Falling for Summer (4 page)

“Summer, I found them! Fresh fluffy newly-washed towels. I know Aunt Sookie isn’t here, but I don’t want to drip water all over the oriental rugs…”

Drew. Speak of the devil. My mischievous brother is here, too. He is standing there at the doorway from the room he and I share at the Pad, dumbfounded. He’s wet, only wearing boxer shorts, and they cling to his muscular body like a second skin while he tries to dry himself off with the towels.

“Hey, Nat,” he says. “That was you at the door? What are you doing here?” He eyes me suspiciously instead of welcoming me.

I try to hide the red hot jealousy that springs into my chest. Seeing him here dressed like that in the middle of the night, and seeing Summer dressed like that…I can only guess what has been going on, especially where Drew is concerned. What am I doing here? What made me suddenly drop everything, stop studying for my exam, risk failing my exam and ensuring the wrath of Dad upon me to fly out here tonight?

“I was worried about Summer and wanted to check on her,” I say calmly.

“All the way from San Francisco?” Drew asks. “There’s more to it than that.” His eyes narrowed slightly at me. I can tell he’s not happy seeing me here.

It’s funny, although I see Mom every other day at our parents’ home to check up on her and see if she’s taking her medication for depression, I hardly see Drew and Rachel much these days. They’re busy, and I don’t live at home now that I’m at Stanford. Drew and I are close, but after last summer, it is as though there is a wall of ice between us. I should be happy seeing him again after a few days, but I’m not. Why is he here with Summer?

“I can say the same about you,” I say, getting up from the sofa. “And why are you and Summer both dripping wet? You two go for a swim?”

Drew looks over at Summer, and she laughs. “As a matter of fact, we did go for a swim.”

Drew hands a towel to Summer, and she takes it, wiping her hair with it. I can’t help staring at her as she does it. With every movement of her arms, it looks like her bikini top can come undone at any given time. And like any red-blooded male, I wouldn’t want to miss the show. But then again, this is Summer, I’m getting hot and bothered over, feeling shameful and a little dirty. My Summer from every summer before.

“Here,” I say, aware that Drew is staring at her in the same way I am. “Let me help you.” I take one of the towels from Drew and go to stand behind Summer, wrapping her hair into the towel and wringing the wetness out of it. I can smell the sweet jasmine and honeysuckle scent of hers when I’m this close. The smell intoxicates me, and I can see that I’m leaning in closer to her until my chest is pressed against the small of her back.

I have Summer’s head wrapped in a towel now, and she rests her head against my chest, closing her eyes. “Hmm, that feels good,” she says. “Your fingers have worked wonders on my scalp. When did you learn to massage heads like that?”

I could have burst out laughing at that the innocence of that comment, but my mind is too entrenched in the gutter thinking of not-so-innocent images it conjures up.

Drew is hiding a smirk too, and I could tell where my little bro’s mind has gone, too. Poor Summer. Caught between the sandwich of two devious and devilish Donovan brothers.

“He learned how to massage heads like that a long time ago when he discovered he has one,” Drew says.

The look on Summer’s face as she turns the shade of red matching my t-shirt, is priceless. Sweet because that blush shows how innocent she is, and sexy because that blush is the same kind that shows up when a girl is passionately in the throes of sex. “Oh, I see,” she says. “Does everything have to boil down to that?”

Drew nods. “For the most part with guys like us, yes.”

I say, “Especially with guys like us.” Drew and I look at each other. At least we have that male bonding understanding between us.

Summer grabs a pillow from the sofa and throws it at me, hitting me square in the jaw. It knocks my head back a little, and I’m even sure if Summer has thrown harder, I will be headless by now.

“That,” Summer says, “is how to get your mind out of the gutter.

Drew is laughing. “Nat, don’t feel bad. It’s not every day that you get thrown at and nearly decapitated by one of America’s hottest rising volleyball player, Summer Jones.”

Summer is blushing big time now. “Drew, I was going to tell Nat.”

“Tell me what?” I ask Summer, looking at her and then at Drew.

“That I won a scholarship to USC playing college volleyball,” Summer says almost as if embarrassed by it.

“Wow, that’s great!” I say, reaching for her and pulling her in for a big hug. “That’s big news alright.”

“Here’s the bigger surprise,” Drew says. “Even Mom and Dad don’t know yet.”

