Summer Girl - Chapter 20

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Chapter TWENTY 


I was nervous - very nervous - walking into the cottage again, behind Max. It was late and I had no idea what to expect. Harley hadn't texted at all while we were gone. The cottage smelled like smoke and bacon, and I wondered what I was even doing there.

   "Maybe I should go home," I said to Max, quietly.

  He stopped, turning around to face me. "You want to?"

  I shrugged, looking away. "I don't know. I'm...tired."

  "Me too," he agreed, smiling.

  I watched him as he put down the case of beer on the small kitchen table, then took one out and opened it. He didn't offer me one. I wondered where their Dad was.

  Harley came into the kitchen a few minutes later, from down the hall. His hair was messy and he yawned, then smiled at me.

  "You came back," he said, staying in the doorway.

  "Yeah," I nodded. "We just got here."

  Harley looked at Max, who was drinking the beer, fast. "You two have fun?"

  I didn't say anything, so Max chimed in. "We got ice cream."

  "Ah," Harley said.

  "Are you two going to go hang out, or are we all going to...?" Max blurted out suddenly, putting the empty beer bottle back onto the table.

  "I'm actually tired," I said again, watching for Harley's reaction.

  "I am, too," he told me.

  "I'll go... we can hang out tomorrow?" I suggested.

  I was pretty sure Harley wanted me to stay, but I wasn't ready for that. Staying overnight with Max was one thing, but Harley made me feel nervous and crazy. Max was right, we should not rush into anything. And if I stayed, I didn't know what I would let happen.

  "Oh, okay," he said to me, trying desperately to not look disappointed.

  I walked closer to him, and tilted my head to the side a bit. He smiled and pulled me into a hug. "Tomorrow," he whispered in my ear.

  I hugged Max and then turned to go back outside. It was late and dark, but the Jetta was just on the road. I walked quickly, letting out a breath when I got to it. Inside, I put my head back and sighed. I knew it was a good idea to leave, but driving back to the beach house felt wrong.

  

   The next few days were a blur. Harley and I got close, fast. It was like he was desperate to be near me, touch me, kiss me. He sighed dramatically when I had to go to work. He would be waiting in the parking lot to pick me up when I was done my shift. It was so good, so wild, and I was so happy. I never wanted that feeling to stop.

  It was two weeks after Cora and Tom had left - half way into their trip - when I pulled up to the beach house after work and saw Clara's blue Camry in the driveway. My stomach tightened. I hadn't heard from her at all since she left. I hadn't even thought about her. Why was she here now?

  Even though I wanted to drive away, I parked and went inside. I stepped out of my shoes by the door and walked through into the kitchen, where I saw Clara and a tall, dark skinned guy, sitting at the table.

  There was music playing from the stereo on top of the fridge, but it suddenly didn't feel like the beach house that it had been just that morning. The kitchen that I had made out with Harley in just the night before. The house I planned to watch a movie in that night, with Harley and Max. It seemed different.

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