The Summer I Fell (The Six Series) (11 page)

I leaned forward, turned the radio on, and slipped into the comfort I’d always had around Ace, before I’d realized how crazy I was about him. Ace’s fingers continued playing with my hair. The silence between us was a comfortable one. We’d always been like that though. A smile bloomed on my face, as the morning we’d shared replayed in my thoughts.

“What put that beautiful smile on your face?”

I laid my head on his shoulder and rested my hand on his leg. “You.”

He brushed his knuckles against my shoulder and kissed the top of my head. I let a soft sigh slip past my lips, allowing my happiness to beam out of me.

The ride to the cabin didn’t take long. When Ace pulled my truck around the back, the guys waved from different spots in the yard. Mark was setting up the horseshoe pit, and Aiden fished around inside a huge cooler. Josh was lying in the hammock stretched out between two large oak trees. His leg hung over the side and pushed him as he munched on an apple.

Eli came out of the cabin and walked over to the truck. When he saw me sitting beside Ace, he smirked and opened the driver’s side door. Ace pulled the keys from the ignition and lifted his arm from around me. “Where’s Jared?” he asked.

Eli smirked at me. I couldn’t help but wonder if Jared had already called them and filled them in. “Not back yet. He said something about stopping by his house to pick up some stuff.”

I slid out after Ace, and he put his hand out to help me.

Eli gave me a toothy grin and a wink. “Need help with your stuff?”

“Yeah, grab some of those bags in the back.”

Eli reached over the side of the truck and hauled out two handfuls of plastic bags. “Holy crap, half the grocery store is back here!”

Ace snorted. “You guys eat like a bunch of animals.”

“True,” Eli called out over his shoulder, as he carried the bags to the cabin.

I closed the driver’s side door and walked around the truck. Ace grabbed the rest of the grocery bags from the back. “Just get the small stuff, Riley.”

I wasn’t going to argue, not with the way my back felt.

“Josh, get your ass outta the hammock and come grab our bags.”

Josh flipped him off. “Say please, asshole.”

“Please, asshole,” Ace mimicked as he walked past where Josh pushed himself from the hammock.

Josh pointed his finger at Ace as he walked backwards to the truck. “That’s better.”

I waited for him as he crossed the yard. “How ya feelin’, Riles?”

“A little sore, but not bad considering.”

Reaching inside the cab, he pulled out my bag. I closed the door as he slung the strap over his shoulder. He then reached in the back and grabbed Ace’s bag.

“Your eye looks better than I thought it would.”

“Pretty, right? I hope Samantha’s whole face is purple.”

“Feelin’ a little bloodthirsty today, slugger?” Josh darted out of the way when my hand shot out to slap his arm.

“Nah, she got what she had coming. I just wished she would have refrained from throwing a tree at me.”

Josh snorted.

“What?”

“Nothing… well, I mean, it’s not nothing, but all I can think of is her turning into like the Hulk or something when you said she threw a tree at you.”

I shook my head. “Josh, you have a really weird sense of humor.”

“Yeah.” He agreed with me because he knew it was true. He always looked at things differently than the rest of us did. However, it did provide us hours of entertainment when he got going.

I pulled the screen door open and let Josh go first.

“Where do you want me to put your bag, Riley?”

Ace replied before I could even form a response. “Just toss both bags on my bed.”

Josh whipped his head around and looked at Ace. When Ace gave him a challenging glare, Josh laughed. “This is gonna be an interesting week. I can already tell.”

Ace winked at me and went back to putting away the groceries. Eli had remained quiet, pretending that lining up the cereal boxes was the most important job on earth.

I grabbed the milk and put it in the fridge. When Eli stood up, I handed him the box of hot chocolate to put up. “Yes! You never forget, do you?”

Eli had an unhealthy obsession with dark
-chocolate, hot chocolate. Secretly, so did I, but he thought I bought it for him. I never corrected him since it gave me hero status in his eyes.

Josh came back into the kitchen and peeked out the front window in the living room. “Jared’s back.”

As soon as Jared’s truck came to a stop, he bailed out and slammed the door. Eli walked over to the kitchen window and opened it, letting in a warm breeze. “He looks pissed.”

I looked out the window past Eli and watched Jared holler for Mark. Their conversation drifted along the breeze through the open window. “She’s coming, but be ready, ’cause she’s pissed at you.”

“She can be pissed all she wants, as long as she’s here.”

I shook my head, wondering what the hell was going on between Mark and Paige.

Ace came up behind me, bracing his arms on either side of me. I leaned against his chest as he ducked his head and rested his chin on my shoulder. “What the hell does Jared have in the back of his truck?”

We watched Jared hand a box over to Mark and then pull another one out. They walked side by side, carrying the boxes to the cabin. Jared stopped and kicked Aiden in the ankle, waking him up.

Ace chuckled when Aiden kicked back at Jared and called him a dickhead. When Aiden saw the boxes, he got up from his seat and limped behind Mark and Jared, his curiosity getting the best of him. Ace moved to lean against the counter, and I turned around as Eli held the screen door open for Jared and Mark.

“Party’s here!” Jared set his box down, pulled out several 2-liter bottles of soda, and then opened the box Mark set down. He pulled out two bottles of Crown and a bottle of spiced rum, a smirk spreading across his face. “’Tis a fine thing, rum.”

YOU DO REALIZE THAT NONE
of us drink like that, right?” Eli pulled another bottle of rum out of the box and shook his head at Jared.

