Catching Summer (6 page)

He approached me slowly. “I thought you were Lara.”

“Nope, just me.”

“And me,” Jaxon called out, coming around the corner.

Luke narrowed his eyes, the tension growing thicker as they stared each other down. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

I stepped out of the way as they faced off. Jaxon smirked and stood beside me. “I came to join the celebration. I happen to be a part of the team, you know,” he said.

Luke scoffed. “Yeah, but you know very damn well you’re not welcome here.”

“Whoa, okay, what’s going on?” I said, backing up and away from them.

Keeping a venomous glare on Jaxon, Luke said, “Dumbfuck here has a habit of fucking people he shouldn’t. He only cares about getting pussy, no matter the cost. Evan banned him from coming here.”

I scoffed and turned my own glare on Jax. “Then what are you doing here?”

“I’d like to know, too,” Luke snarled.

While they faced off, something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. Something moved inside the house. “Luke, someone’s inside. I just saw movement.”

“Ah, it’s probably one of the guys who passed out on the floor somewhere. I’ll check it out.”

Luke took off for the back door and I followed behind him. But Jaxon grabbed my arm before I could get to the door. “Maybe you should stay outside with me,” he suggested.

“Why? It’s probably just one of the players.”

“Yeah, but you don’t know that. Is it so bad to hang out with me for a few minutes?”

Clenching my jaw, I looked down at his hand, which was still wrapped around my biceps. “It’s going to be bad if you don’t let me go. I’ll be happy to give you a busted lip to go with your nose.”

Immediately, he let me go and stepped back, lifting his arms in the air. I stopped at the door and watched him disappear around the side of the house. As soon as I heard him take off in his car, I rushed inside. Luke was in the living room, running his hands through his hair. “I don’t see anyone, not unless they’re hiding,” he said in a low voice. “But I honestly don’t think any of the guys would do that.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it was just something I imagined.”

“Could be. Do you see anything different?”

I looked around the room, then started down the hall. That was when I noticed Evan’s bedroom door. “Luke,” I whispered, waving him over. I put a finger to my lips and pointed down the hall. “His door is shut. I left it open.”

Knowing Evan was asleep, I followed on Luke’s heels until we got to the door. We could hear movement inside, but I couldn’t tell what was going on. “Stand back,” he said low. “I’m going to open the door.” The light was off in the hall, so I had no clue how he expected to see anything. When he opened it just an inch and peeked inside, his eyes went wide. “Holy fuck, it’s Lindsey.”

“What the hell? What is she doing?”

Luke snarled and slammed open the door, bolting inside. There was light shining into the room from Evan’s bathroom, but all I could see was Luke rushing in and grabbing a naked Lindsey and hauling her over his shoulder. “You have got to be kidding me,” I growled as he raced past. Lindsey shrieked and pounded on Luke’s back as he carried her down the hall. Evan stirred and sat up in bed, his eyes squinting from the light.

“Summer?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Go back to sleep.” He lay back down and almost instantly fell back asleep. Lindsey’s clothes were on the floor, so I hurried to pick them up before Evan could notice. The last thing Luke and I needed was Evan to be drunk and pissed off. It was clear he had no idea what Lindsey was doing. I had a good guess.

I was fuming by the time I got into the living room. Lindsey sat on the couch with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders with Luke standing guard. I threw her clothes at her feet. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

She glared at me and then turned her head. “I don’t have to tell you shit.”

Luke scooped up her clothes and threw them across the room. “If you don’t want to be locked out of this house butt-ass naked, I suggest you answer the fucking question,” he snapped.

With a smug smile, she lifted her chin defiantly. “Evan called and said he wanted me to come over. He said he missed me.”

“That’s bullshit,” Luke scoffed. “We both know he can’t stand to even look at you. You’re nothing but a worthless whore who’ll fuck anything with a dick.”

“Oh, whatever. That was in the past,” she hissed. Then she turned her hardened gaze my way. “I love him, and I’ll do anything to get him back. You’re too much of a good girl to give him what he wants. He’ll get bored very quick.”

