Summer Loving

by Lise Gold et al.

  “It feels good, right?” she asked when they were up to their thighs.

  “Yeah,” Zoe said. “Feels great.”

  She was looking into McKenna’s eyes, mesmerized by the constellation of freckles across the bridge of her nose and feeling unsure whether the warm, tingly feeling that was filling her body came from the sun beating down on her bare skin or from McKenna herself… or a combination of the two.

  And then McKenna stepped closer in the water, bridging the gap between them. She kissed Zoe – one fast peck before drawing away to look into her eyes again, to make sure she wasn’t misreading the situation.

  Zoe just stared back at her, stunned and rapt.

  So McKenna kissed her again – this time longer.

  Her hand went to Zoe’s hip, her palm warm against her bare skin, and she deepened the kiss. Their mouths came together harder, more urgently, and Zoe could feel McKenna’s breath on her cheek, a sharp sigh of desire. McKenna parted her lips and Zoe followed suit, and then suddenly McKenna’s tongue was in her mouth.

  The warmth and the tingles exploded through Zoe’s whole body, overwhelming her. It felt good – maybe a little too good – and she pulled back.

  “Sorry,” she said, taking a small step back. “I’ve never… done this before.”

  McKenna’s brow furrowed ever so slightly, then she asked, “Kissed a girl?”

  “Kissed… anyone.” That hurt to admit, and she hurried to reassure McKenna, “but I’m into girls. I’m into, uh, you.”

  I must not be dead after all, Zoe thought, because if I were dead, I wouldn’t be capable of feeling embarrassed like this.

  She wasn’t sure whether to find that reassuring or not, but McKenna smiled warmly. “I’m into you too. So you liked it? The kiss?”

  “Yes,” Zoe said quickly – maybe a little too eagerly.

  McKenna grinned. “Good. Then I’d like to do it again – but first we gotta take advantage of this gorgeous spot.”

  And with that, she let go of Zoe and dove shallowly into the water, disappearing completely beneath the shimmering surface and swimming ten yards or so before popping up again and hooking her finger at Zoe to follow her. She didn’t have to ask twice.

  Chapter 6

  McKenna

  “What now?” McKenna asked as she and Zoe got back into the A5.

  It was about an hour after their swim and her underwear had sun-dried on the trek back to the parking lot. She could feel the heat baking into her skin, reddening her shoulders and making her stupid freckles even more pronounced than they usually were. Zoe was looking slightly sunburned, too, and they were both walking more sluggishly than before, but McKenna hoped this wasn’t the end of their adventure.

  “I could go for some food,” Zoe said with a shrug. “What about you?”

  McKenna smiled. “I’m famished. Burgers?”

  Zoe stuck out her tongue. “I’m gonna be eating Cape Burgers all summer – I need something else.”

  “Lobster rolls?” McKenna suggested. “We are in New England, after all.”

  Zoe brought her hand up to the corner of her mouth, twirled an imaginary moustache and spoke in a haughty accent. “Lobster, mmyes.” She dropped the bit and laughed. “I’m an eighteen-year-old kid from Ohio. I was thinking pizza.”

  “Fair enough,” McKenna said. “Your place? Mine will be crawling with little brats.”

  “You have a lot of siblings?”

  “Just two,” McKenna said. “I’m a twin, and I’ve got a younger brother, too. Plus my cousin is here on vacation with his parents, but just for another week.”

  “When do you go back?” Zoe asked, and McKenna could see her emotions written all over her face – Zoe should never play poker because McKenna could tell at a glance that she was afraid of the answer.

  “Not until the end of August,” she said. “My dad’s working remotely and my mom hasn’t worked since she got pregnant with me and Miles… so it looks like you’re stuck with me for the rest of the summer.”

  “Crap,” Zoe teased. “Guess I better start working on my disguises.”

  They looked up a pizza place on McKenna’s phone, then she handed it over to Zoe to place the order while she drove. After Zoe ended the call, she asked, “What about you? Are your sisters here too?”

