“It’s stopping.” He pushed aside the blood-soaked washcloth. “But you might want to wait until I can get cleaned up.”
She grabbed a clean washcloth and gently cleaned the blood away, using it as an excuse to study his face. To memorize the slope of his nose and the curve of his cheek. The tiny imperfections in his skin and the way his eyelashes clustered together.
“Good as new,” she said.
“Better than new.” He pulled out the needle and pressed a piece of gauze in place before wrapping his other arm around her waist and pulling her close. “Can this be it?”
“Be what?”
“You and me. No more games. No more pretending we’re just friends. No more waiting for our issues to disappear. Let’s just start today. You and me.”
“Yeah.” She looped her arms around his neck. “Yeah. Okay. You and me.”
He tilted his head to kiss her lightly on the lips, then pulled back to rest his forehead against hers. “Do you have any idea how much it means to me that you aren’t running away screaming right now?”
“It’s nothing,” she said.
“It’s everything. This disorder is weird and scary. The needles and the mess and the misinformation. But you look at me and I feel normal.”
She closed her eyes, nuzzling against him. “I’m a skateboarder. Do you honestly think a little blood is going to scare me? Normal is overrated.”
“Then we can be abnormal together.”
“There’s still so much you don’t know about my past.”
He gazed up at her. “I know you. That’s enough.”
“So you’re okay with me needing to go up north for probation check-ins? And my obsession with the vert ramp? And this whole crazy thing with my mom getting married?”
“As long as you’ll put up with my health scares, my obsession with cameras, and my overprotective mother.”
“You wouldn’t be you without those things,” she said.
“Exactly.” He slid his glasses back on.
“Do you . . .” She looked away again. “Would you want to come to the wedding?”
“Sure. Sounds Fun.”
“Seriously? There’s like a billion events I have to be at. It will all be so much more bearable with you there.”
“Wedding, rehearsal, whatever you need. I’ll be there.”
“You sure?”
“Promise. Isn’t that what boyfriends are for?”
“I’ve never really done the boyfriend thing before. I don’t know how it’s supposed to work.”
He leaned in close. “I think it works a lot like being friends. Except with more kissing.”
Chapter 26
In the dying light still shining through the hills, the Oceanside High football field took on a golden hue. The crowded bleachers vibrated under Summer, the movement and excitement of the game filtering through her feet. Excitement and terror.
In that moment, she sincerely regretted letting Abby talk her into coming to the game.
The bleachers were too much like the stands at the qualifier and the memories came back too strong and too sharp. Her fingers curled inward and her shoulders hunched in as her entire body prepared for fight or flight.
A million excuses ran through her head. Her doctor said she needed to take it easy. What part of a Friday night football game was easy? She was already tired. She should probably go straight to bed. Mom had hesitated when she’d asked to go. Probably better not to push for something she didn’t even want to do.
“You’re missing your magic hour,” she said, turning into Bastian, grasping for the best excuse she’d come up with.
He caught her hand, long, narrow fingers tangling with hers, and turned her back toward the crowd. “I’m not going to make you do this alone.”
“I told them I’d come to a game. You don’t need to be a martyr.”
“Time with you is never a sacrifice.” He pulled her close and pressed his lips to the top of her head, setting off a cascade of shivers through her body. Shivers that almost released the energy trapped in her muscles.
“Bas!” Abby screamed from the top of the bleachers where she sat with Bria and Dolores. Her hair stood out from the rest of the crowd in pink and turquoise perfection.
He shouldered through the crowd, leading Summer up the stairs.
“You okay?” she asked when he paused halfway up. Focusing in on him allowed her to practice the tunnel vision she used in competition. Focusing hard enough made everything else fade away.
Bastian winced and rubbed his calf, but shook his head. “It’s my leg. Must have pulled something.”
“Are you sure?” She caught his arm to slow him down. “It’s not bleeding or anything, right?”
