Summer's Fun: WhyChoose Contemporary Romance (The Boys of Ocean Beach Book 2) Read online

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Epilogue

  Untitled

  Untitled

  Chapter 37

  Untitled

  1

  Summer

  Standing in the trailer is like being in a time capsule. Not just because it’s a vintage, 1970s Airstream, but because nothing has changed since I packed my bags and left for college nine months before. It’s like my mother locked the door, handed over the keys to my cousin Anita for safe keeping, and walked out.

  Not that I blamed her. When she’s not living with Richard in his house by the water, she was traveling the world on her book signing tour for her best-selling novel, Scars From A Killer, or being courted by magazines, podcasts, and movie producers.

  When I told her I was coming back to Ocean Beach for the summer after my freshman year at Vanderbilt, she said I could stay at Richard’s. Justin and Whit still lived in the guest house so it seemed like an intriguing option, but after a year of living in a dorm with a roommate, I craved a little of my own space.

  I couldn’t get much smaller than the trailer.

  It’s after I leave the door open to allow in some fresh air and I lift my bag on the kitchen table that I notice the flower in the adjacent room. It’s a yellow daisy, lying across the pillow. My favorite. I pick it up and smile, wondering which one of my boys left me this little welcoming gift.

  I’m midway through stuffing my clothes in the little cabinets around my “bedroom” when I hear a sharp bang on the metal door and a loud, “Summer! Are you in there?”

  The tiny frame of my cousin Anita appears in the doorway, a wide smile splitting her face. Her voice sounds like dripping honey, sweet and pure southern. I get a look at her face and can’t hold back my smile.

  “I’m here! The drive took a bit longer than I thought.” She fully appears in the doorway and I take it back. My cousin is no longer tiny. She’s huge. Pregnant and huge. “Oh my god. Look at you!”

  “Right?” she says rubbing her belly. “I look like I swallowed a beach ball.”

  “You’re adorable.”

  “Ugh, I don’t know about that, but I’m definitely knocked up.”

  “Stop, you know you want this baby.”

  She smiles again. “You know it. Sibley needs a brother or sister. She’s spoiled rotten.”

  “I can’t believe you didn’t find out the sex.” My cousin is nosy as hell—she wants to know everything about everyone.

  “It’s the one thing in life we can’t predict. I respect that.” She leans against the door jamb. “I mean, I totally know it’s going to be another girl. It’s just a feeling.”

  “And what does Bobby think about that?” Bobby is Anita’s husband and Justin’s brother.

  “Oh, he’s convinced it’s a boy, but he thought that about Sibley too. He has no intuition.”

  “Well, I’m just glad we get to spend the summer together before he or she comes.”

  “Thank god. I’ve been bored out of my mind with all of you away at college. I’m ready for a summer of fun…you know, with you...Summer.” We laugh at the name my mother gave me. A testimony to her love of the place she spent all her childhood and teenaged vacations. Last year, I learned Ocean Beach was in our blood. Not only did our family live here but so did a deep part of our history—my mother’s history with Richard, her high school sweetheart, and her narrow escape from Donald Gaskins, South Carolina’s most prolific serial killer.

  “How’s Sugar?” I ask. Sugar is Anita’s mom and my mother’s cousin and best friend.

  “Good. She’s been following the news about your mother day-in and day-out. Biggest fan.”

  “I’m so glad they made up.”

  “Me too. You talk to your mom lately?”

  “Yeah,” I say. “On the way down. She gave me a million instructions about how to handle the shop.”

  My mother--apparently at a loss of what to do while her book was in edits--decided to open a book store in Ocean Beach. She came up with the not-so-clever title Books by the Beach, and stocked it full of new releases, favorites, local authors, and of course, her books. In the back, she made a cozy office where she can write. Anita’s been working in the front now that her daughter, Sibley, is in preschool. Now that I’m here, I’ll be working, too.

  “Don’t worry,” Anita says, digging into the small bag of food and supplies that I brought and sorting them on the counter. “She does that to me, too. Constantly. I mean, she’s had this store for less than a year but suddenly she knows everything about book stores?” She rolls her eyes and I laugh.

  “Welcome to the world of Julia Barnes. There’s no half-assing anything.”

  It’s Monday in mid-May and the store is closed, which is why Anita is here now. Once the busy season starts, we’ll be open seven days a week. She puts away the items that need refrigerating. “So, have you been down to the marina yet?”

  “No. I wanted to unpack first.”

  “How are things with…everyone?”

  ‘Everyone’ means the guys. The Boys of Ocean Beach. My boys. My ears warm at the mention of the guys. “Good. We made it through the school year. It was challenging sometimes, but we managed to see each other and visit. I went down to the Citadel for a football game to watch Nick. Justin and Richard came up to Tennessee for Thanksgiving. I went to a winter formal with Whit, which was really fun. Seeing him in his formal uniform was…wow.”

