Page 24 of A Summer Thing

Chapter Fourteen

Jude

Resignation. The single word settles on my soul, shackling me to the ground. To Declan.

There’s been something from the start. Something about her I couldn’t ignore.

And fuck, did I try—to be an asshole, to push her away, to be angry about how drawn to her I am, drawing lines in the sand I never intended to step over.

But now that I just… am. Drawn to her. Stepping over those lines.

There’s this baser desire to grasp onto whatever it is we share.

Whatever it is this could potentially be.

A thought I never imagined would be crossing my mind, and certainly not this summer.

It’s impossible to ignore the connection we’ve built over the past few weeks, though.

Impossible to ignore how much I’ve begun to feel for her.

And then the other night happened and, well, fuck me. Because as she stood in that alleyway, cheeks flushed and breaths heaving in her chest, begging me to kiss her, I knew my promise to Coach was done for— I was done for.

I needed to kiss her.

Needed to feel her mouth on mine.

And fuck was it worth it.

Simply put, I’m no longer seeing the downside. The consequences or repercussions coming my way. The hell Coach may or may not rain down on me as a result of my actions.

I kissed her, and the world didn’t end, our lives didn’t implode.

I kissed her, and it’s the only thing in the past four fucking years outside of football that’s felt… right.

______

The latest party at Landon’s grows quickly out of hand, the living room growing smaller as more bodies push into the space. I can sense Declan’s level of unease rising, control slipping from her grasp, but she takes a deep and intentional breath and turns her attention to me, visibly calming.

Impressive, considering she doesn’t have a drink in her hand.

Yet, I amend. Addy is in the other room making her one as we speak.

But the party only continues to grow until not a single square inch is left for privacy.

“You want to head outside?” I question.

She nods, and I take her hand, leading her through the crowd.

We sit down at the edge of the dock at the end of Landon’s property. The sun has already set, leaving the lake a midnight black beneath a star-streaked sky. Or what would be pitch black if not for the reflection of stars scattered at its surface, doubling their expanse.

I clear my throat, shift closer to Declan, and grip the edge of the dock with both palms— fucking nervous.

I’ve taken the past handful of days with Declan slowly.

And while I haven’t kissed her again, I have made my interest known, however subtle it may have been.

Just because I’m certain of what I want, doesn’t mean it isn’t still terrifying.

Because I already know that once I allow myself to dive in with this girl, I’ll sink too fucking deep.

And yet even with that knowledge, I tread forward regardless.

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you about the other night… Make sure I didn’t make you feel uncomfortable, or as if I pushed you at all,” I begin, opening up the conversation we’ve both been avoiding.

“No. Oh, God, no. Not at all.” She shakes her head in earnest. “If anything, I’ve been feeling like I should apologize to you.

I practically forced myself on you, begging you to kiss me like that.

I’m mortified, actually, which is why I haven’t said anything…

” her words trail off, and a flush rises up her cheeks.

“I am sorry, though. I know you don’t like people invading your space, and I—”

“Don’t be sorry,” I interrupt. “Not about that. Because I sure as fuck am not. Not by a longshot.”

A slow swallow treks down her throat. “You’re not?”

I shake my head. “I like you, Little D. And I’m attracted to you. And I’ve fought these feelings for seven long fucking weeks, but I don’t care to anymore.”

A breath rushes through her parted lips, and even in the dark, beneath the dim dock lighting, I can see her blush grow, spreading from her cheeks down into her neck, her chest.

“I want you to know where I stand,” I continue. “In case you might change your mind about that whole ‘friends’ agreement we made a while back.”

She smiles, biting down on the curve of it.

“I already have,” she responds, and my pulse skyrockets.

“I’ve changed my mind a thousand times back and forth, but in the end, I only regret that we were interrupted before…

” she trails off with a shrug, glancing down at her knees and at the cup in her hand.

“Before what, Little D?” I urge her on, leaning closer.

She steels herself with a deep breath and drags her gaze to mine. “Before we could talk about it. Before we could do anything else— take it somewhere else,” she admits, and my chest tightens, heart pounding against its constricting walls.

“Oh?” I question, somehow making it sound as if her confession didn’t just tip my world off its axis for a few beats.

“Yeah.” She scoots closer, lifting her legs and draping them over my lap. Blue eyes spear mine, holding me in place. I glide my hand up the thin material covering her legs—black leggings.

