Chapter 43 Summer
DAD: Hey, Sunshine. Sorry to hear about Mexico. You up for a family dinner the weekend we’re back? Been a while.
SUMMER: How about we regroup when you’re back? Have a good time.
“Oh fuck, Summer.”
Parker traps my wrists behind my back, watching my hips roll on top of him, taking his cock as deep as I can, as quiet as I can. “Yeah, like that. That’s so good.”
I hang my head, jaw clenched tight to keep my noises in check, trying not to wake the rest of the town house.
After the bar, we went for a long, quiet walk down city streets in our matching shirts.
Not saying much of anything, and kissing quietly under streetlights.
The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon by the time we made it back.
We fucked quietly, fell asleep. Drowsily reached for each other, went another round, and passed out again.
I love you and I’m exactly where I want to be.
As much as I love our friends, I wish we weren’t here.
Wish we were back home, in my bed or Parker’s, able to spend all day just like this.
Wrapped up in each other and ignoring every decision looming over me.
With the event at Pine Point just five days away, I’m running out of time to figure out where I see myself for the next year, and beyond. And what it means for us.
Parker yanks me down to kiss him, thrusting up into me. “Are you going to come now, Summer? Can you let me feel that pussy clench around me?”
“Yeah.” He adjusts the vibrator on my clit—he’d packed it for me himself, and if I wasn’t already out of my mind in love with him, that surely would’ve done it.
He’s looking at me like I’m actively ruining his life, then building it back up just to wreck it all over again.
And since our moment on that terrace, every little touch, look, kiss feels amplified to a monumental degree.
I feel them down in my bones.
“Attagirl. Hold this.” I take over holding the toy and Parker flips us over.
His cock fills me again with a single, rough thrust that shoves me up the bed.
I clamp my jaw shut, scraping fingers down his back so hard it has to sting.
His entire body jolts, and his pace grows more frantic.
He covers my mouth and fucks me harder, rougher, every thrust sending a flash of light across my vision.
I burst, eyes squeezing shut as the orgasm rips through my body.
The sound I release into his palm is a pathetic, stifled wail, which becomes a gasp as Parker shoves himself inside me one last time before he comes, teeth sinking into my shoulder to muffle his own sounds.
“Did I hurt you?” I whisper, tossing away the vibrator then rubbing my palms up and down his back as though to erase the angry red marks. But I mean the question the other way, too—did I hurt you by not saying it back? Because I love you in a way I could never undo.
Parker kisses me hard. “It hurt in the best way. Shower with me?”
“I should sneak back into the other room before anyone notices.”
With a kiss to my shoulder, then my forehead, then the tip of my nose, Parker rolls out of bed and heads into the adjoining bathroom. He returns with a damp cloth, cleaning me up before helping me up and settling behind me on the bed.
I’ve been so in love with you for so long.
“Let me fix your hair before anyone sees you. You’re a mess, Prescott.” I tip back my head, letting him work French braids into my hair.
Just say it back, you coward.
“Park?” He makes a soft sound of acknowledgment. “I…” My mouth opens and closes. The I love you, too snags on the jagged mess of my insides like it has every time it’s tried to make its way out since last night. “I can French braid,” I blurt instead.
Parker goes still. “What?”
Maybe it’s not an I love you, but it’s the one secret I thought I’d keep from him forever. The single tendril of longing for my friend that I ever allowed myself over the years.
I turn my chin as far as I can without disrupting his work. “I know how to French braid. My dad taught me years ago, long before he left town. But then I saw you watching those tutorials, and… I pretend I don’t know how, because I like it when you do it.”
Deep down, I think I’ve always known what it meant to let him braid my hair—I never would’ve asked the same of Zac or Brooks.
Parker’s surprise melts into the sweetest smile I’ve ever seen. Soft, a little shy. “I’m… going to pretend you don’t know how to braid. If that’s okay with you.”
And then we’re both quietly laughing. Two bandits who’ve caught each other in the midst of an identical heist, confessing to crimes against the platonic friendship we always swore we had.
Parker dots soft kisses along my shoulder and heads into the bathroom. Looks back as though to check I’m really there, that that really happened, before shutting the door.
I get out of bed, stuffing my toy into his duffel bag and fishing my clothes from the tangle of sheets. My shirt is barely on when the bedroom door bursts open.
“Rise and sh—iiit.”
Screeching, I drop to my knees, obstructing my lower half from view behind the bed. Brooks staggers into an equally startled Zac before they both wheel around to face the wall.
