One Hot Summer

by Heidi McLaughlin

  It wasn’t like him. Camille was the one who bailed last minute, not Drew.

  He didn’t answer my threatening texts either. Not even with the eggplant and donut emojis I expected. It left me with a strange feeling that I couldn’t shake during the twenty-minute drive to Riverside.

  The carnival was along the water’s edge beside a campground, so Camille parked in the lot connected to the RV park.

  The three of us walked toward the entrance together. I checked my phone one more time as we approached the gate. Still nothing except a low battery notification on my screen.

  I’d been so busy all day, I forgotten to charge it.

  “There’s Caleb,” my brother told me, pointing at his friend and a few other boys his age congregating near the gate. Then he mumbled, “Please don’t buy my tickets like I’m a baby.”

  “Here,” I said, giving him the twenty bucks, I’d made in tips that day to buy his dinner and play games or ride rides or whatever twelve-year-old boys did.

  He pocketed the money then greeted his friends.

  “Thanks, Em. Hey, if Caleb’s mom says it’s okay, could I spend the night with him tonight?”

  I didn’t even have to think it over, though I pretended to. It was probably safer since mom would probably still be angry when I got home.

  “Possibly.” I checked the time on my dying phone. It was a few minutes after six. “Meet me back here at nine with Caleb’s mom. I need to get her number and confirm that she’s okay with you sleeping over.”

  He grinned. “Cool. I will. Later, Em.”

  “Nine sharp,” I called out as he wandered further into the carnival with his friends.

  He tossed a wave over his head and disappeared into the crowd.

  Camille made a throaty noise from beside me. “Little dude is going to break some hearts one day.”

  I sighed. “I hope not. Maybe he’ll just be a really sweet guy that treats girls with the respect they deserve.”

  Camille laughed. “Yeah, okay. Do they even make that model anymore?”

  Not in my experience, hence while I was still a virgin.

  But a girl could dream.

  2

  Aiden

  “Dude, I’m starving,” my older brother, Axel, groaned from the coach.

  I tossed the garbage bag full of empty beer bottles into the kitchen trash bin, rubbed my neck and rolled my head from side to side. Last night’s rager had been a bit much, even for us. I’d been cleaning up the mess for half the day and was still finding shit everywhere.

  I wasn’t sure when our house had become the party pad, but due to its close proximity to the river, it definitely had.

  We’d grown up here and Axel had taken over the mortgage when our parents passed. Ten years later, at twenty-four, part of me wanted to get the hell out of here. But a bigger part of me knew it wouldn’t be right to leave my brother to his own devices.

  “Nice of you to finally join me,” I remarked. It was after eight in the evening. He’d literally crashed all day long. “The bathroom still needs cleaned. One of your work buddies puked in it, and I have limits.”

  Axel coughed. “Really? Limits, huh? Didn’t I see you taking not one but two chicks into your room last night?”

  Oh yeah. Becca and…shit. I forgot the other girl’s name. They were hot and we had a fantastic time though.

  “I wasn’t the one who invited people over.” Sure, I capitalized on an opportunity when I saw one, but I would’ve been fine studying for my exams in peace last night.

  “Relax,” Axel said, pulling his hungover ass from the couch and scratching his balls. No wonder he was still single at twenty-eight. “I’ll bleach the bathroom. I’ve probably seen worse at work. You ever had to puke in a port-a-john, Aiden?”

  “No.”

  He jerked his chin up at me on his way by. “Yeah, you’re welcome, by the way.”

  Axel worked construction, the job he’d taken ten years ago so he could get custody of me when our parents died in a car accident. He was eighteen and I was fourteen at the time. To become my legal guardian, the state had made him prove that he had full-time employment and steady income.

  I’d never forget the sacrifices he’d made.

  Neither would he.

  He always said giving up his hockey scholarship at UNC to get a full-time job so I wouldn’t end up in the system was the only decision he’d ever been certain about. But there were days when I could feel the regret rolling off him.

  Like today.

