Dirty: The Complete Series (Secret Baby Romance Love Story) (195 page)

When I came out of the water, I searched
the rushing crowd once more. Drake was gone. Bennie grabbed me up in a hug and
swung me around. I could hear people around me talking about how I had clinched
it. People were congratulating me already as if I’d won and for the first time,
I allowed my brain to process the very real possibility of having ten thousand
dollars in my pocket by the end of the day. I felt a rush of endorphins that
only added to the way my body was shaking and I suddenly needed to lie down. I
whispered to Bennie that I needed a second and he was instantly on it. He
cleared a path for me through the crowd and holding my hand tightly, he led me
down the narrow, sandy path until we broke through the bodies and were
surrounded by nothing other than fresh sea air and sand. I dropped to my knees
and then onto my back, closing my eyes and soaking in the warm sun once again.
Like a loyal sentry, Bennie stood guard over me and later when they announced
the winner, his was the first smiling face I saw.

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

DRAKE

“Come on, man, you can’t stay pissed at me
forever. We’ve been through so much shit together. Our friendship can’t end over
a woman.” Lance was pacing back and forth in my apartment while he talked. I
was wishing that I hadn’t even let him in. He didn’t have anything new to say.
He was just worried about me. He, Sabrina,
and my sister only wanted to see me be successful.
Blah, blah, blah. “We
went about it the wrong way, but we love you, man. You know that.”

“Contrary to what we were all taught
growing up, success doesn’t necessarily mean happiness. How happy will I be if
I win these competitions and get this sponsorship, but I don’t have anything
else worthwhile in my life? I’ll be my father. I’ll be a successful, unhappy,
bitter man.”

“Hey, if you want that girl-”

“Summer.”

He sighed. “If you want Summer, we’re not
stopping you. Go get her. I’ll apologize to her, too, and I’d be willing to bet
Chrissy will. Sabrina’s always been a wild card…”

“It’s too late, Lance. Whatever you all
said to her worked. She doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

“She won today, right?”

“Yeah,” I smiled, I couldn’t help it. I
pictured her on top of that wave with that little self-satisfied smile on her
face. It was an awesome sight.

“Then she’ll be at the party tonight, she
has to be. They’ll be presenting her with her check.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So, we’ll go, and you’ll get her back.”

I was skeptical. “What if she doesn’t want
me back?”

He shrugged. “Turn on that Spencer charm.
Women drop like flies for it.”

“Not Summer. She doesn’t fall for my
bullshit.”

Lance turned serious then as he said,
“Then don’t bullshit her. Tell her how you feel. What do you really have to
lose at this point?”

“You make a lot of sense. I guess it’s
worth a shot.”

He curled his lip at me. “I guess? It’s
worth a shot? Who are you? You’re Drake Spencer, man! You’re rich, you’re
talented, and from what women tell me, you’re hot. Put that chin up, throw
those shoulders back, and let’s go get your woman.”

I laughed at his stupidity, but I had to
admit he had me pumped. “I’m going to shower, and I’ll meet you at the beach.
Do not bring Sabrina or any other snobby bitches you find along the way.”

“Can I take a commoner home?”

“Get out.”

He laughed on his way out the door.
“You’ve lost your sense of humor, bro.”

“Get out.” He left, and I got in the
shower. He was right. I don’t have Summer now and if I put myself out there
tonight and still don’t have her, what have I really lost? Laguna is less than
a week away and if I get my sponsor, I’m off to Bali, maybe. I was pissed
enough the day after the gala to finally tell my father that to his face once
and for all. He had the audacity to tell me he would buy a house for my “little
girlfriend” if I would leave the surfing alone. I actually told him to fuck
off. I told him I didn’t want anything else from him. I told him I was going to
Bali and I was taking Summer with me. He cancelled my credit card that same
afternoon. I have one small account that I had put money in for a rainy day
like this one and that would have to last until I got a sponsor or a job. I
don’t even care if I make it to Bali. All I want is to be with Summer.

