AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When they did any work.
“Hey, sorry, I forgot you don’t like talking about your family.” He turned to her, wind tousling his hair, his full mouth slightly pursed. “Never mind, then.”
“It’s okay.” She had no idea why now, when they were standing near seals—which, face it, smelled really terrible—she was suddenly fantasizing about Luke kissing her. “I don’t mind so much now.”
“No? That’s cool. Thanks, Summer.” He smiled and nudged her with his shoulder. “My dad did everything. You know, Mom would have had a hard time helping, being dead and all.”
“Luke.” She was horrified. “You can’t joke about that.”
“Sure I can. But I know, that was bad.” He put his arm around her for a brief squeeze. “Sometimes you get so sick of the pain that humor is a relief.”
She nodded, her shock dissolving into sympathy. “There are probably as many ways of dealing with grief as there are people dealing with it.”
“Probably. How do you cope?”
Summer frowned. She was grieving the pleasant carefree childhood she never got. Parents who would love her and sacrifice for her, who’d try hard not to spoil her and secretly enjoy it when they failed. Who cared enough about being good role models to keep trying when their efforts fell short. “I’ve never thought about it.”
“What do you do when you’re sad?”
“I go for a run. Or I clean. Mostly I clean.” She laughed. “Doesn’t that make me sound exciting?”
“Whoa, yeah, you are one crazy girl.” He nudged her again. “Trust me, it’s healthier than acting out.”
“Look.” Summer pointed. One of the enormous bulls, trunklike nose swinging, was heaving his incredible bulk along the sand at an astounding speed, chasing a squealing female, who was trying as hard as possible to get away from him.
“Aw, isn’t that sweet.” Luke cracked up, leaning into Summer to get a better view. “So romantic, huh? Look at her go!”
Summer giggled. “If someone was coming after me like that I’d run, too.”
“How about if I was chasing after you?”
Oh, gosh. Just when she was about to go giddy at the thought of Luke trying to seduce her, he winked. She reminded herself that this was his autoflirt mechanism, not to be taken seriously.
“Hmm.” She pretended to consider the concept. “Nope. Wouldn’t work. It’s not my style.”
“It does lack subtlety.”
“Have you ever had a serious girlfriend?”
He burst out laughing, harder than she’d ever seen him.
“What?” She had no idea what was so funny. “What did I say?”
“Sorry.” He got himself under control. “It’s just that you asked me that right after I talked about chasing you like a horny elephant seal. Like, ‘Seriously, Luke? Have you ever even had a girlfriend?’”
Summer cracked up. “No, I definitely didn’t mean that.”
“To answer your question, no.” He turned back to the seals, blushing. “I’ve dated around, nothing has ever really stuck. I probably need to grow up.”
His admission surprised her. “Well, you have time. It’s not like you’re fifty and still haven’t.”
“What about you?”
“Do I need to grow up?” She’d had to grow up way too soon. “No, I’m perfect.”
“How nice for you. I was talking about boyfriends.”
“I had a couple. I mentioned them before. They were a little...rough.”
His head jerked around, all laughter gone from his face. “With you?”
“No, no, not like that.” She got a thrill from his protectiveness, even knowing she could take care of herself just fine, and pretty much always had. “One sold drugs. The other one stole. Took me a while to catch on, then when I did, I got out. That was it for me as far as boyfriends. Double fail.”
“Well, you know, Summer, you still have time. It’s not like you’re fifty.”
“So true!” She watched the seals cooling themselves, using their flippers to toss sand onto their backs, though the air was a pleasant temperature to her. Everything was pleasant to her right now. She was starting to realize how lonely she’d been without realizing it, keeping herself frenetically busy to hide the fact that she didn’t have an intimate relationship in her life. Certainly not with her family after she’d moved out. As far as they were concerned, she was either selfish or a traitor or both. And she’d hardly seen Janine since she got her new boyfriend months ago.