“What the hell, guys,” I shout. “Ever heard of knocking?”
Brooks throws up his arms as though he’s being arrested. “I thought this was Noah and Parker’s room!”
“It is Noah and Parker’s room,” Zac says.
The bedroom door across the hall swings open. “Has anyone seen Summer? I don’t think she slept here last night.”
“She’s in Noah and Parker’s room.”
Another door opens. “She’s where?”
“It’s Parker’s room, technically. They kicked me out last night,” Noah calls, footsteps thundering up the stairs.
Siena’s laugh tinkles from the other end of the hall.
I shuffle and stumble, getting my shorts on before rising to my feet. Catching us in flagrante delicto isn’t how I’d have chosen for our friends to find out what Parker and I have been up to this summer.
The doorway is now packed with them. A solid wall of nosy friends all trying to peer around the other, get a good look at the sideshow.
Siena nudges Brooks out of the way, clearing a path into the room and looking absolutely thrilled with herself. Shy and Melody follow her in.
“Would anyone believe me if I said it’s not what it looks like?” I try.
“No,” they all say together.
The bathroom door flies open.
“Love, have you seen my glasses?” Parker freezes, squinting at the scene before him. He’s fully dressed, which I suppose is a blessing. “It’s not what it looks like. I had… a health emergency. The cat scratches—I think they’re infected—”
“For the love of God, please stop.” Siena bounces down on the end of the bed. “She has beard burn on her neck.”
Parker looks over and mouths I’m sorry.
I feel the weight of fourteen eyes on me as I choose my next move. I’ve spent all summer dreading this moment, hiding my growing feelings for Parker until I had complete clarity as to the direction of our relationship.
I don’t feel any less confused about my future, after last night. But how could I keep hiding Parker? He’s as good a man as they come. Wears his whole heart on his sleeve.
He deserves to be claimed. Flaunted. Adored loudly.
I reach for his glasses on the nightstand and slip them on him myself. When his brows lift in pleasant surprise, I press up onto my toes and kiss him.
A symphony of sounds fills the room—happy sighs and snickers and an aww I recognize as Shy’s. And then—
“I told you it would work!” Melody stares gleefully over at Zac, who’s rolling his eyes but also trying very hard not to laugh. She holds out a hand. “Pay up, Porter.”
“You know what? I’m not even mad at it.” Zac plucks his wallet from his pocket and forks over a fifty-dollar bill.
Parker narrows his eyes. “What the hell is this?”
“Retribution.” His sister neatly folds the cash and pockets it. Lifts a hand to her ear as though holding a phone, makes her voice higher and brighter. “ ‘Hi! This is Summer Prescott. I’d like to cancel the second room on my reservation—’ ”
My jaw drops. “You canceled the second room at Rocky Ridge?”
Siena throws herself down on the mattress, curling up in laughter. “Oh, you tiny, evil genius.” She sobers suddenly and springs upright. “You guys totally fucked on this bed, didn’t you?”
I wince. “A little bit.”
“Really, Mels?” Parker cuts in. “Canceling a room? You know, the fact that you can’t mind your own business—”
“Hypocrite,” Zac coughs.
Brooks shrugs. “Personally, his meddling worked in my favor.”
“You’re welcome, Brooks,” Parker says, glaring at Zac. “Besides, I already told you: Nothing happened that weekend. No kissing. Especially no fondling. We simply had a good night’s sleep, and—”
“Stand down.” I pat his arm. “You’re a terrible liar.”
“And I believe the words you’re looking for are thank you,” Melody says. “Look at you now—Summer, we’re going to be sisters!”
Sisters. Family. I could have one again if I stayed—
“Let’s all take it easy.” Parker’s palm brushes the small of my back. “Your meddling is exactly why we kept this quiet to begin with, and we’d appreciate some space to figure things out for ourselves.”
Unintentionally, I make eye contact with Siena, whose now-confused gaze flicks over from Parker. “All right.” She strides over to Parker and drags him to the door by the wrist. “Everyone without boobs, out. Now.”
“But—” Brooks starts to protest. Siena single-handedly manhandles the guys into the hall, slamming the door in their faces. She turns to me, pointing to the end of the bed. “Sit.”
Reluctantly, I do so next to Shy. “Why does it feel like I’m in trouble?”
“Because we’ve now all gone a good couple of months without speaking to you properly, and I, personally, have had enough of it.” She plants her hands on her hips. “Anytime we talk, you make it about us, or the weather, or the new shade of pink you’ve painted your nails.”
