The Summer of Us: A Romance Anthology

by AJ Matthews

He won’t find one.

  I hate how my breasts feel. I can’t let him touch yet.

  But this? The warmth of his arms wrapped around me, his tender gaze? His powerful body underneath mine? Beyond extraordinary. So exciting, but soothing at the same time.

  I rock bath and forth on him a few times before his shoulders bunch under my hands and his legs stiffen beneath me.

  “Thea, I’m sorry.” He throws his head back and grunts, his eyes rolling back. His fingers slip between my legs, almost in apology, but I know it won’t happen. Not tonight.

  A laugh explodes from my throat.

  He collapses against the headboard and pulls me to his sweaty chest, the pungent odor of semen and latex clinging to him. He laughs too, a warm chuckle that turns into a boom. I shake with giggles and tears burn my face. I blurt out, “Oh my God, what was that?”

  Honestly, the best and worst sex I’ve ever had, rolled into one.

  Everything will get better from here.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Thea

  I’d met his parents and uncle in the summer, so this Christmas trip to Key West is a homecoming.

  The best thing of all: I hadn’t thought about breast cancer for days. For the first time in nearly a year, not a single thought till this moment.

  Christmas in Key West is a magical thing, but eighty degrees in December is weird.

  We’re at the seaport. Da (Shay’s father insists I call him that), Liam, and Paddy are on the catamaran, which we all spent the day decorating with lights. Instead of a regular parade, Key West hosts a boat parade.

  A local school band kicked off the festivities about an hour ago, and the boats float by since the sun has set.

  The creativity of the boats amazes me. Every possible Christmas theme—and island theme—is represented. Icicle lights drape over the sides of boats, and animatronic reindeer sit on the decks. There’s a giant Snoopy and Woodstock snow globe, and multicolored lights strung in all sorts of shapes: seashells, other animals, anchors, and palm trees.

  Boaters throw candy and prizes at the docks, delighting the children scurrying around underfoot.

  Even though the temperature is warm, I sip on hot apple cider to create a Christmas mood.

  Shay presses against me from behind, nuzzling my hair.

  Not even five months ago, I thought no one would ever love me, would be disgusted by how I looked after surgery.

  I never imagined this.

  Not only did I fall in love with an amazing man, but he loves me back too.

  I also expanded my family. That’s how the Kelly family is. We came back a couple days ago, me with a flat chest while I wait for my exchange surgery, but no one did a double-take. I went from a thirty-six double-D bra to my current A cup.

  Not a single word, beyond “How are you doing?”

  They are amazing people, and I love them all.

  Shay? He’s incredible. We haven’t made love completely naked yet—I still don’t want to take my shirt off—but he asked to touch my chest, and I let him last night. He asked if he could kiss me there too. He dropped his head and kissed the hint of cleavage peeking out from the tank top, kissed where the tissue expanders make my chest hard and lumpy to the touch. So different from the soft, rounded breasts I lost.

  When I lament their loss, I recall those breasts could have killed me.

  My external sensation is minimal, but my heart swelled at the sight of his dark head resting against my nearly non-existent chest.

  He points as the catamaran approaches. “Here come Da and the boys.”

  I wave and shout as loud as I can, hoping my enthusiasm sways the parade judges sitting on the deck of the waterfront bar.

  The boat passes, and more lights flicker on, spelling out words:

  thea.

  marry.

  me?

  What?

  I gasp and turn to Shay, and he’s on one knee. A group of people circles us, staring and pointing.

  “I—”

  “Please stop talking. I know we’re young, and life is crazy with me in med school, and it’ll be years before we can start a family, but—”

  “Oh my God!” I cry out, then cover my mouth with my hands.

  “Good grief, be quiet.” He laughs. “Marry me, and I promise to spend every day of the rest of my life trying to make you happy. Some days I’ll succeed, and heaven knows others I’ll fail miserably.”

  “Get up! Just get up! Shut up and kiss me.”