“What about the fact that you’re leaving soon?” I voice the deeper question we’ve both been avoiding as well. I want more with her—of course I do—but where will that leave us when she goes? Is long-distance an option for either of us? I’ve no clue.

A deep sigh rolls out of her as her gaze tips up toward the sky. “If I’m being honest, I have no idea. I don’t know, Jude. I just know that this,” she moves closer again, hand sinking into my hoodie and chin knocking down onto my shoulder as her gaze meets mine once more, “feels right.”

With a firm grip on her hips, I pull her onto me until she’s fully seated in my lap.

She feels right—without a doubt.

But again, where does that leave us?

“I don’t know where it will lead, but maybe we don’t have to know,” she responds, answering the question I haven’t yet verbalized, and it’s only now that I realize—it doesn’t matter. I’ll take her any way I can. I’ll take any piece of her she’ll allow me to have.

Pathetic? Possibly. But I don’t have any fucks left to give where keeping myself distanced from her is concerned.

“Alright, Little D. We’ll play by your rules this time.” I dip my face into the space between her neck and shoulder, lips grazing her warm skin.

Her quick intake of breath sets my pulse on fire, and I drag her closer.

But before it can get too heated between us, Addy saunters out onto the dock. Two cups fill her hands. “Take this drink and come dance with me,” she whines to Declan in a sing-song voice.

The latter shifts in my hold and glances up at me with a smirk. “Do you dance, Brooklyn?”

Lifting her up by the ribcage, I help her to her feet with a smile of my own. “I suppose you’re about to find out.”

______

“Okay, but where the hell have you been hiding these dance moves?” Declan’s words fall against my chest, and I can’t help but laugh.

“And why am I just finding out about them now? All these parties, all these nights out at bars, and clubs, and you could have been dancing like this the whole time?” The incredulous look she gives me makes my laughter grow stronger.

I tip my head down to meet hers, mouth at the shell of her ear. “Would’ve gotten me into far too much trouble with you a lot sooner, I suspect.”

She breathes out a laugh and smacks me in the chest, but she uses the same hand to grip onto my shirt and pull me closer. “Yeah, okay, you’re not wrong.”

I shake my head, smiling, hand meeting hers and pulling it up around my neck.

We move together to the low, pulsing beat flooding from the speakers, my grip meeting her hips as I guide her toward the center of the dance floor—Landon’s living room, where couches and a coffee table have been pushed aside to make room.

Addy’s high-pitched laughter rises above the music from where she sways with Boss.

Throwing her arms in the air, she tilts her red cup toward Declan.

They knock them together from across the short distance, something about a summer of freedom shouted between them, and then they chug the contents straight down.

My lips tip into a grin, and I allow myself to let loose, enjoying the music, the party, the gorgeous girl not-so-subtly grinding herself against me. I tighten my grasp, slip my hands lower, and roll into the movement with her.

Time stretches. Slows. Defies the laws of logic.

Everything else disappears in our periphery, as if we’re the only two left in the room.

We move, dance, grind, and sway, beads of sweat forming on our necks, smiles pinned wide. The beat rolls higher, pressing tighter together, and our bodies follow suit.

My palm on her lower back, fingertips grazing the swell of her ass, I guide us in a rhythm together.

Her fingers press into the muscles of my neck before diving into my hair, pulling.

I stifle a groan, and her eyes flash with knowing.

A laugh rumbles out of me, matching her own.

But Declan stiffens in my hold, and I catch her gaze on the surrounding crowd. I only now realize we hold half the party’s attention. Something I’m certain she isn’t comfortable with.

Reaching down, she grabs my hand and gives it an intentional squeeze, and my words from weeks ago bleed in from the recesses of my mind. If you feel yourself start to panic, grab my hand, squeeze, and I’ll get us the fuck out of there.

A slow swallow tracks down her throat, the beats of her pulse ticking at the base, and I know I’ve read her correctly. I don’t think twice. I pull her hand in mine and lead her out of the party.

______

Slipping into the Barracuda, we take off into the night, and I can already note the tension melting from Declan’s body. Her shoulders relax, and her tense expression clears, too.

“Feeling better?” I question.

“Yeah,” she breathes, leaning her head back on the seat with her eyes closed. “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing,” I respond, because it isn’t.