Page 199 of Summer Love

“It’s too late,” I say.

“Too late for what?”

“To start now. I’m twenty-three.”

Summer stares at me like I just told her the earth is flat.

“Noah, community colleges exist for exactly this. For people who start later, who switch tracks, who work on the side, who get back on their feet. You’re twenty-three, not ninety.”

“What if I can’t?”

There it is. The only real question.

“Why wouldn’t you? You’re as smart as you were at eighteen, and a lot less of an idiot than you were at sixteen. Well… I hope.”

Maya smothers a laugh. I look down at my lighter.

“I… I don’t have my license,” I mutter.

“More excuses,” Summer shoots back. “You’ve got two months to get it. Jace and I will help you with the driving.”

“But the car⁠—”

“We have one. I need it four days a month to drive to San Francisco. The rest of the time we can do without it. Sierra will lend you hers. I already checked with her.”

She has an answer for every objection. Of course she’d thought them all through. Summer never starts anything without locking down the next steps.

I want to tell them I don’t deserve it, that I hurt them enough seven years ago, and that I don’t know how you make up for something like that. I don’t say anything.

“Noah… you don’t decide anything tonight,” Jace says. “Think about it. Talk to whoever you want. Classes start in September. Let us know.”

I turn the lighter over between my fingers.

“Thanks,” I finally say.

The word barely makes it out.

Jace watches me, then clears his throat.

“While we’re making announcements, I’ve got one.”

“Is Summer pregnant?” Avery blurts, setting her phone down on the table a little too hard.

Maya bursts out laughing. Summer smiles and shakes her head.

“Not yet.”

“So what, then?” Maya presses.

Jace lays both hands flat on the wood.

“Last week I took Avery to a photo shoot, for her sponsor. I was in shorts. The bottom of the scar was showing. The art director came over to me. She asked about the attack, the rehab, getting back in the water.”

Nobody says anything.

“They called me back yesterday. They want to put me in a campaign about inclusivity and getting back into sports after an accident. There’d be photos, an interview for their magazine… and a fee that’s not nothing.”

“I’m guessing you said no,” I say.