Summer and May

Chapter Forty-Seven: Jeremy

The way May and I left things made me feel sick. It seemed that just when her and I got to a good place, something would get in the way. I understood why we weren't together just yet; she was a loyal friend with a tender heart. She needed to mend her friendship before she could be with me, and I accepted that. That didn't keep me from praying that she could be mine, but I was a patient man. She was a woman worth waiting for.

Being around her was like medicine. It made the thoughts in my head go quiet, and everything made sense in her presence. When she danced in Sully's kitchen to oldies music, when she painted his walls and jumped off his dock... It changed something in me. It made me want to leave behind my adolescent ways and be a better man. She brought me a relief that I had yet to find in anyone else.

If being around her was medicine, kissing her was pure addiction. Her lips on mine ingrained a feeling in my chest that I couldn't shake. I knew I shouldn't have kissed her. I shouldn't have whispered in her ear, kissed her neck, or slipped my shirt off of her, but God I couldn't help myself. She is the most feminine, brilliant, sexy woman I'd ever met. Friends don't do this, I whispered to her repeatedly that night, only solidifying the electricity between us. Those memories only made our last conversation hurt worse.

Did she not feel the same? Was she willing to walk away? I sure as hell wasn't. I came to Shimmer Lake this summer with a mind full of childlike habits and dizzying concerns about what lies ahead, and I've left it as a man, wanting to make a better life for myself. May was an integral part of that picture. But did she want to be a part of it?

I wished that Sully was here, in his full state of mind, to knock some sense into me. His last words to me were about May, reminding me that I can't mess up something that's meant for me. I wondered now if I had messed things up beyond repair. I reached for my phone, dialing the number of my other sounding board, someone that I hadn't seen all summer.

"Kayce? It's me."

"Jere?" A rustling on the other end of the phone crackled in my ear. "How the hell are you?"

I stared out at the water, my feet hanging off the dock. "It's been too long. Wanted to catch up."

I could picture my best friend on the other end of the line escaping from the dugout, cleats digging in the Northern California dirt. "Well, conditioning is kicking my ass. I've never been so sore in my life." he strained. "You should be here, but I'm glad you got to spend your summer with your grandpa. I'm sorry for your loss, by the way."

Kayce and I received a scholarship from the same school, and it seemed that he was the only one to understand why I turned it down.

"Thanks. It's been..." I sighed. There wasn't a single word that could define this summer. "Interesting."

"Oh, is that so?" He chuckled, while the sound of metal baseball bats bleated in the background. The coach seemed to dismiss everyone then, the chatter of other players passing by.

"I met a girl."

He laughed, loudly, through the speaker. "Every good story starts that way. Tell me about her."

Kayce listened carefully as I told him about May, and Summer, too. He found it comical that I'd found myself in such drama, considering I preferred to keep to myself and my friends. When I finally caught him up to last night's events, his responses grew more serious.

"That's tough, man. Do you want my real opinion, or what you want to hear?"

I breathed evenly. "You already know the answer to that."

He sighed, most likely followed by a scratch of his head. He always did that before dropping some truth on me. "Your parents are right. I've been here for a month, and college is just as amazing as they say it is. Then again, you've had your priorities straight for as long as I've known you. If you want to take over the business, you could do it."