Page 41 of Summer of You

“This place is a shithole.”

I sighed as I drummed my fingers against the armrest. Tilly was perched in Art’s lap, tilting back another beer as I poked at the fire I’d started in the pit in the middle of my yard.

“Call it a shithole if you want, but at least it’s mine.”

Daniel snorted. “He’s got that going for him, man. You’re still couch surfing.”

Art threw him a glare and flipped him off. Tilly rolled her eyes but didn’t move from her spot. From the way she’d been glued to Art’s arm since they all got there, it appeared that they were on again.

Instead of letting my friend’s evaluation of my home bother me, I got up and went inside to bring out the bottle of Jack Daniels that I’d bought for the evening. I’d told them all to bring something, but no one bothered. It was like them to mooch off of everyone else and another reason I needed to pick better friends. Daniel had at least tried by bringing two bottles of beer with him, explaining that he would be limiting himself to just those for the night.

My phone lit up on the counter and a smile spread across my face when I lifted it and saw Nathan’s name on the screen. It was nice that he’d wanted to spend the day with Drew. His uncle didn’t get out a whole lot. I was a little jealous that he had family that he could still spend time with.

Nate: We’re back in town and finished with dinner. Is it still good for me to come over?

Damn, having him here would be better than subjecting myself to the three idiots who were in my yard. When I looked out the window, Tilly was off to the side with her vape while Art walked around the edge of my makeshift firepit poking it with a stick that was much too short. If he wasn’t careful, he was likely to get burned. I didn’t want it to happen on my property, but maybe he’d learn his lesson and be more fucking careful.

Me: Please. And bring something to drink. Something hard.

I got a thumbs-up emoji in return and my heart raced, knowing that he was on his way.

Daniel jumped up when I walked back outside and grabbed the bottle from my hands. “Jesus, dude. You got the good stuff.”

I chuckled before snatching it back from him. “And someone said he only needed the two drinks he brought with him.”

Daniel laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck. He looked over at Art and Tilly before leaning in close to talk tome. “I said that because this was all I had. There was more, but it’s missing.”

My brows furrowed as I looked him over. “Hasn’t Art been staying with you?”

He nodded. “He has. And Tilly has been coming over every other night. Between the two of them... I don’t know who did it, but some of that stuff wasn’t cheap.”

I believed him. Art was a piece of shit on the best of days, but it was another thing entirely to steal from your friends. Especially someone who was letting you crash with them for a while. “Are you going to confront him about it?”

Daniel shrugged. “I don’t know how. He’s been my friend since we were little...”

I laughed. “That’s a stupid reason to let him walk all over you.”

The rumble of Drew’s truck coming down the road could be heard a mile away. It was enough to distract me from my current conversation and when a grin spread across my face, that warm and content feeling spreading through my chest, Daniel bumped my shoulder.

“Is that lover boy on his way?”

I choked on my own spit, turning my attention back to Daniel. “Oh, he’s lover boy now? Not fuck-boy anymore?”

Daniel shrugged. “Seems like it’s getting serious. This is the longest you’ve kept anyone around.”

He wasn’t wrong. Nathan was the reason no one stayed in the picture. As much as I had missed him, he was the only one who held my heart. He was the only one I’d give it to.

As the truck pulled in and Nathan climbed out, I couldn’t keep the smile from spreading all over my face. My shoulder got another shove from Daniel. “Oh, hell yeah, dude. You totally got it bad for him.”

If having it bad meant that I took off across the lawn, making Nathan drop the six-pack in his hands and grab my ass as I jumped into his arms, our lips crashing together, then maybe, yeah. I had it bad for this guy.

Drew honked his horn, forcing us to break apart, and I laughed as I flipped him off. He just chuckled and backed out onto the road and drove away. I dropped my legs to the ground and bent to pick up the drinks that Nathan had dropped and were, thankfully, not broken. The coolers were far from hard liquor, which was probably for the best since the two of us and hard booze didn't always get along.

Tilly had confiscated the bottle of Jack from Daniel and was swaying around the firepit as if dancing to some unheard music. I quickly ran inside, pulled out aBluetoothspeaker, and connected it to my phone, scrolling through a playlist of some of our favorite songs.

“You didn’t tell me there was a party going on over here tonight,” Nathan said as he wrapped his arms around my waist and nuzzledinto my neck. I purred at the contact. The sound of the cat purring was absent because there were too many people she didn’t know.

I smirked and rocked in his embrace to the beat of the music. “I just invited my friends over. You know, in case you didn’t come back over tonight.”

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