Summer of Sloane (15 page)

Sometime later, my brother shows up with the two girls from the pool. Oh my God, my brother. He’s wearing the two of them draped over each of his arms like they’re the latest fashion accessory. I shake my head, but laugh, because I’m really happy he’s having a good time. I think the Hawaiian air is doing something to the both of us.

I do wish Finn were here, though. It seems silly, but something is missing without him.

Of course it’s at that exact moment I get another text from Tyler:

I wish there were a way my phone wouldn’t show a preview of the text on my screen. At least if it only said who it was from, I could delete it without having to see any words. Words like “Love you.”

“Hey, everything okay?” Mia asks as she rests a hand on my arm.

I shake my head and hold my phone out for her to see.

“I know you don’t want to hear this, but that boy does love you.” She wraps one arm around my shoulder and squeezes. “And unfortunately that means I don’t think he’ll stop until you acknowledge him. Why don’t you just tell him to quit texting you? Tell him you’ll talk to him when you’re ready?”

“I just…I just don’t want to talk to him at all. But I can’t find it in me to block his number, either.”

I delete his message, then tuck my phone in my pocket, but it’s completely ruined my mood. I hang out for a couple more hours, but the alcohol seems to be having a downer effect and I know I’m moping.

“Sorry, Mia, would you mind if I headed home?”

She hugs me again. “No prob. I’ll go grab my keys.”

“No, no, stay here. It’s a short walk.” She opens her mouth, but I raise my hand to stop her from arguing. “I promise, Mia, I’ll be fine. There’s no need for you to drive me home when I’m literally right down the beach. And besides, I think I could use the walk.”

She looks at me carefully as if deciding whether or not she should let me go alone, then simply kisses my forehead.

“Text me when you get home, then, okay? I love you, Slo.”

She squeezes me once more, then lets go.

The house is dark when I finally get there. Mom and Bob are still gone for the weekend and won’t be home until tomorrow night. I shoot Mia a text to let her know I got home safely and walk around the house to turn on a few lights.

After pulling on my pj’s, I throw the doors from my bedroom to the back patio wide open. A soft breeze finds its way in and ruffles the sheer drapes that hang from the posters of my canopy. The waves outside drum against the shore as I climb into bed, soothing me to sleep.

I wake up to the doorbell ringing and someone knocking loudly. My clock says it’s almost midnight. I kick off my blankets and grab my robe, cursing Penn for locking himself out. I’m sure he’s just too drunk to remember where he put his keys.

“Hey, Sloane, you there?”

It’s not Penn…it’s Finn.

“Hang on, I’m coming.” I rub at my eyes as he knocks loudly again. “I’m coming!”

He’s propped up against the door, but almost falls in when I open it. I can smell the alcohol on his breath as he tries to straighten himself back up. He’s wearing a suit, the collar of his shirt unbuttoned; his tie hangs loosely around his neck. I can’t believe I’m thinking this, but he looks really, really hot.

“Hey…you weren’t sleeping, were you? Because I didn’t mean to wake you if you were. Sleeping, that is.”

“Finn, are you drunk?”

“Hmmm?” He wobbles slightly, then grabs the suspenders he’s wearing, stretches them out, and lets them snap back against his chest. “Maybe just a little.” Motioning with his thumb and pointer finger, he denotes a small amount of space between, as if this clearly signifies the little bit drunk he is. He eyes what I’m wearing. Or better yet, what little I’m wearing. Reaching out and tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, he looks away, then looks back. “Do you know how absolutely beautiful you are? The first moment I laid eyes on you, that’s exactly what I thought,
God, she’s hot
.” He taps my nose in time with what he’s just said. “That, and the fact I was glad I wasn’t the guy that put your hand in that cast.”

Wait. Did he just call me hot? I wonder if he realizes exactly what it is he’s saying. Or better yet, if he’ll actually remember he said it in the morning. But then I remember he’s drunk and somehow still made his way over here.

