Pieces of Summer (A stand-alone novel)(9)

I never drink more than one or two at the bar, and she knows it. I’ll be plenty sober to drive myself home. Why is it so damn important that I go to that f*cking place?

“I should be fine, Whit. I’ll drive you to town though.”

“I’ll need a ride home, jackass. My car is still getting fixed. Tell Blake to stop having a beer with you and finish it up.”

Great. Now she’s pissed again.

“Fine,” I bite out.

Looks like I’m going to play in my own personal hell. Just picking her up the other day was damn near impossible. It was all I could do to keep my mind off it by staying on the phone and refusing to glance in the direction of the bowling alley.

The top still had a huge tarp hanging over it, which helped it from being real… From being gone… From truly belonging to someone other than me.

Whit smirks like she’s won something, and tosses her purse over her shoulder as I let her walk out first. She talks about the bowling alley all the way there, but I tune her out. It’s fortunately a gift of mine.

As soon as we pull up, I roll my eyes at the massive sign. Horrible f*cking name.

Whit takes her sweet time collecting her things, and unfortunately, I see Bill Johnson walking toward me. Cursing, I roll down my window just as he reaches my truck.

“So glad you’re here. Two big ass statues just arrived four days late. Can you give me a hand getting them in?” he asks me.

My entire body tenses all over.

“Sort of running late. Any chance you can get someone else?”

He runs a hand over his bald head. “I wish. Chuck can’t lift a bowling ball without straining his back. And the rest are all women working here, because apparently the boss lady is feminist or something. I don’t want to ask anyone to hurt themselves.”

Whit flips him off.

“I’ll help you, dickhead. We’re stronger than we look. And she’s not feminist. She went based on experience from the applicants. Hence the reason you were hired, since you’re the only one with security experience.”

Bill casts a hopeful look in my direction, but I shake my head at him.

“Don’t look at me. She’s been ragging all day.”

A slight sting draws my attention down to the spot on my arm Whit just struck. She cradles her hand like she’s hurt herself, while glaring at me like it’s my fault.

“Yeah. You’re a lot stronger than you look,” I mutter dryly, climbing out of the truck. Fuck my night. This damn thing is going to become the bane of my existence.

“Thanks,” Bill grumbles. “I’m not sure how in the hell I’m going to be able to stick out a bunch of cranky women. Fortunately, the owner seems pretty cool—she’s a little weird, but cool. I was kidding about the feminist remark.”

I don’t say anything. I just want out of here as fast as possible.

He leads me around to the side, and my feet cement themselves to the ground when I see the two oversized statues…

It has to be a coincidence. A really f*cked up coincidence.

“Eagles? Weird, right?” Bill asks, misreading my look. “Guess you like that since you have one tattooed on you.”

He motions to my left arm where a bald eagle is wrapped around in the form of a sleeve.

“Yeah. Little bit.”



“We should get penguins,” Mika says, still designing the inside of our future.

It would sound stupid to people to know a bowling alley is our dream conquest. Well, it’s my dream. She’s just perfect enough to go along with it. It’s the reason I can’t wait for the day we turn eighteen.

“Penguins are lame,” I point out, causing her to chuckle. I really love it when she smiles like that.

“But some penguins mate for life,” she says quietly, looking up with those bashful eyes.

I wish we could just run away right now. Instead, we’re sitting on her roof, staying inside our bubble, and planning for the day when it’s no longer just a dream.

Instead of saying something pathetic, I smirk at her and say, “Bald eagles mate for life. And they’re less ridiculous. They don’t waddle.”

She snickers softly.

“They also usually return every year to the same nest and add to the structure, making it stronger, better, bigger,” I go on, watching as the amusement in her eyes turns to seriousness. “Sort of like us right now. We return every year to the same spot on the same day.”

I gesture around to our place—her rooftop. It’s been our place for as long as we’ve known each other. “And every year we get closer to building something stronger, better, bigger…” I let the words trail off when I start feeling stupid.

Suddenly, she launches herself at me, and my back hits the roof as she straddles me, crashing her lips against mine. I must have said something really right.

I don’t stop to ask her anything. I just enjoy the way she’s grinding on my hips, and I kiss her back, wishing we had longer than just the summer to be this way.



“You okay?” Bill asks, snapping me away from memories that are better left forgotten.

Clearing my throat, I nod. I grab one end, and hold my breath, even though I don’t know why. We quickly walk through the doors on the side, and Bill rushes me toward the entrance way where the two eagles will greet people and dismiss them on their way out.