“We miss the way it was before,” Melody chimes in.
She sits cross-legged on the floor. “You complaining about your job. All your volunteer work. We miss hearing about the guys you’re dating, the dragon-shifters you’re reading about, and how good the waves were on your morning surfs.
You tell us nothing about what you’ve got going on anymore.
And suddenly you show up here, and you’re sleeping with Parker.
And lying about it like we can’t see what’s right in front of us. ”
“Don’t you think we would’ve loved to know about this, Sum?” Siena adds. “To be there for you, be excited with you? I mean, you’re Summer and Parker. This is huge.”
Guilt nags at me even worse than it did last night, when Parker pointed out the very same thing. But my relief is even stronger—knowing that they’ve noticed me pulling back, cared enough to discuss it among themselves, and then to sit me down and deliver the hard truth.
I pick at the frayed edge of my denim shorts. “Is it better or worse if I say that Shy already knew?”
Siena wheels around to her best friend. “You traitorous little—”
“I was sworn to secrecy,” Shy cries. “Besides, I barely knew. She mentioned something about a drawstring once and then refused to speak of it again.”
“A drawstring?” Melody’s face scrunches in confusion. Then clouds over in disgust. “Okay, I did not need to know about that.”
Siena pats her shoulder. “My thoughts exactly, Mels. How utterly depraved!” Then she cups a hand around her mouth and stage-whispers to me, “Tell me all about it later. Every detail.”
God, I’ve missed them so much.
And having them here, beaming and sitting happily in my company, has the weight of this summer—my falling out with Parker, the shift in our relationship, and my falling flat on my face in love with him—bubbling up inside me. I hiccup a breath, nose stinging, tears pouring before I can stop them.
“Oh, honey.” Siena sits next to me, tucking me into her side. Shy takes my hand. Mel shuffles closer to give my knee a reassuring squeeze.
“It’s been really confusing. It felt like he came out of nowhere and for a while I didn’t know how to wrap my head around it. And I finally have this thing I’ve been so desperate for, for so long. With the best person I could’ve asked for. And I’m terrified I’ll make a mistake.”
“How could it be a mistake?” Shy says softly. “You know everything about each other.”
“I don’t think we’re a mistake—I’m worried I’ll ruin it by leaving. Or not leaving, and then regretting it for the rest of my life.”
Siena eyes Melody, who gives a small shake of her head. “Leaving where?”
I swipe at my tears. “I entered Surf’s Up to qualify for the tour. To travel and make a career out of competing, the way I always planned.”
The room goes very quiet.
“Well, that’s…” Melody swallows, combing her fingers through her hair. “I’ll be honest, it’s not ideal for me. You’re only allowed to go if you agree to weekly calls. At a minimum.”
“We’re going to need that in a written and signed contract,” Shy adds.
“Come on, you two. You’re ignoring the bright side.” Siena gives a shimmy. “Obligatory group trips! This’ll be fun.”
The other two perk up at that, and they all dive straight into planning mode—locations and flight routes, overlapping breaks from work.
“Maybe you could start now?” I ask, before I can think better of it. “My next event is on Saturday, and I’m sorry it’s such short notice but I’d really love it if you came to support me.”
“Awkward,” Siena singsongs. “We’re already coming—I’ve got a boat set up to give us front-row seats in the water.”
“My parents are coming, too,” Melody says. “They haven’t stopped raving about your last event.”
My eyes prickle again, gratitude overflowing my system. “That means so much to me.”
“And about Parker…” she adds. “He would want you to be with him and go.”
“I know.”
“He loves you so much,” Shy says.
“It’s mutual.” I fiddle with a braid. “I feel so lucky to have him. I don’t want to lose it.”
“Luck had nothing to do with it, Sum. That’s my brother for you—once he decides he wants something, there’s no getting it out of his head.” Melody nudges my foot with hers. “He’s a pest like that.”
I laugh. But my stomach flutters at the very thought that my falling in love with Parker had been part of some grand, romantic plot to get the girl. One of our rom-coms come to life.
“Summer?” Siena says after a few minutes. “Are those…”
She takes my hand, splitting the stack of braided string bracelets I’ve taken to wearing to cover the faint marks around my wrists. She breaks into a smile. Shy laughs. Melody retches.
Flushing, I adjust the bracelets. “So, funny story—the other day, Parker took in a stray cat…”