The Summer of Us: A Romance Anthology

by AJ Matthews

  Chloe kicked hard at the box by her feet, intending to send it across the lawn towards a pile of others, but her foot went straight through the cardboard, snagged there, and she fell backwards, landing with a thump on the grass.

  “Oh, perfect!” Chloe lay on her back and looked up the blue sky.

  She heard Oliver give an involuntary laugh, then he untangled her foot from the box and carried that one to the others. Chloe decided not to bother moving. She put her hands behind her head and watched a bird circling above her. With her kind of luck it would probably poop straight on her nose.

  Oh, well, just one more year of school. One year being stuck with a boy who’d made her cry. What Oliver thankfully didn’t know was how much of a thumping crush she’d developed on him last summer. The day they’d spent diving had been magical and romantic, and she’d daydreamed that it was the start of something between them. For a few hours he’d been great to be around. She’d been so upset the next morning when she realised he didn’t actually like her at all. And now it could all happen again. Except that this time she wouldn’t make the same mistake. This time she would stay well away from Oliver Jefferson.

  Oliver sat gingerly down on the grass beside Chloe and wondered how on earth he was going to tell her about his lies. He’d assumed she would be grateful that she knew at least one person here, but the new version of Chloe didn’t seem remotely pleased to see him.

  “You’ll like Spaworth, I’m sure. I’ll introduce you to my friends and stuff,” Oliver began tentatively.

  “You don’t have to pretend to be nice, Oliver, I have no doubt that your mother made you come over.” Chloe kept her eyes on the sky.

  “No. Well, yes, but that’s not actually the reason.” He scratched at his jaw nervously. “The thing is … I sort of told my friends we hooked up.”

  Chloe blinked a couple of times and then turned on her elbow to look at him.

  “You what?”

  “Well, I didn’t expect them to actually ever meet you! But they’ve seen your photo and know your name is Chloe and, oh crap, I’m sorry,” he blurted, “but they think you’re my girlfriend.”

  “Your girlfriend?” Chloe didn’t know whether to get angry or whether to laugh. “Why? What was the point? Can’t you get a real girlfriend? Or, oh, I get it, you’re not that way inclined and didn’t want them to know?” She bit her lip to keep the laugh in as he looked outraged.

  “No.”

  “Are you sure?” she kept a straight face, “because that’s totally fine with me – it’s not your fault if your friends are bigoted idiots and don’t understand you.”

  “I like girls, okay? I just wanted the guys to think I got laid over the summer and it kind of spiralled from there. I know this is a lot to ask, Chloe, but if you tell everyone the truth it’s going to be really embarrassing. And I was wondering how you felt about going along with it? We can break up as soon as term starts, it doesn’t need to be a big deal.”

  “So we’re supposed to be in a long-term relationship? Even though we haven’t seen each other since Egypt?”

  “I said I saw you again at Christmas when I was away at my grandparents. And we Skype each other a lot.”

  “But why me?”

  “Because I had this photo of you on the beach looking good and then there were other photos of us together. They didn’t believe me until I'd shown them.”

  “Probably because it wasn’t true! So hang on, your friends think we’ve slept together?” She sat up, her amusement turning to horror as she considered the reputation he might have landed her with at her new school. “You just said that you told them we were dating so they’d think you were getting laid?”

  “Uh, yeah. Sorry.” He didn’t meet her eyes.

  “How many times?”

  “What?”

  “How many times have we supposedly done it?”

  “Oh. Loads.”

  “What, even though we’ve only apparently seen each other once since Egypt?”

  “Well, loads in Egypt, then again at Christmas obviously.”

  “So I just jumped into bed with you as soon as we met?”

  He coughed awkwardly. “Not into bed, on the beach.”

  Chloe raised her eyebrows. “Oh yeah? And how was it? Was our first time special and romantic?”

  “You were amazing” – his mouth twitched at the memory of what he’d said – “though kind of noisy.”

  “Noisy?”

  “Happy noisy.” He squirmed slightly at her narrowed eyes.