  “No,” Zoe said. “It’s just me and my aunt this summer. My older sister is a dental hygienist and the younger one is twelve. She’s earning babysitting money at home this summer.”

  “And what’s your aunt do?”

  Zoe told McKenna all about Renata’s lucky stock picks and how the whole family accused her of being a Time Lord to explain how she’d managed such incredible foresight.

  “She’s a smart lady,” Zoe said. “She’s been retired since her early thirties so she spends a lot of time volunteering now – mostly with disadvantaged kids. She’s running a girls’ basketball training camp in New Bedford this summer. They’re playing their first game tonight.”

  “That so?” McKenna said. “So, your place for sure then.”

  She smiled, then grinned a little wider when she saw the color coming into Zoe’s cheeks. “Yeah. We could watch a movie while we eat.”

  “That sounds nice.”

  They picked up the pizza and went back to Zoe’s aunt’s place. The house was modest, decorated in the nautical light blues and tans that were popular in the area. Zoe gave McKenna a quick tour, then led her into a cozy little den at the back of the house.

  Zoe let McKenna sort through her Netflix queue while she grabbed plates and napkins from the kitchen, and McKenna had a long internal debate between Below Her Mouth and The Feels. That kiss she and Zoe shared in the water had certainly given McKenna ‘the feels,’ but Zoe seemed a little skittish, and the last thing McKenna wanted was to scare her off with something intensely sexual like Below Her Mouth.

  The Feels it is, she decided just as Zoe returned and plopped down on the couch, surprisingly close to her. That was a good sign.

  “Have you seen this?” she asked, gesturing to the screen.

  “Nope,” Zoe said. “Is it good?”

  “Yeah,” McKenna said, then set down the remote. “Hey.”

  “Hmm?”

  “You know earlier, when I said I wanted to kiss you some more?”

  Zoe looked breathless. McKenna loved how readable she was, how she could see exactly the effect she was having on her. “Yeah.”

  “Now a good time?”

  Zoe nodded and McKenna put her hand to her jawline, her fingers brushing lightly over her hair as she pulled Zoe in. They kissed, slower this time, and McKenna let Zoe set the pace. Gentle, soft, then deeper and more urgent. Zoe let her mouth fall slightly open, then hesitated, and McKenna took the cue, sliding her tongue between Zoe’s plump lips.

  “Mmm,” Zoe moaned against her mouth and McKenna felt her heart beating faster in her chest. She’d kissed a few girls in high school – hell, even a friend or two in middle school just to see what it was all about – but it never felt like this before. She lay Zoe back against the couch cushions, circling her arms around her waist and pulling her closer.

  “You taste good,” she murmured, shivering with desire when she felt Zoe’s breasts brushing softly against her own.

  A few minutes later, far away at the other end of the house, they heard a door open and somebody called, “Hola! Zoe, you home?”

  They broke apart, sitting up and acting innocent.

  “In here, Tia!” Zoe shouted back. “We got pizza if you need dinner!”

  She shot McKenna a conspiratorial smile – she was gaining confidence – then handed her a plate. They were digging in when her aunt appeared around the corner, saying, “We?”

  Zoe made the introductions and Renata took a slice of pizza, then made an excuse to go eat in the kitchen. McKenna picked up the remote again. “Movie time?”

  “Yeah,” Zoe said before stuffing a big bite of cheesy goodness into her mouth. “Oh my God, this is incredible. I
had no idea how hungry I was.”

  Chapter 7

  Zoe

  Zoe’s priorities changed a lot after that night. She still took as many shifts as Vinny would give her at Cape Burger, and the way he bellowed Order up! would be ingrained in her mind forever after how many times she’d heard it, but she was no longer begging for both lunch and dinner shifts. She wasn’t disappointed when he scheduled somebody else for a weekend shift. And some nights, she barely even took the time to count her tips.

  What she cared about more was McKenna, and finding as much time as possible to spend with her.

  It only took them a couple of days to settle into a nice little routine. Zoe would work her shift for the day and McKenna would put in face time with her family so they couldn’t accuse her of avoiding them all summer. Then as soon as Zoe got off work, they’d go on a new adventure.

