SUMMER
FOURTEEN
Rather than working, Levi has been hanging out with me…except he’s acting strange. Normally, I’d be thrilled to have him around, but he’s so on edge, it has me unsure how to act, lost in ways I haven’t been since the start of our friendship.
Besides, while he’s around, he’s not really with me. He refuses to swim, trails me around the property, and spends a lot of time on his phone. When I ask, he glares and seethes, though less so at me. He’s mad in general.
With a sinking feeling, I presume it has to do with the picture from last night. Levi obviously knows something about it, and it has him on edge. Asking him won’t work, though, not when I’m not supposed to know he’s aware.
So, I force myself to remain calm and act as though all is well for the sake of this lie that’s feeling too large to maintain.
“Something wrong?” Given the number of times his jaw clenches, he’ll be well on his way to deforming his face.
“Nope.”
Liar.
Then again, so am I.
His weirdness continues throughout the day, so I distract myself with thoughts of last night, all while trying to veer away from reliving that picture.
Once blocked, the message with it was hidden, and I have to stop myself from looking at it over and over, trying to figure out who could have sent it.
I would have liked to believe Levi paid someone to keep up the ‘always watching’ Hunter game, but he wouldn’t be acting like this if he had.
After dinner, Levi nudges me in the direction of our rooms. “I’d prefer to stay away from crowds tonight. Let’s hang out in your pool and I’ll order us a bunch of drinks.”
No doesn’t seem to be an option. Besides, maybe alone and after a few drinks, he’ll finally disclose what’s going on.
At my cabana, I head inside to change while he waits by the pool for staff to bring the order he placed when we walked by one of the bars. By the time I join him, he’s holding a cup of something red balanced on his knee. His glare continues, this time the ocean being his victim.
I slip into the pool made warm by the hot temperatures and practically chug one of the drinks for liquid courage before playfully flicking water his way.
As his dark look shifts from the ocean to me, my hand quickly lowers back into the pool as a different face with the same kind of expression sends warning signals through my brain.
Not that I ever believe Levi would harm me, but old fears dredge up, my knowledge of what angering a man could lead to making me hold my breath.
“Something’s obviously up. What changed between now and yesterday?”
“Just some bad news. Sorry, I’ll try to relax.” The hand clenching his drink says otherwise.
Relaxing seems impossible, his jaw in a permanent hard state. I rest a hand on his knee. “Don’t apologize. I’m worried about you, that’s all.”
And what you know.
He says nothing, so after another beat of my heart, my hand lowers back into the pool with a sigh. “Come swim?”
Without looking away from me, he lifts his phone, which has been glued to him all day. “Can’t. I’m working.” He mumbles something else beneath his breath I don’t catch, though it sounds awfully like, “Protecting you.”
For the next couple hours, I swim and drink and swim some more. Then, I climb out to drink more. I’m entertaining myself while battling the need to know what Levi is hiding.
Eventually, I resort to having private conversations between me and my cup and envisioning his responses, but my buzzed mind isn’t coming up with anything realistic.
The photo was your imagination.
You were right. It was all a ploy. I never wanted to be your friend. But now, I’m stuck in this dual relationship with you.
“Summer?”
That’s spoken aloud, a penetrating question of a man seeking support but scared to ask. The nudge of a metaphorical hand.
I swim to the edge, balancing on my arms.
Levi finally looks away from the ocean, and even his jaw loosens a nerve or two. “You know I’d do anything to protect you, right?”
Sensing this is a conversation needed to be experienced on equal ground—literally—I hoist myself out of the pool and settle beside him. Levi tugs a towel off from the lounge chairs behind us to wrap over my shoulders. His finger lingers along my collarbone before dropping his head to my shoulder.
“This is the last thing I should be saying.” His accompanied sigh is that of a man with too much to lose.
This is about Hunter.
Or the picture.
Either way, I don’t think I want to know any longer.
“Hey.” I tilt my head into his until we’re embracing. “Tell me.” Driven by the alcohol, I rest my hand on his knee, moving it up and down his thigh, getting too close to edging out of friendship territory. “I know you’ll protect me, because you’ve proved it more times than fair. What is it?”
