Page 39 of Summer's Edge

The top holds a lamp, a fancy watch and a tissue, but something glimmers in all the colors of the rainbow as I open the drawer.

I find the source and pull out the ring.

“Is this it?” I ask Hunter.

I’ve seen the ring before, but only once right after Trixie gave it back to him the first time he asked her to marry him.

“Yeah,” Hunter says and stabs Clive in the heart with no further talking.

He lets him fall and takes the ring I’m holding out to him.

“Are we finally done here?” Chance asks.

Hunter pockets the ring. “We’re done.”

“Then let’s get the fuck home,” Chance says.

Home. That word never held as much promise as it does right now. Because home is where Summer is. And I shouldn’t be thinking that at all. But I can’t stop.

It doesn’t have to be forever between us.

It just has to be.

Over and over and over again until I get her out of my system. And out of my thoughts, because damn it, I can’t stop thinking about her. Even in battle. Even when I need all my wits about me, she’s there. Front and center. Whispering in my ear. Calling me home.

NINETEEN

Summer

After another day spent helping Eden package up the books then carting them to the post office, where it took another two hours to mail it all, I’m finally home in my apartment. My mom and Eden came by and aired the place out occasionally while I was gone, and probably did some cleaning too, since the place is spotless and a lot of my stuff is not where I usually keep it, but it’s still stuffy and smells like no one’s lived here for a while. I hadn’t planned on living here for a good long while yet either.

Muffled rock music is coming in through the open windows from the bar downstairs now, along with the fresh, tangy scent of the redwood forest that surrounds this little town. By rights, I should be dead on my feet from all the work I’ve done, and the traveling. But I feel jittery and have enough energy to run for miles.

I don’t even wish I was back in LA. I wish I was at the cabin. I wish I had more time to get to know Edge there. I wish I didn’t miss him as much as I do, and I wish I was more confident that this isn’t the entirety of my life now. I wish I still had the hope that I will get all those things that I had last night.

I don’t wallow though. I learned a long time ago that it just sucks me down and won’t let me come up for air for a good long while if I do.

So instead of worrying and wishing, I started unpacking. And putting everything back the way I like it. My fridge is empty, but that will have to wait until tomorrow, since there are no open 24-hours stores in Pleasantville. The town has come a long way from being the sleepy little village it used to be when I was born, but it’s still got nothing on a larger metropolis.

It’s after midnight when I finally run a bath and sink into it. The hot water feels amazing, but the cold pool by the cabin was better.

I resolutely push the thought aside as I wash thoroughly, including my hair, letting the conditioner sit as I just lie in the water, thinking of nothing, just being in the moment.

It’s relaxing enough that I actually fell asleep. Because the loud buzzing of my doorbell bell wakes me. I quickly rinse out the conditioner then get out of the bath, wrap a towel around myself and walk to the door, my heart thumbing. The buzzer is still going strong, and I don’t get visitors in the middle of the night. Except occasionally Eden. And I doubt it’s her now.

I’m not scared, since I know the MC is watching over all of us now that the war is on. My heart’s beating so fast because of how much I hope it’s Edge.

My heart starts thumping even harder as I look through the peephole and see that my wish has finally come true.

“Who is it?” I ask anyway.

“It’s me,” he says and hearing his voice sends shivers down my spine. In a very good way. “Open the door.”

“Why should I?” I ask. “I thought we wouldn’t—"

“Because I need to see you,” he says, cutting right through my resolve to make him grovel a little longer. It was the sincere emotion in his voice as much as what he said that makes me unlock the door and open it wide.

He’s wearing his cut over the same T-shirt and jeans he left the cabin in and his scent is filling the hallway intoxicatingly. His eyes are bright, like a light is shining in them just for me.

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