Page 20 of Summer Skin

CHASE WAS Asatisfied, sticky, chocolate-coated mess.

“You came in my mouth and I couldn’t last.” Aven leaned up on one elbow. “But I have a detailed sexual imagination and there’s still plenty of daylight before we need to get home.”

“Okay,” Chase murmured in agreement, shivering against the touch as Aven drew a lazy zig-zag across his chest. “But let me lie here for a sec. I’m catting.”

“Catting?”

“Mm. Like a cat basking in the sun. That’s me.”

There was quiet for a moment as Aven stared off into the distance. Then, “I don’t want us to break up,” he mumbled into the curve of Chase’s neck.

A true shock struck Chase deep down in his gut. He raised his head, searching the gentle green of Aven’s eyes for more meaning.

Aven worried at his bottom lip. “I don’t want you to leave me.”

“I’m not?” The idea seemed absurd. As if Chase would ever be the one to walk away from this.

“You might.”

Chase breathed in, held the air for a couple of seconds, and let it out.

“I would do anything for you,” Aven promised, his fingertips dancing across the soft skin of Chase’s belly.

“How do you know?”

“Because you make me feel like I could kiss you all day long.”

“Me too.”

“And you make me feel like myself. With you ...”

“What?”

“I’m free.” Aven’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. “I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you, Chase.”

Chase blinked up at him, the familiar shape of his face too beautiful to be real. Chase had felt love in his life. He’d never doubted the bond he had with his sister. Always understood that while they might not have the stability found in other family homes, they had each other. It was just … Chase never imagined that anyone outside of Brooklyn would cast eyes his way and see something worth putting their heart into. Let alone someone as golden as Aven Sinclair.

“I didn’t think someone like you could ever love me,” he confessed.

“Someone like me?” asked Aven.

“Perfect.”

“I’m nowhere near perfect,” Aven told him. “I’m only perfect for you.”

Chase thought about that for a minute, his eyes on the white, fluffy clouds making shapes against the blue of spring sky. His fingers ran through Aven’s silky hair, taking pleasure in the soft hum he got in response.

Even with his eyes closed shut, he could count every freckle sprinkled across Aven’s chest. He knew silly things, like how Aven stayed up way too late on school nights binge-watching reality television. Knew the gentle, peaceful noises he made while he slept. His favorite month was July because of the fireworks, and the warm, long nights. And he shot a glare at the Ferris wheel whenever they rode the ferry over to Seattle because he was scared of heights.

Together, they wrote songs that stuck in Chase’s head. Aven kissed him in front of their classmates like he couldn”t care less that any of them were around. They shared fries at lunch, shared songs over Spotify, and shared secrets with each other under the moon.

If Chase painted an idea of a fairytale lover come to life, it would be exactly Aven.

“Move in with me this summer,” Aven said, breaking the silence. “My parents are renting me an apartment off campus in the U District. It’s a one bedroom, but there’s room for the two of us.”

“Aven—”

“You won’t have to pay rent,” Aven pressed on, “so you can save money to help Brooklyn pay for college.”

“But—”

“I’ll buy our groceries.”

“You mean your parents will buy our groceries.”

“Well, yeah.”

“I can’t have your parents supporting me.”

“I mean, you can.”

“Please don’t, it’s not funny.” Aven’s parents gave to him for no other reason than that he was their son. And for as much as Aven complained about the lifestyle, he was still a rich boy with a full ride to college and heated bathroom floors. He’d never get what it was like to depend on the food bank for dinner. Or on the thrift store when he grew out of an old pair of shoes. He’d never know what it felt like to only get by. Aven took from his parents because that was what he was taught, and that was the way it had always been. And Chase could never bring himself to leech off of them as well.

Moving in together wasn’t something he ever pictured. Honestly, he’d always figured Aven would follow Andi down to California. His acceptance at the University of Washington had been a surprise. But—

The truth startled into him all at once.

“Aven,” he said slowly. “Is that why … is that why you went for the UW instead of leaving with Andi?”

Aven’s mouth dropped open, once, twice, and then one of his shoulders lifted. “I knew you wouldn’t leave Brooklyn. You said after graduation you were getting a job around here so you could stay nearby.” He scrubbed a hand over his mouth, and Chase stayed frozen, speechless. “Listen, it wasn’t my idea to go to college anyway. That was all my parents. Last summer, I insisted there was no point to it. I don’t want some stuffy office job. I want to play music. Mom’s ecstatic I’m going anywhere at all.”

He looked at Chase, his eyes pleading for him to go along with the plan.

“Just think about it, okay? I meant what I said. I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want you across the water from me. I want you in my bed. Our bed.”

Hope bloomed inside of Chase, new thoughts swirling around in his head.

“I can do classes during the day while you work and at night we can write songs. Make a demo. Maybe book some shows. We could make up stage names, you know? I can go by my middle name, Aven Kelly, and I’ll play bass, you’ll be on guitar, and we’ll find someone for drums. This could be ours.”

Chase’s heart leapt to his throat. His plan was to stay with his aunt and uncle for another year. Without school, he had time to walk to and from a job downtown. Time to figure out how to make enough money to take care of Brooklyn. Aven would be at university in Seattle, surrounded by people as smart as he was, and Chase felt certain with the sea between them, it wouldn’t be long before Aven’s head was turned away from the novelty of first love. He’d outgrow Chase the same way he’d move on from this small island town. Everything about Aven screamed of something bigger and brighter.

But what if …

What if Chase left the island behind too? It wouldn’t be hard to find a job near the university. It would pay better. He could save more, faster. Visit Brooklyn on the weekends.

His breath held in his lungs. It was terrifying. To hold this hope. Hope was overwhelming when the entire time they’d been together he’d imagined the end of their relationship as a painful inevitability with space and time.

“Baby,” Aven said, his voice rumbling against Chase’s skin. “I won’t let anything separate us.”

Oh, it hurt. It hurt to have this silly sort of longing. To let himself believe that somehow their love could be big enough to survive.

“Don’t worry,” Aven told him, pressing a kiss along the curve of his shoulder.

But Chase did.

Wondering if giving light to hope would only sharpen the oncoming fall.