Page 7 of Wish You Were Mine
I stroked her and closed my eyes. An image of Summer flashed through my mind. Not as she’d been tonight, wholesomely pretty in dark jeans and a blouse, but as she’d been the night of her graduation. The evening I’d done my best to let her down gently but firmly.
In the end, it hadn’t mattered how gentle I’d been. She’d looked devastated, with unshed tears in her eyes and her mouth twisted with the effort not to cry.
If only I’d known how much I’d come to regret my words to her that day.
3
SUMMER
I parked outside my parents’ house and groaned at the sight of Asher’s silver sedan pulling up on the opposite side of the road.
After my disastrous date last night, I wanted to avoid him for as long as possible, so I threw open the car door and hurried around the car to grab the platter of cheeses, crackers, and dried fruit that I’d brought for brunch.
The cold air nipped at my skin as I shut the door, clicked the button on my key fob to lock it, and made a beeline for the house.
Too slow. Asher cut me off part way there.
“Hey,” he said, his expression serious. “Are you okay—”
“Fine,” I interrupted, relief thrumming through my veins as Liam and Kennedy’s vehicle turned onto the street and parked beside Asher’s. I raced toward their car, knowing he wouldn’t mention anything where Liam could overhear.
I opened one of the back doors and Daisy spilled out. The golden labrador mix-breed bounced around me excitedly, and I balanced the platter on one hand so I could give her some love.
“Hey, Summer,” Kennedy said as she got out of the passenger side.
“Hi, Kenz.” I circled around and hugged her, then dared to glance at Asher, who was watching me with an eyebrow raised.
Liam got out and locked the car. He had a container tucked under his arm. My best guess was that Kennedy had made brownies. Baking wasn’t her forte, but she could manage brownies and a few other staples safely enough.
“Good date last night?” Kennedy asked, a little too loudly.
I shot her a look. “Not great. Details later.”
Liam seemed to be having the same conversation with Asher, so I took advantage of the opportunity to slip past them both and into the house. Inside, I made my way to the kitchen, where I set my platter down on the island. My mother, Heather, stood in front of the stove, scrambling eggs, frying bacon, and sautéing mushrooms.
“Good morning!” I greeted her and went over to kiss her cheek.
She hugged me with one arm and tended to the eggs with the other hand. “Morning, honey.”
“Do you need help with anything?” I asked.
“There are fresh rolls in the oven that need to be checked,” she said. “And we should start laying out the cold food. Yogurt, cereal, juice—you know the drill.”
“I’m on it.” I washed my hands and got busy, grateful that Asher wasn’t the sort of person to offer assistance in the kitchen. If there was a grill outside, he’d be eager to help, but from what I understood, he was a terrible cook otherwise.
I carried everything out to the long table in the living room. During the warmer months, we ate outside, but it was too cold for that in winter. Mum finished cooking and dished the eggs, mushrooms, and bacon onto separate plates. We were preparing to take them to the table when Bailey breezed into the kitchen.
“Good morning, Heather,” she said, her perfectly straight teeth flashing between bright red lips. “Hey, Summer.”
“Hi, beautiful,” I replied.
She held a glass bowl of salad in her hands. “Superfood salad. Are we about to eat?”
Mum nodded. “Grab the salad tongs. You know where they are.”
Mum took the eggs and mushrooms out of the room, leaving me and Bailey alone.
“How was the date?” she asked quietly, her eyes darting around to check that no one could overhear us.