The beach was even more packed now than it
had been during the contest earlier. I texted Lance as soon as I got there.

“Where
are you?”

“Close
to the bonfire.”

“Have
you seen Summer?”

“Not
yet, but there are a thousand bodies down here.”

“Okay,
I’ll be there in a sec.”

“Don’t
hurry; I have a commoner on the hook…”

I rolled my eyes and shoved the phone in
my pocket. I could see the bonfire about a hundred feet in front of me. The
stage was about fifty feet beyond that. A reggae band was playing, and the
owner of Ruckus was standing off to the side, preparing to hand out the awards.
I scanned the bodies between here and there looking for Summer. She’s so small
and there are so many people, I’ll probably have to be right next to her before
I do see her. I wished she had a phone.

“What are you doing here? Don’t ruin this
for her.” I turned towards the voice. It was Summer’s “bodyguard.” I don’t
remember his name.

“I’m not here to ruin anything for her.”

He stepped closer. He was about a head
shorter than me and already knew full well that I could take him. I had to give
him credit for the size of his balls. “She’s happy. She’s happier than I’ve
ever seen her. Seeing you will only upset her.”

I thought about the way she smiled at me
today when her eyes met mine across the beach. She hadn’t seemed upset to see
me. “I’m not going to do anything to upset her. I just want to congratulate
her.”

“I’ll tell her I saw you, and I’ll pass
the message on.”

I almost laughed. There was no way that he
was passing the message on to Summer. This guy wants her for himself. If he’s
that worried about me seeing her, maybe it says something about what kind of
chance I have. “Thanks, but I’d rather do it myself.”

“Listen to me, you rich son of a-”

“Careful what you call my mother.”

He started to say something else, but was
interrupted by the sound of the man onstage asking for everyone’s attention. I
ignored Summer’s little friend and walked towards the stage. As I got closer,
the back of Kobe’s gnarly hair came into view. It had been over a week since
I’d seen him. He had his arm around Summer’s other friend, Phoebe.

“Hey, dude!” I slapped him on the back.
Anyone else would have startled and jumped. Kobe turned around in that slow,
laidback way he approaches everything.

“Spence! I thought you died, man.”

“And, you weren’t going to come to my
funeral?”

Kobe laughed. “Nah, but I smoked a fat one
in your honor.”

Shaking my head at Kobe, I turned and
looked at Phoebe. “Hi, Phoebe, how are you?” She snuggled deeper into Kobe’s side
and grinned.

“I’m good.” From the looks of her eyes,
she was flying high on a “fat one” herself.

“Good. I’ll bet Summer is stoked.”

“I’ve never seen her so happy. Thank you
for helping her.”

“It was my pleasure. Where is she?”

Phoebe looked around. “I’m not sure. They
took her behind the stage and had her signing paperwork and stuff a while ago.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to present
to you our top three winners from this morning’s amateur surfing contest.” We
fell silent and listened as the man called out the name of the third place
winner. The guy about my age went up and was presented with a trophy and a
check. The second place winner was a pretty little teenager. She didn’t look
over fifteen or sixteen years old. When she got her trophy and check, it took a
while for the rumble of the crowd to die down. Stupid drunk men were yelling up
at her and making lewd comments.

Finally, he said, “The top winner of our
competition will be presented with a ten-thousand dollar check, thanks to the
generosity of my employers, Victor and Jeffrey Winters of Ruckus. Put your
hands together for Miss Summer French, ladies and gentlemen.” The crowd roared
with applause as Summer climbed up onto the stage. My pulse sped up as soon as
I saw her. She was wearing her tank top and shorts, of course, and she had her
long hair in a thick braid. The first thought in my head was of undoing that
braid and running my fingers through that gorgeous hair…and from there I had a
list.

