Only One (The Reed Brothers 5.5)

“What are you not telling me?”

Amber shrugs. “The past few summers have been angst-free.”

Rose snickers. “Or at least angst-light.”

Summers are never angst-light. They’re always full of hookups. Vacation girls try to find coastal boys. And coastal boys look for vacation girls. That’s the way of things.

Suddenly, sand flies up in my face. I rub my lips and spit it out. And once I have blinked the sun out of my eyes, I can see him standing over me. He’s wearing a bathing suit now, though, and nothing else. And damn, he’s even bigger than I thought he was. “God, Nick,” I say. “Be careful.”

“You look like you need to get wet,” he says, his voice excited as he rubs his hands together.

“I’m fine just like I am.” I hold up a finger to warn him, but it’s too late.

He picks me up under my arms and the next thing I know, I’m over his shoulder. I bat at the backs of his thighs, but he walks quickly toward the ocean and doesn’t act like he even feels it. So I pinch his butt. He stops and spins around like he wants to look into my face. But all it does is make me dizzy.

“If I have a bruise on my butt cheek tomorrow, I’m going to give you one to match it,” he says with a laugh.

My heart pitches. I pinch him again, because there’s nothing else I can do. “Put me down,” I squeal. The waves are now nipping at his calves. “Put me down,” I scream a little louder.

Suddenly, he bounces me off his shoulder. I close my eyes and hold my breath, because I expect to get a full face of water. Instead, I slide slowly down the front of him, his hands moving up to hold my hips and slowly slipping up my naked waist.

“Nick,” I complain.

The water laps at our middles, and I move to push back from him, but he wraps his arms around me and we fall together in one heap into the waves. All I can do is grab his shoulders and hang on tightly. So I do. I wrap my arms around his neck and when he stands back up, I’m clinging to him, with my legs around his waist and my arms holding him tightly. Our faces are a hair’s-breadth apart.

“That wasn’t very nice,” I say, blowing water from my lips.

“I was hot and sweaty,” he says.

He walks out deeper and deeper, until we’re being buffeted by the waves. But he’s steady. I move to unwrap my legs from around his waist. He catches my thighs and hitches them back up.

“I wasn’t,” I protest. “I was just fine.” I look toward where Amber and Rose are laughing. They both give me a thumbs-up. Traitors.

“I saw you looking at the douchebag,” he says.

“What douchebag?”

“The guy who’s staying in the house next to yours.” His hand slips toward my bottom, and his fingertips slide along the elastic leg. I reach back and take his hand and pull it back to my waist. He chuckles.

“What about him?” I ask. “And why does everybody dislike him so much?”

“Because he’s a dickwad.” He growls and I feel his lips graze my neck. “Salty,” he says.

My heart stutters.

“I’m going to tell you how this summer is going to go,” he says, “before it even starts.”

“How’s it going to go?” I pull my legs from around his waist, only to find that I can’t touch the bottom. I wrap them back around his waist and let him do all the work of keeping us up. He’s still on his feet, aside from the occasional wave through which we bounce.

“You and me, we’re going to spend some time together, because I want to get to know you all over again. That okay with you?” he asks.

I brush water back from my face. “Why?”

“Because I like you. I’ve always liked you. And you broke my heart when you left and didn’t come back. So, yeah, I’m telling you how it’s going to be.”

“You don’t even know me anymore,” I protest.

He jiggles me in his arms. “I know. That’s why I said we were going to get to know one another. Are you listening?” He growls playfully.

“Yeah, I’m listening,” I say quietly.

“Good, because you’re all I think about when it’s summertime.” He brushes my hair back from my face and picks a strand off my lips. “You and summer go hand in hand. Like ice cream and chocolate syrup. Like popcorn and salt. Like…me and you—a summer boy and a vacation girl. There’s no summer without you. It’s just endless seasons without the perfect.”

I open my mouth to speak, but only a mortifying squeak comes out.

He laughs. “Yeah, I feel that way too.” He jostles me again in his arms. “You understand, right?”

“Not really,” I admit.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he says and he kisses the tip of my nose. “I have to go to work. Can I come and see you tonight? I don’t get off until eight.”

“Work? It’s summer.”

“It’s summer for you. It’s work for me, all the way through summer. So, can I come and see you later?”

“I guess. I don’t think my mom will mind.”

He scoffs. “Your mom loves me.”

If only she’d loved me enough to stay.

He starts to walk toward the shore, holding my bottom in his hands. I tap his shoulder. “Let me down.”