  “I bet.” Her eyes glaze a little, a testament of Whit’s hotness. “Pete told me about Nashville—he loved it.”

  I smile. “He was in heaven. I took him to a few country bars—did the whole Ryman and Opryland tours. He was like a kid in a candy shop.”

  “So, you successfully navigated and balanced four boyfriends?”

  “Yeah, somehow I did, although I know good and well that we’ll have different challenges being in one place—one very small place—all together.” I sit on the small bench built in the wall behind the table. “Last summer everything was so new and exciting—we were just having fun. Over the school year, I think it became a bit more.”

  “You think you guys can last? All together?”

  “Maybe. I don’t want to change anything.”

  “Do they?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Then don’t worry about it. Just have fun.” She looks down at her belly. “God knows how much fun I’d be having if I didn’t have a kid and another one on the way.”

  “Whatever. You’re still the life of the party.”

  “Right? So, like…are you guys all…” Her eyebrows waggle.

&nbs
p; “All what?” I ask, playing dumb.

  “You know? Are you getting naked with them all? Sexing them up? Together? Individually? In a group?”

  My face burns like a thousand suns and my jaw drops to the floor.

  Anita rolls her eyes. “Stop looking so shocked. You know I’m blunt.”

  “I know it’s none of your business.”

  Again, she just looks annoyed. “It’s not, but when you’re ready to share the dirty details, I’m here for you.”

  Honestly, I’d like to talk about it. How I had sex with all the guys last summer, except Whit, but not since. Not because we didn’t want to, but…time was limited. It felt rushed. Awkward to not see each other often and then just to get naked. We didn’t have enough time to…well, go all the way. We’d gone some of the way. Just not all the way. It’s one of the reasons that being back terrifies me. I don’t fully know their expectations. What they want. Okay fine, I have a pretty good idea of what they want, but so far, no one has pressured me. At the same time, it’s not like I have to be pressured. I want them. It’s just been more of a situation of time and opportunity.

  “Well, I know Justin’s been about to crawl out of his skin for you to get back. He’s driving Bobby and Richard crazy. And Pete was over here this morning day making sure the trailer was all set up.”

  Ah, that explained the flower.

  I’d promised myself I’d get settled and take a nap before seeing them, but Anita’s making it a challenge.

  “I heard there’s a bonfire tonight?”

  “Yep,” she says. “On the beach in front of Ivy’s place.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  She checks the time and sighs. “Okay, I better go check on Mom and grab Sibley. She’s pulling extra Grandma duties lately.”

  We hug in the tight space. “Thanks for coming to see me.”

  “I’m so glad you’re back. We’re going to have so much fun this summer.”

  I feel the bubble of anticipation, because I’ve been waiting for this since last August—ready to be back home, back with my family, and back with my boys.

  2

  Whit

  I’ve known the outcome of the first twenty-one years of my life since I was six years old. Graduate high school, head to the Citadel, join the Army.

  Somewhere along the way, my love for surfing mixed in with the others, as well as a head-strong attitude. My father didn’t approve of either of those. Not going to the military academy wasn’t an option. Ever. He went. My uncles went. My grandfather and great-uncles. It’s a family tradition and there’s no fucking way I’m is going to get away with breaking it.

  The first time I realized I didn’t want that future was my senior year in high school. The tours started and the applications. Suddenly, the sea took on a stronger lure. My father noticed my hesitation. I told him about my uncertainty. He told me to get my fucking shit together. I did what I always did—escaped to the water.

  “The Academy is close to the ocean,” Justin had reminded me at the time. “You can still surf.”

  “Not with the schedule we’re required to keep.”

  “You’ll find time.”

  I gave him a hard glare. “It’s not the same. And what do you know about it. Richard went to the Citadel and he’s happy you’re going to Clemson.”

  Justin had laughed. “He’s just glad I graduated high school and didn’t follow my father’s path to prison.”

  I didn’t argue. Justin fought for his success. Had I?

  No, not really. Like a good little soldier, I did as I was destined. I accomplished my first year, hating every moment, one eye cast south to the water. The brine-scented air a cruel reminder of what I was missing. The ocean wasn’t the only thing I craved. I missed Summer. Badly. In a way I never understood before. There’d been girls, short diversions because of our pact—the agreement not to get tied to a girl—to Ocean Beach, but not one of them compared to what I felt about Summer. When she came down to the spring formal and I saw her dressed up and looking like a goddess, I could barely function. She beamed at my uniform, impressed by the pageantry. Proud of me.

