Pieces of Summer

by C. M. Owens

  She takes a seat in front of my desk, and I pause on the manuscript I’m working on to give her my attention.

  “Why did you move to Hayden?” she asks bluntly.

  Shit.

  He’s told her.

  “Because my dad’s house was going to be sold to my stepmother’s son if I didn’t buy it. It… It was just wrong to let it go to someone who was going to turn back around and sell to someone else just to get around the will stipulations. That house means a lot to me and my brother.”

  Okay, so just to me, but Aidan likes it enough for it not to be an outright lie.

  She studies me for a long, intense moment. “So this isn’t about getting back Chase? He told me you took his virginity.”

  I wince. Hearing it worded so emotionlessly with such blunt force takes away from how special I once thought it was.

  “It’s not real, Mika. It’s just the way your mind has processed the physical contact. It triggers too much irrationality. None of it is real. Breathe in. Breathe out. Now tell me about Kyle. Was he your last? Did you have any feelings for him at all?”

  “No. I didn’t even like him.”

  “But you still had—”

  “Mika?” Whit’s voice draws me back to the present and out of my dark memories, reminding me we’re having a serious conversation.

  “I thought he’d left Hayden. The last update I saw on his Facebook page was that he was moving. Then he shut down social media, so I assumed he didn’t want anything tethering him to this place after his mother died.”

  She blinks a few times. “So you two have kept in touch?”

  I shake my head slowly. “I checked in on his profile when I could… I was concerned, not creepy.” I was definitely creepy, obsessed, and slightly cyber-stalker-ish, but I’m not letting her know that. “The public posts are all I saw since we weren’t ‘friends’ or anything. Saw some posts on his page after his mom’s death, then the post about him leaving. Then he was gone.”

  Her eyes soften. “So why come back?”

  “Because it was finally safe to come back,” I grumble. “Or so I thought. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I’m here now, and I’ve already spent a chunk of money restoring this place and my house. But I completely understand if you can’t handle working for me. If I had known, I wouldn’t have hired you. I promise.”

  She frowns as she leans closer. “Then I’m glad you didn’t know. This is my dream job. I’d like to keep it.” She swallows nervously while toying with her skirt. “It is weird though. I could tell you meant something to him when he was trying to play it off. I’ve never been around any of his exes before. I’m not sure how we should behave.”

  Even though my heart feels like there are stones in it, I manage to smile.

  “We behave like mature women. You have him. I don’t. I don’t want him. Trust me, Whit, I really don’t want him back. He burned that bridge.”

  Her lips tense, and she fingers a lock of her pretty blonde hair. “He said he ended it.”

  “He lied,” I sigh. “He didn’t end it at all. He just shut me out and pretended I didn’t exist. I had to find out it was over on my own, and it was a very painful experience. I hope he’s outgrown that tactic of breaking up with a girl.”

  I aim for joking, but it comes out bitter. Whit doesn’t bat an eye.

  “That’s shitty. Sorry. He didn’t elaborate. It was like pulling teeth to get that much.” She shifts awkwardly before quietly adding, “He hates summer, and you were his summer girl.”

  Yeah, I wish she hadn’t told me that.

  “It was intense,” I say with a sad smile.

  “Those were his words too,” she sighs. “I feel… I don’t know. I feel a little inferior to you. You took his virginity and now you’re here, and he’s pissed. He hates summers, and I’ve never known why until you…”

  “Don’t feel that way.” I snort derisively. “You look like a model, Whit. You’re beyond beautiful. You’re also smart, sweet, incredibly strong… We had our moment in time back when I was young and stupid. At the end of the day, we burned out.”

  “She’s burning out. She’s sleeping more and more. I don’t want her here. You’re not helping her. If anything you’re hurting her. You have to let her out.”

  “Aidan, she can leave anytime she wants. She’s served her time here, but she’s refusing to leave. It’s not up to us.”

  “You’re the assholes inside her head and making her believe she can’t survive outside these walls. That’s it! I’m getting a court order. I’m over this bullshit. You’re fucking with her head and letting her make the decisions when she’s not capable of it.”

