Page 14 of His Girl of the Summer

“Mama, please. I brought someone I wanted you to meet.”

“I don't want to meet no-fucking-body who is fucked in the head enough to hang with a monster like you. Get the hell out and never come back. I don't know why you keep showing up here…”

“ENOUGH!” I yell, pushing past Kas and into the house.

“Who the fuck are you?” The angry old woman sitting on the couch with a bottle in one hand and a cigarette in the other asks.

“I’m the woman who's going to make sure you never get another fucking dig at my Kas. So here's a word of advice before one more nasty comment comes out of your mouth. Think real hard if you want to spend the evening pulling my foot out of your ass,” I seethe, stepping close in the darkness of this sad excuse for a house.

“Back up, little girl. I don't know who you think you're talking to…” She raises the bottle over her hand again. I move fast, grabbing her wrist and yanking the bottle out, throwing it at the wall behind her head, making her flinch.

“I'm the woman you will have to go through any time you ever think about speaking to Kas that way again. I am the woman who will kill you and bury you in the woods behind this trailer if you so much as touch him. Do you think anyone's going to notice you missing?” I smile when she flinches, knowing she has no one. “You have no one to care for you because the one person you might have had you pushed away. I am the woman who will show him every single day that he is the best part of this world.”

With that, I step back and turn my head to Kas.

“Go get your stuff. We're leaving.” I cross my arms and glare at her while he does what I said.

I don't know if he’s angry at me for taking over, for speaking to his mother like that, or threatening the woman, but I couldn't take one more venomous word. Kas isn't gone long, and before I know it, he has a suitcase in one hand and holds out his other for me to take. I do, and without saying another word, we turn and leave the trailer.

Kas doesn't say a word as he leads me out and into the truck. He’s quiet the entire ride back to the diner, and I'm nervous as hell that I just screwed this all up. What was I thinking going after his mother? He’s probably about to pack my stuff up and ship me back home. But who does she think she is? Talking to him like that. Telling him he's worthless. It was complete bullshit. By the time he parks the truck, I’m seething again, and I can't keep it in this time.

“Look, maybe I shouldn't have said those things to your mom, and it probably wasn't the smartest idea threatening to kill her, but I couldn't take the way she was talking to you and when she almost hit you… it nearly killed me. There was no way in hell I was going to sit there and watch the man I love be torn down and abused. I’m sorry if that makes you angry, but…”

“You love me?” he asks, turning his eyes to mine. Shit, I totally didn't mean to admit that out loud. I was kind of hoping he would be the one to say it first.

“Well, of course I love you,” I huff, throwing my hands in the air. “There isn't just anyone I would move in with after only knowing a month. No one else that would make me think about quitting school and moving just to be with him.”

The smile that transforms his face is everything. There's no holding back. He nearly blinds me with it.

“You mean it? You're really thinking about staying with me?”

When I nod, he lets out a whoop before jumping out of the truck, racing around to my side, pulling me out, and spinning me around. I laugh loudly, and when he finally sets me down on my feet, I feel like our life is just beginning. His next words are the nail in my coffin.

“I love you more than life itself, my little fairy.”

Chapter Ten

Kas

She loves me. She fucking loves me, and she was the one who pulled the trigger first. I’ve been wanting to say it for a couple weeks but was so scared I was going to lose her. To scare her off. Instead, I saw her take on my mother, the woman whose shadow has caused nothing but nightmares for me. She did that for me. It had to be the sexiest thing I've ever seen.

We hung out on Sunday with our friends on the beach. Played in the water, and I even got to rub sun lotion all over my girl. I had to place her on my lap to hide my reaction from everyone standing around. Pretty sure I wasn't fooling anyone, especially since Grayson seemed to be in the same boat as me. Riley seemed out of it all day yesterday, but when I got him alone, he told me it was nothing to worry about. I wanted to push, but if you push him too far, he closes up like one of the dusty old books he likes to read.

Tonight, I'm dead on my feet. We just finished a long day of work and all I want to do is shower and hold my fairy in my arms. As we shower together in the tiny shower in the apartment, I can't help but love this life. It feels so normal. We got every bit of Tony and Barb's things out of the apartment, so it's officially ours, and I couldn't be happier. The one cloud hanging over our heads is the end of summer. It's getting closer with each breath we take; I can even see it taking a toll on Grayson and Harper. I know Charli and I will have to figure these things out, but I'm so hesitant to burst that bubble.

“So I need to talk to you about something,” Charli says nervously as we finish dinner at our small kitchen table. It only fits two chairs, but it's perfect. We found it in the back storage shed when we were moving things. Tony said it was one of the original diner tables, and we could have it. It's not pretty to look at with its wood paneling finish, but it's ours.

“Of course, Fairy. Shoot,” I say, taking my last bite.

“I need to go back home.”

I choke on that last bite. Did I fuck this up already? Holy shit, what did I do? I…

“Stop that right now, before you think it was anything you did. I don't mean for good, but I need to talk to my parents. I need to get the rest of my stuff and tie up all the loose ends of my old life,” she tells me, and I feel like I can breathe again.

“Oh, okay. I’ll go with you,” I say, shrugging like it's a no-brainer.

“Actually, I was kind of thinking I should go alone.” She winces at her statement, and it makes me angry.

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