  Like last night, when he got so wasted, he didn’t care when the cops showed up and told him to tame the crowd or shut it down. It was happening more and more the past few years.

  I knocked on the door of the bathroom he was cleaning. “I’m going to run out and grab some food. You want me to pick up something for you?”

  “Fuck no,” he called from the other side. “This should make me lose my appetite.”

  Yeah, I knew better. I waited a half a minute.

  “Has it?”

  Shortly after, he responded. “Naw. Run down to those food trucks at the carnival and get me a bacon cheeseburger from the Patty Wagon.” Before I stepped away, he called out, “and some loaded cheese fries.”

  I grabbed my wallet off the side table and was heading toward the front door when he stepped out of the bathroom. “Hey, pretty boy?”

  I turned, overly familiar with the annoying term of endearment. “Yeah?”

  “If some hot, young, piece of ass falls into your lap, like it usually does, make sure she has a friend and bring ‘em home, will ya? The guys are coming over.”

  Again. Great. “Anything else I can get you, boss?”

  My brother grinned and I wished I hadn’t made the mistake of asking. “A blow job, Aiden. The answer to that question, no matter who asks you, is always a blow job.”

  King of etiquette my brother would never be.

  But he was a good guy deep down and I owed him. Maybe that’s why I never moved out.

  Maybe it was why I gave up my own opportunity to play professional hockey to teach and coach it instead.

  When the scouts approached me in high school, I knew I couldn’t do that to Axel. He was my best friend, my brother, the only family I had left. I couldn’t steal the dream he’d given up to take care of me.

  But I loved being on the ice. I always had, since going to his games as a kid. The speed, the agility, the raw power and intensity. It was equaled only by sex.

  Don’t get me wrong, I love to fuck and I’m damn good at it. But with sex, I always had to hold back.

  I was well-endowed and kind of intense. Okay, extremely intense. Even the most sexually adventurous girls needed me to back it down a notch or two.

  But with hockey, I could let it go, unleashing every ounce of my aggression on the ice, on my opponent.

  I was past ready to get back out there. We’d been one win away from making it to the Frozen Four last year. Due to a knee injury keeping me out during my first two years of undergrad at Southeastern, I was still able to play on the college team as a grad student. The NCAA had given me four years of eligibility. Luckily it didn’t matter to them which four I played. This was my last season and I was going to make it count. I might never go pro, but I wasn’t going out without setting some records.

  Jogging alongside the water’s edge to where the food trucks were parked, I decided I’d skip Axel’s party and crash in the camper tonight. I needed to get up early and hit the ice in the morning.

  Sunday morning was the best time to go. It would be completely empty. The rink was my version of church.

  I was so jacked thinking about it, practically sprinting with excitement, that I ran smack into a blonde near the carnival ticket counter.

  Her firm body molded to mine as I pulled her toward me to keep her from falling. The scent of wildflowers filled my head.

  “Shit, I’m sorry,” I said, startled by the sudden impact. “You okay?”

  Her wide hazel-gra
y eyes met mine and I realized that I knew her.

  Well, I didn’t know her know her. But she was in my art history class at Southeastern and she worked at High Octane, the coffee shop on campus. She also happened to be fucking gorgeous.

  I’d been lusting after this girl all summer and she’d never so much as looked at me twice. She usually seemed to be in a hurry.

  Like now.

  She stepped out of my reach, composing herself quickly.

  “I’m fine.” Not a trace of recognition in her gaze.

  Yeah, that stings a little.

  “Good, I’m glad. I really am sorry. I should watch where I’m going.”

  “Do you happen to know what time it is?” Her teeth sank into her lower lip and her magnificent mouth was so enticing I had to look elsewhere. “My phone died, and my friend ditched me, and my little brother was supposed to meet me here at nine.” There was panic edging her voice.

  I pulled out my phone and glanced at it. “He’s fifteen minutes late.”

  She sucked in a breath, heaving her full chest upward into my line of vision.

  Do not look. Do not look.

  I looked.

