Page 127 of Rebel Summer

“Now he’s chasing my older brother,” Dax said, his eyes following the young offender.

He turned abruptly to me, holding up his hands, and showed me what looked like a Spiderman web-shooter contraption attached to his wrists.

“You want me to get him?”

I stood, brushing the dirt off of my hands and nodded solemnly, injustice burning a hole in my wounded heart.

He slipped one of the web shooters off of his wrist. “You want the other one?”

Grasping it lightly in my hand, I replied. “Yeah.”

He helped me secure it onto my wrist while giving me a crash course in all things Spiderman and web shooters.

Then we were off.

The laughter from men and boys filled the lobby at Sunset Repairs. I hadn’t realized that pizza, a plethora of brown sodas, and a Lego monstrosity on steroids was the key to happiness. I never had siblings. I never understood the power of the Lego. How it brought grown men and young boys together, bonding them for life amid Star Wars relics and dinosaur replicas.

Dax had given me his permission, after paying him in an hour's worth of kisses, to open up the building of the Lego car to the community. And the response had been epic.

Angela loaned me an old projector collecting dust in my dad’s basement, which made it possible to project the pages of the guidebook on the wall so everyone could be looking for the next pieces. Pretty soon, an impressive assembly line formed while I sat there with an almost spiritual satisfaction, watching the car get built. It was just one day, but these guys were as good as professionals. The size of the Lego car had already doubled from where I had it, and it had only been an hour.

Some friends from high school had even come to help out—Beau; Beau’s brother, Tristan; Noah Belacourt, the island billionaire who owned the resort; Phoenix; Briggs; and even Walker Collins, the island golf star, stopped by for a slice of pizza and promptly began searching with the others for missing pieces. It felt like a high school reunion of sorts, and watching the easy-going camaraderie between everyone…it only made me happier that I’d chosen this life.

Dax closed up the shop early. He stood by the sparkling new windows, chatting with a teenage boy wearing baggy pants and a beanie, probably regarding the position of part-time help Dax had posted online. He had already hired one person full-time, but he was now in search of a teenager looking for an after-school position that he might have some influence over. The legacy of Keith McMannus would live on forever in the form of seventies music and inspiring goodness.

Dax looked relaxed and friendly today. His jeans looked fitted, and combined with the allure of his tattoos peeking out from underneath his sleeve, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. We’d been caught having too many public displays of affection lately, so I busied myself with passing out drinks and brownies to anybody who wanted some. And if the entire island ran out of brownies, I’d swim to the mainland to get more if that meant everybody stayed here and worked on the car.

Pretty soon, the girls of the island filtered their way into the shop. It was fun to see Cat and Jane and a few other friends I hadn’t seen in a while, but they proved much more distracting to the guys than all the pizza and brownies combined.

The best surprise of the night, however, was when Dax’s parents and Trent, who was headed back to the mainland the next day, stopped by to lend a hand. Dax shot me a curious look before he greeted them, giving his parents a brief hug. But it was watching Dax and Trent laughing together while searching for Lego pieces for the car that held so many memories of Dax and another brother that had me blinking back tears. This family was on their way to rebuilding—this time with Dax—and it was beautiful.

And surprisingly, Angela stopped by.

Her brunette hair was pulled up in a high ponytail as she strode into the lobby.

“Hey.” She said, smiling at all the testosterone kneeling together over a pile of Legos. “That’s so cute.”

I smiled and looked at where she was pointing. It really was cute. “Thank you for coming.”

She smiled. “Your dad wished he could come, but he had campaign obligations on the mainland today.”

I nodded, understanding her perfectly and appreciating her efforts. I doubted much would ever change with him, but setting boundaries had become easier for me. I wasn’t sure what my dad’s and my relationship would look like down the road, but I was hopeful for a somewhat peaceful existence.

The car was over three-quarters of the way built, and the way the crowd still stuck around, it was looking like it might get completely finished today. Nobody even complained about Dax’s music, and when a specific song came on toward the end of the afternoon, the entire group began singing. Young and old alike seemed to know the words. I was laughing at the enthusiasm of Beau and Trent busting out the words, but it was the chorus that caused my eyes to find Dax’s.

And when he motioned to me with the flick of his head to meet him in the garage, I didn’t hesitate.

When he lifted me up to sit on his workbench, for easier access to my mouth, I had no complaints.

“So, is ‘Sweet Caroline’ an old favorite of yours?” I asked between kisses, my hands finding their home around his neck.

“More recent,” he said, pulling back to look at me.

“And what about your new obsession with Bon Jovi? I think I heard a few more of their songs on your playlist. Look at you, adding a newer decade of music to your?—”

“Hey, Books?”

“Yeah?”

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