“Spill,” I say, getting impatient with Drew. “Is it something I have to tell Mom and Dad?”

“They’ll find out soon enough,” Drew says grinning.

“Is that the reason why you’re here?” I asked.

“One reason,” Drew says and his expression changes from that cocky grin to a look of tenderness. He’s looking at Summer, and I can tell, he’s just as in love with her as this summer. Months away from Summer, hasn’t changed that.

“So why are you here in the middle of the night at Sookie’s?”

Drew smiles this slow smile that reminds me of the cat that just ate the canary. “I’ve just been accepted into USC’s early admissions program. On the condition that I can finish a couple of assignments from my AP classes and get them in early before Christmas Break, I could even start next semester.”

If my jaw hasn’t fallen to the ground already, I would have done a double take. Drew’s slow smile has turned into a big grin, and Summer is hugging him so tightly, almost completely plastered full length against him damp skin against damp skin, that I think even if my jaw had been wiping the floor, Drew wouldn’t notice. “So you decided to accept after all?” Summer says. “I know you’re here to see the campus today, and it took all day, but that’s a real quick decision.”

Drew looks over at me, and I can see the triumph in his face. “I didn’t have to think about it, Sum,” he says.

“So you and I,” she says, shaking her head. “What’s the probability of both of us getting a scholarship to USC and starting college early? Must be someone looking out for us,” she says.

“Yes,” Drew says, glancing at Aunt Sookie’s photo on the mantel. “I definitely believe that’s true.”

“So you’ll be moving here after all?” Summer says happily.

“If you have room here for me,” Drew looks innocently around the room. “I mean I don’t want to intrude, but I doubt I can find an empty dorm room at this time of the year.”

“Drew!” Summer is playfully slapping his arm. “This is your house as much as it is mine. And Nat’s and Rachel’s. You are all welcome to stay and live here. Aunt Sookie would have wanted that. She didn’t have kids of her own so we’re like her children.”

“Okay,” Drew says. “I just thought maybe I can find a place closer to campus, but…”

“Look, Drew,” Summer says. “I’m going to be starting the same time as you, and I’m going to be new on campus, too. We can carpool and go to campus together. I’ll at least know someone there. We can be each other’s support group.”

“Put it like that, Summer, it makes sense.” Drew lets out a big grin and says, “Twist my arm, Summer. I’ll move in here with you and drive you to school, too. It’ll be like old times when Aunt Sookie and all of us are here, except it’ll just be us.”

“Yes, just you two,” I say to Drew. “How convenient. I wondered how that happened.”

“Hard work, Bro,” Drew says, “some luck and timing.”

Yeah right. Knowing Drew, he probably charmed his way into Admissions, using that Donovan charm of his.

“So, how’s your mother these days?” I ask Summer, wanting to change the topic. I know I should be congratulating Drew, but I couldn’t. Not when I feel it should be me staying here and playing house with Summer, as I’ve always done since we were kids. I was her knight-in-shining armor. I’ve always protected her and been there when she needed me. I can’t shake the jealousy so I refocus.

“My mother,” Summer’s face is expressionless, “is traveling for her job with the Marines as before. Good timing that I declared myself independent last year so I can get around on my own especially now that Aunt Sookie’s gone.”

I see Summer look down, and when she looks up, her eyes are glistening with unshed tears. It’s the elephant in the room. Aunt Sookie isn’t here. Three of us are, but this house feels empty without her, and Summer living here by herself must be missing her intensely. I know I miss her, and if I miss her like the way I do, I know that Summer must be hurting much more than she let on.

I go to Summer then, take her out of Drew’s arms, and fold her into mine. It’s what I’ve been wanting to do ever since I got here, to hold her and touch her, to run my fingers through her hair.

I’m running my hands through them now, and holding her tight against me, feeling how cold her skin is, when I pull her closer and try to warm her up by rubbing her arms with mine. She looks up into my face then, and I can see the hurt and the pain in her emerald eyes, clear as day. She’s looking at me with a look that beckons for me to kiss her, to ravage her mouth with everything I’ve got.

It is so hard to resist. I want to kiss her as she wished, but I couldn’t. Not at that moment. Not with Drew right there in the same room, looking pissed. As much as I want Summer, as much as I love her, and would do anything for her, I couldn’t rub it into Drew’s face that Summer and I still have strong feelings for each other, and it seems that no amount of distance has diminished the way she feels for me, and at that moment, I couldn’t care if she is with Astor, Drew, or no one. All I know is that I want Summer. More than anything else in my life right now, I want her. And I’ll get her even if I have to fight for her.

