Page 157 of Summer After Summer

Wes shrugs. “Not sure. Anyway, are you pining for Lucy, Fred? Going to fisticuffs with James?”

“Are you drunk?” I ask him.

“What? No. Just poking fun. This place needs more fun.”

“That it does,” Fred says. “I’ll see you later, Olivia. Wes.”

He touches me briefly on the arm, then walks away.

“What’s going on?” I say to Wes.

“What? Nothing.”

“You talked to him after the fight?”

Wes catches up my hand. “Briefly. The next morning.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t think it was relevant.”

“And what were you and Ann talking about?”

“Just gossip. The party. Nothing.”

“Which?”

“What?”

“Was it gossip or the party or nothing?”

He lets my hand go. “Why are you cross-examining me?”

“Because you’re acting weird.”

“Is weird so bad?”

“Depends on what it’s about.”

“I’m just … happy?” His eyes dance as he says this, smiling down at me.

“You are?”

“Yes.” He reaches for me again, pulling me to him. “Aren’t you? Soon, this will all be done, and we can move on.”

I rest my head against his chest. Despite everything, my body still reacts to him in the same way, that mixed feeling of being safe and attracted. I close my eyes and try to block out everything. The sounds of the party, the lingering presence of Fred, all the questions that still swirl in my mind when we’re together.

I almost get there. I almost do.

But then, deep in his shirt, I catch the scent of something floral.

Someone else’s perfume.

And even though I know it’s probably nothing, just someone from the party who put a hand on him, or maybe from the club, whoever is doing his laundry, it makes me pull away.

It makes me remember when all I want to do is forget.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

---