Pieces of Summer (A stand-alone novel)(5)

Must be tourist season.

A sharp pang of anger hits me, and my jaw tenses.

Must be summer.

Fucking summer.

I hate it worse than anything. The humidity is the worst, and the bugs are relentless. The lake house owners fly in or drive in from whatever state they’re from, taking a break from their horrible rich lives.

Yeah… I f*cking hate summer.

It used to be my favorite time of year.

Just like every time I think of what summer used to be, a bitterness creeps into my mouth. I swat away a few flies as I get out of my truck, and grab my cooler. The shop isn’t much to the rich asses who crash town for two or three months a year, but it’s a hell of a lot more than I grew up with. And I love it.

I have a house that has an actual floor, and I have full windows instead of broken shards. I also have an actual bed—a nice one—instead of a mattress on the dirty floor. Most importantly, my house is clean—messy at times, but always clean. There aren’t lines of mold and animal pellets anywhere. I’ll never live like that again.

And I earned it all myself. Had to.

Unlike the rich bastard who is sweating profusely in front of my shop. You can always tell when someone grew up with money.

“You lost?” I ask the guy.

He sighs in relief when he sees me.

“Please tell me you work at the auto repair shop.”

He does realize he’s not in front of the garage, right? Sun must be getting to him.

“Nah, but I know the guy who owns it,” I tell him, leaning against my truck.

“Thank God. My rental car gave out just down the road. I’m helping my friend move in today, and I can’t get ahold of her. It’s hotter than the devil’s ass crack, and I had to walk at least two miles to get here.”

With all the sweat and heavy panting, you’d think he’d walked twenty miles across the desert instead of two miles down Main St. The guy looks a little too fit to be acting so out of shape.

Blowing out a breath, I head over and unlock the door to my shop about the time Blake rolls in on two wheels. As soon as he gets out of his truck, I motion to the drenched guy with too-short pants.

“Richie here needs his car towed in and looked at,” I tell Blake, motioning to his garage.

“It’s Hunter,” the guy corrects.

“That’s irony if I’ve ever heard it,” Blake says, eyeing the guy who has probably never went hunting a day in his life.

“Is there a cab service around here?” the guy rattles on.

Blake snorts out a laugh while walking in and coming back out with tow truck keys. Beth walks up, strutting happily toward us, but her eyes roll when she takes in the guy wiping the sweat away from his brow. She heads into my shop, while a few others drive up and head into the garage next door, everyone getting ready for their morning.

“Where’s the car?” Blake asks.

As Hunter tells him it’s the Audi near the big tree with flowers—no joke—Blake stares at me incredulously. “Just drive down Main. Shouldn’t be hard to spot a broken down Audi near some flowers and a big tree,” I deadpan.

Blake smirks before walking off. “Gotta love summer,” he quips.



“It’s finally summer!” Mika squeals while launching herself into my arms, and I hold her almost too tightly, trying not to hurt her as I soak in her smell, her touch, and her presence. It always feels like a dream.

“I’ve missed you,” I tell her lamely, squeezing her even tighter.

Her legs wrap around my waist, and her lips brush my cheek. I ignore the usual response my body always has to hers.

“I’ve missed you too,” she sighs. “I love you.”

I almost sag to the floor, but I lock my knees in place, holding her like it doesn’t turn me into rubber every time she says those words. She’s the only one who has ever said those words to me. Three simple words most people hear too often and take for granted… Those three words from her lips keep me looking ahead to the future.

“I love you,” I tell her back, smiling when she giggles.

I love summer.



“Are you listening to me?” The loud voice snaps me out of a memory that just came out of no-damn-where, and I clear my throat. “Taxi?” the guy asks, studying me like I’m a little off in the head.

If I’m thinking back to those days, I must be f*cking out of my mind.

“One of the guys from the garage can give you a lift to wherever you’re going,” I tell Moose Knuckle, shutting the door on his gratitude as I head inside my own place to start the day.

Beth’s eyes meet mine as she sorts through the appointment book, and she laughs under her breath.

“Fucking summer,” she mutters.

Fucking summer.





Chapter 3


MIKA



“You sure you want to do this?” Aidan asks as I set down yet another box.

Where the hell is Hunter? He’s the one who insisted on coming because he didn’t trust me to decorate my own place.

“Positive,” I tell Aidan, struggling with another box that is labeled Kitchen but hanging out in the living room. It can’t be in the living room. The living room is not the kitchen, and if it’s labeled kitchen it has to be there. “Should I be worried about Hunter?” I ask him as I drop the box, and start cursing my phone that has no signal.