  He stands and cups my face in his hands, whispering against my lips, “Does this mean yes?”

  “Yes, yes, yes!”

  He kisses me quick and hard before pulling back.

  “She said yes, everybody!” he shouts to the applauding crowd before answering his ringing phone. “Yes, Mom, yes! Tell Mac too.”

  He turns around and picks me up, swinging me around till I’m dizzy.

  He slides a gorgeous three-stone emerald and diamond band on my ring finger.

  It fits like it was made for me.

  Like this family.

  Like this man.

  To think opting for a mastectomy is the reason for this. The “Farewell to the Boobs Tour” put me in Key West, in Paddy’s Pub, at the moment my soul mate appeared. To think I tried to let him go because of the surgery. Because I was afraid.

  Nothing scares me anymore. The full road to recovery lies long ahead, but there’s no better companion for me in the journey than this man.

  “Seamus Edwin Kelly, I love you.” I jump up and lock my legs around his strong hips, raining kisses all over his face.

  “I love you too. Come on,” he says, walking with me attached to him. “I have a present for you.”

  “Hmmm. I think it’ll be hard to top this.” I wave my left hand in his face.

  “This present is more from the family than me. Consider it a combination engagement-Christmas present.”

  He sets me down, and we walk to the pier toward the family’s fleet of boats.

  We stop in front of the boat Shay took me out on the night we met. He points to the stern.

  I gasp.

  “All the vessels are named after members of the family—a play on names or nicknames. Since you’re family, Da had this one changed.”

  Stenciled in bold letters on the boat was my name. My nickname, along with his.

  gypsy and the scamp.

  I choke back a sob and sink into him. It’s the most amazing gift. I’m honored to have a boat named after us.

  Even more honored they consider me family.

  “Thank you. For everything.” My words are lost in the folds of his shirt.

  Then I whisper, “Thank you, Mama.” For sending me a sign at the hospital, for the memories you gave me before you left. For giving me the strength to allow someone to take care of me.

  I hold on to Shay tighter.

  And never plan on saying goodbye again.

  THE END

  Dear Reader,

  I hope you enjoyed Thea and Shay’s love story. One of the very first people who read this story asked me “Awww, what about Leesh? Does she get her own happy ending?” That question prompted the writing of a short, fun, but still emotional, story of one night in that sultry southern town of Key West. Come Back to Me is available as a bonus goodie for signing up for my mailing list. You can find the sign-up/download link here.

  I promise, no-late night booty messages, just once-a-week e-mail with lots of sweet, steamy romance to keep you wanting more.

  Cheers!

  AJ

  About the Author

  A.J. Matthews wrote her first book at the age of six, a retelling of The Three Little Pigs. Illustrated by her grandmother, the book was never picked up and was self-published instead, glued to cardboard with a cover fashioned from wallpaper scraps. She’s written a lot in the ensuing years (though not every day,) and majored in English so she could write about books and earn a degree later in life—at the ripe old age of 35. Today, the Maryland na
tive transplanted to central North Carolina pens stories featuring nice guys (or nice guys in-the-making) in between juggling jobs as a technical writer, a referee for two young daughters, and spoiler to a neurotic cat. She’s also a kick-ass autism mom. Special skills include consuming nachos, watching sports, eating an impossible amount of chocolate (this is a daily occurrence,) and making her husband shake his head. This also happens every day.

  Say hello to A.J. at www.authorajmatthews.com, www.facebook.com/authorajmatthews, twitter.com/ajmatthews_, and www.pinterest.com/authorajmatt, where she shares yummy pics of hot guys, er, photos of research, for all of her planned books

  Copyright © 2016 by Heather Young-Nichols

  Cover Art by Colbert Creative Design LLC

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Chapter One

  “Come on, Riley.” Riley Goodrich loved his sister but that whining came too early in the morning. Any time would be too early for that sound.

