Perfect Summer (2 page)

The
instant I hit “send”, there was a text.

RACHEL:
HOLY CRAP. WHAT HAPPENED? WHY IS DREW MISSING?

ME:
DON’T FREAK, BUT DREW WALKED IN ON NAT AND I.

RACHEL:
HOLY MAJOR CRAP. THAT EXPLAINS WHY.

ME:
I THINK HE’S ANGRY AND HURT. HE WON’T ANSWER MY CALLS. NOR NAT’S.

RACHEL:
I JUST TEXTED HIM. I’LL TRY CALLING HIM.

ME:
TEXT ME AS SOON AS YOU HEAR FROM HIM.

RACHEL:
I WILL. GOTTA GO.

ME:
BYE

RACHEL:
SAYONA

I
glanced at Nat whose eyes were concentrated on the road, his hands gripped
tight around the wheel like some kind of death trap. His jaws were clenched,
and the muscles around his neck were bulging. He looked more worried than I’ve
ever seen him. But there was something else there, behind his eyes…another
emotion I haven’t seen on his face for a long time…fear.

“Nat,”
I asked softly. “Are you alright?”

For
a brief second Nat’s shoulders tensed, as though I had startled him out of his
thoughts, and then it relaxed. He visibly took a breath before turning to face
me, his face suddenly calm and collected. “I’m fine,” he said. “Just
concentrating on the road. It can be treacherous winding through these hills.”

I
looked out the window, and saw how the car was making its way up hill. It was a
steep climb with turns that were sudden and sharp. I could see how Nat needed
to concentrate so all I said was, “good.”

After
some time, we did make it to the top, and from there, we drove a few blocks
until we came up to a driveway fortressed by a gilded wrought iron gate. Nat
pressed a button on his console, and the gate swung open, allowing us to drive
into the large courtyard and into one of the garages.

When
Nat parked the Aston, he came over to help me out, taking my hand in his and
walking me over to the entrance. “Nat,” I gushed. “your home…it’s lovely. I
knew your parents’ company were doing so well, but I didn’t think…your home is
as big as a castle.”

Nat
laughed. “No, not that big, Summer, but I personally think it’s way over the
top.  I mean, we don’t need to have turrets. But thank you. I shouldn’t be
complaining. It is a nice house, and Mom designed it. It’s what makes her feel
safe and secure.”

“I
think it looks majestic,” I said. “Like a modern castle out of a fairy tale. If
it makes your mother happy, then that’s what counts. I love it!” I said.

Nat
smiled slowly, making my heart melt at the boyish grin he had, which brought
out his dimples. “It’s not the Pad, though, Summer. It’s a million years away
from the Pad.”

I
came up to Nat, took his hand in mine, and leaned in to look him square in his
eyes. “No, it isn’t, but that’s alright. It doesn’t have to be. I love Aunt
Sookie’s house, but that’s hers, and it has a very special place in my heart,
and yours, but this place…this beautiful castle your family built – your mom,
dad, Drew, and Rachel; this place is special too. It’s your own. It’s the
Donovans’ place. Your den away from the lions.”

“How
appropriate,” Nat said. “It is like a den. The Donovan Den. When my parents
built this monstrosity of a house, it was so different from the carefree beach
house we were so used to. It felt like a fortress, Summer, with the gates, the
turrets, the thick walls and high hedges. Come on…let’s go inside. I’ll give
you a tour. You’ll see.”

He
took my hand and led me inside the house from an entranceway in the garage. As
soon as I stepped into the house, I felt at ease. The house was more modern
than I expected, but still had the elegance of a French country estate manor. A
warm light softly lit the hallway we were in, and Nat continued holding my hand
as we walked into the marble foyer, pass a massive double staircase, and into
the living room.

“Hungry?”
he asked. “You must be…we skipped dinner hours ago.”

“And
went straight to dessert,” I muttered softly, blushing, my lips slightly parted
as I licked them without thinking.

Nat
moved up close to me, pressing me against the wall and kissed me, his mouth hot
and passionate against mine. “I like having dessert first,” he whispered into
my ears. He kissed my bottom lip, moving it into his mouth to suck on. The
intensity of it between his lips made me moan. “I know we’re supposed to get
something to eat and to show you around, but all I can think about right now,
Summer, is devouring you.”

I
kissed him back, “who needs food when we have other needs to fulfill.”