“Don’t listen to that bullshit,” Luke said to me. “She’s just jealous that he’s into you and not her.”

“I heard she has a habit of going after men who are taken,” I said.

Lindsey rolled her eyes and whispered “Bitch” under her breath.

“But what I want to know is how she got in if the front door was locked.”

Luke marched over to the front door and opened it, inspecting the lock. “That’s a good question. Which leads me to think she got in another way.”

Lindsey was acting as if what she’d done was normal. She couldn’t care less about sabotaging Evan’s life. I’d learned a lot over the past few years, and one thing was that people didn’t give a shit who they hurt. “What was your goal tonight, Lindsey? Did you think you could come in here and take advantage of him?”

She scoffed. “I don’t have to trick anyone to be with me. He’d fuck me in a heartbeat if I let him.”

Luke’s mouth gaped open in disgust. “What the fuck? You are so goddamned delusional it’s sad.” Pulling out his phone, he began to dial.

“Who are you calling?” I asked.

“I’m calling my friend Jason. He’s a cop. I’m going to get him to take her in. She doesn’t have a fucking key so she broke in somehow. That’s trespassing and breaking and entering.”

Lindsey gasped and immediately jumped to her feet, crying, “Oh my God,
stop.
Don’t call him, please. If I get arrested, I’ll be kicked off the squad. I’ll explain everything if you just hang up the phone.”

Huffing, Luke put his phone away and crossed his arms over his chest. “If you pull this shit again, I’m not going to think twice about turning you in.”

Tears flowed down her cheeks and she actually looked scared. She nodded and sat back down on the couch, hanging her head. “I’m not going to lie. When the opportunity arose, I took it. When we found out that the guys were drunk and Evan was wasted, we came up with a plan.”

“Who is ‘we’?” I asked impatiently.

Lindsey glanced nervously over at Luke, who still had his phone out. I could tell he really wanted to call and turn her in, but he was showing mercy. Was it bad that I wanted to call the police myself and turn her in? From my experiences with her at the restaurant alone, she deserved to be taken down a notch or twelve.

Sighing, she looked down at the floor. “Me and Jaxon. He’s the one who let me in the front door with a set of lock picks. I was with him tonight after the game. I called Brianna to see what everyone was up to and that’s when she told me all the guys were wasted.”

“So that’s it,” Luke interrupted. “You know that when Evan gets drunk he’s basically dead to the world. You could easily get in bed with him and he wouldn’t know it.”

“That was the plan,” she confessed. “I was going to make him think he fucked me.”

“And what does Jaxon get out of this?” he asked.

Lindsey looked up at me. “Her. Jaxon was sure he could get her if he could get Evan out of the way.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “Like Evan would ever believe that he fucked you. Even drunk he wouldn’t be stupid enough. You’d have to have more proof than your word. Because we all know that doesn’t mean shit.”

Releasing a heavy sigh, she closed her eyes. “There’s a used condom in his bathroom.”

I gasped, completely in shock, disgusted. “How could you do that? You really are pathetic, aren’t you? Let me guess, it was the condom you and Jaxon used tonight.”

She opened her eyes and her shoulders sagged. “We’re not all perfect like you.”

I could feel the bile rise up in my throat. Just looking at her made me sick. How could she do that to someone, to try to deceive them so easily? Angrily, I scooped up her clothes and threw them as hard as I could at her face. “Get dressed and get the hell out of here. If I have to look at you any longer I don’t know what I’ll do.”

My hands shook so badly that even clenching them together didn’t help. Luke put a hand over mine and squeezed. “Calm down.”

I glared at Lindsey over his shoulder. “I just want her gone.” Once she had her clothes on, she bolted out the front door and ran across the front yard. I don’t know how long I stood there, but Luke stayed beside me the entire time. “Why do people like to hurt one another?” I whispered.

He sighed. “Some of us are just evil. I know I am, after what I did to Lara.”

“Then why did you? You ripped her heart open after you left.”

