Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry

Author:Jolene Perry
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781480475595
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Published: 2014-01-31T19:12:00+00:00

12

Aidan Connelly

I’M FLIPPING DIALS IN my new car while sitting in the driveway. Only took me three days to sell my Chevelle, and now I’m in a small two-door Volvo after driving a kickass car since I was sixteen. But the car’s fast, and handles good.

The phone rings in my pocket, and I jerk it out to see a number I don’t recognize. The letdown washes through me, and I’m in trouble because I wanted it to be Kate. She’s a nice distraction. Okay, so I know it’s more than that, but I’m trying to convince myself that’s all there is.

The phone rings again. Instead of answering—I’m avoiding too many people—I wait for a new message.

Now it’s safe to see who called.

“Hey…Connelly. It’s Melinda…Pilot. I got your number from Roberts who called in the middle of the night the other night, but I was up. Again. Anyway, he said you’re not too far from here, and I’d really like to see you. Please call…um, thanks…bye.”

Her words crash into me. Push me under. Pull me down. I can’t talk to her. I can’t see her. Because it’s not just her. It’s the wife of the guy I watched die. The wife who cooked this monster barbecue for all of us and made us promise to bring her husband home safe. I don’t know how to see her. How to face her.

I clutch my phone until my knuckles turn white, and nearly hurl it out the car window.

“How you liking the new wheels?” Foster leans into the car, and his face falls when we make eye contact. “What’s up?”

I jump when I realize he’s so close. “Melinda called.”

“And?”

“I’m not that far down on my list yet.” My body feels all numb and tingling.

“You need an outlet, Aidan.”

“Wanna add something to my list? Because it’s all feeling pretty fucked up right now.” I toss the phone into the passenger’s seat.

Foster pauses, probably ready to correct my language. “Nope. Just want to make sure you’re okay, have somewhere for your energy to go.”

“Okay. Thanks.” Maybe I’ll pick Kate up from school. That would be a nice place for my energy to go. And a hell of a lot easier than anything else I got going on.

The second Foster steps back I pull out of the driveway and head to Kate’s school to wait for her day to finish.

Kate’s whole face lights up, and it was worth it to come here for this. She’s not even trying to hide how big her smile is, which just makes her even prettier.

“Hey.”

This is exactly what I need right now. She’s the perfect distraction. Perfect. Kate—the feel of her, the smell of her, it pretty much blocks out everything else.

“Hey.” She walks toward me until she’s about arm’s length away.

Was our kiss a big deal? Should she be closer? Should I be doing something to get her closer?

“Are we okay?” she asks.

“Are we okay?” I’m confused.

Her cheeks flush. “I just wasn’t sure, you know, how you felt about…”

“Kissing you?”

Her lips are pushing together, but not hard enough to keep in her happiness.

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