Page 172 of Summer Love

“I... I said something stupid to Ryan at the diner. Six years ago. I... fuck.”

“What did you say?”

Noah can’t look me in the eye.

“That you’d won a bet. That you’d bet a hundred bucks you’d take her virginity.”

I freeze. Avery’s eyes go wide.

“That’s not true...”

Noah shakes his head.

“Of course it’s not true. The bet was the cliffs. The Last Ride. Summer came into the diner. I didn’t see her walk in. She heard, and she left.”

It all clicks. Summer asking me, Was this another fucking bet? Me shrugging, brushing the question off, asking if we can move on.

“When she talked about that bet, I thought she meant surfing under the cliffs. Splitting at dawn after our first time—yeah, that wasn’t cool, I could get that. But I couldn’t get why she took it so hard.”

A short laugh escapes me.

“No wonder she thinks I’m a complete asshole.”

And I lunge at Noah.

The punch comes before I can stop it. My fist smashes into his jaw. He drops the letter, stumbles back a step, hits the counter. Flip barks and doesn’t stop.

I hit him again. One to the ribs, another to his shoulder. Noah lifts an arm to shield his face. He doesn’t throw a single punch back.

“Jace, stop!” Avery screams.

She grabs my T-shirt, yanks me back. I push her away; she comes right back.

“Jace, please...” she begs.

I draw my fist back to swing again. Yumi catches my wrist and squeezes.

I lower my fist. Blood runs from Noah’s nose and his lip is split.

I grab him by the collar.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t know she’d heard, Jace. I swear!”

“No, not back then! I’m talking about now. Right now!”

“She... she brought it up once,” he stammers. “On a run. I mean... she didn’t want to talk about it, she changed the subject right away. I tried to talk to you about it after. You wouldn’t listen.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. That was when he came surfing with us, the first time.

“Later, I tried again. She told me you two had talked about it. That it was settled.”

I let go of Noah. Flip’s gone quiet. He stands two steps away, ears down.

“Fuck, it wasn’t settled at all,” I mutter.

Avery steps toward Noah, finger pointed at him.