T is for...he's a TOTAL jerk (Grover Beach Team #3)
Page 30
“Dad! Mom!”
They turned to me, their expressions changing from friendly to blissful. “Sammy!” both cried out, and my father spread his arms wide. I dashed toward him and flung my arms around his neck. He spun me around and around and around. I was on top of the world.
He set me down so I could crush my mom in a hearty hug, too. It was so good to feel her again. To smell her familiar perfume. To hear her say, “Oh, my darling baby, I missed you so much.”
When she released me after an eternity—and even that was far too soon for me—I turned around to see if Tony had finally made it outside, too. Shy like a lost child, he stood by the door. And heck, he’d closed that damn top button of his white shirt again. I shook my head at him and giggled.
Since he now had all eyes set on him, he had no choice but to come over. Not as reluctantly as before, thank God, he walked toward us. Two safe feet away from my dad, he stopped and acknowledged him with a firm, “Sir.”
I slipped to his side and whispered in his ear, “You’re such a coward, Anthony Mitchell.” Then I introduced him to my mom first. She reached out to shake his hand with both of hers; her way of thanking him for what he’d done for me last November, when I’d thought I had to fly back to Egypt.
Tony loosened up a bit and gave her a warm smile. It vanished the moment I introduced him to my father.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, General,” he said, articulating every word. I nearly pissed my pants when he actually saluted.
Dad laughed, too, and clapped him on the shoulder. “No need to be so formal, lad. My name’s Henry.”
Obviously not yet convinced, Tony nodded. “Henry.”
I looped my arms around his waist to give him a little confidence and smiled brightly up at him. Slowly, the muscles in his back and stomach relaxed underneath his skin.
Carry ushered us to the back of the house then, where she’d set up a table with a welcoming brunch. I was starving and tucked in while my parents caught up with what they’d missed of my life. There was so much to tell.
Before I even realized it, noon had passed, and it was time to get ready to go to my new home. I said goodbye to Carry with a long hug. She invited me to come back and visit her and Jostle whenever I liked. “He’ll sure miss your daily rides through the woods.”
Tony had loaded my suitcase into the trunk of his new car, a shiny black VW Polo, in the meantime, and now he held the door open for me. As I stepped in, I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten something.
“My hoodie’s still in the bathroom. I’ll be back in a second,” I shouted as I darted back to the house and upstairs.
I rushed around the corner, grabbed the sweater, and hurried back to the door. But then I couldn’t bring myself to leave. The windows were still open and they tempted me to throw one last look out to the paddock, where the horses grazed their lazy days away. A wonderful scent of fresh grass and hay wafted up to me. I breathed in deeply.
If my cousin hadn’t been so ugly to me last fall, I would have never gotten the chance to live here. That probably justified the saying that every cloud has a silver lining.
Cloey had recovered from her crash quickly, and the guys had even let her stay on the soccer team…after my and Tony’s intercession. Susan had shaken her head at me, but deep down she’d known it was the right thing to do. It took as long as Christmas to come, but my cousin finally decided to apologize to me. At that time, I was happy to accept. It helped a lot that she’d finally lost interest in Tony, and I could relax again when he was at training.
Pamela and I had made it a habit to meet once or twice a week and chat…about school, friends, home, Tony, drawing. Whatever. There was always something for us to talk about. And with Jack—well, I couldn’t say that I’d grown really fond of him after he’d thrown me out of his house. But it was nice to hear that he always asked Pamela how I was doing after our meetings.
Things were all right the way they were. I had become a really happy girl in a really beautiful town, with awesome friends and a gorgeous boyfriend who loved me.
As I resurfaced from my reverie and turned around with a deep sigh, I saw Tony leaning in the doorway, his arms folded over his chest.
“You’re going to miss this place, aren’t you?” he said, his voice soft and understanding. He pushed away from the door, walked toward me, and stroked his hands down my hair, my neck, my shoulders, and my arms. Then he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight.
