The Rebound (Girls of Summer Book 2)

by Lynn Stevens

  Again, I was spying on a couple in love.

  I reached for the button to start the car and get the hell out of there, but Vicky saw me and waved. I couldn’t leave. Daniel waved at me too as I climbed out of the car, but his smile dropped when he saw my face. Apparently, I wasn’t hiding the heartbreak as well as I thought.

  “Are you okay, Rachel?” he asked.

  I pursed my lips together and shook my head. Why lie? I was so far from okay.

  “Come on,” Vicky said as she pulled me inside. “I’ll call you later,” she said to Daniel before closing the door.

  The click was loud, and I lost any ounce of control. Tears streamed down my face. The weight of everything over the past two and a half weeks broke me into a sobbing mess. Vicky hugged me tight, then lead me into another room and helped me sit.

  “Vic? Are you okay?” a gentle voice said. “Oh, Rachel, honey,” Vicky’s grandmother took my hands into hers. “I’m so sorry about your mother. She was a kind soul.”

  I could only nod. Of course, she knew. Everyone would know by now.

  “Let me make you some tea, dear.” She squeezed my hands and hurried out of the room.

  Vicky put her hand on my shoulder. “You wanna talk about it?”

  I nodded again, still not able to speak. Then my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and glanced at the message. It was from Adam and only one word.

  Please.

  It sent me on another round of sobs and tears. At some point, Vicky’s grandmother brought in tea, but it was cool by the time I lifted the cup. She’d also brought a tray of Oreos. Leave it to a Hudson to put cookies on a serving platter. I snorted at the thought.

  “What happened?” Vicky asked gently.

  “Everything.” I drained the herbal tea and wished for another cup.

  “Tell me.”

  I laughed soullessly. “We don’t have enough time.”

  “Sure, we do,” Vicky said. “We’ve got all night. Text your dad and tell him you’re staying here. We’ll eat Grandma out of ice cream and order pizza.”

  “I screwed up,” I said quietly. “I screwed everything up.”

  Vicky didn’t say anything, and I launched into more than the last few weeks, more than the last few months. I told her everything, starting with Mom leaving and the reason I started Xavier my sophomore year. I shared Mom’s death and how Angela had betrayed us. And I confessed my feelings for Adam.

  “Jesus,” Vicky said when I finished. “And I thought my shit had gotten real this summer. Why didn’t you ever tell me about the teacher? Your mom?”

  I laughed without humor. “We haven’t been the closest friends. Andrea’s always been your bestie. I’ve always been on the outskirts. Like I am with everyone else. Then there’s Erik.”

  “Yeah, I get it. Last year, I kinda hated you for going out with him.” She snorted. “Erik’s an asshole.”

  “He has his moments.” I almost laughed again. “Adam hates him. I wish he would’ve trusted me more. I wish he would’ve cared more.”

  “I wondered how serious you were about him,” Vicky said, handing me another slice of pizza. She had ordered one pepperoni and one sausage. They’d arrived just as I began talking about my freshman year.

  “It wasn’t supposed to be like that,” I said. The piece was cold, but I took a hearty bite anyway. I wasn’t hungry, not that it mattered. Pizza was about comfort. “We were faking it.”

  “What?” Vicky’s mouth hung open. “No way.”

  I shrugged.

  “You’re serious?” She tossed the leftover crust into the box. “You and Adam faked the entire relationship?”

  “Not well, obviously.” I set my half-eaten piece on the paper towel I used as a plate. “I mean, I kinda fell for him.”

  Vicky raised her eyebrows.

  “Okay,” I confessed, “I did fall for him. But it wasn’t supposed to be like that.”

  “Explain please.”

  Since I wasn’t holding back, I detailed everything from the fair to the night we spent in the hotel in Quincy. “He was just supposed to be my boyfriend so people wouldn’t ... they wouldn’t think I was just rebound material. And I was nothing but the rebound for him. Only he bounced right back to Heather.”

  “That doesn’t seem like Adam.” Vicky poured more soda into her glass and refilled mine, too. “Daniel said he’s not interested in Heather’s bullshit.”

  “After what I saw, I don’t think that’s true anymore.” I drank half the soda and didn’t regret it. I’d have to get back on the healthy foods the next day, but every girl deserved a day of pity eating. “They were pretty cozy at the store.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe you should talk to him.”

  Please. That’s what his text had said. I hadn’t responded to him yet, and I wasn’t sure if I should. I shrugged.

  “If you do talk to him, I’ll be here. And if you don’t, I’ve got your back.” Vicky put her hand on my shoulder. “I know we don’t always see eye to eye, but I’m glad we talked today.”