“It’s fine.” He stopped at the edge of the row where their friends waited. “You’re my girlfriend, not my mother.”
“You made it!” Abby wrapped her in a tight hug, surprisingly strong for such a tiny girl. “I was starting to think you were going to desert me again.” She winked and pulled Summer down beside her on the cold bleachers. “What do you think?”
“You guys take this football thing really seriously,” she said. People sat shoulder to shoulder in a dizzying spectacle of school spirit. She had to take several deep breaths through her nose to squelch the panic. “I’m not sure my last school even had a football team.”
“No football?” Abby gasped. “Whatever did you do with yourselves?”
“Quit pretending you’re miserable,” Bria said. She wore a jersey with her usual black skirt and combat boots. It made for an odd look. “It’s the last home game of the season and we’re going to state, so it’s a bigger crowd than usual.”
“So basically you picked the best game of the year to come to,” Abby said.
“And by best, she means worst,” Dolores said.
Bastian stretched out his leg and sucked in his breath. “You did want to see what the hype is about.”
Oceanside scored and Bria jumped to her feet. “Nice!”
“You are so lame, Bri.” Abby rolled her eyes before turning back to Summer. “You seriously didn’t have a football team? What did you guys do?”
Summer leaned into Bastian and squinted at the field, trying to find the tunnel vision again. “We did have an awesome surf team.”
“You had a surf team?”
“We were really close to Half Moon Bay. Surfing is the thing to do.”
“Half Moon Bay?” Dolores lowered her camera for the first time since they’d arrived. “Like Mavericks?”
“Yep. That’s where my dad learned big wave surfing.”
Abby sighed. “Seriously? If you keep being this cool, you’ll have to stop hanging out with us. I feel lamer every time you open your mouth.”
“What Abby means,” Bria said. “Is we’re all jealous.”
“Yeah . . .” She glanced at Bastian and he hugged her closer. “But my dad is Cody O’Neill and I suck at surfing. It was miserable.”
“Ouch.” Abby squeezed Summer’s knee. “Don’t worry. None of us like to talk about our dads.”
“Truth,” Dolores said. “My dad owns half of Wisconsin and only acknowledges my existence with annual contributions to my college fund. He’s also like twice as old as my mom and she used to nanny for his other kids, so totally gross.”
Abby sighed. “My dad is a stuntman.”
“What’s so bad about that?” Summer asked.
“He’s Charlie Kane’s stunt double. So my dad pretends to be Alyson Kane’s dad for a living.”
“Who?” Summer asked.
“Alyson.” Abby pointed at one of the cheerleaders on the edge of the field. “Queen of the mean girls over there.”
“My dad takes conference calls in his pajama pants because he thinks no one will notice,” Bria said. “Our housekeeper puts shower reminders into his phone calendar.”
Summer shivered and leaned closer into Bastian for warmth. He tilted his head down to meet her eyes and for a moment, the n
oise and crowd disappeared. He shrugged off his hoodie and draped it around her shoulders, wrapping her into the cocoon of his cool, minty scent.
“You already know about my dad,” he said, his voice soft enough that he could have meant it just for her.
“I guess I don’t have it so bad.”
Abby cleared her throat. “So. What are we doing after this? Party at my house?”
Summer glanced up at Bastian, hoping he’d decline but he shrugged.
“Umm,” he said. “Neither of us drinks.”
“It’s fine. Bria doesn’t either. I use ‘party’ in the loosest possible terms.”
“Then, yeah,” Bastian said. “We’re in.”
Summer faked a smile.
“Now.” Abby jumped up. “I need coffee if I’m going to survive this torture. Come with, Summer?”
“Umm.” She turned to Bastian and he smiled.
“Grab me a black coffee?” he said.
“Oh. Sure.” She clambered to her feet to follow Abby down the bleachers.
“So?” Abby arched an eyebrow at her as they stood in line for the little kiosk to the side of the field.
Summer blinked. “So what?”