He turned to face me, but had his head down. “She scares me, Summer. Lara isn’t the type of girl to take shit off of anyone. I just saved her the trouble of hating me down the road. I fuck everything up, and I sure as hell would’ve messed up with her.”

“You don’t know that,” I said.

“No, but it’s inevitable. She’s too good for me.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right.” His head snapped up, and for a brief second I saw the hurt in his eyes. He tried to hide it, but I caught him. “For whatever reasons you’re pushing her away, make sure you think long and hard on it. She might be heartbroken now, but eventually she will move on. If you have any feelings for her, you might want to let her know before it’s too late.”

He nodded, his smile sad. “I think it’s best for me to stay away from her. I don’t think I can handle hurting her a second time.”

“Neither can she. Unlike me, she tends to hold grudges. It probably wouldn’t work anyway. She’s a little pissed at you right now.” I started for the door and opened it while he stood there clenching his jaw. He still wanted her; I could see it in his eyes. “Are you going to stay here with Evan?”

“Yes, unless you want to take Lindsey’s lead and crawl into bed with him.”

“Not tonight.” I chuckled. “I don’t play that way. And as much as I’ve disliked you for the past few months, thank you for helping me tonight. You’re a good friend to Evan. He’s lucky to have someone like you watching his back.”

He grinned widely. “The same goes for you. Just don’t hate him for getting wasted tonight. I promise he’s a good guy.”

“I know that, Luke. I’ve been around you guys for the last two years. Are you going to tell him what happened?”

Grabbing the remote, he flopped down on the couch and lifted his feet onto the coffee table. “Fuck yeah, I’m going to tell him. I can’t wait to see the look on his face.”

“Just do me a favor, please,” I requested. When he looked back at me, I continued, “If he tries to call me and I don’t answer, tell him not to be alarmed. After everything that’s been going on, I just need a day to myself.”

He straightened, furrowing his brows. “You’re not going to dump him, are you?”

“Dumping him would be implying that we’re actually together. We haven’t discussed any of that. But just so you know, I’m not going anywhere. I like Evan and I want to see him again. All I want is a day to get away.” Sunday was the day I put fresh flowers on Austin’s grave and sat with him. There was a lot weighing on my heart, and I needed to get it out without any distractions. It was going to be hard enough letting Austin go, knowing I was doing it because I was falling for Evan.

My head pounded and the sun was shining too fucking bright. I covered my face with a pillow and groaned. Hopefully, Cooper and Derek felt just as bad as I did. My headache only got worse when the sound of Luke’s voice echoed in my room.

“Wakey, wakey,” he said, laughing. “It looks like you had a good time last night.” I threw the pillow at him and sat up. He dodged out of the way, which made the coffee in his cup spill over and burn his hand. “Goddammit,” he hissed.

Snickering, I lay back down. “Remind me never to look at a Jell-O shot for the rest of my life.”

“Don’t worry. I think you’ll watch what you do from now on once I tell you what happened.”

Gut clenching, I quickly sat up and looked around the room. The last thing I remembered were Summer’s words to me. She had thought I was passed out, but I heard everything. Then I saw her at the door before she shut it. Hopefully, I didn’t say something to piss her off.

“Where’s Summer?” I asked, running my hands through my hair. “Is she still here?”

Luke shook his head. “No, she left last night. Why don’t you take a shower, drink a couple cups of coffee, and take some ibuprofen. You’re gonna want to be wide awake for what I have to say.”

I got out of bed and marched up to him. There was no smile on his face. “You better not have pissed her off and made her leave,” I growled.

“If only it were that simple. We actually talked last night and kind of worked things out. She looks so much like Lara, but they’re completely different.”

“She told me what you did to Lara. It was a dick move, my friend.”

Sighing, he nodded and backed toward the door. “I know. Maybe one day she’ll forgive me. Now take a shower and meet me in the kitchen.”

I took a shower as fast as I could and dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a gray T-shirt before strolling into the kitchen. Luke poured me a cup of coffee and had a couple of pills already laid out on the counter for my headache. It was then I noticed that Luke was wearing my clothes.