  “Me too.” I dropped my chin to my chest. “Will you keep these between us? I don’t want everyone to know the sorted details about Mom or Adam. Too many people will be giving me their insincere sympathy Monday, I don’t want them gossiping about this.”

  “Totally. I’ll put them in their place, too. They shouldn’t be gossiping at all.”

  I laughed at that. “Yeah, right.”

  “Fair enough.” She picked up the remote and turned on Netflix. “Let’s watch something that make us forget about boys. No romance.”

  “You and Daniel okay?” I asked, concerned I’d hogged the conversation.

  “Oh, we’re fine, but I’m not really into sappy movies and you need a distraction.” She pulled up the menu and selected an old action movie. “Yep, this’ll do nicely. Nothing like explosions and car chases to take your mind off things.”

  I put my head on her shoulder. “Thanks, Vicky. I’m glad we’re friends.”

  “Me, too.” A bomb destroyed a building on screen. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Apparently, word got to Adam about what I’d seen. I could only thank Vicky for that. She must have told Daniel who told Adam. Who am I kidding? Vicky probably went up to the hardware store and got in Adam’s face. I actually liked her more if she did.

  By the time Monday rolled around, he’d sent me a hundred texts. I ignored them all. Not that they had any information in them. It was all the standard, “It’s not what you think” and “can we talk” along with several that just said “please”.

  Those were the ones that got to me.

  I wanted to block him, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It was like cutting off an arm. I needed it, but I knew I could live without it. As soon as school ended, my business leaders club started. I’d been involved since sophomore year and loved every minute of it. We talked about the state of what we saw in the business world, shared articles, and debated actions we’d take when we were CEOs. It was a blast. Then I had a student council meeting. That wasn’t as much fun, but as VP, I had to make sure nothing got too out of hand. I usually let it get heated before I stepped in to mediate. A little chaos never hurt anyone.

  It was almost five when I finally stepped out into the late summer heat. September was a mix of summer and fall and we were getting a last blast of summer at the moment. I tugged off my thin Xavier Academy cardigan, totally necessary in the confines of the halls. The air conditioning was set at frigid in the building. By the time I got to my car, sweat was forming on my forehead. Not a pretty look.

  I’d taken extra care to look cool and collected today of all days. My teachers had given me the pity stares. My classmates had whispered behind my back. Vicky and Andrea kept things upbeat around me, and it wasn’t long until I forgot to watch my back. They were doing it for me. I’d played the role of the throwaway girlfriend so much that I’d begun to feel like a throwaway person.
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  It was time I changed that attitude. I was worth knowing, so I was going to let people know the real me.

  I unlocked my car and loaded my heavy roller backpack into the backseat. Over the next week, I had three papers to write and four tests to make up, not to mention the rest of my day to day homework. Xavier was a big fan of homework. I’d get it done. Especially since I didn’t have any other distractions going on.

  That’s when I saw him.

  Adam stood on the other side of the gates and leaned against his truck. He had a bouquet of flowers beside him on the hood. I swallowed and decided to get this over with. For two weeks in Italy, I’d realized how much he really meant to me and I was going to fight for him. Once I got home, the fight left the minute I saw him with Heather.

  He had wanted to talk. So, I’d let him talk. I owed it to myself to hear him out. It would be easier to say goodbye that way.

  I walked to the side gate and pushed it opened. We needed our student IDs to get into school, but we could walk out anytime.

  He straightened when he saw me and ran a hand through his short blond hair. The natural sun kissed highlights seemed brighter. His hazel eyes were stormy, rimmed with black from a lack of sleep. I had a great concealer that would help that.

  Thinking about looking perfect almost made me laugh. There wasn’t anything perfect about either one of us. And I loved his little imperfections. I smiled to myself, and he returned it.

  Taking a deep breath, I stopped in front of him and looked him right in the eye. There was not going to be any backing down. Confront your problems head on, deal with them, then move onto the next thing. That’s what my dad always said. In retrospect, there were a few things he never confronted. I wasn’t going to ignore my heart.

  “Hey,” I said, fighting to keep my arms relaxed at my side and not crossing them over my chest.

  “I wasn’t sure if you’d talk to me,” he said. His eyebrows furrowed.

  “I figured we needed one last chat so we could just get over this mess.” I shrugged, but I didn’t fail to notice how he flinched like I’d struck him.

  “Sorry about your Mom.” He turned and picked the bouquet up. It was a mix of daisies and wildflowers. “Missy told me to add the wildflowers. I was just going to get daisies.”

  I took the flowers and inhaled their late summer sweetness. “Thank you. And thank Missy for me. I love wildflowers.”