“So what happened? You are beyond dazed.”
She looked back at Bastian. “Nothing.”
Abby narrowed her eyes. “You’re holding out. Which means it’s something big.”
With a shake to clear her head, Summer turned with a smile. “Follow-up appointment Monday. I find out when I can skate again.”
“No.” Abby narrowed her eyes. “You’ve been glowing all week, and I’m not buying the near death experience thing.”
The barista waved Summer forward and she stepped up to the counter to place her order, hoping it would distract her friend. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Something with Bas.” She ordered and stepped aside to wait. “Oh, my God. You are blushing so hard! What the hell happened?”
Summer pulled up Bastian’s hoodie to hide her smile. “We’re together.”
“Finally!” Abby did a little dance in the middle of the crowd. “So? I need details!”
Summer picked up Bastian’s coffee. “There was kissing. And a nosebleed. It was good.” “You have a strange definition of good.”
“It was really good, Abby.”
Abby squeezed her hand. “I’m really happy for you guys.” With a shake of her shoulders, her smile snapped back into place and a twinkle lit her eyes again. “But seriously. How is a nosebleed possibly good? What kind of kink are you guys into?”
Chapter 27
The last seconds of the game counted down on the scoreboard and the crowd erupted, shattering any remaining calm Summer had left.
Bria sprinted down the bleachers to the field at the same moment Ben ripped off his helmet and ran for her. They collided on the sidelines, their excitement so raw and naked and intimate, it made Summer turn away.
“So gross,” Abby groaned. “It’s like they don’t even know how adorable they are.”
“You’re just jealous,” Dolores said, stashing her camera into its bag.
“Double gross! Ben’s my brother! I am so not jealous.”
“Methinks thou dost protest too much.” Dolores started down the rapidly emptying bleachers with a smirk. “Abby wants a boyfriend . . .”
Abby clenched her hands and glared at her friend. “Anyway.”
Bastian clapped her on the back. “There’s someone for you out there, even for you, Abs.”
“I hate you, Vega.” The twinkle in her eyes gave her away, but it still set Summer even more on edge.
“I know.” Bastian wrapped his arm around Summer’s shoulder and led her down the stairs, leaving Abby alone at the top of the bleachers.
“I told her about you and me,” Summer burst out before they reached the sidelines. “Is that okay?”
“Depends on what you told her.”
She snapped her head up to see that twinkle in his eyes. “I told her we’re dating. Or something.”
“That sounds good.” His voice lost its usual teasing tone.
“I wasn’t sure. I mean, she’s your friend and all. I don’t know what’s okay to tell people.”
He stopped in the middle of the crowd and pulled her close. “Summer, I’d scream it from the rooftops if I didn’t know that would mortify you.”
“Oh, God,” she said, blushing hard. “You wouldn’t.”
“But you’re so cute when you’re embarrassed.”
The rest of their group caught up with them, gathering at the edge of the field in a mass of chaos and noise.
“Bria says we’re going back to Ben’s?” a giant boy in a jersey asked. “Who’s driving?”
“I’m not letting any of you idiots behind the wheel,” Abby said, holding her keys up. “Who’s with me?”
Summer and Bastian ended up wedged into the back of Abby’s Civic, with Dolores riding shotgun and Ricky, the giant from the team, beside them.
With Bastian’s cool scent and familiar body on one side and a strange boy’s post-game sweat on the other, Summer sank into the backseat. Abby and Dolores, high on adrenaline, didn’t seem to notice when she didn’t join their conversation. Her head still pulsated with the rising noise level, trapping her in her own private, overexposed hell. Her breath came faster and faster until they pulled into a driveway and Bastian slid out.
“You okay?” he asked as she scrambled out after him. Two more cars pulled in behind them and she backed up, bumping into the side of Abby’s car.
“I don’t know.”
“Summer. Is your head okay?” He grabbed her wrist, steadying her swaying body and stilling her hands. “Do you want to leave?”