“Exactly,”
Nat said, pressing into me so I can feel how much he wanted me. He kissed my
ear and gently bit on it, whispering, “Summer, why can’t I stop wanting you? I
have so much on my mind, so much I have to do at the moment; but all I can
think about is wanting you.” He kissed me hard on my mouth and brushed his
tongue against mine, causing me to arch my back and press my breasts forward
into his chest. “I’m going to give you the quick version of a tour, Summer.
Hang on tight.”

He
hitched me up with his hands so my legs were wrapped around his waist. When I
leaned my head close to his, his lips inched up to capture mine before he
started walking with me hanging onto him like a Siamese twin. He walked quickly
through a large French country kitchen with double stainless steel
refrigerators, a professional grade stove, and everything that made it a chef’s
dream kitchen barely muttering, “Kitchen” before increasing his pace until we
were going up the stairs and into a hallway full of doors. “Guest rooms,
theater room, game room, a sauna, the gym room…” he continued announcing while continuing
on with the tour, with me riding against him, every brush against him sending a
pleasurable sensation through me. “And finally,” we stepped into a room that I
recognized immediately as Nat’s room. Clean sleek lines, no nonsense, tidy, but
still friendly and grounded. Also masculine with a massive dark oak bed in the
center of the room lined with grey and white linen. In the corner of his room
was a guitar next to a woodsy dresser drawer with some photo frames on it.
Pictures of Nat with Drew and Rachel. Pictures of the whole family. Then a
photo of me with him when we were thirteen, the year they moved.

Nat
threw me down on his bed, and collapsed next to me, breathing hard. “Just need
to catch my breath for a sec. But that was harder than it looked,” he said
between breaths.

I
grinned. “So you are human after all.” I touched his chest, feeling him breathe
hard in and out. “I always thought you were made of steel, you know,” I said.

“Superman?”
Nat arched his eyebrows.

“No,
the Tin Man,” I answered back. I settled my head against his chest, turning my
ear to listen to his heartbeat. “I sometimes wondered if you had a heart.”

Nat
winced. “Summer. I’m sorry for ignoring you those years after we moved. I’m so
sorry I hurt you in any way.” He pulled me closer to his chest and kissed the
top of my head as he held me tight. “Although we’ve had hundreds of miles
separating us, although I’ve kept my distance…I want you to know, Summer, that
I had always loved you. Then and now.”

My
heart was beating like a drum as his words sunk into my brain. Nat had always
loved me, as I loved him. He had always felt the same way…only why didn’t he show
it? Tears of frustration began forming in my eyes. “All those years, Nat, why
didn’t you tell me?” I cried. “I thought you didn’t care for me, that my love
for you was just a hopeless dream. Why couldn’t you tell me how you felt instead
of ignoring for years?”

Nat’s
face was torn. There was love in his eyes, as well as despair. “Because Summer,
I didn’t want to hurt you.” He got up and went to the photo of us on his
bureau, picking it up. “That summer we moved was one of the hardest ones for
me. I knew then that I had fallen in love with you, and that we couldn’t be
together. I thought if I stayed away, I could get over loving you, but…it
didn’t. It made this feeling I have for you more solid, more real. It wasn’t
just a short crush, but the real thing.”

“But
not telling me how you felt, hurt even more,” I said. “I thought it was because
I wasn’t pretty enough. That I was too fat or not popular enough. I went
through some major self-esteem lows, thinking it was all my fault, it was all
because of something I did or couldn’t live up to.” I gulped, as I choke back
some tears. “I hated myself for years because I didn’t think I was good enough
for you, Nat. That you left me in Malibu, was happy to move away from me,
because I wasn’t what you wanted.”

“That’s
so not true, Summer,” Nat said gently, his voice choked up as much as mine. “It
was the exact opposite.” He raised his fingers and brushed away my tears. “Why
do you think I called this place a fortress? Why did you think I was so unhappy
being in this grand dream house my parents built?” He leaned in and kissed away
the remaining tears on my cheeks and my eyelids. “I was miserable being here. I
hated being away from you, hated being away from the beach and Malibu. That was
home to me, Summer. Wherever you are, will be home to me.” He flipped me over
on my back then, with a passion that knocked the breath out of me, and crushed
his lips on mine.