Chapter
3

Drew

W
hen did Nat ever do something spontaneous? Never that’s when, so when Mr. Straight and Narrow shows up at Sookie’s Pad at 2 AM in the morning, with that pained and anxious look on his face that says he is out on a mission, a mission that only another man in love can see, I wanted to kick him back to whatever hangar he arrived from.

I’m angry. Seething mad inside. Nat should. Not. Be Here. He had his chance all these years to act on his feelings for Summer and to reciprocate Summer’s feelings for him, but he didn’t. Now here he is, acting like a knight in shining armor, trying to rescue the damsel in distress.

Too late. I beat him to the punch.

I had already spent the day with Summer, arriving into town this morning and having breakfast with her. My excuse? Anything, but it turns out I have something legitimate for an excuse. I’m here visiting campus, trying to decide whether or not to go to USC for early admissions. That’s a legitimate one, but the other one I give Summer is that I wanted to celebrate her birthday with her early. She’s turning eighteen, like Rachel and I had a few weeks ago.

Man, I do not know how it’s possible, but Summer looks even more stunning now than she’s been during summer. She’s gotten more toned everywhere, and her face has that golden tan. That’s just the natural part of her. The rest, the hair and the way she dresses…it’s like she’s become super sexy. She’s definitely now the girl who walks into a bar (not that she can be at one right now being under 21) and all the guys will be ogling her. I don’t think I like that idea. Seeing her all sexed up looking drives me over the top with want for her, but at the same time, I want her to tone it down. I’ll be fighting every single guy who looks at her that way.

“Since losing Aunt Sookie,” Summer says when I asked how she’s doing, “I poured more of my time and energy into being on the volleyball team just so I wouldn’t miss her. Then we got good, really good and kept winning all the games. It wasn’t until some scout from USC came by and told me they were building their women’s volleyball team there and wanted me to be part of it, that the reality of me winning a scholarship to USC to play volleyball, became a reality. Scholarship to USC and all.”

“Sounds like you’re doing great,” I say, a bit disappointed she didn’t mention how much she missed me. I have a bit of an ego, I know, when it comes to women and how many of them keep throwing themselves at me. But all that doesn’t matter when it comes down to Summer. She’s what counts to me, and I have almost nearly given up all girls and all sex because of her. She’s the reason why I haven’t slept with a girl for a while.

Although she’s been dating Astor Fairway for a while, I still have hope she’s going to come around and notice me standing there, always there for her when she needs me, always there for her when she wants someone who can really show her what passion is. Because someday when we make love, I’m certain I can and will rock her world.

I keep hoping and I know things are changing. I can feel it deep within my bones she’s changing.

So when I get a text from her a couple of days ago, I dropped everything to see her again.

Drew,
Summer texted:
How are you? I need some advice. Maybe you can help?

I texted back
: How can I help?

I find out the next day after her text that USC has offered me a football scholarship, and even early admission with some conditions. The news couldn’t come at a better time. In fact, it’s the news I’ve been waiting for since I left Summer and Malibu at the end of summer. It tore my heart that I couldn’t stay with Summer, that I couldn’t be there physically for her right after Aunt Sookie’s death.

I never let anyone, not Mom, not Dad, not Nat or Rachel know my plans to come back to Malibu, to move there and hopefully be with Summer. It makes sense. I’ll move back and help out at the acting academy while I attend college at USC. But I had to get into USC, whether it is because of football or any other way. I was that determined. And it paid off.

USC granted me a scholarship and early admissions. Turns out I had enough AP credits from the year before and even this semester for a half a semester early graduation from high school. I didn’t know it, but someone had rigged it so that I had several extra credits to graduate early, and at first I thought it was Dad. What with him being a billionaire and his connections. But it doesn’t make sense. He would want me to stay in San Francisco for as long as he can so he can make sure I attend his Alma Mater Stanford, play professional football, and enter the family business. Not graduate early, traipse off to Southern California, attend another college besides Stanford, and spend my free time teaching acting at some acting school. Dad’s practical, and what I have planned, is not practical at all. No, it couldn’t be Dad’s hand in helping me graduate early and get settled into my college of choice early. It has to be someone else. But who?