  Damn memories. They need to leave me alone. All this emotional stress is not good, and it’s awakening issues I’ve moved past. Strong emotions in general are not allowed.

  “You still got to be his first. That’s important to a person. I know my first was important, and if he gave me a look, I’d be in his arms,” Whit goes on, not noticing my distraction.

  Not sure how I like hearing that, since she’s supposed to be in love with Chase. Or I assume she’s in love with him…

  “It was just a summer,” I assure her. “One summer. I got the boy; you got the man.” Well, one summer for sex. The rest of the summers were spent falling more and more in love. Definitely not telling her that. This is uncomfortable enough.

  She forces a smile, and I decide there’s no way I can go back to writing about killing Thomas right now. Thomas is a character, by the way. I’m not actually killing anyone for real.

  Fortunately, Aidan walks in, and my smile spreads as he makes his way toward me to relieve me from this incredibly awkward conversation.

  “Hey, you done here? I’m fucking starving and we haven’t got a damn thing to eat at home… obviously. Feel like that Italian place by the water?”

  Home… That word hasn’t felt right on my tongue in years.

  Whit turns around, and her eyes almost bug out of her head when she takes in Aidan. Did she just lick her lips? Ew.

  “Yeah. Italian sounds good. I’ll be right there. Just finishing up.”

  He nods. “Fine. Don’t keep me waiting long. You know how I get.”

  He smirks before walking off. That asshole. If he has to wait too long, he’ll go through everything in my car. That’s how he gets. Nosy bastard. I have all sorts of notes from my latest book in there. He’d have me put in a straitjacket. Again.

  That was a shitty joke.

  “Dayum,” Whit says while fanning herself. “I didn’t believe you were over Chase until right this moment. That man would definitely be a way to get over someone.”

  I throw up in my mouth and am forced to swallow it back down as Whit stares after Aidan. Sick.

  Before I can correct her, a horn blares from outside the window.

  “He won’t even come in and get me,” she mutters under her breath.

  My lungs try to collapse, but I can’t fold now. I have to show him and Whit that I’m perfectly fucking fine, even though I’m anything but fine.

  “Can I ask a random question?” she asks as we walk out of my office and near the front entrance.

  I’m worrying about my heart hitting my spine and ribs with each thunderous beat while she casually makes conversation. Looking through the glass front doors, my eyes rake over the red truck, finding him in the driver’s seat. He’s changed so much.

  “Yeah,” I whisper hoarsely.

  “Why is the second eagle in the storage room out back? I thought you wanted it up here.”

  Clearing my throat, I shake my head. Telling her this entire place is essentially a shrine to her boyfriend would just be humiliating and painful. Telling her about the bald eagle statues… that’s just down right pathetic. As much as it pains me to only leave one out, I can’t force myself to put the other one with it now.

  “I decided only one worked. The other didn’t belong.”

  She studies the pretty bald eagle before turning her atten
tion back on the door.

  Mustering up all my energy, I walk out the door with her, leaving Chuck to lock up. I watch as Chase glares daggers at me from his truck. Those eyes… They were haunted when we were kids. They were constantly weighed down by the life he’d experienced and seen. Now they’re just burning with anger. I used to think those eyes could never look at me with that much hatred. How is it right that he hates me?

  His windows are down, his arm is casually hanging out of it, and he’s wearing a black hat backwards. His sculpted shoulders are shown off, along with all his tattoos, considering he’s wearing a sleeveless shirt.

  “Let’s roll,” Aidan calls from the car, putting an abrupt end to my gawking.

  Chase’s eyes snap away from mine to stare at Aidan who is three parking spaces down from him. Something akin to fury crosses his features, but I ignore it as I make my way to the passenger side of my car.

  “Asshole,” I grumble, slipping inside.

  “Me or him? Because he’s still glaring this way. Is that who I think it is?”

  I slump down in my seat just as Aidan pulls a piece of a straw paper from my hair. Damn it. How long has that been there?