I
kissed him back hard, entwining my fingers into his hair as I brought him
closer to me. We kissed and kissed until we were both breathless. When Nat
finally pulled back to look me in the eyes, he said, “I love you, Summer, and I
want you. Don’t. You. Ever. Doubt. That.”

Chapter
2

I
continued staring at Nat’s handsome face when
my phone went off.

“Hey,
it’s Rachel,” she said. “I just heard back from Drew!”

“You
did?” I nearly shouted with relief. “How is he?”

Nat
sat up in bed and pulled me up. His phone had started ringing at the same time.

“He’s
fine,” Rachel said. “He just texted me. I actually didn’t talk to him in
person, but he said he was fine.”

“Where
is he? Why did he contact you instead of Nat or me? We’ve been trying to get in
touch with him for hours…”

“I
texted him saying I’m staying in Malibu tonight. Not to worry, since I’ll be
with Ryan all alone at the Malibu Pad since you’re not going to be there
tonight,” Rachel said. “Guessed that got his attention. You know,
overprotective twin brother and all.”

“Is
he there?” I asked, noticing Nat getting out of bed to pick up his phone. “Did
he take the private jet over?” I watched Nat walked over to his desk, pulled
out a pad of paper, searched for a pen, found one, and then began jotting down
something, while speaking on his phone.

“No,”
Rachel said. “He’s in San Fran, but he did send me a text saying he’ll kick my
butt and Ryan’s butt if he finds Ryan at the Pad tomorrow. Like he’s one to
talk.”

“He’s
going to Malibu?” I asked. “Why?”

“Beats
me, but I thought he was planning on moving out here to start at USC this
semester,” Rachel said. “Wasn’t that his plans?”

“Yes,”
I said, remembering how excited Drew was about getting his football scholarship
to USC along with his early admissions to start this semester. “So he’s moving
into the Pad tomorrow?” I asked.

“You
invited his sorry ass to?” Rachel asked. “Pardon my French, but after all the
worry he put all of us through tonight…”

“I’m
just glad he’s safe,” I said. “And I did say when he moved down to LA for USC,
he can stay here with me for school.”

“Uh
huh,” Rachel said. I can hear the question in her voice.

“As
friends, Rachel,” I said. “Aunt Sookie’s place is as much part of his, Nat’s,
and yours as it is mine.” I gave a sigh of relief. “You’re all welcome to stay,
you know that.”

“Sure,”
Rachel said. “I do. But is it wise?”

“What
do you mean by that?” I asked.

“Nothing,”
Rachel said. “I just know that there’s something between you, Nat, and Drew
right now, and well…”

“I
know,” I said. “I can’t talk about it right now. By the way, Nat’s here.” I
walked over to Nat where he was just ending his call. He had a worried look on
his face, which made me want to kiss and make better. “Hey, is everything
alright?”

“Just
heard from the security team at Donovan Dynamics.”

“Oh,”
I said. I didn’t think Nat would’ve contacted them to find Drew.

“Someone
spotted Drew. He was driving down Highway 101, heading towards Malibu. He was
about a third of the way there.”

“Maybe
we can catch up to him,” I suggested. “We’re headed back anyways.”

Nat
nodded. “We can at least take the jet back, but there is no way we can stop where
Drew is. We’ll head back to Malibu.”

“Okay,”
I said, “At least we know where he’s heading so we can meet him. Hey Rachel,” I
said into my phone. “Did you hear any of that?”

“What?
Um…I was busy,” Rachel said. “Stop that,” she said.

“Stop
what?” I said.

“Oh
nothing,” Rachel said. Then she giggled. “Ryan!”

“Look
Rachel,” I said. “Looks like Drew’s heading to Malibu. Nat and I will be going
there, too.”

“Great,
seems like everyone’s heading back, Ryan,” Rachel said away from the phone. “We
can’t have our marathon sex session tonight.”

“Rachel,”
I said. “I can hear you.”

“Good,”
she said. “Maybe you should have one too with either Nat or Drew and get it
over with. Then maybe this whole tension between you three will go away.”

“I’m
not even going to answer that, Rachel,” I said. “See you soon.”

“Okay,”
Rachel said. “See you soon!”

I
ended the call and walked over to Nat. He was looking down, at his desk, his
hands gripped tight on the paper he used to jot down some information. “Hey,” I
said, slipping my arms through his to circle his waist from behind while
resting my chin on his shoulders. “We found him.” I smiled. “I was so worried,
Nat.”