  Just getting into work to open the garage and she’d already been there waiting for him. Zoey remained the coolest little sister a guy could ask for. Of course, he could never let her know that. It’d been this way since they were kids. Sure, they were grown adults, Zoey graduated college, started a new job and moved in with her boyfriend in the last year.

  Which is where it got uncomfortable.

  Her boyfriend happened to be Riley’s best friend, and the thought of Wyatt with his sister turned out to be a double-edged sword. No guy wanted to know about his sister’s love life and if she’s with his best friend, even if said best friend kept his mouth shut, he knew him well enough for his brain to be an asshole once in a while and conjure up imagines a guy doesn’t want to see. On the other hand, Zoey couldn’t be safer with anyone else.

  “Zoey, I have a job.”

  “Yeah, and the other guys could handle it for an hour. Please?” She folded her hands together literally begging him.

  “Why do you have to pick this couch up today? Why can’t it be delivered?”

  “They can’t for a week and a half. We bought the new couch because we needed it but we got the pull out because Harper is going to stay with us for a while. The whole summer I think.” He raised his eyebrows and waited. It still didn’t tell him what made this couch urgent. “She’s coming tomorrow. She needs somewhere to sleep.”

  He sighed as he dropped a shop rag on his desk. Opening this garage had been Riley’s plan ever since he knew the marines weren’t going to be his career. Wyatt and Riley decided to join the military in tenth grade. Wyatt stayed in longer than Riley but once they’d both been injured, Riley knew he couldn’t stay. He couldn’t do that to his family and by then he’d wanted a different life anyway.

  “Why the fuck is she staying with you again?”

  Harper was hot as hell and there’d been more than light flirting on her visits to Zoey’s over the past few months. But she didn’t usually stay more than one night so it never went anywhere. It could go wherever she wanted and he’d let it. Hooking up with your sister’s best friend could get ugly but Harper wasn’t the type of girl to make it into something it wasn’t and she wouldn’t make it weird either. Yeah, a hookup might be exactly what he needed.

  “She has vacation and her office is being renovated. Anyone that can work remotely is going to for the summer. She’ll be here working sometimes and having fun sometimes.” Zoey sighed. “We saw each other every day through college and want to hang out. Just…please.”

  “Fine,” he said with a sigh. “When does Wyatt want to go?”

  “Well…” She got a big smile on her face. The one she used to get her out of trouble, him and Wyatt out of trouble sometimes, too. “We were hoping his awesome boss would let him go right away this morning.”

  “We weren’t hoping.” Wyatt’s voice took them both by surprise. “You were hoping. I said we’d go tonight after work.”

  “Hush, you,” Zoey said with the flick of her wrist. Wyatt grinned and shook his head. “I want to get it done so I can clean. I rarely ask either of you for anything. Do this for me. Please. She’s my best friend.”

  Riley snapped his gaze to Wyatt, who shrugged leaving it up to him. Of course, Wyatt wanted to make Zoey happy, her brother knew this, and if getting a couch would do it, he’d want it done ASAP.

  “Fine. Give me a minute to bring Glenn up to speed. But I expect you to work late to make up the time,” he said looking directly at Wyatt who gave a single nod.

  “Wow,” Zoey said with a completely straight face. “That’s really mean.” Then she shrugged and said, “But I can accept that.”

  The guys both chuckled. That statement epitomized his Zoey. Just because as a high school teacher she got the entire summer off didn’t mean they all did. And Zoey never truly did well when she got bored. Having Harper around would save him and Wyatt a lot of headaches.

  Once Riley made sure Glenn knew which cars needed to be worked on first and who to expect for pickups, he met his sister out back where Wyatt pulled a pickup truck into the lot.

  “How’d you get Matt to give you his truck?” Riley asked climbing in beside his sister. With Wyatt driving and Zoey in the middle.

  “Told him I’d change the oil before I brought it back.”

  That would do it.