  “Like that makes it any better. So everyone I’m going to meet thinks I’m a tart who’s also a screamer?”

  “I’m sorry.” He looked at the floor. “I never expected they’d actually meet you.”

  “What else do they think they know about me?”

  He wracked his brains for some positive comments he’d made that she might be okay with.

  “They know you have the most fantastically pert…” he broke off, unable to say it.

  Chloe folded her arms across her chest to hide it, and didn’t look remotely flattered.

  “They know I’ve turned down other girls for you.”

  “You have?”

  He nodded enthusiastically, even though it wasn’t strictly true. But no one except Keira, Amanda, and maybe Lori knew any different. “There’s a girl at school, Stacey – she’s loud, popular, pretty, and she seems to think I should be her boyfriend, but I just don’t fancy her. You were my reason for turning her down, repeatedly.”

  “I thought boys weren’t that bothered by whether they fancied a girl or not; isn’t it just about getting somewhere?”

  It was his turn to look annoyed. “That’s not fair. We have feelings too, you know. What would be the point of making out with a girl you didn’t like?”

  “What indeed?” she said, glaring at him.

  Oliver sighed. “I’m sorry I was so horrible to you in Egypt. Is that what you want to hear? I resented the way your family gate-crashed our holiday but at the same time I just wanted to be left alone. I’m not always that much of a jerk. Please can you just pretend for a little bit?”

  Chloe looked away, not really ready to forgive him, and not at all happy about the situation.

  “I’m more than willing to pay you.” He pulled out his wallet.

  Chloe gave him a scathing look. “It’s not about money, it’s about the fact that you’ve lied about me, said I’ve done things I haven’t, and even if I say it wasn’t true they probably won’t believe me.”

  “Do you want me to tell everyone the truth?” Oliver’s shoulders slumped at the thought.

  Chloe was silent for a moment as she thought it through.

  “Are we in love?” she said eventually. She rolled her eyes when Oliver looked confused. “I assume we must be. I mean you said we’ve been together for a whole year, right? So, you must be in love with me for that to work.”

  Oliver looked wary. “I didn’t say we were.”

  “No, but you wouldn’t, would you, not to your friends. But if you’ve turned down other girls and we’ve kept it going despite the long distance, then presumably we are?”

  “I suppose so,” he agreed, grudgingly.

  “Fine,” she gave him a smug smile, “I’ll do it. And in return you have to be attentive and loving and make me a part of your group.”

  “You don’t want me to pay you?”

  “No. I just want to fit in. I’m guessing you’re quite popular at school?”

  He shrugged noncommittally.

  “You are, I can tell from the way you act. So I’d much rather that you introduce me as your girlfriend, than as a girl you lied about and don’t actually like.”

  “So you don’t want to ‘break up’ before school starts?” He was wary again.

  “Maybe in time, but first you can fawn over me a little.” She grinned, thinking that payback was going to be sweet.

  Two days later Oliver took Chloe to the basketball court to meet his friend
s.

  “So you’re the mysterious Chloe.” Jaden looked her up and down, making Chloe feel uncomfortable. She moved a little closer to Oliver.

  “In the flesh.” She gave Jaden a false smile, and felt relieved when Oliver put his arm around her waist.

  Being touched by him was going to take some getting used to, but it wasn’t totally unpleasant. In fact, she admitted to herself, she still kind of fancied him, but she certainly didn’t trust him to keep being nice once they had “broken up”, so she was determined to make the most of their current situation, where he needed her more than she needed him. It was just harder to think straight when he touched her like that, because whatever her personal feelings towards Oliver, there was no denying he was still handsome as hell, and her body knew it, treacherously yearning for more of his hands. She moved away slightly.

  “We thought you were made up,” Trey said, apologetically. “All the photos were blurred and I had this idea that you were computer generated.”

  “Yet here she is,” Oliver’s tone was strained, “and everything I said was true. Isn’t that right, Chloe?”

