The Summer Before Forever Read online

  “What about you?” my friend Roth says in Jenna’s direction.

  “I’m just me,” she answers as sweet as cotton candy.

  Roth’s eyes move all over Jenna’s skinny bod. Whatever floats his boat.

  “You look familiar,” he says.

  Zach points at Jenna. “I’ve seen you. Who are you?”

  Roth snaps his fingers. “America’s Newest Sensation! Am I right? Is that you?”

  “My sister watches that show,” Zach says with a chuckle. “She was obsessed with you. Sent about eight hundred texts voting for you.”

  As Jenna takes the spotlight, soaking up the guys’ attention, Chloe steps into the background, looking worried as she scans the group. I can’t quite make out what her deal is. It’s like she’s happy and comfortable one minute, and then leery and withdrawn the next. I wonder if she’s like this all the time, or maybe my friends intimidate her. They’re all just a bunch of ass clowns…myself included. But I guess as a group we might seem a little scary if you’re a girl. Definitely not if you’re Jenna though. She’s all about the attention.

  Toby takes a few steps toward Chloe, and by the look in his eye I’m guessing he’s got something in mind. “Landon has a little sister, huh?”

  My insides sour. If she has a problem with guys, this isn’t going to go well. Toby’s hated me since I pinned him sophomore year, and now that I’ve humiliated him in front of our friends and two hot girls?

  This evening is about to take a turn for the worse.

  Chapter Five

  Chloe

  Before I can process what’s happening, the guy with the belly has scooped me up into his arms and is running toward the water.

  “Check out your sister now!” he shouts.

  I want to vomit. As soon as I walked up to this group of guys, I knew coming was a mistake. There isn’t one girl in the bunch except for Jenna and me. Before that night on the pontoon boat, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought.

  Now, it’s all I can think about.

  “Put me down!”

  The guy just laughs. Fear courses through my body as my stomach wrenches itself into knots. I’m basically a ragdoll in this dickhead’s arms. He could take me under that dock over there and rip off my clothes. Even if the idea is ridiculous with so many people around, I can’t help but go there in my mind. I claw at his arm and try to wrestle myself free, but all it gets me is a glare.

  “Drop her, dickwad.”

  I spot Landon following us, and a wave of hope washes over me. We don’t know each other, but he’ll step in and help, right? He’s supposed to be my brother, now. Brothers don’t let their friends assault their sisters.

  Belly Guy drops then catches me all in one motion, right over a crashing wave. “Not such a tough guy now are you, short bus?” he taunts.

  Short bus? Landon’s going to law school and reads biographies on Bonhoeffer. This guy doesn’t even know how to give legit insults.

  Landon’s eyes flame with anger. “Let her go. Right fucking now or I’m going to beat the hell out of you right here on this beach.”

  “You take a step toward me and your little sister here is fish bait!” Belly shouts in my ear with his foul, beer breath, just like Trevor’s that night on the pontoon boat, and fear ices over me again. I should scream at the top of my lungs. I should bite him, scratch his eyes out, rip his balls off, anything to get out of his arms and somewhere far away from any situation where I am being held hostage by yet another boy.

  Instead, clarity washes over me, and I stay still. These are Landon’s friends—people I’ll be seeing all summer. I don’t want to look like I’m freaking over this, though I totally am. “Put me down,” I say in my calmest voice. “I’m serious.”

  Jenna plants herself in front of us in all 5’4” of her glory. “She asked you to put her down. Do it, or you’ll learn what real humiliation is, fat ass.”

  Belly tightens his grip on me to the point I have to concentrate on breathing. “Yeah? What are you gonna do about it?”

  One of Landon’s friends on the beach shouts, “Quit being a douche, Ellis!”

  Landon shouts something back, but Jenna’s louder. She points at Belly Guy. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with. I will own this beach by the weekend, and you do not want on my bad side. I’ll have the rumor mill so full of shit you’ll have to change your identity and move to Costa Rica.”

