Page 47 of Forged Forever

“Welcome,” Alex replies. They follow us under the house, and Alex grabs a few more towels and two chairs. He points out the washroom to them, and then we walk to the beach.

“Whoa,” Jake comments, seeing the walkway. “Thought I’d have to walk the whole way.”

“Alex rented this for the weekend.”

“Hey thanks. I appreciate it. You keep surprising me, Alex.”

Alex smiles and nods, helping maneuver Jake onto the walkway since it’s a small drop from the concrete slab. The walkway isn’t wide enough for us to walk side by side, so I step onto the sand. “Some friends are here. Four people and their baby girl. One guy works at Finn and is good friends with Nick.”

“Okay.” Jake looks a little nervous. This may be a lot. He struggles not only with forming new connections with people, but it makes him frustrated.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be right by your side.” We come to the end of the walkway, so Will locks the wheels, and Jake stands as Will collapses the wheelchair. Wrapping an arm around his waist, we slowly walk to the canopy. This is his first time on uneven ground, but he does great. “Sun or shade?”

“Shade for now, Sum.” Alex opens the two chairs by mine as Jake takes a seat.

Seb and Bay come right over to say hello and E offers each of them a plate of food. I flop back into my chair as the guys talk. Neve is changing the baby in her bassinet stroller, and when she returns, I introduce Jake and Will.

Jake gradually starts talking, his usual personality showing through, and it’s nice to see him relax around strangers. The doctor from the research trial believes his memory issues may be permanent. When he goes to college and finds a career, it will be something he needs to become comfortable with. While annoying, it's workable. He could carry pictures of his professors, for example, to know who they are in class. Remembering everything besides fresh faces means there should be nothing holding him back from accomplishing his goals.

Neve and family decide to leave an hour after lunch, not wanting to keep Charlotte out too long, so Alex, Seb, and I walk them back to their vehicle to say goodbye.

Jake is sitting in the sun when we return. I grab my tube of sunscreen for him to use and then lie down on my towel. “So what‘cha think of the beach, handsome?”

Smiling down at me, Jake says, “incredible.” He’s digging his toes around in the sand, mesmerized by the waves. I don’t blame him; I could stare at the water forever. “Can’t wait to jump in.”

“Soon,” I smile. He and the guys talk hockey while I watch them interact. I’ll never stop being grateful for the miracle that is Jake.

Jake and Will stay until late afternoon. We walk him down to the water once the tide is in, and the cold doesn’t bother him one bit, which I knew it wouldn’t. I lean my head on his shoulder as we stand just inside the waterline. Will doesn’t want him to go in, worried about his balance, but Jake is content dipping his toes in for now. “I can’t believe you get to come here all the time, Sum.”

“You do too. We get out here as often as we can in the summer. There are other beaches around too, closer to home. Oh, and a water park. You’ll get as much time as you want on the sand.”

Jake kisses the top of my head, then we walk back to the canopy. He and Will decide to leave in time for dinner back at the condo.

We have dinner in the beach house tonight. Grilled chicken salad. I light candles on Nick’s cake for dessert with tears dripping onto my cheeks. We all sing him happy birthday despite him being so far away, and we spend the early evening telling stories about him.

The guys want to roast marshmallows over a bonfire later, so I go up to my room to change after we eat, and Seb follows. “I have a surprise, Sunshine,” he sings.

“What is it?” I root through my drawers for another pair of shorts and a tee.

“Go change and then come out onto the patio.” Nodding, I go into the bathroom to freshen up. I change clothes and wash my face, finger-combing my hair before putting it up into a messy bun.

Tossing my clothes into the hamper, I step onto the patio to find Seb and Bay hanging a hammock between my room and Alex’s. “Nice,” I smile.

Seb smiles at me as Bay climbs onto the railing to secure a hook. The hammock, made of striped fabric, looks long enough for E and Nick to lie on.

Once it’s ready, Seb immediately gets in to test it out. Bay’s phone rings, so he excuses himself, and Seb gestures for me to get in with him.

We nearly fall out at first, but I get on my side and snuggle into Seb, and he keeps one foot on the floor to swing us gently. “I got an email from the Charleston recruiter this morning,” Seb tells me.

“Oh? Is there a problem with your scholarship?”

“Nope, but he wanted me to be aware of an issue with the head coach. One of the players approached him to forward an email to me because the coach has an issue with gay and bisexual people. Nothing outright, but Landon, the forward, said I should hide that part of myself if I want playtime. He’s been keeping his boyfriend quiet while he’s on the team. The coach says all the right things, but there’s a pattern where known LGBTQ+ players get benched a lot. The recruiter said the coach has two years left on his contract, and the school wouldn’t be renewing it.”

Well crap. “How do you feel about that?”

“It sucks, Sunshine. I wanted to stay here with everyone for college. After what we went through with E, I don’t want to hide who I am.”

“No one should have to do that, Hurry. What about Columbia?”