Page 4 of Tequila Lime and Sunshine

Her mom laughs, but I don’t think Summer is kidding. Just for that, I grab two cookies.

“Summer, is Brady coming on a different flight? I thought you’d get here together,” Denise asks.

Oh yeah, her boyfriend. Kinda forgot about him. Or maybe my brain just doesn’t want to think of her with anyone else. The only way I know she’s even dating someone is from the sporadic stories she posts on Instagram with him. But from the look on Summer’s face, things might not be great in paradise. Darn.

“Oh, um, Brady isn’t coming.” I can tell Summer does not want to have this conversation with my mom and me present.

Her mom frowns. “Why not? I was looking forward to meeting him.”

“Yeah, well, you don’t have to worry about meeting him because he dumped me.”

The room falls silent. My skin is itching to make some sort of sarcastic joke, but my mom would smack me if I said something insensitive right now, even if it made everyone laugh.

“Oh, I’m sorry, honey.”

Summer sighs and takes a bite of her cookie. “It’s fine,” she says through a mouthful. “It’s not like we were in love or anything. Just another man who has an issue with me being gone all the time.”

Ouch. I guess that’s a reoccurring theme.

And before I think better of it, I say, “Yeah, fuck men, am I right?”

A small smile cracks on Summer’s face, and she holds up her cookie in solidarity. That might be the first time she’s smiled at me in six years. It’s not a true smile, but a win is a win.

“Hawke,” my mom hisses.

Denise ignores me altogether and focuses on her daughter. “Don’t worry, honey. You’ll find the right person when the time is right.”

Summer nods, probably wanting to be done with this conversation as quickly as possible.

I, for one, love that Summer hasn’t found the right person yet. It might sound selfish, but I’ve always thought of Summer as my girl. The moment she finds the right person is the moment I’ll lose all hope.

CHAPTER 3

Summer

I thought my awkwardness with Hawke peaked when I had to announce my breakup in front of him and his mother, but it turns out the universe had more fun in store for me.

Since I fly so much for my job, I usually have enough points to upgrade my seat. I offered to upgrade my parents, but they insisted I keep the points for myself. So, I settle into my business class seat, ready for a relaxing trip across the ocean. While I hate take-off, I actually enjoy flying. Usually, I get a lot of work done or get caught up on movies if it’s a long flight.

Suddenly, there’s a commotion at the door, and a man comes bounding around the corner.

Sigh. I’d know that messy head of dark hair and golden eyes anywhere. My gaze darts out the window to avoid eye contact as he starts to pass my row. But to my utter and complete horror, he sits in the empty seat next to me.

“Hey, Sunshine. Looks like it’s your lucky day,” Hawke announces with his classic cocky smile.

“There’s no way this is your seat.” I look over my shoulder at the full plane, hoping to see an empty seat somewhere.

“Oh, but it is. I booked my flight yesterday, and this was the last seat available.” He tucks his backpack in front of him and fastens his seat belt, nudging my elbow a little as he does.

“Of course it was,” I mutter, sinking into my seat.

He leans into my shoulder like we’re still the best of friends. “Come on. It’s got to be better to sit next to me than some stranger that probably smells like B.O. and wants to chat about your favorite plane snacks.”

Honestly, I’d rather have the stranger. It’s not that I don’t like Hawke. I do. Or at least, I did. Growing up, Hawke was one of my favorite people. I looked up to him. Me, Holden, and Hawke were the three musketeers. We did everything together. Then one day, out of nowhere, he dropped us. It was like he became too cool to hang out with us anymore. The friendship between Holden and me developed into something more. I’m sure it was awkward at first for Hawke, but he didn’t have to brush me off completely because of it. He distanced himself, and I had to watch him become someone so different from who I thought he was. And I wasn’t sure I liked the new version. I’m still not sure I like it.

The way he paraded women around made me sick. He had a new girl on his arm every week and became standoffish and downright rude sometimes. It broke my heart to watch our little threesome drift apart.

“What are you watching?” He gestures toward the tiny screen in front of me.