Summer Forever

06.

Last Summer

I groaned, rolling over in my sleep, only for my hand to hit a shoulder. My eyes fluttered open, only to immediately shut with the bright influx of sunshine, straining my already bloodshot eyes.

This wasn't my bed. This was—

"Everett?" I muttered, my voice raspy. I eased my eyes open to see his face, just centimetres from mine. His brow furrowed and, without opening his eyes, he replied.

"What's wrong, babe?"

I couldn't help but warm at that. I leaned closer, tracing a hand across his jaw. His lips twitched and I traced a path higher, over his cheekbones until I reached his brow. I smoothed a hand over his forehead before wrenching his eyelids open.

"Wake up!"

He groaned, rolling away as I burst into laughter.

"You're evil, Isla!" he complained, rubbing his hands over his eyes.

"Hey, you're the one who said our time together is limited," I teased, sitting upright.

He turned slowly, glaring at me over his shoulder. We both paused, waiting for the other to make a move. And then, his lips pulled into a wide grin, and he leapt forward, grabbing me at the waist and tackling me into the mattress.

I giggled, wriggling out of his grip, but he was too strong—too big over me. He pinned me down at an awkward angle, leaning over me until his face hovered above mine.

"Am I still evil?" I asked, smirking.

"The most," he replied.

"Just because I woke you up?"

He laughed, leaning closer and closer until his lips brushed my jawline, and traced a line down my neck.

"For that," he hummed against my skin. "But mostly for making me fall so in love with you."

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Now

I rolled over in my bed, my hand smacking Sky in the stomach with a loud grunt.

"Move over," she groaned, shoving my hand off of her.

"You move over, this is my bed," I replied, my voice rough with sleep.

After Sky's sudden appearance, we spent the afternoon kicking out stragglers and cleaning the apartment. It was pointless, really, considering River had cleaners come in afterwards anyway, but it had felt like the old days for a moment.

It felt like Shellside Bay, with Sky nursing our hangovers and handling our drunken mistakes—and by our, I meant River's. His guests had destroyed half our furniture. The couch had a permanent tilt to it now.

Sky was moved in by sunset.

It hadn't taken long. All she had was a duffel bag of clothes, and then we were set. We were officially roommates—for the next few weeks. And then she'd be gone again.

I was going to make these few weeks stretch out for as long as possible.

She flipped over, her face burying in her pillow. Her words were muffled when she spoke. "Don't you have a class or something?"

I sighed, my eyes opening. I did, except I'd been planning on skipping it. It was a biology class—a class where I knew nobody and sat alone in the back, struggling to absorb any information while the professor read off a PowerPoint presentation.