside Seb, facing him. “Morning,” I whisper.
Seb cuddles me against his chest, entangling our legs, and lets out a sigh, falling back asleep, bringing a smile to my face. I doze in his arms until E enters the room. He chuckles when he sees us, leaning over the bed so I can see his face. “Hey,” I whisper with a smile.
“You got caught,” he smiles. “It’s 8:30 already. Alex is ready to go.”
“Okay, thanks,” I reply. “Hurry,” I say, raising my voice a little. I get a mumble as he squeezes me closer. “I may need an assist, E,” I say.
E unwraps Seb’s arms so I can pull back from him. I push on his legs until he rolls onto his back, and I can untangle myself. “Morning, Hurry,” I sing.
One eye cracks open and peers at me and E. “Why did you wake me up? I was having a good dream.”
“It’s time for Alex and me to leave,” I reply.
“Oh, okay,” he says, lifting his arms over his head to stretch, allowing me to catch a glimpse of abs as his shirt rides up. His pj bottoms are doing little to hide his morning wood either. I’ve gotten more comfortable with that aspect of the male anatomy since meeting the guys.
Patting his arm, I stand up and grab my backpack before saying goodbye to the two of them and walking out the door. “Are you ready?” Alex asks.
“Yeah. Let’s go,” I smile. I say goodbye to Nick and get a hug from Bay as we leave. Alex locks the door behind us before we descend the stairs.
“Alexander,” I hear called just before we reach the main level. I look down the hallway as we approach the front door to see Alicia standing in the hall with Reesa. “Where are you going? I’m having brunch prepared for us, and Reesa is already here.”
“It is none of your concern where I am going, Alicia, and Reesa is already aware I have plans this morning,” Alex replies as he reaches for the doorknob. He ushers me outside as Alicia steps up and stops him from closing the door.
“Stop being so rude, Alexander. I’ve put a lot of effort into this brunch. You can’t just leave Reesa here.”
“Yes, I can,” he says, placing a hand on my lower back to guide me away.
He opens the passenger side door of his SUV for me, then gets into the driver’s side.
After he backs out, I look in the side mirror to see Alicia still standing in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest, a sour expression marring her features.
I wonder what that was all about. Alex isn’t the type to be rude for no reason, but he definitely doesn’t get along with his stepmom.
I’ve heard comments about her, but didn’t realize things were this hostile.
Why would Reesa show up if she knew Alex was busy this morning?
Alex parks in front of the school after a quiet ride, and leads me to the right side of the building to unlock a side door for us. He uses another key to unlock the biology lab. We turn on the lights, and I drop my backpack at our usual bench. “So, what’s first?” I ask.
Alex turns on some music on his phone as we start with the modeling lab.
He’s an excellent instructor and easily answers all my questions.
By 11:30am, we have all the biology labs completed.
I leave the completed paperwork on the teacher’s desk to find Monday morning and have a digital backup on my laptop.
We decide to leave for lunch before switching to chemistry.
Alex drives us to a food truck specializing in gourmet burgers that is parked on the edge of an outdoor park, and I insist on buying lunch.
Alex chooses a mushroom burger and truffle fries, while I pick a bacon and herb cheese stuffed burger with coleslaw.
After we get our meals and take a seat at a picnic table, I broach the subject of Alicia and Reesa. “Alex, is everything okay at home?”
“Yes. There is nothing unexpected there.” He glances quickly at me before looking around the park.
“You and Alicia really don’t get along,” I comment.
He smiles dryly. “No, we do not. She believes she is entitled to far more than is reasonable and is a manipulative, offensive bitch.”
“Wow. She must be bad for you to be swearing about her. I’m assuming she told Reesa to come over this morning?”
“Yes, that would have been her idea. Reesa, being who she is, would have agreed, despite knowing I had plans.”
“Um, not to pry, but why would she agree to brunch if she knew you couldn’t be there?”
Alex sighs, setting his burger back in the basket.
“Reesa is a people pleaser. She is far more interested in going along with plans than in ruffling feathers. She has always been happy to follow the directions laid out for her by her family. If someone asks her to do something, she does it without questioning. When Alicia contacted her this morning, she would have asked her to come over for brunch, so she did. It would not occur to her to say no or point out that I already had plans.”
“I have no words for that,” I say, shaking my head. “That must be challenging? Frustrating? I’m not sure of the right word.”
“Both are correct,” he nods. “She is a sweet girl, and I have learned to navigate the issue.”
Contemplating whether to say what is on my mind, I take another bite of my delicious burger. It’s really not my business, and Alex doesn’t need my opinions.
“What is on your mind? I can see the wheels turning inside your head,” Alex says.
“It’s not something you need to hear,” I reply.
“You are a friend, Summer, and I value your opinion.”
“Okay, just remember you asked,” I say, pointing a finger at him.
“I was thinking that you are a kind and caring person who is respectful of others, but then you just left Reesa standing there this morning and said nothing to her. If you did that to me, I would kick your ass for treating me that way.”
“You would not have been there this morning, though.”
“True,” I nod, “is that the kind of person you want to be, though? I understand the way you need to be with Alicia, and there’s probably no way to avoid that while you live there, but is that the type of boyfriend you want to be?
Someone who ignores his girlfriend and treats her that way?
That doesn’t mesh with the Alex I know.” I shrug.
Alex gets a faraway look in his eyes, so I stop talking to let him think as we go back to eating our burgers.
As he drives us back to school, I decide to lighten the mood. “So, how many food trucks do you follow around the city? I’m starting to see a pattern here,” I say.
Alex smiles genuinely. “Quite a few. I find them interesting. The food is unique, and it is usually much faster service than at a restaurant.”
“I imagine they can make a good living down here with nice weather all year too,” I comment.
Arriving back at school, Alex unlocks the chemistry lab this time as we get to work. The ability to conduct multiple experiments at the same time reduces the time required to complete them. We finish by 2:30pm, and I leave my worksheets on the desk again.
As we get into his SUV, I say, “I appreciate your help with the labs today, Alex. Thank you.”
“No thanks required, Summer. There is something I wish to discuss, though. I have been contemplating your staying here during the job Zander has in Savannah. Knowing the mindset Alicia is in, she sees you as a threat to her plans for Reesa and me and will make her displeasure known. It may be easier for everyone involved if you make other arrangements.”
What do I say to that? He’s letting a woman he hates dictate his life instead of standing up to her.
He’s acting a bit like Reesa to me. If my staying there made Reesa uncomfortable, I would completely understand, but that's not it. The Savannah job is months long, and now one of the guys will have to stay with me instead of me just crashing at Alex’s house.
I hope he doesn’t tell E he has to leave too.
“I’m going to text everyone to see who wants to stay at my house for the next few days,” I tell him, pulling my phone out of my bag.
The guys are quick to answer. E, Seb, and Nick are all willing to stay with me but want to know why I’m not staying with Alex anymore, but I tell them we can talk about it later.