  But Belly Guy just snorts at her and turns back toward the ocean, me still in his arms.

  Jenna takes a step toward us. “Are you ignoring me, quick draw?”

  Belly glances around in horror. “What’d you say?”

  Jenna grins from ear to ear. “Ah, looks like I hit a nerve. Let me guess. You can’t even get it all the way up before you get off.”

  I catch a glimpse of his dumbstruck face and almost feel a hint of sympathy for him. Almost. He has no idea who has arrived to claim his beach. I take advantage of his confusion and try to wriggle out of his grasp.

  Landon doesn’t let me get far. He pushes past Jenna and bum rushes the two of us. Belly Guy falters as a wave rushes over his legs, his big body wobbling back and forth. I grab for Landon, and he pulls me out of Belly’s grasp just before he goes down in the waves.

  I press myself against Landon’s chest and he holds me tightly. It’s…nice. Comforting. I don’t want to let go. But then I remember where we’re at and what just happened and I pull away. I shouldn’t be ready for another guy to touch me.

  Landon frowns and grabs me by my shoulders. He crouches over so we’re face to face and forces me to meet his gaze. “Are you okay?”

  What a loaded question. Physically, sure. I’m intact. Healthy. Freaking fabulous. Mentally, I’m one step away from losing my ever-loving shit. He really needs to stop touching me, because it’s not bothering me as much as it should. I nod quickly and step back, still trying to grasp my bearings. He must get it, because he doesn’t push the issue.

  Belly Guy attempts to stand, but a wave knocks him halfway down again. Jenna laughs.

  “Fuck you, bitch,” Belly says.

  Landon lunges for the guy but Jenna grabs him before he can get to him. “Let him go. If you kill him and land your ass in jail, wouldn’t that whole wrestling scholarship thing be a big, giant waste?”

  Belly Guy stands, spits at the sand between us and him, and stalks up the beach past Landon’s friends toward the road.

  Jenna locks her arm inside mine. “You okay?” I nod and while I can’t tell if she believes me, she smiles. “Come on. Let’s go talk to Landon’s hot friends.”

  That is the last thing I want to do, but she doesn’t know this. She would if I told her about Trevor. I just…can’t. Not yet.

  She loops her other arm around Landon’s. “Come on.”

  His glare is locked on the back of Belly Guy who stalks up the stairs like a kid taking his punishment.

  Jenna tugs Landon along and repeats herself. “Come on. I’m so over that guy and his bullshit.”

  Landon reluctantly presses forward, and we head toward the group.

  I turn to Jenna to tell her we need to leave, but when the guys circle around her, talking about how badass she was with Belly Guy and asking more questions about America’s Newest Sensation, I decide to walk up the beach by myself to the outdoor bar. A handful of people mill around tables and chairs, but no one notices me.

  I back against the wall in front of the bathrooms, rubbing my hands together which is somehow helping my anxiety. I close my eyes and attempt to slow my breathing.

  There’s a nudge at my arm. “Hey.”

  I jerk my eyes open and stumble away from the wooden wall.

  Landon holds up both hands. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He eyes me. “You’re not okay, are you?”

  “I’m fine. I’m just…waiting for
Jenna to…finish.”

  He glances at the group on the beach. “Finish what? Bragging about being on television? I think we’re gonna be here a while.”

  I relax my shoulders. “She’s not all bad. She’s actually a pretty loyal friend.”

  He nods. “I can tell. I believed her when she told him he’d have to move out of the country, by the way. I imagine she’s versed in making a guy’s life hell.”

  I let out a huff of a laugh, surprising myself. “She is. You have no idea what she’s capable of.”

  “I’m sure you’re right.”

  When he smiles, the weight of the night feels…lighter. I’m not afraid around him, I realize. Could be that he just saved me from that total turd back there, but I can tell he’s a decent guy. And he’s better at putting me at ease than anyone I’ve met so far.

