Pieces of Summer

I was young then. I’m not anymore. So why do I still feel like I can’t control myself around her? Why am I fucking hiding in my own town from her?

Rolling my eyes and groaning, I try to explain a little more. Whit deserves it.

“She used to come up on the summers, and finally, one summer she took my V-card. End of story. It was the last summer I saw her,” I say, downplaying it without lying to her.

“So you’re both wild-eyed, crazy, and avoiding each other because she took your virginity? That’s it?” she asks me, even though her words are loaded with suspicion.

“Summer was intense. I’m the one who ended it, Whit. Not her.”

I’m the one who burned every letter that came after that day. I’m the one who knew it was smart to just move on. At least she finally quit sending the letters and moved on too. But what the fuck is she doing with our bowling alley in my town now after all these years? Why isn’t she a fucking doctor in New York?

And how the fucking hell am I going to stay away from her?

Whit runs a hand through her hair, still studying me. “So you’re over her? Because you both looked like it happened just yesterday. How long ago was it?”

“Eleven years ago it technically ended, but twelve years ago was the last summer I saw her,” I say without even having to think about it, then wince when her eyes widen. I knew those numbers too quickly. I should have at least pretended to count it up.

“Okay,” she says quietly, backing away. “I should probably get to work.”

I step aside and let her out, and she doesn’t look back at me before she shuts the door to the room. I haven’t even been able to fucking touch her in that way since the day I saw Mika back in town. She’s already in my head, and I barely even saw her.

I need to get my shit together before she tears it all apart.

Chapter 9

MIKA

Whit walks into my office, and I grimace. I’ve been dreading this. It’s not like I’ve been subtle about hiding from her. This is the first time I’ve even come back to the damn bowling alley in over a week, and I’ve had my office locked for most of the day.

“We need to talk,” she says, shutting the door without waiting for an answer.

She takes a seat in front of my desk, and I pause on the manuscript I’m working on to give her my attention.

“Why did you move to Hayden?” she asks bluntly.

Shit.

He’s told her.

“Because my dad’s house was going to be sold to my stepmother’s son if I didn’t buy it. It… It was just wrong to let it go to someone who was going to turn back around and sell to someone else just to get around the will stipulations. That house means a lot to me and my brother.”

Okay, so just to me, but Aidan likes it enough for it not to be an outright lie.

She studies me for a long, intense moment. “So this isn’t about getting back Chase? He told me you took his virginity.”

I wince. Hearing it worded so emotionlessly with such blunt force takes away from how special I once thought it was.

“It’s not real, Mika. It’s just the way your mind has processed the physical contact. It triggers too much irrationality. None of it is real. Breathe in. Breathe out. Now tell me about Kyle. Was he your last? Did you have any feelings for him at all?”

“No. I didn’t even like him.”

“But you still had—”

“Mika?” Whit’s voice draws me back to the present and out of my dark memories, reminding me we’re having a serious conversation.

“I thought he’d left Hayden. The last update I saw on his Facebook page was that he was moving. Then he shut down social media, so I assumed he didn’t want anything tethering him to this place after his mother died.”

She blinks a few times. “So you two have kept in touch?”