Pieces of Summer

My eyes slip to the right as the bastard reaches over and plucks something from Mika’s hair before starting to back up. Did he just flip me off? Who the hell is he?

“I think I’d rather have Italian,” Whit says, reminding me I’m staring at the wrong girl again.

“Italian?” I ask, clearing my throat. I avert my eyes when Mika and the fuckstick she’s with drive by.

I’ve been so focused on staying away from her that I never even considered the fact she might have someone. My jaw grinds as I watch them pull out of the parking lot, and hear the roar of the small BMW as he gasses it down the street.

“Jealousy is a stupid waste of energy,” Whit bites out bitterly, echoing my words from a week or two ago.

Fuuuuck.

I could deny it, but she’d call me out at this point. “Italian it is.”

“The place by the water. Not the place that just serves garlic bread and lasagna.”

I barely even hear her as I turn out onto the road.

“So, I take it you don’t like her boyfriend or something?” Whit pries. “You two get in a fight over her at one point or something?”

Her boyfriend. Mika has someone. Someone who fits into her life very easily it seems.

My steering wheel leather whines against my grip, and I swear Whit’s eyes burn through me, seeing through to my core. I remember once stereotyping her as a dumb blonde. She’s not dumb. She’s sharp as hell and she’s trying to cut through all the bullshit.

There shouldn’t be any bullshit. It’s been twelve fucking years since I saw her. It’s been just over eleven years since I read a letter from her. It’s been just over eleven years since I realized I didn’t fit into her picture fucking perfect world.

“I don’t know her boyfriend,” I try to say as calmly as possible.

“Really? So you stare at all guys you don’t know like you’re wondering where to hide the body?”

“Fuck, Whit? What are you trying to say?” I snap.

“Nothing, Chase. Not a damn thing. I’m just trying to get you to say what you’re really thinking.”

She crosses her arms over her chest, and I contemplate dropping her off at her apartment and heading back to my house. I need some space and some air.

“Why the eagles?” she asks randomly as we near the restaurant.

“What?”

“On your arm and on your chest. Why the eagles?”

You can’t really tell the one on my arm is an eagle unless you get a good look at it. Or ask what it is like Bill did once upon a long time ago. A lot of people have asked. The one that moves from my chest up my neck is easier to see, but I rarely let people view me without a shirt on because of that damn eagle.

“Why are you asking that?” I deflect.

“Because it’s odd you have a bald eagle on your arm and chest with no explanation as to why, and Mika is putting bald eagles all over the place inside. She even has a quote painted on one of them. ‘On the wings of broken promises comes a stronger resolution.’ Deep stuff right there. Seems like it’s a bit of a coincidence you’d both be obsessed with them.”

“It’s just ink, Whit. Drop it.” I choose to ignore the quote she recited, because it sounds like it’s about me.

Or I’m just being vain.

Then again, she did build our motherfucking bowling alley, so it’s possible vanity is in order.

Whit pushes her door open the second we’re parked, and I slam my truck door behind me. My appetite is completely gone, and the last thing I want to do is sit inside a restaurant while everyone gawks at the James boy.

I’m starting to wonder why I ever even came back to Hayden. I knew it was a bad idea.

As soon as we walk in, I regret not scanning the parking lot. At least I would have been prepared to see her and him. Mika is smiling at the dick as he tells her something. There’s no heat to her gaze though. If anything, it’s more of a friendly smile, not the smile she gets when she’s flushed and excited about something. Not the smile she gives when she’s about to—