He blows out a long breath, getting heavier on my shoulder. “Normally, you would have been the one contacted, but I didn’t want you getting stressed out should the worst happened. Which it did. The prison called me early this morning.”
My stomach drops.
No. No, no, no, no. Don’t say it.
“Your dad broke out of prison and…I believe he’s here. On the resort.”
Everything crashes.
My happiness.
My relaxed state.
My healing.
Gone. All stolen by a handful of words.
“Summer.”
I jerk away from him, feet scrambling on the cement to stand, run, and hide. In my rush, I knock over an empty cup, but it’s the last thing that matters, because my father is free.
Dad is free.
And close by.
Those missed calls.
The picture.
The picture I so desperately hoped was part of his Hunter game.
It takes repeating Levi’s words before the danger registers.
This isn’t like any other time. Now, Dad will be pissed.
I contributed to sending him to jail. The accounts of the events came from me.
He’ll place the blame on me, and this won’t be like dropping his beer bottle or burning supper or one of the numerous other excuses in his arsenal.
It’ll be worse.
He’ll kill me.
Torture me.
“Summer.” Hands cuff my wrists, pulling me back down. Although my brain screams run, I know it’s Levi. Levi, who won’t harm me. Levi, whose strength tugs me into his lap. “Summer, nothing will happen to you.”
Levi.
Levi.
Levi.
Levi is safe.
“How do you know? How did he even find me?”
How the hell would Dad figure out where I am, let alone travel here? It’s too far to hitchhike, and they would have revoked his licence. Even so, it’s difficult to focus on the logistics of all this when the facts matter less than the one screaming danger.
“I’m talking to my lawyers because you’ll be filing against the justice system for how they failed you. Resort security is on the lookout for him, and we’ve been in communication with the police.”
It’s not good enough. You’re not safe.
Levi’s arm wraps around my hip, practically pulling me onto his lap. “Nothing will happen to you, darling. I swear it. Whoever let him onto the property in the first place will pay. I want you to not think about it, to continue your vacation.”
He wants me to— “Levi, no offence, but you realize how stupid that is? As if I could continue my vacation when the source behind so much of my trauma—the reason I’m even here to begin with—has followed me.”
“I need you to. You need to.”
“What about nighttime?” The sky overhead now is a glow of orange and yellow, but what happens in a couple hours when it’s dark, and the shadows come out to play? Evil lurks in such an environment. “Or when I’m by the pool and anyone can get to me?”
“I’m told there’s a manhunt out for him. He won’t risk being seen.”
“Yet, he slipped away!” If Dad is desperate, he’ll do anything. He’s always been able to hold a grudge. My entire childhood is the example.
I need out of here. I need have go home.
I manage to break from his hold and get to my feet. He follows me up, reaching for me. “Summer, you’re shaking.”
I can’t do this. Won’t do it. Not again. I’m no longer my father’s victim. If I stay, it’s what I’ll become.
“You’re safe.” Large hands span my face, forcing me immobile—not that it feels like it makes much of a difference. My mind, body, and soul are all over the place. “I’ll be staying up to keep watch.” He nods towards his cabana, but that doesn’t really change what Dad could do.
Still…he’s trying.
His phone now rests on the cement beside us, dropped when I practically crawled into his lap. He’s been stressed all day, trying to hide this from me ever since the photo from last night. I showed Hunter, and it’s Levi who came through.
It’s always Levi. From the minute he saw the slashes in my wrists in school, he’s been there for me.
“You shouldn’t have to.”
His thumbs slide against my cheekbones. “I’ll do anything for you. You know that.”
I nod, because it feels like the right thing to do. “I never understand why you take friendship to the next level.”
His grip grows heavy and possessive, yet soft. “You haven’t figured it out by now? Fuck, how can I make it any more obvious?”
“Make what obvious?”
His eyes search mine before they drop to my lips. His exhale seems to eviscerate his entire being as his hands shift, cupping my face until I’m entirely submissive.
Then, his mouth crashes to mine.