“No. No. My head is fine. It’s just . . .” She looked around. “It’s been a while since I’ve been to a party. The last one didn’t end well.” She should tell him. She needed to tell him.
“We can leave.”
She glanced up, taking in the sincerity in his gaze, letting his acceptance move through her. “You want to be here, right?”
“I want to be with you.”
She half covered her face with her hand. The clarity in his gaze and the honesty in his words rocked her. “Is that part of your seize-the-moment philosophy?”
He slid his fingers up her arm and drew her hand away from her face. “No regrets.”
With a slow exhale, she steadied herself. “No regrets.”
Slowly, ever so slowly, he turned his head to kiss her. Their lips met with a wave of relief that moved from her head to her toes. She caught his shirt and pulled herself closer. To his warmth. To the solidness of his chest. To the rhythm of his heart against hers.
He took her face between his hands, pulling her closer, tangling his fingers in her hair, caressing her skin. With understanding born of recognition, not familiarity, he knew just where and how to touch her, the places to press his lips to make her shiver. Just the right weight to his kisses.
Before, their kisses had been new and cautious. This was different. This was exploring and discovering and learning. This was laughter and breathless wonder. She kissed him until her lips were numb and her racing thoughts finally settled into a blissful hazy oblivion.
She brushed her thumb across his brow bone, down the slope of his cheek and across his bottom lip.
“I wish I could take back the kisses I wasted before I knew you,” she said, trailing her fingers along the side of his face.
His hands tightened around her waist, fingers pressed into her bare skin between her shirt and shorts. “This is enough.”
Abby appeared around the corner of the house. “You guys coming? Or are you just going to make out on my lawn all night?”
“I vote for door number two,” Bastian said.
“We should . . .” Summer said, biting her bottom lip to restrain her smile.
“Ben is lighting the fire pit on the deck and we’re making s’mores. Chocolate is better than kissing, right?”
“Not these kisses,” Bastian said, still not taking his eyes off Summer.
“We’ll be right there,” Summer said.
Abby grinned and bounced back around the house.
“You’re sure this is okay?” Bastian asked.
She nodded. “I’m being stupid.”
He squeezed her tight and kissed her head before letting go and leading the way through the side yard to the deck at the back of the house.
As promised, Ben stood over a round, decorative fire pit near the edge of the broad deck. Bria and Ricky were moving a couple of loveseats closer to the fire while Abby darted in and out of the house with bottles of beer and stuff for s’mores.
“This is nice,” Summer said, sinking into a corner of the overstuffed sunbrella cushions on the closest loveseat. Bastian settled beside her and stretched out his leg. The warmth and light from the fire soothed her frayed nerves and she almost relaxed.
“We got you to a game,” Dolores said, sitting on the other side of Summer on the loveseat. “Our next project is finding true love for Abs.”
“Yeah,” Abby said, giving her friend a quick squeeze. Their hair, dark and light, tumbled together. “So not going to happen, sweetie.”
“Since she’s going to London in the fall,” Dolores explained. “She’s decided there’s no point in meeting boys here.”
“Because there isn’t. And anyway, I don’t want a boyfriend.”
“There’s a difference between not wanting a boyfriend and severing all ties with this part of the world.”
“Enough about me,” Abby said. “So, Summer. Is your head well enough to try out for the X Games? Because I sooooo want to be friends with the girl who brings women’s Big Air back.”
Summer sank back into the cushions and tucked her legs under her. “I find out about my head on Monday. But there are a few more issues than that . . .”
“Like what?”
Summer pulled away from Bas. Abby wasn’t being nosy but she was treading dangerously close to the truth. With those giant, open, honest blue eyes, lying didn’t seem like a great option either. “I lost my license about six months ago . . .”
“Seriously? How did you manage that?” Abby tipped back her beer and set the empty bottle aside before skewering a couple of marshmallows with a stick.
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