  “Mm-hmm. So many good memories, and some quite bizarre ones too.” she goaded him with a cheeky smile.

  His hand tightened on her waist in warning, but she ignored it. “But you never told me how good-looking your friends were.” She directed her smile at Trey, whom she liked instantly, and Trey laughed, while Oliver looked annoyed.

  “You are coming to Sammy’s with us after the game, aren’t you?” Trey said to Chloe. “I want to hear more about these bizarre memories.” He gave her a wink as he walked away.

  “Be careful what you say to Trey,” Oliver hissed, pulling her out of earshot of his friends. “He’s clever at getting people to tell him things, not to mention being an incredible flirt.”

  “Sure, but he’s not going to flirt with your girlfriend, not seriously anyway.”

  Oliver pulled a face at her naivety. “We’ve dated lots of the same girls over the years, sometimes straight after each other.”

  “Small towns are so incestuous,” Chloe mocked. “But he’s not going to make a play for a girl you’re in love with.”

  “You’re enjoying making me squirm, aren’t you?”

  “You deserve it. Who’s the girl giving me the evil eye on the steps over there?”

  He looked over to the group of girls chatting on the far side of the court. “Probably Stacey. I did warn you, but I apologise in advance if she’s offish, the others will be nice.” He raised his voice to the girls. “Hey, Kat? Can you look after my girlfriend for me while I play?” He lowered his voice again to Chloe. “Kat’s really nice, she’s Carter’s girlfriend – just stick with her.”

  Chloe smiled at the girl walking towards them and then grabbed Oliver by the collar. “Got to make it look real.” She planted a quick smacker of a kiss on his lips, then moved to meet Kat.

  Oliver stood dumbly, slightly reeling from the surprise of the kiss. He watched Chloe walk away wondering how he could have got it so wrong. Why the hell had he found her so annoying in Egypt? She was brilliant! Already she’d charmed his friends, and now she was laughing with Kat, and she looked completely gorgeous in that shirt and skirt combo. Was he really that shallow that he’d disliked her because she hadn’t been looking her best?

  “Oy, Ollie, are you here to perve or to play?” Jaden threw the ball at him.

  Oliver shook himself out of his thoughts as he caught the ball. But he still found it hard to take his eyes off Chloe. He watched her sit on the steps and cross one long leg over the other.

  Carter slapped him on the back. “I didn’t realise you had it so bad. I don’t think I’ve seen you look this goofy since Amy Adams got her kit off in that awful movie we saw when we were fourteen.”

  Oliver dribbled the ball over to the others, then checked over his shoulder to see if Chloe was watching him. She wasn’t.

  Chloe sat surrounded by the group of girls and tried not to let her nerves show. She’d spent almost two hours getting ready for this and she still felt like a cat on a hot tin roof. She hated the idea that all these girls thought she was an easy lay, but there were definitely advantages to Oliver’s lie. Without it she would probably be looking at a lonely summer, and instead she was already hanging out with potential new friends. Oliver might be a lying self-centred pig, but at least he had given her an “in”. It was also an advantage that he was attractive; the whole thing would have been way more uncomfortable if she’d had to pretend to be the girlfriend of a trog. Kissing him had been a spur-of-the-moment action, but she couldn’t deny it hadn’t been a hardship. Her lips curved upwards at the idea of a few more kisses, proper ones.

  Mmmm, kissing Oliver. No, don’t even go there! she reined the thought in, she couldn’t let herself get sucked in to liking Oliver again; she had to remember that he was just using her to maintain his own rep. And she had to use him right back. Play the part to her own advantage and nothing more.

  Chloe shielded her eyes and watched the boys play. She wasn’t taken by Jaden but she liked Trey. Maybe when she and Oliver had “split up” she could get to know Trey better. Then again, he was another one who thought she put out on demand. Which was not a healthy start for a relationship, considering she had never done anything of the kind. Her lips thinned with annoyance. She’d have to get even with Oliver for that one.

  “So you and Ollie met on holiday?” Kat broke into Chloe’s thoughts.