“Raiding my closet, I see,” I joked.

“Well, if I was planning on us having a slumber party, I would’ve brought my own. Your sorry ass needed to be babysat last night.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I grabbed the pills and swallowed them down with a swig of coffee.

Luke took a seat across from me and huffed. “If it wasn’t for me, you’d be in a shit ton of trouble right now.”

“How is that? I was with Summer for most of it until I passed out.”

“Exactly. Which brings me to the hours that you weren’t. Did you know that Lindsey came by last night?”

I took another gulp of the black liquid and prayed it would work fast. I hated coffee, but I knew I needed it. “What the fuck did she want?”

He snorted. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe to fuck you? To sabotage you? Take your pick. Apparently, she wanted to make you think you fucked her last night.”

“And how did she plan on doing that? I wouldn’t have let her anywhere near my room.”

“Oh, but she got in and was fully naked by the time I got here.”

I shot out of my chair and glared at him. “What the hell are you saying? Drunk or not, I wouldn’t have touched her even if it was with someone else’s dick. Was Summer here?”

When he nodded, I started for the door, but he stepped in front of me. “Relax, Townsend, it’s not what you think. Summer’s smart enough to know you wouldn’t fuck that bitch. I guess Lindsey and Jaxon were hoping she wouldn’t be.”

“Jaxon?” I growled. “What does he have to do with this?”

Luke took a deep breath and blew it out. “He wanted you out of the way so he could go after Summer. They believed that if she thought you fucked Lindsey, it would be over between you two. That’s why they set this whole thing up, so you’d think you slept with her. He used a set of lock picks to get Lindsey inside.”

“Fuck,” I hissed, running my hands over my face. “What the hell is wrong with them?”

Luke shrugged and sat back down. “I don’t know, and in addition to breaking into your house, Lindsey even planted a used condom in your bathroom.” Eyes wide, I turned to him, my stomach clenched in knots. I was so pissed all I could see was red. I
wanted
to see red, preferably Jaxon’s blood on my fists. “But don’t worry,” Luke said quickly. “I threw it away before you woke up.” My keys were on the counter, so I snatched them up and stormed to the door. This time Luke didn’t stop me.

“Summer’s not mad, if that makes this any easier. I wish you could’ve seen the way she bitched at Lindsey. The girl has fire.”

The last thing Summer needed was to have to deal with my ex and the douchebag players on my team. I was going to make damn sure nothing like this ever happened again. Luke’s baseball cap was on the counter so I tossed it to him and grinned. “Wanna watch me kick some ass?”

Luke caught the hat and slid it on, chuckling. “You’re damn right I do. Let’s go.”

Jaxon lived only ten minutes from my house, but it was the longest ten minutes of my life. If he wasn’t there, I was going to hunt his sorry ass down. “Now don’t kill him,” Luke joked.

“Can’t promise that,” I stormed, clenching the steering wheel tight. “I’m just so goddamned sick of him trying to steal everything from me.” If it wasn’t girls, it was fame and attention. He’d made a big mistake going after Summer.

It just so happened that when I pulled down his street, I could see him in his driveway, washing one of his sports cars. I slammed on the brakes, and my truck came to a screeching halt. His back stiffened, but he turned around and grinned as if nothing was wrong while he rinsed off his car. That pissed me off even more. Luke and I both got out of the truck, but I held out a hand, stopping him.

“I knew you would find out sometime today,” Jaxon said. Those were the only words he had time to speak before I reared back and punched him as hard as I could on his right cheek. His head snapped to the side, but he corrected quickly and dropped the hose, ready to fight. Before he could swing, I punched him again. Only this time it was on the left side. It wasn’t until he fell to the ground with a busted lip and a bleeding nose that I felt satisfaction.

“If you ever try to mess with me or break into my house again, I’m going to snap both of your fucking legs. And if you so much as attempt to breathe near Summer, I’ll make sure you can’t walk for the rest of your life. It’s your choice, cocksucker.”

