Pieces of Summer

“And refrain from seeing him?”

“You know I can’t give definitive answers like that when there are uncontrollable variables involved. It’s against my therapy.”

I feel her smile. “Good answer, Mika.”

Hanging up, I stare at the message on my phone Chase must have sent while I was talking with Dr. Stein.

CHASE: Not sure what just happened, but I’ll come over if you want me to after I finish up here.

ME: Not tonight.

Time to break a habit and deal with the consequences. Hope nothing important gets broken.

Chapter 29

CHASE

MIKA: Not tonight.

I’ve looked at that message for the past two days, waiting on it to magically turn into, yes please. It never does.

Cursing, I lock up my shop, wondering why she hasn’t called me in two days. Or messaged me. It feels like she’s fucking playing with me, but Mika wouldn’t do that. At least not the Mika I once knew. It’s stupid to believe she’s exactly the same after all these years though.

Pulling up to the bar, I groan, staring ahead and considering my options. Have a beer with Blake or go over to Mika’s house and surprise her so that she’s on the spot and has to tell me what’s going on.

She left my shop without a word, and acted like she had been struck or something. I thought it was the Montgomery remark, but that doesn’t make sense. I let it be known I was sticking around without actually saying it. I wasn’t ever really considering Montgomery to begin with. Moving to Bama doesn’t appeal to me, just like Tennessee didn’t. Just like South Carolina didn’t. Just like nowhere else in general did.

Hayden, as fucked up as it is, is the only place I feel like I can call home, and that’s because of summer. Even before she came back and I hated summer, it still only felt right to be here because of summer.

Blowing out a breath, I climb out of my truck and head inside. Blake is waiting at a table for me, and he motions for the waitress to bring me a drink.

“You look like shit,” he says as I sit down.

“You look like sunshine and roses, grease monkey,” I tell him, motioning to the smudges of oil all over his shirt and neck.

“Rough day,” he says with a shrug.

“Same here.”

Lifting my gaze, I spot Whit in the corner, having a drink with Jessie Logan. Both girls swing their eyes toward me at once, and Whit stands to walk this way.

“Glad to see you here. You can buy me a drink to make up for loving someone else while dating me,” she says with a lopsided grin. She’s drunk. Definitely drunk.

“You remember you fucked someone else, right? As in while we were together?” I remind her. “But yeah, I’ll buy you a drink.”

She laughs as she drops to the empty chair beside me, and Jessie comes to sit down beside Blake, giggling like she’s just as drunk as Whit.

“Not working tonight, I assume,” Blake says to Whit.

“Nope. I have two days off back-to-back and I’m going to enjoy them. I do have a question though.”

“What’s that?” Blake asks her, but she turns her eyes to me.

“What’s the deal with Mika? It’s been driving me crazy. She refuses to look at schedules, she refuses to hear about anyone who has called in, and she refuses to look over any of the numbers for the bowling alley even though they’re really good.”

I shrug, because I have no fucking idea.

“And why move here from New York and open that place up if you don’t care about it?” Jessie prods.