The Trouble with Dating Sue (Grover Beach Team #6) (40 page)

One day before college started…

SUE SAT ON my bed, silently watching me packing the rest of my stuff. I hated when she looked at me like that. Moving to L.A. was hard enough, I couldn’t handle her tears on top of my own aching heart. But of course, they had to be dealt with. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I zipped my last duffle bag closed, turned around, and leaned against the wall, pressing my lips together.

She sniffed. “Are you ready to go?”

Was I? Most of my things were already in the car my dad had given me for graduation. Ethan and I had a room on campus of UCLA, which he moved into yesterday, and Brady was waiting for me to pick him up at his house in thirty minutes. Yes. I was ready to leave.

But I didn’t want to.

Not yet. Susan and I had the most amazing summer together. It was hard to stomach that our time together came to an end today. Of course it was only for a year, because after her final year in high school, Sue would come to L.A., too. And I’d be home every single weekend until then. But still… Seeing her in my t-shirt, that she’d put on after we got out of bed this morning, her lips trembling and her eyes sad, I wanted nothing more than toss my college plans and stay with her. Forever.

Wherever she was, I wanted to be, too.

I still owed her an answer, so after some hard seconds of locking gazes with her, I finally nodded. Another tear trailed down her cheek. I opened my arms, and she shuffled over to hug me. Her arms wrapped around me so tight, I couldn’t get air into my lungs anymore. Or maybe that was because of my own sadness overwhelming me.

She sobbed and wiped her eyes on my shoulder then lifted her face with that pleading look of hers that always came with a cute pout. “Can I keep your t-shirt?”

“What?” I laughed softly, surprised.

“I want something that smells of you, so I can sniff it when I’m lonely and pretend that you’re still here.”

Oh. Cuddling her tight against my chest, I brushed my fingers through her soft hair. “Of course, you can, sweetness.” Her hair tickled my nose as I planted a soft kiss on top of her head. “We’ll make it. And you’ll be fine. It’s only a few days, and then I’ll be back again for your mom’s birthday.”

“That’s not enough,” she whined.

“I know. But I’ll come home the weekend afterward, and the weekend after that, and on every weekend until Winter break, I promise.”

A deep sigh, then her arms lowered and she stepped back with a brave nod. “Okay. And you call me every day, right?”

“In the morning and in the evening, and if you like, between classes, too.”

The sweet pout appeared again on her face. “I like.” Then she trudged out of my room to put on her shoes in the hallway. Ready to follow her, I grabbed my duffle bag, but on the way out, my gaze got caught on a lime green piece of fabric on my bed. Sue’s top. I eyed the tee for a moment and then, without another thought, I swiped it. After all, she had mine, so it was only fair to take hers with me. At nights when I missed her, I would need a whiff of her beautiful sent to remind me of our sweet times together.

With the decision made, I stuffed the shirt into my duffle and zipped it close again. Then I went to find her in the hallway and laced our fingers, walking her out to my car.

I’d said goodbye to my mother already in the morning, just before she’d had to leave and meet a client, so at least I didn’t have to deal with her tears, too, right now.

The way to Sue’s house was short and neither of us spoke a single word. But handling the stick shift was a bit complicated with our hands still intertwined. We got out together in front of her house, and I walked around the car to hug her one last time. From the tight lines in her face, I could see how hard she tried not to cry, but her lips were wet and tasted salty when we kissed.

“I’ll call you when I get there,” I whispered, then I detached myself from my girlfriend and got back into the car. I knew it was a mistake to look into the rearview mirror, as I drove off, but heck, I couldn’t stop myself.

Susan stood on the sidewalk, her arms hanging lifelessly at her sides, her heart-wrenching gaze following me down the road. Why did she have to make this so hard? I squeezed my eyes shut for a second, trying to abandon all memories of us at this very moment, so the goodbye wouldn’t be so tough. But I might as well have tried to make this damn car fly to L.A. and would have had as much luck with that.

Ah, what the hell— I slammed on the brakes, reversed, and raced back to Susan’s house with squealing tires. Her face when I got out of the car again and swept her into another tight embrace was priceless.

“What in the world are you doing?” She laughed near my ear, her arms tight around my neck. “Brady’s waiting for a ride. You should be on your way to him.”

I couldn’t give two fucks about that right now. “Brady can wait another hour or two. And classes don’t start before tomorrow.” I swung her around and put her back on her feet, pushing her against the side of my car. “You’re the only thing that matters at the moment, and I really don’t want to go away. I’m not ready to leave you.”

