Page 29 of Unfinished Summer

It’s our final few days.

I shouldn’t be cross or angry, but it fucking hurts to get out of my bed this morning.

The weather’s fucking shit, so we won’t be able to do any of the stuff I wanted.

I snag a piece of toast off the table and walk to the back door to head down to the beach.

“Will we be seeing you today?” Mum looks expectantly.

“What are your plans?” I respond, but there’s no cheek in my answer.

“Oh, love.” She walks over to me. “There will be plenty of other girls when you’re off travelling the world. Don’t spoil the last few days because of a girl you met here.” She taps my cheek like I’m a ten-year-old, and it sends a bolt of fiery anger through my veins.

“She’s not just some girl, Mum. I’ll be at the beach.”

The rain lashes down in sheets, drenching anything in its path, but the swell looks awesome. I fight against the wind and onslaught to make it to the water and paddle through the rough, white-topped waves. The noise booms as the surf crashes down and wipes out anything else around.

My breathing evens out after making it through the first few breakers, and I get into a rhythm. Surfing in this isn’t the safest decision, but it sucks my attention and focus, which is what I need. Despite being pretty fit, my body is already tiring as every single carve of my arm through the water zaps me of energy. But the rush—the balance of fear and adrenalin as I catch and take off makes it worth it.

At that moment, everything fades away, and there’s a peace where nothing else exists except the wave and me.

Two good rides are followed by several wipeouts where I choke on seawater. The salty tang in my throat and the relentless beating of the waves cuts the session short, and I retreat to the beach. I collapse on the wet sand at the edge of the ripples.

The rain’s eased some, and perhaps the day might not be a complete waste.

Out of the water, Zee is the only thing on my mind.

I told her I didn’t want her to regret sleeping with me, yet I’m the one questioning the decision. Not because I didn’t love every fucking second, but because it meant something. I felt so fucking close to her—I wanted to protect her and love her forever. And now I can’t shake that feeling like it’s haunting me.

While sitting on the headland the other night, my mind kept going back to that choice and whether it was right, but my heart was all in with this girl. And Zee has been smiling ever since, and it fucking hurts in my chest that I’m going to have to leave. And worse is, she doesn’t seem to be worried about it.

I dig my fingers into the wet sand and claw at the shifting granules, throwing a handful out into the waves.

I pull myself up, grab my board and walk the rest of the way up the beach and back to the house. I avoid Molly’s and keep my head down. These two weeks have been the best of my life, but now they’re nearly over, and I feel lost at the prospect of chasing after the dream I’ve had all my life.

Somehow, I need to find some fucking guts to get me through the next few days.

“Hey!”

“Hey.” I drop onto the counter in Molly’s and steal a kiss from Zee like normal. It’s the end of the lunch rush, or at least what they call the lunch rush. “Here.” I slide the paper across to her.

“What’s this?”

“Our plan.”

“Plan?” She clears the stack of plates from the tray as she reads.

“What we’re going to do for the next forty-eight hours. It’s the time we have left, so I thought we should make the most of it.” I smile at her and hope she likes it.

“You have surfing on here, Jayce.” She raises her eyebrows, questioning me.

“It’s where we had our first kiss. It seems appropriate.” I shrug.

Her soulful eyes soften as she looks at me, and it’s the first time I see doubt in them. Or maybe it’s sadness. “I’ll think about it. Everything else looks perfect. Thank you.” She comes around the counter and puts her arms around my neck. I want to kiss her so deeply I’ll drown in her, but I settle for a much more public-appropriate display of affection.

“Hey, love birds!” Molly calls.

“I’ll be back in a few hours then?” I check.

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