  If McKenna managed to borrow the convertible from her dad for the day, they’d drive around the Cape, exploring. They went to the beach, saw lighthouses and canals, hiked the state parks and wandered aimlessly through shopping districts. McKenna even convinced Zoe to try a lobster roll, of which she promptly became a fan.

  If they couldn’t get a ride that day, there were still plenty of things to explore and places to go on foot. The sun was always shining, there were always ice cream cones to be eaten and picturesque views to enjoy, and Zoe didn’t need anything more than McKenna by her side to have a great time.

  One early evening at the end of June, they were eating shaved ice and walking hand-in-hand along Commercial Street in Provincetown, at the very tip of the Cape. Zoe sighed and squeezed McKenna’s hand, saying, “This summer is going too damn fast.”

  “You can say that again.”

  “This summer is going too damn fast,” she repeated. Then, even though she knew it was a tender subject, she couldn’t help asking, “Any news from Harvard?”

  She stole a sideways glance at McKenna, whose long, sexy legs were bare beneath a curve-hugging pair of shorts. She wore strappy sandals and a loose, flowing peasant top, and Zoe hadn’t seen her repeat an outfit once in the month they’d been hanging out with each other. In fact, everything about McKenna felt new and exciting every single time Zoe met up with her.

  She’d fallen hard for her, and it hadn’t taken long to decide that an entire year of ramen noodles and dining hall meals was a small price to pay for the chance to be with McKenna now. Zoe just wished that it didn’t have to end when the summer did.

  “No,” McKenna said, then shot her a slightly sardonic look. “Do you really think if I had, I could have held that news in for the entire hour we were in the car to get here?”

  Zoe shrugged. “Probably not. I’m just being optimistic. It would be really cool if we could go to school together in the fall.”

  “Well, I think the Harvard ship has sailed,” McKenna said. “At least for this school year. But you know, U Mass is only about two hours from Harvard. There are plenty of people who say long-distance relationships are workable – especially if it’s only temporary.”

  Zoe smiled. She and McKenna had been getting really close over the last few weeks, and she was pretty sure she’d fallen in love with her the first time they kissed… but neither of them had ever said the R word before.

  “Relationship?”

  McKenna smiled back, teasing. “What, am I just a summer fling to you?”

  “Absolutely not,” Zoe said, not wanting to add what she was really thinking – that she hadn’t dared hope for more.

  “Then let’s make it official,” McKenna said. “Be my girlfriend.”

  “You don’t have to ask me twice,” Zoe said, throwing her arms around McKenna and going in for a kiss. Instead, McKenna squealed and Zoe pulled back. “What?”

  McKenna was laughing, bright blue syrup dripping down her shoulder as Zoe realized she’d forgotten all about the shaved ice in her hand. “What is it with you and spilling frozen drinks on me?”

  “Is that a deal breaker?” Zoe asked, soaking up the liquid with a napkin and trying not to stain McKenna’s shirt.

  “Definitely not,” McKenna said, “but I am kind of sticky now. I don’t love that.”

  “I guess I just wanted an excuse to get you down to your underwear again,” Zoe said, lowering her voice so only McKenna would hear. “Did you bring your bathing suit?”

  “Wearing it under my clothes,” McKenna said. “You?”

  “Yep,” Zoe told her. “Let’s ditch this shaved ice and go for a swim.”

  The following weekend was the Fourth of July and McKenna’s family was cooking out in the back yard of their rental house. They invited Zoe and Renata to eat, and everyone spent the day snacking, playing yard games and running around with water balloons and Super Soakers.

  They ate steaks and grilled corn on the cob for dinner, and when it got dark, they didn’t even have to relocate to get a good view of the Cape’s fireworks. McKenna’s mom and aunt went in the house to gather up blankets to lay out on the lawn, and everybody stretched out on them to watch the show.

  The fireworks shot out over the bay, exploding in a rainbow of bright colors. McKenna’s dad turned on the radio, tuning in to hear the music that was playing from city speakers for the people watching from the beach, and Zoe took McKenna’s hand in the dark.