  “Come on. Let’s get a Coke.”

  He walks up to the bar and orders two Cokes, handing the bartender a credit card. He slides one to me, and then heads to a connecting dock that juts out into the ocean. I follow until he stops halfway down, and we sit, dangling our legs off the side.

  He pulls the straw out of his Coke. “I’m sorry. That guy’s a total ass. He’s hated me since sophomore year. We were opponents.”

  I push the ice in my drink around with the straw. “Thanks for standing up for me.”

  “I’m sorry I put you in that situation to begin with. The rest of my friends are cool, I swear.”

  “I’m sure,” I say, trying to somehow seem normal and reboot my first night in Florida.

  He looks down at me, and we hold each other’s gaze for a moment. Something in my heart gives way…an inkling of an opening to this guy who seems like a decent person, no matter how hard my head fights to have me keep my guard up.

  “So, catch me up,” he says. “What did I miss the first sixteen years? I get the feeling there’s a lot to tell.”

  Landon

  “I hate to disappoint you, but there’s really not,” she says.

  I seriously doubt that, but if she’s not ready to open up, I can wait her out. The way she was so skittish when I touched her before was such a vast contradiction to the way she hung onto me after I got her away from Toby. I could have held her for longer, but I was so keyed up at the time, I was just trying to make sure she was okay so I could start beating his ass into the surf.

  I decide to start with neutral ground. “How was it for you?” I pull a piece of ice out of my Coke and pop it in my mouth. “Your parents’ divorce,” I say through the crunching of ice.

  She creases her brow. “It’s…weird.”

  “I know, right?”

  The corners of her mouth tip upward, barely, like she’s still deciding if she likes me or not. “Really weird.”

  “My dad’s new wife is in her twenties,” I say. “She shops at Abercrombie.”

  “My mom’s boyfriend feeds her popcorn in front of me,” she says.

  I wince. “Gross.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Totally.”

  I consider her. “You know they have these nasty nicknames for each other.”

  She gives me a look. “My dad and your mom?”

  I nod solemnly.

  She adjusts herself in her seat. “I don’t think I want to hear this.”

  “Oh no. If I have to live with this knowledge, so do you.”

  She scrunches her nose and waits.

  I lean toward her and whisper, “Rock Star.”

  “Oh, god.” She wiggles in agony. “Is that what Cynthia calls my dad?”

  I chuckle. “You read into what that alludes to.”

  She covers her ears. “Make it stop.”

  This is a blast. I love sharing this crap with her. “Oh no, we’re not done here,” I say loud enough to make sure she hears me.

  She looks up at me, her eyes wide and begging. She’s so damn cute I think I want to kiss her.

  Wait. No. Sister, not super cute, super kissable girl.

  She moves her hands off her ears and gives me a wary look. I clear my throat and go in for the big finale. I sit up straight. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I say in forced baby talk. “Am I making you uncomfortable, sweet muffin?”

  She covers them again. “No!”

  “Oh yeah,” I say through a chuckle.

  Her face lights up with laughter, the eyes I was so sure were brown turning hazel in the moonlight.

  She points at me. “I’m going to get you for this.”

  “I’ve been waiting months to drag you down with me,” I say. “I’ve had to put up with this by myself up until now.”

  We smile at each other, and that urge to kiss her is back. I’ve got to quit that. Not only is the timing off—she’s just starting to warm up to me—but the last time I checked you’re not supposed to kiss your future sister.

  She considers me for a moment. “So you really don’t listen to music?”

  I shift uncomfortably. “Just not my thing.”

  “Like, certain types aren’t your thing, or music in general?”

  I shake my head. She doesn’t need to know about my middle school music therapy drama. “I read a lot. Music is too…distracting.”

