Jed and Jake knocked and entered Summer’s room without waiting for a reply. She forgave them because she was still flying high after her kiss with Rocco.
“What’s up?” She sat at her desk, working on her assignments. She’d been more productive in the last hour than she had in months. Mmm. Rocco was good for her.
Jake plopped down on her bed—another thing she never let anyone do—but she let it go. “Come with us to the Sundowner.”
“What?”
“Mom won’t let us go unless you go.”
“I thought you were adults.”
“You live here.” He snorted. “What does adulthood have to do with it?”
“Guys, I don’t want to go to the Sundowner.”
“Come on. You can write in the corner. You just have to be there with us.” He sat up. “Honestly, I think they just want you out of the house, doing something fun. It’s not like we need a babysitter. We’ve been at the University of Wyoming a year now.”
She’d just been out of the house on a date, and she worked every day. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Well, whatever. Will you come?”
She looked from one twin to the other. Both seemed as though they would melt from boredom. And since she was filled with a new positive energy, she nodded. “Okay. Let’s go.”
“Wait, are you going like that?”
“What’s wrong with my sweats?”
“Come on. Just change real quick, and we can go.” Jed grinned. “And put some makeup on.”
“I have makeup on.” Since when did her brother care whether or not she wore makeup?
But she got the point. They wanted to arrive with someone who looked like they belonged in the place, like they were there to have a good time. “Out. I’ll be down in ten minutes.”
They hopped off the bed, high-fived, and shouted from down the hall, “Thanks, Summer.”
She hoped she wouldn’t regret this.
They all climbed into her new Jeep. The boys cranked up the music and were laughing about the start of the rodeo season, totally ignoring her. She turned it down. “What events are you gonna do for rodeo this year?”
“We’re both doing calf roping. Jed’s gonna try wrangling too. Coach thought he’d be good at it.”
They pulled in front of the Sundowner. Jed and Jake opened their doors, but then Jed sat back down and pointed. “Isn’t that…”
Summer followed his finger. Rocco and a woman with long dark hair walked through the parking lot to the front door.
Jake sat back down. “Who was that?”
Summer shook her head. “I don’t know… It looks like the girl he used to date. Millie somebody?”
“He used to date someone?”
“Well, sure, everyone used to date someone.”
“Not me.” Jed made a face.
She would have laughed. But alarm shattered through her even though she knew she shouldn’t be worried. It could be nothing. And she and Rocco had no understanding at all. But that was the thick and thin of it—they had no understanding. And she’d kissed him. A piece of her heart was lost to this man who looked like he was on a date with another woman the same day he’d kissed Summer.
“I don’t think I want to go in there anymore.”
She didn’t look at her brothers, but she assumed Jed and Jake were exchanging disappointed looks. But they surprised her.
“Nah, we don’t either. Who wants to hang with that crowd? Let’s go get a Sonic.”
“Wait, really?” She smiled.
“Totally. Unless you want to go in there first, walk by, say hello, and then leave. Let him know you know kind of thing.” Jake knocked knuckles with Jed.
“Or you two could do it.” Summer heard herself say the words but immediately wished she could swallow them. “No, you know what? Never mind.”
“No, we can do it.” Jed opened the door. He and Jake bounded into the Sundowner, and Summer didn’t even care what kind of trouble they started.
How could she have ever thought that Rocco would be interested in her? She shook her head. He’d acted interested. He’d even kissed her. And it wasn’t just any kiss—he’d kissed her like he meant it.
Hadn’t he?
It was just a single, soft kiss. But that was what was special about it. Or so she’d thought.
Jed and Jake slammed open the restaurant door and ran to her Jeep. Jed arrived first and threw open the door. “Go, go, go!”
Jake hopped in, and Summer pulled out. Once they were out on the road again, Summer eyed them in the rearview mirror. “So…what happened?”
“Nothing.” Jake shrugged.
She pulled over to the side of the road and turned around to look at them both with her serious face. “What. Happened.”
“Okay, nothing really. Just…we walked by, like we didn’t know he was there, you know, giving him a chance to stop us and say hi.”
Summer nodded. That was a good idea.
“And he did.”
“He did?”
“Yep. He said our names.”
After they didn’t say anything more, Summer lifted her hands. “And?”
“And he introduced us to the girl he was with. Said she was his friend. Millie or something—you were right. And that was it.”
“So why were you running?”
“Oh, that?” Jake laughed, then Jed joined him. And Summer started to lose her patience. “Well, he told her that we were your brothers. And he made it sound like being your brothers was something special. But Millie was just a bit too snobby about the whole thing.”
A sliver of concern grew. “And?”
“Well, you should have seen her raise her nose at us.”
Jed piped in, “But you should know what Rocco said. He said you were the one he was talking to before she called.”
“That’s it?”
“Well, yeah. But it was like you were important to him, and she knew it. She got all salty about it.”
“So, we started dancing to the music, you know, right there by their table. We asked Rocco to come dance, and she was like, ‘No, Rocco, no.’”