  Damn, she was edible. She always looked sexy in class, but tonight she wore short ass-hugging shorts and a loose low-cut shirt, making my dick twitch.

  “Actually, I was probably late. I lost track of time looking for Camille.”

  “Your brother’s name is Camille?”

  She huffed out an annoyed breath. “My brother’s name is Ethan. Camille is my friend. The one who ditched me.” Before I could say anything else, she turned to the lady at the ticket counter. “Have you seen a kid, male, blond hair, twelve years old, about this tall.” She held her hand up to her shoulders and once again, my eyes landed on her breasts.

  It was like I’d never seen tits before. I’d been drowning in two sets of them last night. What I should be thinking about was studying and getting some damn sleep tonight. But that went out the window the moment I slammed into the girl I hoped would keep me up all night long.

  The woman blew her off. Said she’d seen dozens of kids matching that description and to call the cops if she was all that worried.

  I watched as she looked up at the sky as if searching for answers.

  “You can use my phone to call him,” I offered.

  “My brother doesn’t have a phone,” she said, successfully confusing me. “I was planning to use the group app for his baseball team to message the mom of the kid he’s with,” she clarified. “But my phone is completely dead. It won’t even turn back on.”

  Well, there was only one solution for that. “If you have an iPhone, I have a charger back at my place. It’s not far from here.”

  It didn’t sound as creepy in my head, but she side-eyed me warily.

  “Yeah, I bet you do.” Before I formerly introduced myself to put her at ease, she tilted her head and recognition sparked in her suspicious eyes. “Wait, do I know you? Do you take art history at Southeastern?”

  Finally. My ego was beginning to feel seriously bruised.

  I nodded. “Yeah. Aiden Singleton.” I reached out to shake her hand. She took mine tentatively with the softest skin I’d ever felt. “You’re in my class, I think.”

  Okay, so I didn’t think. I knew. She sat in the third row, middle seat, right in front of me. No need to show all my cards so soon. I’d already weirded her out once.

  “I’m Emersyn. Um, Tyler.” She bit her lip once more, and I almost forget why the hell I came here.

  “It’s nice to formally meet you, Emersyn, um, Tyler. I just ran up here to get some food.” I pointed to where the food trucks were parked beside the carnival entrance. “I could help you look for your brother, and if we don’t find him, you can come by my place and charge your phone. I’ll give you mine while you wait so you can call for help if I’m a psycho stalker.”

  Her eyebrows rose in unison. “The fact that you’re mentioning it is disconcerting. Isn’t that what stalkers do? Try and make you feel at ease?”

  Shrugging, I put my hands in my pockets. “Not sure. I’m new at this.”

  She smiled. “Guess I’ll have to risk it. For my brother’s sake.”

  “Let’s check the food trucks,” I suggested, figuring that was the most likely spot to find a growing twelve-year-old boy. “I need to head over there anyway, and boys like to eat.” Just as we neared the Patty Wagon, arguably the best food truck here, Emersyn turned and pointed at a kid in line.

  “Ethan Blane Tyler, I am going to kill you.”

  Who’s the crazy one now? I glanced up and saw a kid’s face turning bright red. Next to a girl about his age.

  I leaned close enough to get a whiff of her sexy floral scent once more. “Don’t embarrass him, Sis. He’s with a chick. And there’s gel in his hair. You know there’s a sibling code,” I said under my breath.

  “It’s mousse.” Emersyn glared at me. She sucked in a breath then stepped over to him and his friend.

  I followed because I was too invested now not to.

  “Sorry, Em,” the kid said, his eyes casting downward. “I told Caleb we had to meet you, so he went to find his mom. Me and Hailee wanted to get some cheese fries while we waited for them.”

  Hailee was blushing, too, looking nervous in her yellow sundress and matching ribbon in her long auburn hair.

  “Their cheese fries are pretty awesome,” I agreed.

  Emersyn sighed. “I was worried sick. My phone died.”

  “Are you mad? Does this mean I can’t sleep over at Caleb’s?”