  “Yeah. Get us out of here,” I mutter.

  His eyebrows go up in surprise, and he flips off Chase before backing up.

  “Stupid fucker. I thought you said he was gone. That’s the only reason I agreed to let you move out here.”

  Agreed to let me move out here? As if he had a choice.

  “Apparently life hates me. Should have known,” I say under my breath as he drives.

  Chapter 10

  CHASE

  “You going to acknowledge me or just keep staring at her?” Whit asks evenly, narrowing her eyes at me.

  Cutting my eyes away from the unknown asshole with Mika, I give Whit my attention.

  “Want to order a pizza or something?” I ask, aiming for casual.

  My eyes slip to the right as the bastard reaches over and plucks something from Mika’s hair before starting to back up. Did he just flip me off? Who the hell is he?

  “I think I’d rather have Italian,” Whit says, reminding me I’m staring at the wrong girl again.

  “Italian?” I ask, clearing my throat. I avert my eyes when Mika and the fuckstick she’s with drive by.

  I’ve been so focused on staying away from her that I never even considered the fact she might have someone. My jaw grinds as I watch them pull out of the parking lot, and hear the roar of the small BMW as he gasses it down the street.

  “Jealousy is a stupid waste of energy,” Whit bites out bitterly, echoing my words from a week or two ago.

  Fuuuuck.

  I could deny it, but she’d call me out at this point. “Italian it is.”

  “The place by the water. Not the place that just serves garlic bread and lasagna.”

  I barely even hear her as I turn out onto the road.

  “So, I take it you don’t like her boyfriend or something?” Whit pries. “You two get in a fight over her at one point or something?”

  Her boyfriend. Mika has someone. Someone who fits into her life very easily it seems.

  My steering wheel leather whines against my grip, and I swear Whit’s eyes burn through me, seeing through to my core. I remember once stereotyping her as a dumb blonde. She’s not dumb. She’s sharp as hell and she’s trying to cut through all the bullshit.

  There shouldn’t be any bullshit. It’s been twelve fucking years since I saw her. It’s been just over eleven years since I read a letter from her. It’s been just over eleven years since I realized I didn’t fit into her picture fucking perfect world.

  “I don’t know her boyfriend,” I try to say as calmly as possible.

  “Really? So you stare at all guys you don’t know like you’re wondering where to hide the body?”

  “Fuck, Whit? What are you trying to say?” I snap.

  “Nothing, Chase. Not a damn thing. I’m just trying to get you to say what you’re really thinking.”

  She crosses her arms over her chest, and I contemplate dropping her off at her apartment and heading back to my house. I need some space and some air.

  “Why the eagles?” she asks randomly as we near the restaurant.

  “What?”

  “On your arm and on your chest. Why the eagles?”

  You can’t really tell the one on my arm is an eagle unless you get a good look at it. Or ask what it is like Bill did once upon a long time ago. A lot of people have asked. The one that moves from my chest up my neck is easier to see, but I rarely let people view me without a shirt on because of that damn eagle.

  “Why are you asking that?” I deflect.

  “Because it’s odd you have a bald eagle on your arm and chest with no explanation as to why, and Mika is putting bald eagles all over the place inside. She even has a quote painted on one of them. ‘On the wings of broken promises comes a stronger resolution.’ Deep stuff right there. Seems like it’s a bit of a coincidence you’d both be obsessed with them.”

  “It’s just ink, Whit. Drop it.” I choose to ignore the quote she recited, because it sounds like it’s about me.

  Or I’m just being vain.

  Then again, she did build our motherfucking bowling alley, so it’s possible vanity is in order.

  Whit pushes her door open the second we’re parked, and I slam my truck door behind me. My appetite is completely gone, and the last thing I want to do is sit inside a restaurant while everyone gawks at the James boy.

  I’m starting to wonder why I ever even came back to Hayden. I knew it was a bad idea.