  “This is nice,” she said. “Thanks for inviting my aunt, too. She’s got her volunteer work, but I think she gets lonely here sometimes.”

  “Your aunt is awesome,” McKenna said. She’d gotten to know Renata pretty well – there’d been a lot of movie nights at the cottage, plus take-out dinners and lazy afternoons. Zoe was pretty sure her aunt approved of McKenna, too. “Besides, I think your family’s right – she’s a Time Lord.”

  Zoe snorted. “She’s just eccentric. And lucky.”

  “Whatever you say,” McKenna said, and just then, a scuffle broke out on one of the other blankets. Mitchell carried out a sneak attack, blasting Miles and their cousin with a fully loaded Super Soaker.

  “Oh my God!” Miles screeched. “That’s ice-cold!” He scrambled up from the soaked blanket, tearing across the grass in search of his own water gun. “Now you’re gonna get it!”

  “Should we run?” Zoe asked, knowing it was only a matter of time before the boys pulled them into the fray.

  “Yeah,” McKenna said. They got up, but instead of heading for the spigot to reload, she pulled Zoe toward the house.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “You’ll see,” McKenna said, keeping her voice low so the boys wouldn’t hear.

  At first, Zoe thought she was leading her into position for an ambush, but they went inside, then McKenna led her upstairs. They went all the way up to the attic and then McKenna pointed to a set of French doors Zoe had no idea were even there.

  “Come on,” she said. “I bet the view is even better from up here.”

  She led Zoe back outside, to a small balcony just big enough for a couple of padded lounge chairs, the perfect spot for sunbathing during the day. They could hear the commotion on the lawn – without the two of them for targets, the boys had turned their weapons on the adults, who were loading up with water balloons. But all of it was out of view, and the only things Zoe and McKenna could see were the fireworks exploding overhead.

  “Wow,” Zoe said, letting out a breath as one bloomed like a dandelion gone to seed, lighting up the night sky. “You’re right – it’s wonderful.”

  But McKenna wasn’t looking at the fireworks. Zoe felt her hands slide around her waist, and then she, too, forgot about the sky. She turned to McKenna, breathing her in as their lips came together and McKenna pulled her down onto one of the lounge chairs.

  Chapter 8

  McKenna

  “Zoe? Are you ready to go?”

  Zoe’s aunt’s voice came from down on the lawn and stirred the two of them out of a light sleep. When McKenna opened her eyes, she saw a few stars faintly visible in the sky, above a thin layer
of smoke from the dissipating fireworks. Zoe lay in her arms on the lounge chair, her head resting on McKenna’s chest.

  “What time is it?” Zoe wondered.

  “Close to midnight,” McKenna said, digging her phone out of her pocket and temporarily blinding them both with the screen. “Your aunt’s looking for you.”

  “Donde estas, Zoe-girl?” Renata called again.

  “Aqui,” Zoe shouted back. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

  She started to climb out of the chair, but McKenna caught her wrist. “Hey.”

  Zoe smiled. “Hey.”

  Just say it, McKenna thought, her heart suddenly in her throat. “I love you.”

  Zoe sank back down on the chair. “You do?”

  “I think so,” McKenna said. She’d never been in love before, but she couldn’t imagine anything better than the way she always felt when Zoe was nearby – her pulse quickened, her temperature rose, she wore a perpetual smile that just wouldn’t go away. That had to be love, right?

  “I love you too,” Zoe said, and that surprised McKenna. Not that they hadn’t been having a lot of fun together, or that the long make-out sessions they’d been having lately weren’t extremely hot… but McKenna never expected her to say it back.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah,” Zoe said, leaning in and planting a firm kiss on her already swollen lips. “I think I fell in love with you pretty much at first sight, actually, but I figured you’d think I was crazy if I said so.”

  McKenna laughed. “I’ve been holding my tongue because of the whole wait list thing.”

  They kissed again, Renata hollered again, and then Zoe said, “We have two more months to forget all about wait lists and college, and to figure out how people make long-distance work. Okay?”