Jaxon didn’t even attempt to get up, but lay there with a bloody face. A couple of my knuckles were ripped open, but I didn’t care. Luke hopped back in the truck, laughing, but I was too worked up. I needed to see Summer.

“Dude, you fucking murdered him,” he boasted. “Did you see his face? I don’t think he believed you’d go after him like that.”

“Yeah, well, Jaxon’s an idiot. He’s lucky I don’t turn his sorry ass in for breaking and entering.” As much as I wanted to fuck him up, our team needed him. He was the best kicker we’d ever had. Luke spent the rest of the time it took to get to Summer’s house on his phone, no doubt texting his motocross friends about what had happened.

“When’s your next event?” I asked him.

He finally looked up from his phone. “Next weekend. Try not to miss me at your next game.” Only one more turn and we’d be on Summer’s street. I probably should’ve called, but I didn’t want to waste time. Luke glanced around, his eyes wide. “Uh, what are we doing out here? Aren’t we on the wrong street?”

“I want to see Summer.” I pulled into her driveway at the same time Lara backed out of the garage in her red and black Mini Cooper. When she saw us in the rearview mirror, she stopped and got out of the car. Though she looked exactly like Summer, there were some differences in the way they walked and talked. From the way she was dressed in a pair of black slacks and a button-down top, she had to be going to the restaurant. I could always distinguish between her and Summer from the very beginning. There was something about Summer that had always attracted me to her.

“Fuck me,” Luke groaned, running his hands over his face. “I should’ve told you sooner. Summer wanted me to tell you to give her some space. She said she would see you tomorrow.”

Lara started toward us, but I quickly turned and glared at him. “So she
is
pissed at me for last night. What the fuck? Are you sure you’re not making excuses so you don’t have to see Lara?”

He sighed. “It’s more like
she
doesn’t want to see me. If you would’ve told me we were coming here, I could’ve told you sooner.”

“Shit,” I hissed.

Lara finally made it to my truck and looked up at me. I rolled down my window and smiled. “Lara.”

“Evan,” she replied. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see Summer. Last night didn’t go as planned, and I wanted to make sure she’s all right.”

“She’s fine, Evan. I already heard what happened. But unfortunately, she’s not at home.”

“Is she at the restaurant?”

Shaking her head, she looked up at me with weary eyes. “Not yet. She’ll be there later.”

“Then where is she?” I asked.

Sighing, her gaze quickly shifted to Luke before returning to me. “She’s with Austin, at his grave. She’ll probably kill me for telling you this, but she likes to put fresh flowers out there and talk to him. I guess it makes her feel better.”

“I see,” I said, averting my gaze. “That must be why she didn’t want to see me today.”

Lara put her hand on the door, grabbing my attention. “Don’t take it personally, Evan. She’s still coping with her loss. But I can tell you that I haven’t seen her this happy in a long time. Especially after the news she found out this morning.”

“What are you talking about?”

Her smile grew wide. “I’m sure she’ll want to tell you herself. But be prepared to celebrate sometime this week.”

“Thanks, Lara. I appreciate you confiding in me. Hopefully, she’ll tell me tomorrow.”

She nodded and stepped back, keeping her gaze on mine and avoiding Luke’s. “You’re welcome. I’m sure she’ll tell you as soon as she sees you. Oh, and just for the record, if I see Lindsey anywhere near my sister, I’m going to kick her ass. Summer has a reputation to uphold, but I don’t. If I was her, I would’ve beat the shit out of your cumdumpster of an ex.” With the biggest grin on her face, she waved and hurried back to her car. “Toodles.”

I backed out of the driveway with a smile on my face. “How could you fuck someone like her over? You’re seriously stupid, you know that?”

“Rub it in, dickhead,” he griped.

“Oh, I will. I think you lost the only person that could honestly put up with you.”

Clenching his jaw, he turned to look out the window and said no more. He knew I was right.

If Summer wanted her space for the day, I’d give it to her. I didn’t like it, but the last thing I wanted to do was force my way into her life.