I tilted my chin up, trying to smile at him. But I failed. My heart ached a little at the thought of leaving. “I can’t believe the four months are already over and I have to go now. I have so many beautiful memories of this room.” My glance fell on the one pillow that Tony had forgotten to fluff up this morning. The first night that he’d slept here with me resurfaced in my mind. “And, one way or another, they’re all connected to you,” I breathed, looking into his eyes again.
“We’ll make new memories in your new home,” Tony said softly, brushing my bangs off my forehead.
I leaned into his palm. This time I managed a smile. One that I always reserved for him.
Tony leaned down to kiss me. Not passionately or ravenously. He kissed me like the best memories still lay ahead of us.
Then he pulled back, took my hand, laced his fingers through mine, and walked out with me. As I closed the door, it no longer felt like I was leaving something behind. It merely felt like closing the first chapter of a very long story.
THE END
PLAYLIST
Nicki Manaj – Starships
(The Grover Beach Theme song)
Imagine Dragons – It’s Time
(A rocky start)
Arash feat. Sean Paul – She Makes Me Go
(Someone’s cheerleading…and someone’s watching)
The Lumineers – Ho Hey
(Tony and Hunter playing soccer alone)
The Chordettes – Lollipop
(Declared to the Sam Summers Theme song by Susan Miller)
Snow White – The Dwarfs’ Song
(Tony is teasing Sam)
ELY-T – Bata Bata
(Sam dancing in the studio when she thinks she’s alone)
Macklemore – And We Danced
(Realizing she’s the wrong girl to fall in love with, but impossible to resist)
Bon Jovi – Always
(A kiss in his bedroom)
Awolnation – Sail
(Tony gets his sweater back. There’s something in the pockets)
Zach Sobiech – Clouds
(Sam tending to Tony in the restroom)
Birdy – People Help The People
(Cloey stabbed Sam on the back)
Ed Sheeran – Lego House
(A world breaks apart)
The Skript – I’m Yours
(Every story needs a happy ending)
Lorde – Royals Cover (by Taryn Southern & Julia Price)
(The Grover Beach clique hanging out on a normal Sunday afternoon)
Get a sneak peek into Piper Shelly’s paranormal romance
Loving Your Lies
He’s annoyingly gorgeous, provocative, and fast becoming her best friend. But he also has a secret that makes the little hairs on her arms stand on end...
It wasn't nicking an expensive watch or diamond bracelet that landed streetwise Jona Montiniere in the clutches of the police. It was a darn sweater. A judge decides that she has to return to her terminally ill mother, that god-awful dragon, who dumped her in an orphanage more than twelve years ago. Worse, for the coming six weeks, she has to do charity work on a strange aunt’s vineyards in France.
Yeah, right. Jona is determined to sneak off at the first chance she gets. But then she meets Julian, the dragon’s caretaker. Playful, understanding, and sinfully sexy, he’s everything she dreams of—but she’d be damned if she let him know and break through her stonewall of protection. And then he awakens her mother from the dead with a simple touch…
At this plac
e, I want to shout out my gratitude to a few people.
To all my great readers for never letting me down. Your messages, your encouragement, and your friendships mean the world to me.
To my one and only and absolutely awesome critique partner, Georgia Lyn Hunter. I really wish we could meet one day, Lyn.
To my wonderful family for bearing with me in good and in bad times. I know it’s not easy to live with a writer. Honestly, I do know.
And special thanks to Melanie Scheitza for helping me to come up with a cool anthem for the Grover Beach Bay Sharks. You rock!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PIPER SHELLY prefers blue to green, spring to winter, and writing to almost everything else. It helps her to escape from a boring world to something with actual adventure and romance in it, she says. Even when she’s not crafting a new story, you’ll see her lounging with a book in some quiet spot. She was 17 when she left Vienna to live in the tranquil countryside of Austria, and from there she loves to plan trips with her family to anywhere in the world. Two of her favorite places? Disneyland and the deep dungeons of her creative mind.
For more information, please visit her website at www.pipershelly.com
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
TONY
CHAPTER 6
TONY
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
TONY
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
TONY
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
TONY
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
TONY
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
TONY
CHAPTER 24
TONY
EPILOGUE
PLAYLIST