Page 118 of Summer Love

Miles raises his hand—just as fast as last week. Ruby cuts, hands them out. Chiara waves it off.

Miles leans toward me.

“Can you drive us back?”

“Yes, Miles,” I say, laughing.

“Perfect,” he says, taking a piece. “Then the night can begin.”

Five minutes later, Noah reopens the little valve, waits a few seconds, then straightens up. He wipes his hands on his coveralls, puts away the wrench, closes the toolbox.

“We’re good. It’s fixed.”

“Thanks, Noah,” Sierra says.

She steps in to hug him, but Noah backs away a step. She doesn’t push it. He digs for his lighter in his pocket, grabs his toolbox, and tucks it under his arm.

“You coming tomorrow?” Sierra asks. “Game night at the lodge?”

“Yeah. I’ll be scrubbing the crappers.”

He crosses the back room, passes us without a word. Harper follows him with her eyes. He doesn’t look back. The bookstore door closes behind him.

Book club picks back up. The voices rise.

“Okay, the M/M wins,” Sierra announces. “I’ll order copies this week. They’ll be on the shelf by Monday.”

“I’ll get it on Kindle,” Harper says.

“You’re breaking my heart,” Sierra says, a hand on her chest.

“I fly back to Australia in ten days, Sierra. Not gonna lug an extra book home.”

“You don’t have to go back…”

Ruby tips a splash from her flask into the cookie grandma’s mug, and the old woman barely protests.

I look at the sink. The floor’s still damp, but the water’s stopped running.

Noah came. He fixed it, and he left.

“Nobody drowns here.”

CHAPTER 38

Summer

FRIDAY

On my knees in front of a toilet bowl, brush in hand, I wonder when exactly my life took such a sharp turn.

Behind me, Maya mops the floor, Kai scrubs a sink, Miles wipes a mirror, and Sierra empties a trash can while holding her breath.

“Summer, this is the worst idea you’ve ever had,” Miles says.

“Trust me, it’s not. Not even close.”

The worst idea of my life was sleeping with Jace Walker.