  She exhaled slowly. “No.”

  The kid’s face fell.

  “I mean, no, I’m not mad,” she clarified. “You can stay at Caleb’s if it’s okay with his mom. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

  I watched the exchange, noticing that she seemed more like his mom than his older sister.

  The man at the window of the Patty Wagon leaned down toward us. “You kids gonna order, or what?”

  Emersyn shook her head, taking a step back.

  I leaned over to her brother. “My treat. Get whatever you want.”

  Ethan grinned but checked with his sister first.

  “I gave him some money,” she informed me. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “I want to,” I told her, turning to Ethan. “Save your money, kid. Girls are expensive. Trust me.” He thanked me and I fist bumped him.

  After they ordered cheese fries and milkshakes, I ordered my food and Axel’s—explaining that the second double bacon cheeseburger and fully loaded cheese fry combo was for my brother. Then I leaned toward Emersyn once more. “I’m ordering you the cheese fries and a shake. They’re seriously amazing. You’ve had a rough night. Live a little.”

  After I paid and we found a nearby picnic table, another kid around Emersyn’s brother’s age and his mom appeared. The mom, an attractive redhead that was probably in her forties or so, blatantly checked me out.

  Emersyn shot me a curious look.

  I focused on my food where it was safe. When they exchanged numbers, the woman made sure to call hers out extra loudly as if hoping I would hear. I was almost positive Emersyn noticed.

  They worked out the details of the sleepover and returning Hailee to her parents before the lady took all of the kids and headed toward the exit, leaving me alone with Emersyn once again.

  “Thank you,” Emersyn said, gesturing to her shake. “This was sweet of you. And the fries are amazing.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked them.” I was also glad she ate like a normal fucking human in front of me and didn’t go all self-conscious girl at the sight of carbs and calories.

  “And, um, Mrs. Anderson is divorced and available in case you were interested.”

  I laughed, amused by how casually she threw that out there. “Think she’ll be upset that I didn’t jot her number down?”

  Emersyn shrugged. “There’s always social media. I hear she’s on all the dating apps.”<
br />
  I nodded, pretending to think it over. “She’s not my type. I tend to prefer them a little less…”

  “Obvious?” she offered.

  “Something like that, yeah.”

  We finished our food and I threw away our garbage before I realized my dilemma. There was no longer a reason for her to come back to my place now.

  Well, fuck.

  “So…probably not a great idea for me to bail on you with a dead phone. Can I give you a ride somewhere?”

  I was reaching and we both knew it.

  She glanced around. “I think my friend is still here. I’ll find her. But thanks for the offer.”

  I didn’t want to leave her alone with no phone and no ride home. But I didn’t want to be the skeezy weirdo that she couldn’t ditch either.

  “You mind if I hang around until you find your friend? I’ll feel better knowing you have a ride.”

  She appeared to think it over. I used the time to toss up a plea to the Powers That Be. Of all the times in my life I’ve wanted a girl to say yes to something, this moment was at the top of the list.

  3

  Emersyn

  Any other girl would’ve gone home with him. I’d probably kick myself later for not taking him up on his offer.

  He was mouth-wateringly handsome. But so was Ted Bundy.

  I spotted a dark-haired girl over by the Ferris Wheel that could’ve been Camille.

  Maybe. If I squinted.

  Hard.

  “Actually, there’s my friend,” I said, pointing at the girl. “But I appreciate your help. And it was nice to meet you.”

  “Ah. Okay, then.” He picked up the bag of food he said was for his brother. “It was nice to meet you, too. Formally, I mean. Outside of class.”

  He was nervous and it was so sweet, part of me almost changed my mind. But I needed to find the real Camille and get home.

  “I’ll see you in class Monday night,” I said, not quite ready to walk away.

  He gave me a curt lift of his chin. “Sure. I’ll save you a seat.”

  I checked over my shoulder and saw the girl getting on the Ferris wheel. Perfect timing. “Guess I better go catch up with my friend before she leaves me. Again.”