The Summer I Fell (The Six Series)
Read The Summer I Fell (The Six Series) Online
Authors: Sonya Loveday
Copyright © 2014 Sonya Loveday
This is a work of fiction. Names, Characters, places and incidents are either product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manor whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover design by Sprinkles On Top Studios
http://www.sprinklesontopstudios.com/
Dedication page photo credit: Lovena West
Formatting by Sonya Loveday
Editor: Editing Services by Cynthia Shepp
http://www.cynthiashepp.com/
Published by Sonya Loveday
Fist Edition
ISBN: 1499671636
ISBN-13: 978-1499671636
The Casted Series
Casted, book 1
Spelled, book 2
The Six Series
The Summer I Fell, book 1
THE ENTIRE SOUTH FIELD OF
the Jacksons property was dotted with the graduating class of 2014. Caps and gowns were shed as the celebration carried over with groups of people, cars, and radio stations all competing to be heard. That was, until the boys rolled up. They had a way of making any social setting gravitate to what they were doing. Radios were lowered or turned off when Aiden Jacobson, Mark Stevens, Josh Howard, Jake Aceton, Jared Jackson, and Eli Benton—the Sexy Six, as every girl in my high school called them, had arrived. The rest of us just called them the Six.
I never understood why everyone
was drawn to the sight of them, but it was comical to watch.
Eli was rushed by an already drunk underclassman who had somehow managed to tag along at our last hoorah. He pried her off him and ran his hands down his chest with a laugh, as the others busted his ass at what they’d witnessed. The catcalls were intense as she trailed her hand down his chest. He caught her by the wrist before she got past the button on his jeans. “All right, someone come get jailbait before shit gets outta hand,” Eli called out.
She turned her face, and I chuckled when I realized who she was. Kayla Roberts had been trying, unsuccessfully, all year to break into the Six, and they weren’t having any of it. Desperate, clingy girls were something they stayed far away from. Kayla’s sister, Rachel, marched over, yanked her from Eli, and dipped her head in his direction as she hauled her drunken sister off at a fast clip.
The guys busted out laughing. Aiden yelled above the noise, “Someone put some music on. Damn, this ain’t no party!”
It was instantaneous. Luke Bryan’s voice belted out of someone’s truck, and the party came alive.
I watched all of this from the back of my truck, as I sat on the tailgate and kicked my feet.
Mark broke off from the group first, jingling his keys as he spoke to Jake. They turned in a full circle until Jake looked over to me and pointed with a smile. Mark looked at where he gestured, picking up his hand in a quick wave. I saluted him with my Dr. Pepper can. He shook his head with a smile, turned back to Jake, and then took off across the field.
I wondered what that was about, but knew better than to let my imagination run too wild. Knowing those boys, there was no telling.
I hadn’t even planned to come. There really wasn’t any reason for me to be there. My circle was a small one. The guys and Paige Holton were my only real friends. It wasn’t because I was stuck up. Actually, it was quite the opposite. I’d outgrown this small town long ago. I just didn’t feel the need to make any forming or lasting relationships with anyone when I hadn’t planned to stick around.
Everything I’d worked so hard for had crashed and burned around me. I couldn’t help but feel extremely jaded by the whole experience, but I was a fighter, and I’d keep pushing forward until I made my own way. Whatever way that might be.
I leaned forward and studied my favorite boots. They were worn in all the right places, fitting my feet like a glove. I hardly wore anything else. Tennis shoes were impractical for my day-to-day life. Or rather, they were. What the hell was I supposed to do? I’d counted on the full-ride scholarship, was all but promised it for so long, and it had all been taken away as if I’d only imagined it. And really, hadn’t I?
Vet school was the one thing that I hoped would get me out of Opp, and it was gone. It seemed this small town in
Alabama had her hold on me.
“Got any more of those?” Jake’s voice rumbled into my thoughts about the same time as I heard my cooler slide down the inside of the truck bed. I peered at him over my shoulder, as the cooler creaked open.
“Help yourself,” I said, tossing a heavy dose of sarcasm in my reply.
Jake snorted as he pulled an icy can out and slammed the lid closed. He lifted the bottom of his shirt to wipe the top and then hopped up on the tailgate to sit beside me. My breath caught at the sight of his sculpted stomach, and I bit my lip to restrain a groan. It had become harder to hold back my instant reaction to him when he did things like that. “You’re supposed to be happy.” He quirked his eyebrow at me and popped the can open. His other hand lifted and flicked the icy remains at my face. Cold droplets of water splattered against my heated skin.
Jake, better known as Ace because his last name was Aceton, dodged the sideways punch I aimed at him. He put his hands up in mock surrender and chuckled. “Seriously though, tonight’s all about freedom. Taking it all in and having a little fun. School is over, our diplomas are in hand, and we’re one step closer to getting out of here.” He flinched when he realized what he said and went to apologize.
“Don’t Ace, I didn’t take it personal. And I promise that I’ll try to have fun.” I lifted the hem of my shirt up and rubbed it against my face, feeling the night air touch my side where the material rode up. Swearing I heard a quick intake of breath come from beside me, I darted my eyes over to him, but he wore his usual grin on his face as his eyes twinkled.
He lifted the can to his lips, pulled it down, and glanced sideways at me. “You better, or I swear we’ll do what we said we’d do.”
I swallowed hard. The Six had pulled rank with me, saying I was to be at the party and I was to have a good time, or they’d carry me off to old man Willis’ pond and toss me in without my clothes. I scowled at Ace and crossed my arms. “And how do
you propose that’s going to go? Because I can assure you that none of y’all will get anywhere near close enough to me to remove a stitch of clothing, let alone throw me into that disgusting ass, bacteria-filled pond.”
He wiggled his eyebrows at me, as his lips pulled into a mischievous grin. Suddenly, a hand clamped down on my shoulder. I’d been so focused on Ace that I hadn’t seen Jared walk around the other side of my truck. “Already being a party pooper, Riles?”