  “Yes, a year ago. I think our brothers became friends first, and then our parents. I thought he was a poser when I met him, but he’s grown on me.” Chloe hid her triumph at being able to get in a dig at Oliver. Then she decided to tone it down as she didn’t want to alienate her new friends. “He’s a great boyfriend. Very considerate.” She laughed inwardly at how that might sound in view of what Oliver had told his friends about the extent of their relationship.

  “I think it’s so romantic that you were long distance and now you’ve moved here and get to be together all the time,” another girl chimed in. “Was it hard being apart? Ollie talks about you all the time.”

  “He does? What does he say?” Chloe felt even more nervous – what exactly did she have to live up to? Had he said things that were impossible to maintain?

  “Nothing specific,” the girl waved her hand airily, “just what flowers he sent on Valentine’s Day, and how late you talked the night before, that kind of thing.”

  “Oh, did he indeed?” Chloe grinned at the fantasy life Oliver had clearly been spinning. She wondered what the point had been. That was a whole different side to the relationship than the one he said he’d told his male friends. Was it to show these girls what a great boyfriend he could be? That would make sense. Or was he just filling in the blanks because girls ask more questions than boys? She was impressed that he’d managed to keep up the pretence for so long. Surely it would have been smarter to have said they broke up ages ago. How could he get a real girlfriend if he was supposedly going out with her? On the other hand, what girl wouldn’t be flattered if a boy apparently dumped his steady girlfriend to be with her? Maybe it was a clever long-term strategy. Chloe’s eyes slid to Stacey, who was bossing someone around on her phone. She certainly understood Oliver’s desire to protect himself from that heat-seeking missile.

  Oliver got as close to Chloe as he thought she would allow once they were all seated in a booth at Sammy’s. He went for casually slinging his arm along the back of the seat as opposed to actually putting it around her, but she still shifted slightly away from the contact of his leg against hers.

  When was she going to forgive him for Egypt? He hadn’t been that bad, had he? It wasn’t as though he’d led her on and then dumped her. Though he supposed he sort of had by inviting her scuba diving, but only as friends; he’d never tried for more. So what was she so upset about? He didn’t think it was the dating lie, mainly because Chloe seemed to find it more amusing than insulting. But she was definitely still annoyed with
him. Or maybe she just didn’t find him remotely attractive and didn’t want to be touched by him.

  He sighed. The last idea was depressing, but very likely true. Just because he fancied her, it didn’t automatically mean that she fancied him back.

  He glanced at Stacey; she was a case in point. She was good-looking enough, but he didn’t fancy her at all. He supposed personality had a lot to do with attraction. Which meant that it was quite likely that Chloe just didn’t like his personality. Which was understandable – he hadn’t exactly shown her his best side.

  Kat squished in on his other side. “Chloe’s great,” she whispered, “definitely a keeper.”

  Oliver tried to smile and found he couldn’t. He did want to keep her, but first he had to win her over. Which would be a non-starter if she didn’t find him even vaguely desirable.

  “What would you like?” he asked, handing Chloe a menu.

  She looked at him for a moment, and he could see she was debating whether to let him buy her ice cream or not.

  “A pistachio boat please,” she finally gave in.

  She dug in with relish and he felt a thrill just watching her lick it off the spoon.

  “Try mine.” He held out his own spoon.

  Chloe looked around the table at the other kids sitting there, then made an over the top show of tasting it while staring into his eyes.

  “That will cost you extra,” she whispered into his ear.

  “I thought you didn’t want me to pay you?” he frowned.

  “Not with money, but you will pay, Oliver.” She grinned at him and he relaxed and smiled back. Clearly she was determined to have some fun at his expense, but didn’t intend to give the game away. He could live with that.

  “Who’s up for crazy golf tomorrow?” Jaden addressed the group.

  “Not me,” Oliver said, “I’m going to show Chloe around the town.”

  Chloe looked at him in surprise, but didn’t comment. It was only later, when he walked her back to her house and tried to arrange a time, that she turned him down.