  Forty-five minutes later, the two guys were maneuvering the heavy as fuck couch up the stairway of his sister’s apartment.

  “You couldn’t have made this wider?” Riley asked referring to the enclosed stairway Wyatt added to the garage apartment for safety.

  “Quit your bitching,” Wyatt said with a grunt as they made the final turn into the living room.

  Zoey conveniently forgot to mention they’d have to take the old couch away. It wasn’t a big deal but Riley still groaned as the two of them picked the old heavy thing up and took it to the curb.

  When they were done, the guys climbed the steps one more time to let Zoey know they were heading back to work.

  “So, we need to get some groceries tonight, ok?” Zoey reminded Wyatt.

  “Sure.”

  Wyatt didn’t just kiss his sister goodbye. His hands cupped her cheeks before their lips met and he lingered. He fucking lingered.

  “Can we go to work now?” Riley asked with a hard tone.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Wyatt said after he pulled away from Zoey.

  “Hey, we should go to dinner tomorrow. Harper’s first night in town and all,” she said but wasn’t looking at Wyatt. She looked to Riley instead. “Please?” She smiled and batted her eyes making Wyatt snort. It probably worked with him when she did that just as much as it worked with Riley their entire lives.

  “I don’t care. Can we go to work, please?”

  Wyatt gave Riley a quick nod then they left.

  “What the hell, dude,” Riley said as the descended the stairs.

  “What?”

  “What the fuck does that girl have to get you wrapped around her finger like that? I mean, she’s my sister and I love her but it seems like she could lead you around on a leash if she wanted to.”

  Wyatt pushed the security door at the bottom of the stairs open and laughed.

  “She could.” He shrugged. “But I don’t think you want me to answer that question, buddy.”

  “Oh, Christ.” Riley scrubbed a hand over his face like he could wipe away the image his friend conjured up. “Fuck you.”

  “You’re here.” Harper Sorensen winced at the high pitch tone of her best friend’s voice.

  “I’m here,” she replied pulling a duffle bag from her car right before Zoey wrapped her
arms around Harper’s slightly taller body. “God, Zoey, I can’t breathe.”

  Zoey giggled then loosed her grip.

  “Now, you’re sure Wyatt doesn’t mind I’m staying here? You two just moved in together.”

  “Pfh, it’s been months. He’s tired of me.”

  “Unlikely.”

  It only took the girls one trip from the car because Harper knew how to pack. Clothing got tightly rolled instead of folded and organized before it went in. Her entire summer wardrobe, necessities included, fit into one large, wheeled suitcase, an overnight bag, and a duffle.

  “I cleared out the front closet for you to hang up anything you need to. And Wyatt brought up a dresser he had in the garage which I cleaned for you.” Zoey did a little jig and giggled. “I’m so happy you’re here.”

  When they entered the living room, Harper came up short, stopping suddenly.

  “You didn’t have to turn your living room into a bedroom for me.”

  “We didn’t. I wanted to use the dresser under that window anyway. Plus we bought a new couch that pulls out into a bed and is super comfy. Only the best for my best.”

  Harper dropped her bag, put her hands on her hips and gave her friend a pinched face-scowl.

  “Are you high?”

  Zoey snorted. “Not today.”

  “Then what the hell is wrong with you?”

  Zoey shrugged her shoulders and swayed.

  “Oh man, it’s the constant hot sex, isn’t it? It’s turning you into one of those happy, giggling people, isn’t it?”

  Zoey’s face lit up. “Maaayyybbbeee….”

  “Zoey, isn’t me being here going to put a cramp in all the honeymooning?”

  “No way. I can be quiet.”

  This time, Harper burst out in laughter. “We lived together for three years. No. You can’t.”

  “Ok, but I promise I will try to be.” Zoey unzipped one bag to help Harper unpack. “Oh, we’re going out with my brother tonight. For dinner.”

  “Hottie, Riley? I can get behind that.”

  “Gross,” Zoey groaned causing Harper to giggle.