  He smiled his radiant smile, and my heart melted a little as it broke even more.

  “Why are you here?” I asked, letting my true emotions into every word.

  “I miss you,” he said quietly.

  That hurt more than I thought. It felt like he punched me. “I saw you with her this weekend, Adam.”

  He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. When he opened them, he met my gaze. “That was not what you think.”

  “What was it then?” I cradled the bouquet against my chest, letting the soft smell calm me. “You can’t tell me I didn’t see her wrap her arms around you. You can’t tell me I didn’t see you turn and smile at her the way I wish you’d smile at me. You can’t tell me that because I know what I saw.”

  “I thought it was you.” He leaned back against his car and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Once I realized that it was Heather, I kicked her out. I didn’t know you were there, or I would’ve come after you.”

  “How could you think that was me?”

  “I guess I didn’t think. I just wanted it to be you.” He pushed off his truck and paced in front of me. “Vicky had told me you went to Europe, so I waited until I knew you’d be back. She said you had to bolt fast and that you probably never even got my text message that I wanted to talk about us. So, I waited to hear from you. I just thought that you’d come back and surprised me at work.” He stopped in front of me. “Stupid, huh?”

  Not really.

  “Anyway, I thought you were the one behind me because I....” He reached out and dropped his hand as if he knew he didn’t have the right to touch me anymore. “This whole game, it was a huge mistake, Rach.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed and steeled myself from the heartbreak he was going to deliver head on. I knew it was coming, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

  “You’re so much more than a fake girlfriend.” He reached out again and took my hand. “I’m not sorry we met. I’m not sorry we got to know each other. I am sorry that I let you believe I was faking this entire thing. I wasn’t.”

  “What do you mean?” Suspicion crept into my voice.

  “Maybe I was at first, but it didn’t take long for me to fall for you.” He took the bouquet from my arms and put it back on the hood of the truck, then he reached for my free hand. “I love you. I want you to be my real girlfriend.”

  I’d been so prepared for my heart to shatter that I wasn’t even remotely prepared for it to swell with so much hope. I lost it. Sobs racked my body and I ugly cried. Unfortunately, Adam didn’t understand that this meant I was happy. He dropped my hands.

  “I knew this was a long shot,” he said as he stepped back.

  “Wait,” I muttered as I tried to control myself. It wasn’t as easy as they make it out to be in the movies. “Just give me a minute.”

  Adam stared at me while I composed myself.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, waving a hand in front of my face. “I just... I wasn’t expecting that.” I glanced away from him and down the empty street. “I was expecting you to tell me it’s been fun or something. I never thought...”

  After I failed to finish the sentence, he asked, “You never thought what?”

  “I never thought you’d feel the way about me that I feel about you,” I whispered.

  Our gazes held and I took his hands in mine.

  “Seriously?” Adam asked, the hint of a smile tipping his lips up.

  “Yeah, I kinda love you too,” I said, the words uncomfortable but true. “I mean, I do love you. I’ve been fighting this for so long. And when I was in Italy, I realized how much I’d been hiding behind this persona.” I paused and let the story of my mom’s death and life tumble from me in a rush of words that stumbled over each other. “My dad didn’t fight for her. I came to your job to tell you how I felt. I wanted you to know so ... so if you chose her over me, you’d know I wasn’t faking anything.”

  Adam leaned in and kissed me softly. It was the best kiss of my life, because it was real, and it was honest.

  “I haven’t faked anything for a long time, Rachel. I’m one hundred percent yours.” He pressed his forehead to mine. “So, what do you say?”

  “So, we’re together? As in a couple?” I asked.

  “Oh yeah, I’m taking you off the market. For good.”

  I laughed and wrapped my arms around his neck. Off the market, I liked the sound of that.

  Adam kissed my temple. “Now that we’ve settled that, girlfriend. Let’s go get some pizza. I’m starving and I want to hear about your family in Italy.”

  I pulled back and kissed him as if he’d just given me the world. Maybe in a way he had. I wasn’t someone’s tossed out trash. To Adam, I was someone worth knowing.

  It felt great to be known. And I was never going to be thrown away again.

  Also by Lynn Stevens

  Girls of Summer Series

  Extra Innings

  Westland University Series

  Full Count

  Game On

  Just One... Series

  Just One Summer

  Roomies

  Lynn Stevens flunked out of college writing her first novel. Yes, she still has it and no, you can't read it. Surprisingly, she graduated with honors at her third school. A former farm girl turned city slicker, Lynn lives in the Midwest where she drinks coffee she can't pronounce and sips tea when she's out of coffee. When she's out of both, just stay away.

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