“Finn, how’d you get here if you’ve been drinking?” I scan the driveway behind him, and my eyes settle on his motorcycle. “What were you thinking? You could’ve killed someone…or yourself for that matter!”

“I dunno…dinner…my asshole dad. Guess it just happened.” He mumbles something else about his father, and even though I don’t hear it, I get the gist. It’s evident the situation with his dad is much bigger than I thought.

“Get in here. You’re not driving home now.” I open the door further, but instead of coming inside, he actually leans down and tries to kiss me. Like full-on kiss me on the mouth.

For a second, I’m torn between wanting this moment to happen, and not wanting it like this. Then I catch the smell of alcohol, and it snaps me back into focus. I turn just in time, and he gets my cheek instead.

“Uh, I don’t
think
so.” I press my hands against his chest and motion to my bathroom. “Why don’t you go get yourself cleaned up? I’ll be right there.”

He stumbles to the bathroom, and I head to the kitchen. Filling a glass with water, I drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets and walk back to my room. I can’t believe he actually tried to kiss me.

I find him slouched against the side of my bed, rubbing his head. I hold out the glass for him to take.

“Sloane, I’m sorry, don’t be mad. I had to see you.” He reaches out and takes the glass. “My dad was forty minutes late, then had the balls to tell me I needed to start being more responsible. That I need to take better care of Luce and stop thinking of only myself.” He barks out a hard, bitter laugh. “Only myself, right.” He downs the water and sets the glass on my nightstand.

“I know it was stupid for me to ride over here after drinking, but I had to see you,” he repeats. “Besides, I can’t go home yet with him there. I don’t care if I ever see his fucking face ever again.” He closes his eyes. “Honestly, Sloane, I hate him. More than anything in the world. And the sad thing is, he knows it, too.” His laugh is harsh, clipped. “But he doesn’t even care.”

My heart aches for him. My family may have splintered apart years ago, but at least I knew they always loved me no matter what. Clearly that isn’t the case for Finn.

He falls back on my bed, defeated, still holding his head.

“You can hang out here for a while, and then I’ll drive you home.” When he doesn’t respond, I give his knee a shake. “Finn? Seriously, did you really just fall asleep?”

As if to confirm that’s exactly what’s happened, a soft snore escapes from his lips.

“Well, that’s awesome.”

I untie his shoes and slide them off, then swing his legs up onto my bed. And he doesn’t even stir.

Grabbing an extra blanket, I curl up on my couch a few feet away. I can’t imagine growing up with a father like his. One who acts as if his children are merely a second thought. Or worse, a nuisance.

And then I realize that while Finn has his crappy father, I have my crappy exes.

And somehow I don’t think either of us deserves any of them.

Sweaty clumps of hair are plastered to my forehead, and my feet are twisted up in a blanket. And for some reason, I’m sleeping on my couch.

But then I remember what happened and look over at my bed.

Where Finn is fast asleep. Without his shirt on.

I can’t believe he tried to kiss me last night, although I’m pretty sure he won’t remember that.

I make my way to the bathroom, then head out to the kitchen to put on some coffee—but find that a pot has already been made. Penn is sitting on a barstool, reading the paper. He barely looks up when he sees me come in.

“Uhn.” It’s all he manages before taking a sip from his mug.

“Well, good morning to you, too, sunshine. A little too much to drink last night?” I grab a mug and fill it up. It smells extra dark today. Which confirms Penn is nursing a hangover of epic proportions.

“Please, can you not talk so loud?” He cringes and takes another sip. “And, Slo, no judgment on what you’re about to see in the next few minutes, okay?”

Oh, good God, my brother brought home those two girls from yesterday.

“I guess only if you promise not to judge, too?”

Penn wrinkles his forehead. “Huh?”

But before I can explain, Finn walks into the kitchen, still not wearing a shirt.

Penn looks between Finn and me. “No way.”

“Uh-uh, no judging, right?” I stop him before he can say or ask anything and walk to the fridge to get cream for my coffee. It’s what I see when I start to close the door that makes me drop it, splattering cream all over the floor.