  She frowns. I’m guessing music plays a big role in her life. I don’t want her asking me any more questions about this right now, so I look over at Jenna and the guys. Roth and Dane are practically duking it out for her attention. Roth pushes Dane, and Dane pushes him back. Jenna turns her back, clearly bored, and the two try to edge each other out of the picture, falling all over themselves as they fight to win back her attention.

  “It doesn’t take her long to make friends, does it?” I ask.

  Chloe gives me a look. “I’m sorry if you’re disappointed. But there’s plenty of summer left.”

  I want to tell her there isn’t enough gold in California to make me have any sort of interest in Jenna past friendship. But with the way I’m feeling toward this girl…this future stepsister of mine…I feel like I need to set some boundaries for myself. Saying it out loud might help.

  I pull a piece of ice from my cup and toss it into the ocean. “Excuse my language, but I don’t shit where I eat.”

  Her expression remains impassive, so I can’t tell how she feels about that. She could be relieved. I’m sure she’s not into dating family.

  She straightens her throat. “So where do you…shit?” She puts quotation marks around the last word and seems uncomfortable saying it, which makes me smile.

  “Are you asking if I have a girlfriend?”

  She shrugs. “Sure.”

  “No.”

  She raises an eyebrow at me.

  “I hung out with someone for a few months this past school year but it didn’t work out.”

  “Please don’t tell me you broke up with her before prom,” she says.

  “I’m not a tool. I took her to prom. Broke up with her the next day.”

  She turns to me, dropping her shoulders, her mouth open in incredulity. “You did not.”

  I smile. “Nah, we ended it way before prom.”

  “So was she one of those wrestling cheerleader girls?”

  “Mat girls,” I say. “No, but she was a cheerleader for the football team.”

  Chloe nods, like with that one statement she has my ex all figured out, which in turn means she thinks she has me figured out. I want to tell her Ashley was more than a cheerleader. She was hot, I’ll admit that, but there was more to her than her looks. She made class valedictorian. I was proud of her for that.

  Those old insecurities that ruined our relationship come flooding back in—memories of the day she found out about my learning disability, the look of pity on her face, and then her determination to fix me. Fuck relationships. I’m not dealing with that shit again.

  I go for a subject change.
“I guess you’re glad to finally see your dad after all this time.”

  She shrugs and puts her attention on the rolling waves. “So he’s been living with you and your mom for a while?”

  “Full-time since the first of the year, but you knew that.”

  “Actually, no I didn’t,” she says.

  I turn to her. “For real?”

  She creases her brow. “I don’t like to pry.”

  “About where your dad is living?”

  She gives me a look. “It’s complicated.”

  I gather there are issues between her and her father, and I haven’t even scratched the surface.

  “So what was your parents’ divorce like for you?” she asks.

  My dad’s physical absence from my life isn’t my favorite topic. I certainly have no interest in opening up that festering wound right now. I huff. “There wasn’t a lot to it for me. My dad came home one day and said he’d fallen in love with someone else. Packed a suitcase and left. Never even came back for any of his stuff.”

  She narrows her gaze. “I can’t imagine leaving everything behind.”

  I shrug. “He’d been leaving for a long time.”

  She rests her hand on my forearm. “I’m sorry.”

  The concern etched into her eyes reveals her disbelief in my bullshit front. Her words aren’t throwaways. She knows what it’s like to have a dad only interested in half-ass childrearing from across the states.

  I hold her gaze, hoping to convey to her the same understanding she’s giving me. “I’m sorry, too.”

  I don’t mean for myself. I mean for her. I hope she gets that. The urge to kiss her is back, so I stand up and offer my hand.

  “Come on, little sis. Let’s go cock block Roth and Dane.”

  She takes my hand, and I pull her up a little too fast, leaving her crushed against my chest. The citrus scent of her hair tangles with the salt of the ocean air. She looks up at me with those eyes that can’t make up their mind what color they are, and this time I have to actually stop myself from moving in for a kiss.

  Goddamn it.