Page 244 of Summer Heat
A sly smile spread across Steve’s face. “You’re very smart, Blake. I’ll give you that. I wish you well, and I hope you’re right about Cole.”
He saluted me before he turned around and left me fuming. I clenched my hands in a fist and turned around to stomp toward Cole. God, help me if he was still talking to that little skank. I looked around and finally found him. He was no longer speaking to Sasha. He was standing next to Greg with his arms crossed at his chest, and a pissed off look on his face—which I returned with a raised eyebrow. I sat down next to Becky and lathered myself up with oil and didn’t look up when I saw him plant his feet next to me. After a couple of seconds of burning holes into the top of my head, he sat down.
“What were you talking to Steve about?” he asked in an even tone.
“What were you talking to Sasha about?” I retorted.
I pictured his jaw muscles working, though I didn’t want to look. I focused my eyes on the blue and green lines on the towel below me until he lifted my chin so that I was forced to look at him. “College.” His eyes were flashing with anger.
I snapped my face out of his hold but held his glare. “Was she teaching you how to shower in college?” I spat irritably. “Maybe I should go ask Steve to give me a demonstration. Hold on, I’ll be right back.”
I stood up with no intention of finding Steve. I just needed a breather because I felt like at any moment I might slap the shit out
of Cole. He grabbed my arm firmly and pulled me back down.
“If you do that...” he said through gritted teeth before he let out a shaky breath.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “If I do that, what?” I asked a little loudly. “You’re going to break up with me?”
His anger was replaced with distress, and he pulled me into a hug. I tried to squirm away, but his arms held me tighter. Suddenly, I felt like crying—and I did. I buried my face in his chest and cried quietly. Nobody could see or hear me, only Cole. When he loosened his hold, I wiped the tears from my face and took a deep breath.
“I would never break up with you, baby,” he said into my hair. “Never.”
I didn’t respond. I was the one that was going to break up with him, and I had a feeling he knew this. The rest of the afternoon we splashed around, ate pizza, and went for ice cream. We acted like teenagers in love, and that’s what we were. That was the last time we were together as kids. In love, without a care in the world. I was happy that day. I was happy that summer. I was with the people I loved, and they were all happy. They were all safe.
A week before we were all leaving for college, Cole took me on a date. He left me a note on my bed, telling me to dress comfortably and to be ready by six. I threw on a green halter maxi dress and a pair of flip flops. Becky fixed my hair so that it curled widely at the bottom and smoothed out the frizz at the top. She gave my eyes a smoky look, making my gray eyes stand out. My eyes had come alive since I’d been in this house, they were no longer stormy and depressing. I put on lip gloss and went downstairs to wait for Cole. He came up with this idea when we started dating. He said that since we lived together I was missing out on the “fun” part of dates, which was him picking me up and knocking on the door to wait for me. He always asked me to be ready at a certain time so that he had enough time to get ready and leave the house, just to come back to pick me up.
The doorbell rang at 6:00, and I squealed in excitement as I got up and ran to it. I beamed at him when I saw the bouquet of sunflowers in his hand. His eyes greedily ran down my body as he handed me the flowers. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me into him, taking my mouth in his and kissing me arduously. The flowers slipped from my hands when I clutched on to his messy hair and pushed myself closer to him. His hands traveled down the thin fabric of my dress, down backside squeezing my butt. He let out a deep moan into my mouth that echoed through my body and made me quiver. When his mouth suddenly left mine, I whimpered in protest. Resting his forehead against mine, we caught our breath before he leaned down, scooping up the flowers and handing them to me again.
“Sorry about that, baby,” he said gruffly. “You look...you just...you make me lose my mind.”
I laughed and kissed his lips softly. “Thank you for the flowers. They’re beautiful.”
Once I placed the flowers in a vase, Cole grabbed my hand and led me to his car. We drove for a little while, I wasn’t sure where he was taking me. We drove by restaurants, the movie theatre, everything we normally frequented before he pulled into a narrow road and started driving on gravel.
“Where are we going?” I asked hesitantly. “This place seems like the perfect place to become victims of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
Cole laughed and squeezed me hand. “Good thing we’re not in Texas,” he said with a wink. He laughed louder at my “I’m not so sure about that” expression.
We pulled up next to a large abandoned house, and I was really starting to freak out. Where in the world are we? Holy crap, we’re going to die here.
“Cole,” I asked in an uneasy voice. “Did you let anyone know where we were going?”
He laughed. “Baby, it’ll be fine. You’re with me.”
“Yeah, but you don’t have a gun or a machete or a chainsaw,” I squeaked.
He chuckled and shook his head before grabbing both sides of my face and giving me a long, lingering kiss that made my head swim.
“I love you, Blake. You’re so damn cute.”
There were so many truths in his green eyes and so much more that scared me. I dubiously let him lead me toward the back of a large abandoned house—and that was when I saw why he brought me.
Behind the house, there was a meadow. There were little purple flowers on both sides of us and acres of unused land. I wondered how he found this place. He didn’t let go of my hand as he walked me to a recently mowed spot surrounded by tall grass. In the middle of the freshly cut grass were four unlit lanterns, one on each corner of a checkered blanket that had a large basket in the middle.
I turned my smiling face to him. “A picnic?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, leaning down to kiss the tip of my nose.