Because it’s not two girls standing there in my kitchen. It’s Mia.

But that’s not the problem.

The problem is she’s wearing the work polo my brother was wearing yesterday, over her shorts. And her hair is sticking up at all angles, like it’s trying to get her better cell phone reception.

“Morning, Slo. Hey, Finn,” she says, biting on the edge of her thumb.

“Morning.” Finn nods at both of them. “Nice one, dude,” he says quietly to Penn, knocking fists with him as he passes. He takes an empty mug from the cupboard and fills it with coffee.

For some reason, I seem to be the only one fazed that Mia is even here. I stoop to clean up the mess on the floor as Mia drops down next to me with paper towels to help.

“I’ve got it,” I snap, wiping up the last of it.

I have no idea what’s going on, but I have a solid guess at what happened last night. My brother and Mia? When did that become a thing? And what about Shep?

I stare at Mia. She bites her lip but won’t look me in the eye—and that’s a look I know all too well. I turn and glare at my brother, but he already has one hand raised and is shaking his head. “I thought we agreed to no judging, right?”

I snort out loud. “Oh, I somehow think we’re past that.” I turn back to Mia. “Just tell me something: Does Shep know where you slept last night? Or better yet, who you slept with?” Her face falls. I know it was a low blow, but I can’t help it. “Oh, that’s right. Neither of you would have
any
idea how it feels to be on the other side of whatever this is.” I motion back and forth between the two of them, and I don’t miss the concerned look Finn gives me.

“God, you guys both make me sick.” I leave them standing there and storm back to my room. I can’t believe they’d do this, especially to Shep.

Standing in front of the open doors that lead out to the patio, I watch the ocean do its thing. I take a deep breath of the salty air and close my eyes. I feel Finn standing next to me a moment later.

“You okay? You wanna talk about it?”

“Thanks, but not really.”

“Then how about we get out of here? Come with me today.” He doesn’t elaborate, so I face him.

“Come with you where?”

“No questions. Just put on a swimsuit and running shoes. Oh, and you’ll need a towel.”

“You had me at swimsuit,” I say. “I’m so in.”

We take his bike back to the hotel, where he asks me to wait for him in the lobby, in case his father is still upstairs. He’s on his phone as he walks toward the elevator, but then returns fifteen minutes later, dressed in swim trunks, a T-shirt, and running shoes of his own. A backpack is slung over his shoulder; a small cooler hangs from one hand.

I head toward his bike, but he steers me instead in the opposite direction to a monster of a Jeep that’s been pulled to the front steps by the valet. Roof panels removed, the thing is all black and ready for mud, with thick treaded tires. And if I thought getting up on the back of his bike was hard, there’s a solid chance I’ll need a stepladder to get into this sucker.

I attempt to climb in on my own, but unless I can get a running start, I’m going to need some help. “You know, they make these things called running boards, right?”

“Running boards are for wusses,” Finn says, laughing. He picks me up and awkwardly plunks me on the front seat, as I barely avoid hitting my head against one of the roof cross bars. Shoving our stuff in the back, he hops in next to me.

“Show-off,” I mutter.

“Not even close.” He puts the car into gear and we pull out from the hotel, but I have no idea where we’re going.

Heading up the Pali Highway, there are so many left and right turns, I lose track of where we are. At some point, we’re no longer on paved road, and he switches the Jeep into four-wheel drive. We bump along over rough terrain as low-hanging palms whip the top of the car.

The long drive gives me time to think, even if that’s not what I wanted. I can’t believe my brother and Mia. And I wonder if Shep has any idea what’s going on, or if maybe I should let him know. Thinking back to that moment with Mick in the park, I wonder if I would’ve wanted a heads-up. If I would’ve wanted someone to tell me. And I realize the answer to that is no. Because that would’ve been too easy for both Mick and Tyler, and they didn’t deserve easy. Neither do my brother or Mia.