The Summer We Fell (The Summer, #1)(81)

I hurt Luke, I hurt Danny, and soon I’ll have hurt Donna too.

I just fucking ruin everything I touch.

I curl up on the bed, beyond tears. There’s nothing to be done at this point but wait and see how it’s all going to turn out.





33

NOW





DREW


Just landed! I’m sending my hair and makeup team for you and Donna, FYI. I knew you’d forget to book people

OMG. You didn’t need to do that. The fact that you’re attending at all is more than enough. But thank you.

Are you kidding? I owe you EVERYTHING.

M y megastar friend is giving me way more credit than is due—she was twenty times more famous than me when we met, and she remains so—but I just happened to help her at one of the lowest points of her life.

She’s at the happiest point now—madly in love with her husband, her baby boy. Her happiness has gone on for years and shows no sign of going away, but it’s hard to imagine having an amazing thing come into your life and actually getting to just…keep it. Just getting to stay happy. That’s not how my life has worked. That’s not how most people’s lives work.

Luke surfs that afternoon, so Donna and I have the suite to ourselves while the hair and makeup team do their work.

When the team is done, my hair is blown out to long, sleek perfection, and I’ve got red lips to match my red dress—strapless and fitted, perfectly suited to a James Bond-style villainess, which is how half these people see me now anyway.

I walk into the living area to find Luke freshly showered, tugging at the collar of a tuxedo shirt just as Donna walks in from the hallway with a bottle of champagne in her hands.

“Oh, Juliet, you look stunning. Doesn’t she look stunning, Luke?”

His eyes drift over me for one long moment. There’s desire there, but also something sweeter, as if he feels exactly what I do—the hit of straight joy I get simply watching him walk in the room. I try to grip the moment, seal it into my memory. Later tonight, I’ll think about this look on his face and imagine that nothing ever went wrong between us. I’ll imagine he was simply my bored husband, waiting for me to emerge from our room and remembering all over again why he chose me.

“Yeah.” He coughs. “You both do.”

Donna hands him the bottle of champagne. “Juliet’s friend Drew sent it up. I was hoping someone in the hall could open it, but since you’re out of the shower, I’ll allow you to do the honors. Summer’s coming tonight, by the way.”

I stiffen, nails digging into my palms. Luke’s gaze lands on me and he barely hides a smile. “I’m not sure she’s my type,” he tells Donna.

“Oh, Luke, don’t you think it’s time you settled down? Wouldn’t it be nice to come back from your trips and have someone there waiting?”

His eyes meet mine as he hands her a glass of champagne. “I’ve thought about that on occasion. I wouldn’t mind getting a little place on the beach. A deck with a hammock. The whole thing.”

It hurts, hearing my stupid little dream parroted back to me when I’ll never be the one in that house waiting for him.

We finish our champagne and take the elevator downstairs together.

“Juliet!” Drew squeals, exiting the elevator beside ours and throwing her arms around me.

Drew’s husband, Josh, greets me in a far more subdued manner. “Juliet,” he says, placing a hand at the small of Drew’s back, “good to see you.”

Heads start to turn, and it’s a relief to not be the interesting one for once.

“Donna, Luke,” I begin, “let me introduce you to my friend Drew and her husband Josh.”

“Luke Taylor,” Josh says, his jaw dropping. He’s married to one of the biggest stars in the world and his brother is a famous guitarist, but I’ve never seen him look awestruck until this moment. “Holy shit, hon. How could you not tell me a surfing legend was going to be at this thing?”

“I’m so proud of them both,” Donna says, wrapping an arm around each of us. “You know, Luke lived with us several summers in a row, in college.”

“Wait a minute,” says Drew, turning to me with astonished eyes.

My stomach drops. I already know what she’s going to say, and I wish I knew how to stop her.

“Is he the reason you were at Pipeline Masters?” she asks, as I knew she would.

Oh, Juliet, how could you have forgotten this? How could you be so careful about so many things but allow this one to slide?

Luke stiffens. “You were at Pipeline?”

“There was a big party there,” I reply weakly. “I stopped by.”

Drew laughs. “I love how Juliet tries to make it sound like she was there to party.” She turns to me. “Dude, you weren’t even drinking. You were hiding out on the dunes with a pair of binoculars that entire—” At last she sees the look on my face and stops talking.

Donna reaches for my hand. “I had no idea you were at Pipeline,” she says, and I’m saved from replying by Hilary, who marches herself into the center of our circle with another of her tight, displeased smiles.

“Have any of you seen Libby?” she demands. “She’s supposed to be monitoring the silent auction