Her eyes grew big with wonder and delight. “So what do you want to do then?”

“Kiss you.” I touched my brow against hers. “For all eternity.”

Her tears drying, a small smile sneaked to her lips. “Oh, I think I’m fine with that.”

And that was when we stopped talking and melted into each other with the longest goodbye kiss of all times…

– The End –

Hi, all!

I know some of you expected the baby twin epilogue for Chris. Please don’t hate me for not writing that one but something else instead. The farewell scene has been on my mind for a very long time, and it seemed just the right moment to close this book. :-)

If you enjoyed the story, please take a few minutes time and leave a review on Amazon and GoodReads. It’s the best possible way to support an author, and I’d be forever thankful!

Smiles,

Anna

Sheppard – Let Me Down Easy

(Life is good)

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Snow

(A phone number on his arm)

Kelly Clarkson – Heartbeat Song

(Intrigued by a nerd girl)

Mattafix – Big City Life

(A fight in the changing room)

AURORA – Runaway

(Confused by her care)

Charlie Puth feat. Meghan Trainor – Marvin Gaye

(Eyes in the mirror)

James Bay – Running

(Falling, and falling hard)

Lost Frequencies feat. Janieck Devy – Reality

(Soccer and a hickey )

Ellie Goulding – Love Me Like You Do

(The molten chocolate kiss)

Louisa Wendorff – Blank Space/Style (mash-up)

(A sad week of misunderstandings)

Ed Sheeran – Photograph

(Strawberry vanilla tea)

Die Toten Hosen – Tage wie diese

(Ethan)

Jason Derulo feat. J.Lo & Matoma – Try Me

(Being all she wants)

Pentatonix – Little Drummer Boy

(Waiting for a text on Christmas Eve)

Sleeping At Last – I’m Gonna Be

(Exclusive)

Birdy – Tee Shirt             

(Epilogue)

Next in the
Grover Beach Team
series:

A spin-off!

TAMING CHLOE SUMMERS

This time, Chloe Summers really screwed up.

After wrapping her car around a tree while driving drunk, she’s sentenced to 20 months of probation and 400 hours of community service. Her summer is shot to hell when she’s sent off to work at Camp Khlover to clock those hours.

Being a counselor to a bunch of thirteen-year-olds isn’t her idea of fun. But what do five weeks of camp matter if she’s free afterward
forever
? Right?

Wrong. She didn’t count on one tiny detail. Justin Andrews, head counselor.

Available books in the GROVER BEACH TEAM series:

Play With Me

Ryan Hunter

T Is For…

Kiss with Cherry Flavor

Dating Trouble

The Trouble with Dating Sue

Taming Chloe Summers (2016)

Other books by Anna Katmore:

Neverland

Pan’s Revenge

*

Summer of my Secret Angel

Many thanks

First and foremost to all my wonderful readers. The girls and women that pick up my books and send me messages every day, telling me how my stories make their lives so much better, are the real reason for me to sit down at my computer every morning and don’t stop writing until late at night. I hope I can make you happy with my books, because you sure make me happy with your beautiful feedbacks.

Hi
to my thousand Facebook buddies. Thanks a million times for talking to me, giving me your advice, your opinions, your time, and your love. On so many days, my desk would be a boring place without you!

A shout out to my one and only critique partner, Lyn. You’re the very best, and you know that, right? I don’t know what more to say, except, I hope that you’ll always & forever be around. Hugs! (That one day you actually called was scary, LOL!)

My love goes to my family. I’m sorry that you don’t always get an answer from me straight away when you walk into my writing room, but I value your understanding and support more than anything in this world. My home is where you are.

And finally – a huge
thank you
to my very own small group of special people! My beta readers: Barbara, Crystal, Renae, Martha, Shannon, Jessa, Jaime, and Felisha. With your sweet, enthusiastic feedbacks, you always put a big smile on my face.

And then there’s Silje... Girl, you know what I want to say to you wouldn’t fit on one page. So I won’t even try. LOL. Whatever. ;-) Talk later.

ANNA KATMORE prefers blue to green, spring to winter, and writing to almost everything else. It helps her escape from a boring world to something with actual adventure and romance, she says. Even when she’s not crafting a new story, you’ll see her lounging with a book in some quiet spot. She was 17 when she left Vienna to live in the tranquil countryside of Austria, and from there she loves to plan trips with her family to anywhere in the world. Two of her favorite places? Disneyland and the deep dungeons of her creative mind.

For more information, please visit her website at
annakatmore.com

Find her on Facebook:
facebook.com/katromance