The Boy Next Door by Cheryl Terra

Author:Cheryl Terra [Cheryl Terra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bang It Out Writing
Published: 2024-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter nine

The Last Day of Summer

Two days before I had to leave for Ottawa, I accepted failure.

“It’s fine, Annie,” I said, my voice as heavy as the muggy late August air.

We were floating in my dad’s pool while he and Brayleigh were out with some of his business partners, Anne-Marie swishing her feet back and forth in a lazy kick that just barely made her floatie turn.

“It is not fine,” she grumbled, though I wasn’t sure she was grumbling because of what I said or because of the aforementioned humidity.

“I’ve been picky,” I said.

She shook her head, or at least attempted to. The thickness of the air seemed to make everything move more slowly. “I don’t know that there is any hope for the men of the world if we cannot find one decent option to bump uglies with my most beautiful friend.”

“Well, we’ve only checked Montreal.”

She snickered. “True. Perhaps there will be a better selection in Ottawa.”

I smiled, even though I didn’t feel like smiling. Because I was fine with it.

Sort of.

Mostly.

It hadn’t been the summer I’d dreamed of. In fairness, I’d never dreamed of a summer spent living with my dad while lying to my mom so I could afford to go to the university of my choice, but it also hadn’t been the summer I’d expected after that whole situation became my reality.

I hadn’t lost my virginity. Clearly. But after that night at Les Bleus, I’d been extra picky.

The reason for that was mostly obvious. Not that I’d admit it out loud, but I’d been scared. Celine had apologized over and over again for getting distracted by her friends as JP drove us home, even though it wasn’t her fault that the man had acted the way he did. And I’d told her it was okay. That I was fine. Nothing bad had happened and she shouldn’t worry about it because I wasn’t going to worry about it.

And I wasn’t worrying about it.

I was just being a lot more cautious, which meant I was being pickier about the people I approached.

Then there was the less-obvious reason.

Or, at least, what I thought was the less-obvious reason.

“You know, you could probably just ask him,” Anne-Marie said.

I jolted, water sloshing around my shoulders as I tore my eyes away from the Marchands’ deck and turned to Anne-Marie, who was looking at me with a shit-eating grin on her face. “What? Ask who?”

“Jean-Paul.”

“For what?”

She looked at me over her sunglasses. “You know what.”

“Oh my God,” I groaned, tilting my head back. “How many times do I have to say—”

“Nellie. You like him.”

My face went warm. “I do not. I never have. And, if you’ll remember, he’s not interested in that, either.”

She made an exasperated and melodramatic sound. “I do not think he meant it the way you think he did.”

“What else would he have meant?” I asked, bewildered. “He literally said I was like a sister. Which is fine, because I don’t—”

“He did not,” she said patiently. “He said he wouldn’t let anything happen to you.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.