Page 1 of His Girl of the Summer

Prologue

Kas

“You just gonna come in here, make you some food, and then dip out? Can't even plate an omelet?”

I smile at Tony’s teasing while stepping back as he moves around the outdated but clean kitchen, but I still duck my head to hide the side of my face. He owns the diner and has worked as a cook here for forty-three years. I’ve worked here every summer since I turned fifteen, and I just got back last week after school let out. It's my first day off, but of course, my friends and I wanted to start our breakfast off right with one of the best meals in this coastal town.

“First day off, boss. I'm just here to get some grub and stay out of your way,” I tease him. He knows I would be here in a second if he needed me to work, but we have one other cook, and the kitchen flows better with two people in the tiny space rather than three big guys.

“I know, kid, I’m just fuckin' with ya. Make sure you get out of here before the early lunchers come through. You know tourist season is starting, and it’ll get busy as hell.” Tony smiles before getting back to work, and I make quick work of our meals.

Giving Tony one final chin lift, I exit the kitchen, wiping the smile from my face and scowling down at the ground. No matter how many times the locals have seen my scars, I still get shocked reactions. I can’t believe another summer is already here. One where, once again, I’m cooped up in this damn town, in the tiny run-down house with a mother who wishes I’d never been born.

I sigh, wishing I was back on campus or, more likely, the campus gym. I'm more at peace pumping weights than back in this town with all eyes on me. I hope that's not the case, but I can't help how this town makes my skin crawl. If it weren't for my three best friends, I would stay on campus and probably never set foot back in this town. Still, they have amazing families and lives here, and they are my people, so here I am.

I still wince at the thought of my mother's run-down trailer full of empty alcohol bottles and cigarette smoke. The wallpaper is peeling off, and the furniture is almost completely broken. I’ve tried for years to pull my mom from the depression losing my dad pushed her into, but nothing works. When it was time to leave for college two years ago, she said she hoped that was the last time I ‘wasted’ her life.

I fully planned on that being the last time, but somehow I get talked into coming back to this town every damn summer and forced to visit the mother and room I thought I left behind. Most of the time, I find somewhere other than that house to catch a few hours of sleep before I'm back in the kitchen of this diner. Some things, I guess, never change, even when I got out of this damn town.

I shake off those thoughts as I finally make it to the back corner booth. I set Riley's plate in front of him, shoving his book into his face, making sure he knows it's time to eat. I nudge Beck's arm, then set his omelet down. I then place Gray's plate in front of his empty seat. He’ll be here, but always seems to be running behind. Taking my seat and pulling my plate closer, I start to scoop a hash brown from my plate when the plate is jerked out from underneath my fork.

“What the fuck!” I say, grabbing it back from Beck.

“I told you this morning I wanted hash browns. This is the only plate, so you get the omelet,” he shrugs.

“Actually, let me have a bite! Those look good.” Riley grabs for the plate, and that's how Grayson finds us minutes later, fighting over a massive platter of hash browns in the middle of the faded formica table.

“Stop being fucking stingy. We can all share!” Riley argues.

“It's my fucking meal, and I cooked it. Get your own,” I argue back, grabbing the plate and holding it high away from both the fuckers.

“How about we put the food on the table buffet style? That always seems to work for you youngins,” Gray says, sliding into the booth next to me and giving me a chin lift. I roll my eyes but place the plate in the middle of the table while filling my plate with other random foods.

“You ready for the biggest adventure of our lives?” Beck hollers through a mouthful of half-chewed food.

“Dude. First off, say it, don’t spray it, asshole. Second, what the hell are you talking about? It’s just another summer, like every other one of our lives. Working our asses off to pay for next year. Sooooo adventurous for sure,” Riley says, rolling his eyes.

“Don’t be a buzzkill. This summer is gonna be different. I can just tell,” Beck replies.

“You can just tell, huh?” I snort. This summer is going to be as boring and miserable as all the rest.

“Yeah! Well, that and my mom’s psychic told her so. Said it would be a summer to remember.”

“A psychic? Since when does your mom go to a psychic? And since when do you believe in that shit, anyway?” Grey asks with the same skepticism in his voice.

Beck shrugs. “Since I like the sound of it, and after how fucking hard the last two years have been at school, I could use some good news. So just let me have this one, yeah?”

“Yeah, but if your mom's psychic said it to her, wouldn’t that mean it would be her summer to rem… Hey!” Riley cuts off, and I have a feeling he was just kicked under the table by Grayson, who is now mumbling.

Grayson’s our center. He keeps us all in line, kind of like the dad of the group, but his big heart makes him the best as the mediator. It also helps in situations like these where Riley's big smart brain wants to refute the fact that psychics have any sort of “power,” and in this situation, I would have to agree. There's no way I will ever have a good summer stuck in this judgmental-ass town. Still, I never want to wipe Beck's carefree smile from his face. I envy his ability to smile through every aspect of this life, good, bad, and ugly.

“Well, then…” Gray says, raising one of the discarded mugs on the table in salute. “To Beck’s mom’s psychic… and the summer of our lives.”

We all raise our mugs to clink a toast with Gray’s and give a cheer. Hopefully, the prophecy comes through for at least one of my boys. They deserve it more than anyone I’ve ever known, and if I have to stick around this awful fucking town for that to happen, at least maybe this year, it’ll be worth it.

Chapter One

Charli

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