“And we tripped a little bit and dumped her water over in her lap.” Jake laughed.
“You did not.”
“I did. And then we hightailed it out of there.”
Summer sighed. “What do you think Rocco thought about what you did?”
“We didn’t really look at him. She was too busy wailing and complaining.”
Summer started up the car again, not sure what to think. But the boys had stepped up for her tonight, so she owed them a Sonic milkshake at least.
With large cups full of sugar, the three headed back home.
Her phone buzzed a couple times, but she didn’t want to see if it was Rocco. Not yet. When they got back home, the boys started a movie upstairs, and she joined them for a minute before heading back to her room.
She opened up her phone. No message from Rocco.
“This is torture.” She paced her room. What was he doing with that girl? She pulled up the pictures she’d seen earlier of Rocco with that model. She couldn’t be certain, but she was pretty sure they were the same person. And they were together.
But he’d defended her, right? The boys thought so.
She couldn’t sleep until she knew what was going on. She picked up her phone again and called him. It rang and rang until his voice mail picked up. She hung up before leaving a message, and she started pacing again. It was going to be a long night.
15
Jake and Jed ran from the Sundowner while Millie demanded napkins from their waiter. Rocco hoped that, whatever story the twins went home with, Summer would know she was important to him.
“I’m finished with this hole. It’s not even worth it to wait for our drinks.” Millie stood over him like a crooked crow, her long beak sneering so effectively he wondered how he ever thought her pretty at all.
“Great. Let’s go.” He handed their waiter some folded bills,
apologized, and then followed Millie from the place.
“I’m still wet. I’m going to be wet all night. I can’t believe those two. They were, like, trailer park trash—”
“Hey, Trane was raised in a trailer park.”
“He was?” She waved her hand. “But that’s different. The man could buy a small island now.”
Rocco didn’t see what money had to do with it.
“You know? I think they did that on purpose. Did you see them run out, shouting apologies over their shoulders like it was some kind of joke?”
Rocco covered his smile with one hand. “Yeah. I’m not sure what went down, but I’ll turn the heat on high, and you’ll dry out in no time. No big.” He was certain they’d done it on purpose, thinking that she was Rocco’s date. He hated to think what story went back to Summer and her family.
Her eyes widened. “No big? I would think you’d be more concerned with my comfort, my welfare.”
“Why? We aren’t dating. There’s nothing between us. The last time we talked, you gave me every reason to believe you’d rather do life without me. And honestly, I’ve learned I’d rather do life without you, so it was a good move.”
She sniffed. “It’s perfectly natural you would hold a grudge. I hurt you. I’m sorry.” Her words sounded flat and stale to his ears. “But it gives you no right to neglect me now. Your parents are counting on you to take me to Jackson.”
This woman lived in an alternate reality, separate from the rest of the world. How had he never seen the level of her entitlement? “We’re on our way right now.” He opened the truck door, and she climbed inside. How was he going to put up with this woman for the 90-minute drive to Jackson? And in the dark, he couldn’t even appreciate how beautiful of a drive it was supposed to be.
As he slid into his seat and started the car, he felt her gaze on him. He ignored her. When he shifted to look behind them, he said, “You might want to sleep. It’s a long drive.”
Then he turned on his music, his pregame, pump-it-up music, and tried to block out Millie and remember what it felt like to be with Summer.
Three very long hours later, Rocco was back in his townhome. He pulled out his phone to reread messages from Summer and noticed she’d called earlier. He scrolled through his voice mail. She didn’t leave a message.
Rocco had to leave town again the next morning. The only good thing about the situation was that he would playing the Denver Chargers and Declan “Dice” Rivera. Rocco couldn’t be sure the coach would actually play Dice, though. They called him Dice in the NHL because, so far, they were never sure what he would bring to the ice. Some days, he was on fire and nothing got past him as a defender, but some days, his coach was ready to throw him off the team.
But Declan was always a solid guy and a good friend. And if Rocco had to leave Wyoming without talking to Summer, Declan was a soft place to land.
Summer. Every moment was tinged with concern about where he’d left things with her. He’d tried to call, but all his calls had gone unanswered. His texts too. He guessed she wasn’t happy hearing he was with another woman on the same day he’d kissed her.
He couldn’t blame her.
But if she wouldn’t talk about it, then there wasn’t much more he could do. He’d keep trying, but for now, he had other things to focus on. If he could get himself to think about something other than how to reach Summer and explain.
He showed up at the rink early. The Chargers were doing laps. They raced by, and Rocco looked for Dice until his old friend waved. Then he turned back to the locker room. He liked having the space to himself. While he had a minute, he’d give his stick some TLC. He dug around in his bag for some tape and pulled out his favorite stick. The tape was starting to peel, and it might just be superstition or his imagination, but the puck just didn’t seem to be sticking as well anymore. Time for new tape or, at least for this game, another layer.