“That’s exa
ctly why we’re doing this. And it’s like a right of passage for friends. We’re all about to go our separate ways, so why not?” Jared snatched the bottle out of Eli’s hands.

“I’m not carting your drunk ass to bed, but I’ll laugh at you when you pass out,” Aiden said as he pulled the bottle from Jared’s hands. “Can we hold off on the puke fest until we eat?”

Jared snorted. “Pus—”

“Jared!” Ace’s voice stopped Jared from finishing the word.

Jared huffed and set the bottles back inside the box. “Anyway, yabunchapansies,” he rushed his insult out so it wouldn’t get shut down, “the point is, this week is about us having fun—unsupervised, crazy-ass fun. Things we can look back at and laugh about.”

A somber mood hung in the air. Jared was just as affected by everyone moving on, and he wanted to make the most of what little time we had left.

“I think it’s a great idea, Jared,” I piped up, and they all turned to look at me. “I don’t know about you guys, but I think a little fun is in order.”

The room seemed to brighten again when they smiled.

I walked over to the fridge, pulled out a package of hamburger, and grabbed a plate. “Can one of you guys go fire up the grill?”

My question put them all in motion. Back to normal. The jokes started, and we moved around each other like we’d always done. I breathed it all in and held it close.

The kitchen cleared out except for Ace. He hadn’t moved from his position against the counter. “You’re amazing.”

I smiled at him. “Why’s that?”

“You just have this ability to make it all work out. Like you’re the center of our gravity.”

I blushed at his admission. I never felt like that. I knew I was a part of them, but a bystander of sorts. “Yeah, well, someone has to keep them in line.”

“I’ll make those if you want to go put our clothes away,” Ace said as he turned to the sink and washed his hands.

Our clothes. A shiver ran down my spine.

“Go get us settled in, Riley. I got this.” Ace leaned down and kissed me. My eyes darted to the screen door, waiting for someone to say something.

Ace saw my reaction and smirked at me. “They all know, Riley. You can see it in their faces without them saying a word.”

He was right, but it still felt weird. Like we had to sneak around behind their backs, so they didn’t find out. But that wasn’t the case. They’d seen something change between Ace and me without knowing what had happened. And I damn sure wasn’t going to hide how I felt about Ace and be miserable the entire time we were all together, only to be happy in stolen moments when no one was around. I rose up on my tiptoes and pulled him in for a melting kiss. Growling against my lips, he pulled me against him.

“Hey, grab me the… Never mind,” Aiden’s voice halted, but neither of us turned to acknowledge him.

I broke the kiss. Teasingly, Ace ran his hands down my backside and squeezed. “You’ll pay for that later.” He nipped at my lips and groaned when I backed out of his arms.

Through the kitchen window, I heard Aiden speak. “I can’t get the tinfoil right now ’cause Riley and Ace are practically sucking each other’s faces off in there.”

My hand flew up to my mouth as a laugh bubbled up. “Well, if they didn’t know, they do now.”

I left Ace in the kitchen and went to unpack our stuff.

“Hey asshole, come get the tinfoil.” I heard Ace holler as the screen door creaked open.

I waited, listening for whatever comment would come next. The screen door closed, and I heard Ace moving around in the kitchen. Maybe they wouldn’t say anything at all. The silence was shattered when Mark shouted loud enough for me to hear all the way at the back of the cabin. “Boys, we have a problem. I think Ace ate Riley ’cause she wasn’t in the kitchen.”

“I bet he did…” Jared’s reply was followed by a hoot of laughter.

My cheeks burned and flooded my entire body with heat. It would definitely be a week of good-natured sex jokes at our expense. I had to learn how to shut down the immediate flood of embarrassment. Those boys were like sharks, even the slightest hint of a blush would send them into a frenzy. I’d seen it all too often with them.

I decided to check Ace’s closet to see how much room he had and was shocked to find several of my shirts hung up in between his.

There would be more than enough room in his closet for the shirts I brought. I unpacked my bag and sorted through my stuff, leaving a stack of clothes for the dresser. I carried the shirts over to the closet, hung them up, and turned back to the dresser. I pulled the top drawer open, expecting to find underwear and socks, but found a photo album, receipts, and other stuff shoved inside. I slid it closed, not wanting to intrude on his privacy, even though my fingers itched to move things around to see the rest of the contents.

The drawer below it was where he kept his socks and underwear. Heat spread through me again, and I cursed myself for feeling like a sex-craved lunatic. I rearranged it, stacking my stuff inside. I went to slide the drawer closed, but I stopped myself. If Ace had more socks and stuff, I’d just have to open the drawer again. I turned around and eyed Ace’s bag, gathering the courage to open it.
Stop it, it’s just clothes. And he asked you to put them away.
I huffed at myself for being an idiot and unzipped it. Pulling everything out, I unzipped the side pocket. I froze. Condoms. A whole brand-new box of them. My cheeks flushed, and I fanned my face with my hand.
Holy meltdown
. I grabbed Ace’s socks and underwear, blindly set them in the drawer, closed it, and leaned against it. I eyed the bag and in turn, realized that I’d been staring at the bed as well. A queen-sized bed—a size bigger than mine. Running my hand down my face, I realized I had to get a damn hold of myself.

It was real—all of it was real—and not some dream or fantasy that I’d played out in my mind. Ace and I had shared the most intimate of moments and would do it again. A lot, judging by the size of the box inside his bag. I placed my hand over my heart, as it tried to flutter its way out of my chest. My breaths came out short, and my knees felt weak. The heat of my skin built until I felt it break and leave behind a fine sheen of sweat, like an addict going through withdrawals.