  As soon as we walk in, I regret not scanning the parking lot. At least I would have been prepared to see her and him. Mika is smiling at the dick as he tells her something. There’s no heat to her gaze though. If anything, it’s more of a friendly smile, not the smile she gets when she’s flushed and excited about something. Not the smile she gives when she’s about to—

  “You’re seriously staring again? How about I make this easier on everyone. It’s time you two had a freaking conversation.”

  My eyes widen just as Whit walks across the restaurant to Mika’s table. Mika’s eyes almost dislocate from their sockets when she sees Whit. The guy with her has the audacity to let his gaze drop to Whit’s body, running his eyes over her like he’s considering things he shouldn’t be considering. Mika really knows how to fucking pick them.

  “Chase, dear, Aidan says they have room for us over here,” Whit says sweetly, sliding into the booth beside… Aidan? That’s fucking Aidan? Mika’s twin?

  Time really changes people.

  Then my eyes narrow on Whit. She’s sitting beside Aidan, which only leaves the seat beside Mika open. Mika looks like a deer in headlights, and my entire body is tense.

  “Have a seat,” Aidan says wryly, glaring over at me like he wants to take a swing.

  With a lot of reluctance, I walk over and lower myself to the spot beside Mika. Our arms brush each other’s, and she stiffens before noticeably shrinking farther into the booth and pulling away.

  “Should be fun catching up with you and your girlfriend,” Aidan says under his breath.

  Awkward silence follows that statement until the waitress asks for our drink orders.

  “Water for me,” Whit chirps, acting like the tension at this table isn’t suffocating.

  “Same,” Aidan tells her.

  The second the waitress looks our way, I say, “Whiskey on the rocks,” at the same time Mika says, “Vodka martini.”

  Whit lifts an eyebrow in my direction, but I ignore her. I don’t know what she’s trying to prove, but this isn’t funny. The waitress brings the two glasses of water and places them in front of Whit and Aidan. I wish she had my drink. I need it.

  “So, Aidan, I know a lot about your girlfriend, but I don’t know anything about you. Mika hasn’t even mentioned you.”

  My lips twitch when Aidan sputters his water and a disgusted expression crosses his fa
ce. Mika just stares at the table, but I only glance at her from the corner of my eye.

  “Mika is my sister. My twin, to be exact. Not my fucking girlfriend. Thanks for ruining my appetite,” Aidan groans.

  Whit’s smile falters, and a confused expression shifts her features. She thought I was jealous because he was her boyfriend. Until I realized he was Aidan, I was jealous. However, she doesn’t know that—and I’m not stupid enough to tell her. She probably thinks I recognized him.

  Twelve years definitely changes someone. The last time I saw him, he was four inches shorter and had zero muscle mass. His hair was longer and always in his eyes.

  Mika… Mika has definitely changed. She was scrawny and her hair was light and short. Now she’s curvy, her boobs are fucking huge, and her hair is dark and long. She looks like something my seventeen-year-old self would fuck my hand to.

  Silently cursing my ever-hardening cock, I grit my teeth. Apparently it doesn’t matter if she’s skinny and tom-boyish, or curvy and feminine, my body can’t seem to act right around her.

  And my head is still fucked up even after all these years.

  Chapter 11

  MIKA

  The second the waitress sets our glasses down, we both guzzle the drinks. I drink until the martini is gone, and I set my empty glass down at the same time Chase does.

  The waitress’s eyes are wide, and my brother’s mouth is hanging open, just as Whit parts her lips.

  “You… want another?” the waitress asks.

  “Yes,” Chase and I say in unison. His jaw tics like hearing my voice is nails on a chalkboard.

  Way to play it cool, Mika.

  Aidan glares at me, because I’m not supposed to have alcohol, but I still drink it on occasion. And I’m just fine.

  Whit keeps looking between us. Why did she put us on the same side? Why the hell wouldn’t she sit beside me or let my brother sit by me?

  The waitress walks away, leaving the four of us suspended in the awkward silence once again.

  “So, what did you say you did?” Whit asks Aidan, but there’s a sad sound to her voice. She’s getting this all wrong. Why are they even here? She knew this was where Aidan and I were going, because he pretty much announced it.