Summer quietly thanked the man, took her
check, and gave a little bow to the audience. She stepped to the back of the
stage, and I went around that way so that I would be the first person she saw
when she stepped off. She stopped dead in her tracks and just stared at me. I
wasn’t sure if she was happy to see meor not.

“Hi.”

I got a little smile from her. “Hey. Thank
you.”

“For what?”

“All the stuff you left for me this
morning. That was really nice.”

“You deserved it.”

She rolled her eyes and finished stepping down
off the stairs. “No, I really didn’t. I didn’t do anything to earn any of it.
But I appreciate it and one of these days,” she held up the check and said,
“I’m going to pay you back.”

“I don’t want your money, Summer.” I took
a step towards her. She had that wild look in her eyes like she did the first
time I met her. She was thinking about running. “I want you.”

I heard a little tremor in her voice as
she said, “What do you want with me, Drake? I’m nothing but trouble for you. No
one in your family will be happy about us being together. None of your friends,
your sponsors-”

“I don’t care what any of them think,” I
interrupted. “I don’t care if they’re happy or not. All I care about is you,
Summer. You can go with me if I get a sponsor or I’ll stay here with you if I
don’t. I can get a job. Please don’t count me out because of what other people
think.”

She held out her hand and said, “Walk with
me, please.”

I took her hand and felt that jolt of
electricity I feel every time I touch her. “What were your plans before you met
me – your plans for your life?”

I breathed in a lungful of the fresh,
salty air. I wondered what she wanted to hear and then I remembered that this
was Summer. She only ever wanted to hear the truth. “I planned on winning in
Laguna, getting the sponsorship, and going to Bali.”

“What are your plans now?”

“Being with you.”

She smiled and stopped walking. We were
close to the water and away from everyone on the beach. In my mind, it was just
her and I under the moon in the sand. “That’s sweet.”

“I’m not being sweet. I’m being honest. I
can stay here or I can go, as long as you’re with me.”

“I’m eighteen years old. I don’t have an
education or a job. I don’t have anything to offer you, Drake.”

“Summer, you have so much to offer. I wish
you could see yourself through my eyes. You’re tough, and you’re smart, and
you’re fucking gorgeous. I hate that you can’t see all of that about yourself.
I hate that people have beat you down and taken that away from you. You’re
amazing. I’m falling…” She was on her toes and had her little hand pressed to
my lips before I could finish my sentence.

“Don’t!”

“I’m falling in love with you.” I spoke
the words through her fingers. It’s not exactly the way I imagined I’d say that
for the first time.

“I said don’t say it.” She pulled her hand
away and started walking away. I followed her.

“Why? It’s the truth.”

“It’s fucked up, Drake. This money in my
pocket is going to help me get a start on life, but I’m not under any delusion
that any of that will be easy. This is not a good time to start a relationship
that already has two strikes against it.”

I stopped her again, this time by taking
hold of her shoulders and turning her to face me. “Do you want me, Summer?” She
was looking down at her feet. I let go of one of her shoulders and used my hand
to tip her face up towards mine. “Do you want me?”

She had tears in her eyes as she
whispered, “Yes.” That was all I needed to hear. I picked her up, cradled her
in my arms, and carried her out past all of the party-goers on the beach and
back towards the lot where I parked my car. When we got there, I put her down
on her feet and unlocked the door. I half expected her to run, but instead, she
took hold of the door handle and pulled it open. She slipped inside and closed
the door.

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

SUMMER

I asked
myself all the way to Drake’s apartment what the hell I was doing. I promised
myself that I was going to stay away from him, but he was like a drug. One taste
no matter how minor, and I need more. When we got there and he opened the door,
I stepped inside and leaned against the wall while he closed and locked the
door. He turned and leaned over me. He put his hands on either side and above
my head, locking that sexy blue gaze onto mine. He hadn’t even touched me yet
and I felt like my body was on fire from the inside out. When he looks at me
like he is right now, the only word I can think of to describe it is raw.