“Ah, fuck it. Eat your pussy cookies.”
Damn right I would if given half the chance with Summer. “Ha! All mine, Oz!” It was too easy to taunt him with his quick temper.
I took the tray in one hand, leaned on my stronger leg, and held them up victoriously. Summer was the most thoughtful person I’d ever met.
She looked so worried when the ambulance crew wheeled me in on that ridiculous gurney. The medical staff at the marathon pulled me from the race and had insisted I take the ambulance to the emergency room where she happened to
be a nurse. It was a blow to my ego I was still recovering from. It didn’t help that my buddy Dana, a paramedic, had insisted on belting me down on the bed as a joke. I still didn’t think it was funny when she howled with laughter about it when I saw her last. Dana should know by now that paybacks were a bitch among our prankster group of friends.
Ford narrowed his eyes in my direction, and I felt the guilt for lusting after his sister squeeze my heart. Ford didn’t like guys mooning over Summer and would pull an Indiana Jones witch-doctor move on anyone who was inappropriate with her. Unfortunately, every guy in the department had probably had inappropriate thoughts about Summer at least once after meeting her. He was my best friend and I liked my organs intact, so I kept all those thoughts to myself. Over the years, it grew harder to keep quiet, and I struggled with how it would affect our friendship.
“Man!” Throwing his hands up, Oz made a big deal of not getting any real cookies and walked down to the hot tub.
“Never met a rookie nearly as focused on food as you, man.” Ford shook his head, squeezing my shoulder meaningfully. He took a long drag of his beer and followed after Oz, leaving me with Summer. I’d been pretty sure Ford knew nothing of my whole spank bank of thoughts about his sister right up until he dug his fingers into my skin. Yeah, I wasn’t good at hiding my feelings from Ford, but since I was on crutches, he probably thought I was harmless… for now.
Tucking a curl behind her ear, Summer watched her brother walk away before she leaned in close, her smile timid. “I also brought ribs from Pappy’s Smokehouse, but we should probably keep that a secret for a bit longer. You know… until the rest of the crew gets here.”
I tugged on that teasing curl of hair, whispering back, “Your secret is safe with me, mostly because I don’t eat meat.” Adorable giggles pursed her lips I wanted to kiss.
“And me! We can’t have Oz eating it all,” Benjamin interrupted from the grill, where he was clearly listening in. I was once again reminded that our group was worse than a bunch of church ladies gossiping in a sewing circle.
“I think I need to get off this leg for a bit,” I said loudly enough for Benjamin to hear as I hobbled back, making a little show of how unsteady I was.
Benjamin snorted, flipping more burgers onto the grill. I was pretty sure he saw right through my bullshit, but he said nothing.
“Oh no! Is it not healing properly?” Summer’s face paled as she covered her mouth with her shaking fingers.
Unable to stop my staring, I pulled her hand away from her beautiful face wishing she would stop hiding and tugged her along with me. I was starting to think that maybe she was just as nervous as I was, and maybe more than a little interested. Summer didn’t make everyone cookies, not with her busy nursing schedule, and certainly not a special recipe she had to look up either. I hoped I wasn’t reading too much into this, but my gut was telling me to go for it.
“The doctor said I should stay off my leg whenever possible.” I moved to the covered double swing in the corner and sat down, resting my crutches on the floor and bringing Summer with me.
“But Beau said you wouldn’t need surgery, right?” Summer sat down next to me, resting her hand delicately over my bad knee. I swore the temperature outside rose about ten degrees as her slim fingers got dangerously close to my fire pole. I didn’t feel bad at all having her undivided attention for a change and let my arm stretch out behind her pulling her in closer.
“Dr. Lassiter?” I bristled, thinking about her ex-boyfriend giving me discharge instructions when I landed in the ER. “No, I went to an orthopedist and got checked out. It’s a bad sprain, and sometimes the knee doesn’t fully support me yet. I’ll wear a brace and go to regular rehab to strengthen it.”
Dr. Beau Lassiter was a douche canoe. I knew Summer had dated Doctor Dick and I feared I missed my chance with her. The asshole had scooped her up on her first round in the ER and cheated on her the entire time. I wouldn’t trust my neighbor’s feral cat to that guy. Dana kept me up to date with whatever hospital gossip there was in exchange for my vegan chocolate banana shake recipe. Ford had been strangely cryptic about their breakup, and if he seriously thought I was interested in his baby sister, I could predict a five-alarm emergency quicker than a tornado touch down.
“You know I’m not seeing him anymore, right?” She avoided eye contact and moved her hand from my knee to pick at a loose string on the hem of her white cotton halter dress. I glanced over at her watching her blush spread over her golden tan from her shoulders to her hairline. Yeah, I made her nervous, and that made me strangely happy.
“I’d heard that.” Seeing Ford engaged in conversation with another lieutenant several yards away, I took a chance and tapped my finger on the end of her nose, playfully letting it linger there.
She peeked up at me from under thick lashes, her eyes a darker gray now and her breath a mere puff of sweet air from between her lips. There was something special about Summer that made me poetic. She was unlike any woman I had dated in the past or was remotely interested in. She made me notice things like the moment the butterflies in my backyard slowed their wings and hovered over wildflowers. All the background noises faded to a hum of beer bottles hitting a can and friendly voices bantering back and forth. Summer was the kind of girl that made me want to hand over my man card, singing her praises no questions asked.
I swallowed back something stupid to say; all I could seem to do around my best friend’s little sister was turn into a dumb monkey when her eyes focused on me. This time it was me who was nervous. I wondered what her pink lips tasted like and eased into her personal space on the two seat swing. She didn’t move a muscle, didn’t exhale, and despite the other people crowding my house, I decided this was it. My lips touched hers, a brief press. She parted her lips and my tongue darted out for the smallest of tastes. She was a combination of fresh strawberries, dewy watermelon, and crisp apple slices, all things summer as fitting as her name. She made me hungry for things years down the road and I saw myself having a future with her. I knew I was a dead man hobbling once Ford confirmed what I figured he had suspicions over.
“Hey, lovebirds, where should I put the ambrosia?” Summer jumped back and I wished like hell everyone would go home already.
Growling, I looked up to see Ian, The Hammer, standing on the patio, holding a container of marshmallow and fruit salad. Disappointment flared—the moment was gone—and I’d have bet those white fluffs of sugar in the salad weren’t even vegan.
“I’ll take that.” Summer flew off the lounger and grabbed the food from Ian’s hands, and with that, her light scent of sunshine perfume left me. “It should probably be refrigerated for now,” she mumbled before taking it inside to the kitchen.
I looked up to see Lily, who was staring at me from the kitchen window, one eyebrow raised. She held up one of the pairing knives and pointed to a blissfully unaware Ford in the backyard while making a slicing motion under her chin before pointing the knife at me. She winked ducking behind the kitchen curtain and I bristled with annoyance. Yup, a real sewing circle this group had become. If Ford didn’t know, he soon would—whether anything more came of today’s kiss or not.
“Too bad about the knee.” Ian handed me a new beer, ignoring my grunt. Taking Summer’s spot, he began to yammer on about strengthening techniques I should consider, but all I could focus on was my little bit of sunshine that had skittered away.
2
Summer