Pieces of Summer

“Her brother is gone too,” Blake says, still grinning at me. “Left yesterday. I checked his car myself before he left for the airport. Says he’ll be gone for a while, but he’ll be back. Seems intent on keeping a close eye on his baby sister. Even asked me to call him if anything seems off with her, but to keep my hands to my-fucking-self. His words. I don’t even know the guy.”

“They’re twins,” I say as though that explains his protectiveness, even though I don’t know why I say it. He wasn’t protective of her when they were growing up.

I shouldn’t be thinking about anything from the past, but I guess it’s better than thinking about Mika being alone in that house.

“Gonna storm tonight,” Beth adds, still watching me like I’m a science experiment that might bubble over at any moment.

“Heard it was going to be a rough one. Probably some power outages and such. Hope Mika isn’t scared of the dark,” Blake goes on.

I flip them both off just as my next appointment walks in. Fucking great. Now I really can’t stop thinking about her. Mika used to love the storms when I was there with her because it meant I’d be holding her against me all night.

The thunder scared her. Her parents… They just let us sleep together in the sunroom, curled up in each other’s arms on a blanket like we weren’t two kids feeling things too intense for our age.

I told her I loved her the first time during a storm. I also went down on her during a few storms to keep her mind off them.

Glancing down, I curse. Great. Now I’m going to have to ink a skull on a man’s arm while I’m sporting an obvious boner. This should be all over town by tomorrow morning.

Chapter 18

MIKA

“Thanks for making it stop,” Chase tells me, still trying to catch his breath after the nightmare.

“I’ll always be here. Always,” I promise him as he holds me against him. The lightning crashes, causing me to jump, and he chuckles as I burrow into his side.

“I’ll always be here too,” he says against my head, kissing it.

I grin like an idiot, but I sigh happily in his arms despite the raging storm that has cut all the power off.

“I love you,” I tell him, even though he never says it back.

“You know you’re the only person who has ever said that to me?” he asks, but it’s not a sad question. He states it so matter-of-factly. Even though it breaks my heart, I nod. It’s not like I haven’t figured that one out without having to be told.

Leaning up, I stare down into his eyes as he gazes up at me from the floor.

“I don’t just love you,” I confess, ignori

ng the shakiness in my voice. “I’m in love with you.”

His body tenses for a second, and I start to regret the words. But suddenly I’m being flipped onto my back and he comes down on top of me. At thirteen, I’ve just started realizing the new way my body responds to him, and heat floods through me, making me regret pajama pants instead of shorts when I start worrying about breaking out into a sweat.

His eyes study mine, and I don’t look away.

“I’m in love with you too, Mika. Have been. Always will be.”

The thunder claps, snapping me out of old memories, and I shrink against the couch, hearing it roar across the sky next. If I wouldn’t feel utterly ridiculous about it, I would cover my head with the blanket.

I forgot how nasty the summer storms could get here. Tree limbs slap the side of the house, sounding like claws slicing and trying to break in. Vivid images assault me… images of the trees actually growing claws. I’ll put that in one of my paranormal murder/mysteries.

Something pounds heavily against the door, and I squeal while cursing my inner girl.

Jumping up, I move to the door, peeking out the window. I’m met with a set of blue eyes that are staring into mine as the rain blows in on the porch. He’s soaked, and staring, and I go to war with the voice in my head that tells me to leave him out there.

Taking a deep, painful breath, I open the door, and rain blows inside before he gets in. I actually struggle to get the door shut against the wind, and he leans over me, pushing it closed with one hand beside my head.

I feel a drop of water fall on my shoulder just as a warm breath heats me through my hair. My entire body goes stiff as Chase stays close to my back. Too close.

“What are you doing here?” I whisper, staring at the door and ignoring the way his hand feels when it moves and comes to rest on my hip.