  I resolved then to be the best for her. Be the gentleman she deserved. The cadet with a future, not a beach bum. That was why we agreed to see her. She was different. Not from here, and she wouldn’t keep us tied to this place with babies and unfulfilled dreams.

  This floats through my mind as I kiss Summer Barnes in the beach cottage kitchen. Feeling her in my arms is like coming up for air for the first time in months. I want to peel her bikini off and lick every inch of her skin, but I hold back. This girl doesn’t deserve another horny guy rubbing up on her. That’s not the relationship I want with her. She deserves time. Respect. She is what my lifetime of expectation has led up to. I understand that now.

  I hate stopping, but I know the others are waiting, and she’s not just mine.

  3

  Summer

  My reunions with Pete and Justin are lower-key. A quick kiss and a hug, since the bonfire is in full swing by the time Justin pulls himself away from the water and Pete makes it to the beach.

  “Sorry,” Justin says, giving me a warm kiss while peeling off his wetsuit. “I didn’t know you were down here.”

  “Don’t apologize,” I tell him. I’m making a pathetic attempt to not ogle his magnificent body while he strips. “I know you’ve missed the water and for once, we have time. There’s no rush.”

  Pete arrives thirty minutes later with grease-stained hands and a dirty look for Bobby. “Dude, that last boat that was out? They got stuck on the waterway. Me and Jerry had to tow him back in.”

  “Sucks. Sorry, man.” Bobby gives him an apologetic look as he tosses him a soda.

  Pete looks like he wants to say more but his eyes flit over to me and his entire face softens. In an instant, he’s across the sand and hugging me, lifting my feet off the ground.

  The rest of the night is spent by the flickering flames, feeling the warm heat on my bare legs and toes, and as much as I want to relax into the ease of it all, I can’t. Not fully. Navigating the boys in one place at one time will be a challenge. I don’t want to play favorites. I also don’t know how act with them in public. Are we public? Can we be in this tiny town? Do I want to be? There’s something about the secrecy of our relationship that I crave. My last relationship was a secret, too.

  Maybe I’m the one with the problem.

  “So, Summer,” Ivy says, her blonde hair glinting in the fire, “You looking forward to your first year of being a townie?”

  “What?” I ask as everyone in the group laughs.

  “Last year you were a tourist—a visitor—but this is your second year. Your mom lives here, she owns a business,” Maggie says. “I think that by association, you’re a townie now, too.”

  “Well,” I say slowly, “Exactly what does that mean?”

  Justin, who’s sitting next to me, grabs my hand. “It means you’ll be working and have to deal with all the tourists and their demands. The traffic.”

  “Right,” Pete adds, “You’ll learn how annoying it is not to being able to get a table at the Grill or making the mistake of shopping at the Piggly Wiggly on a Saturday during check-in.”

  “But,” Justin adds with light in his eyes, “the good news is that you have us.”

  “And exactly how is that good news?”

  “We can show you all the town’s secrets,” Nick says. “Show you where to eat. What bars to go to. What back roads to take. All the tricks us townies use to stay sane during the on-season.”

  “And,” Anita says, glancing over at a sleeping Sibley, “you’ll figure out what days to just say fuck-it-all and stay in bed.”

  “You guys didn’t show me all that last year?” I ask.

  “Nope,” Justin says. “We weren’t sure you were going to stick.”

  “And now?” My eyes skim the group but focus on the four that I need to hear from.

  “I think you passed the first te
st,” Justin says, pulling me closer.

  “Just the first one?”

  “Oh yeah, now we’ll see if you survive the tourist season and come back. That’s when we’ll know you’re one of us.”

  Him, I have no doubt about. Or Pete or Nick. Whit is the one that stares at the embers silently until his gaze pulls up and meets mine, holding it until my cheeks are hot, and not just from the fire. I still have no idea how I’m going to balance the Boys of Ocean Beach, but I sure as hell am going to try.

  4

  Summer

  The Ocean Beach commercial district runs along the intersection of First and Ocean Drive. The center point is the large, covered pavilion that acts as the entrance to the long, wooden pier that juts into the sea. On either side are a few shops and restaurants, and more across the street. These are located in a hodgepodge of buildings, some in low, brightly colored cement buildings. Others in wooden cottages. My mother’s shop is across the street from the pavilion in a lime green cottage with white trim and a hot pink door. There’s a small front porch with rocking chairs, a porch swing, and flowering, potted plants hanging from the rafters. It’s adorable and definitely contains my mother’s personality.

  Her shop is flanked by an ice cream store and a little clothing boutique called Hullabaloo.

  “The ice cream store is both a blessing and a curse,” Anita says. “It’s great for walk-in traffic, families, and kids. But lord, I feel like all I do is clean sticky stuff off things.”