He started at the heel of the stick and began wrapping. He’d been taping sticks for so long the motion was almost hypnotic. The rest of the world quieted, and he focused in on this one simple task. Each part of the old tape that was covered with the brand-new black surface left a part of Rocco feeling renewed. When the heel was completely recovered, he picked up his phone and tried Summer again.
“Hello?”
Relief showered through him. “Summer!”
“Hi. You getting ready for your game?”
“I’m in the locker room, but we have hours yet.”
“We’ll all be watching.”
“Thanks. One day, I’d like to try to explain how much that means to me.”
She was quiet.
“And I guess I just called ’cause I want you to know you’re important to me. I don’t see lots of girls. I don’t kiss them either.”
She didn’t answer.
“Unless they mean something to me.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Summer, it’s killing me that you might have heard I was at the Sundowner with Millie. I promise I was forced into that. She means even less to me now than I thought she did. And the whole time, all I wanted was to be with you.”
He knew she was still there because he could hear her breathing. At last, she spoke. “I know.”
“You do?”
“Jed told me what you said and that he thought you were trying to let me know this girl wasn’t important.”
“Smart guy.”
“But it doesn’t change the fact that you were there with her. That you used to date her. And that makes me wonder where any of this is going with us.”
“That’s fair.”
“But don’t think about this now.”
“I just need to know I still have a chance. See me when I get back?”
“Of course.”
He exhaled in relief. “Because it’s my turn to cook.”
“You cook too?”
“I’m a De Luca, aren’t I?”
“That’s good to know. I’m a sucker for Italian food.”
“Then you’re with the right guy.” And something about that felt oh so right. “Summer, you’re with the right guy.”
“I hope so, ’cause from what I can tell, I’d like you to be the right guy.”
“Hey, when I’m out there tonight, I’ll think of you. And when I do, I’ll put my glove in the air for a minute, just straight up.” Her soft intake of breath made him smile. “And then you’ll know you’re helping me focus.”
“Okay.”
He waited, sensing she might have something else to say.
“And, Rocco.”
“Yeah?”
“I believe you.”
“Great.” Emotion formed a lump in his throat. “See you in a couple days.”
“Okay.”
“And maybe answer my call tonight?” He held his breath.
“I’ll be waiting up.”
He leaned his head back against the locker behind him. “Thanks, Summer.”
“Good luck today. Be careful.”
“Always.”
When she hung up, his life shifted just a bit closer to center. He pulled out the tape again with a smile and began working on the knob. By the time the rest of his team started to show up, he was finished and heading out to the ice.
After running through his warmups, he felt more on his game, more centered and focused, so that when the first puck dropped, he snatched it up and tore across the ice. He smacked the puck hard and sent it sailing over the goalie’s right leg and into the goal. He put his glove straight up into the air when he knew the cameras would be on him. That one’s for you, Summer.
Declan hardly left the bench until the third period, and the Steers beat the Chargers soundly.
As soon as the game and team meetings were over, Rocco reached out to Declan. You up for dinner?
Yeah. I need to talk.
Sounds too intense for us.
Hear me out.
Okay, let’s meet at Grilled Sunshine.
I’ll be there.
&nbs
p; The Pit started rolling in the game updates and reactions. Jax had won again. So everyone talked about the Stanley.
Everybody ready for next week? Clint usually helped Bree with the promotional efforts to save Northbrook.
Bree really put together a cool thing.
Yeah, she did.
They went over the plans for the all-star game, and then when Declan and Rocco finally pocketed their phones, Rocco eyed Declan. “Talk to me, bro.”
“I can’t get traded again. It’s my mom. My life. I gotta stop switching towns.”
Rocco nodded. Dice was in a rough spot. “Let’s go work out tomorrow.”
They talked for a couple more hours.
When Rocco finally stepped into his room, the hour was late, and he didn’t want to wake Summer, so even though his phone silently reminded him he’d promised to call, he made himself let it go until morning.
16
Summer listened from her office to the ladies at the checkout desk signing up children for the winter reading program. She’d just finished setting up the new display as people entered the library. And now she was working on ordering the next batch of books for the kid-lit department. J. Scott Savage had a new middle grade title coming out, and the library had already had a stream of requests. She wanted to make sure they got the book as soon as it became available.
Then she pulled up her email. She always had a couple hours of her workday available to dedicate to her doctorate. Today, she was transcribing the pages of a young woman’s journal documenting her time in Czechoslovakia when the Iron Curtain fell. The differences between her life before and after were stark and informative to Summer’s thesis. The journal had been a gold mine, and she couldn’t wait to share it with the world.
Her email dinged. The subject line caught her eye. Fellowship opportunity in Prague. After clicking on it, she became even more excited. Two recipients would spend half their time studying in Prague and the other half at New York University. One year away, learning from a different culture and country and working with New York University—she knew she should jump at the chance, and she wanted to. Did Rocco ever play in New York City?
When had he started playing a role in her life choices? It didn’t matter when, she guessed. He was. Sort of. Except he couldn’t be. She’d waited for hours last night, sleeping by her phone, and he had never called.
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