Always Summer (17 page)

“Haley Elise Sullivan,” he says, shaking his
head. “I should’ve known you’d be the one to find me.”

It hits me harder than Jace hit the Liquid
Spirit jerk. It’s that feeling – that last summer, forever-chasing,
there’s hope for the world after all feeling.

From the depths of my brain, I pull out the
vocals from an old memory. It’s Reed’s voice, announcing the ‘man
of the hour.’

And now here he stands, in Shark’s
photography studio, staring back at me with those blue eyes that
haunt me even now – Vin Brooks.

“Well, this is awkward,” Colby says, shoving
his hands into the pockets of his cargo shorts. “I think I’ll wait
outside. You know, to keep watch or something.”

I think he’s officially made this more
awkward than it would have been if he’d just kept his mouth shut.
He pulls the door closed behind him on his exit, leaving me
standing in Shark’s studio facing my ex-boyfriend who isn’t even
supposed to be on the west coast.

I open my mouth, but my vocal chords grab
onto the words and hold them tightly, refusing to let them exit my
mouth. I have so many questions. But I can’t ask them.

“I was searching for a spare set of keys to
Drenaline Surf,” Vin says, like it’s not a big deal that he’s
here…in California…in his best friend’s photography studio…with
me.

“Who knows you’re here?” I ask. I can’t
budge from this spot near the door. I feel like I should stay here,
though, just in case I need to run.

“Joe’s the only one,” Vin says, glancing
away from me. He opens the next drawer on the file cabinet and
searches through it. “Well, now you and Taylor know,
obviously.”

He keeps his back to me as he pulls USB
cords out of the cabinet. I doubt Shark hid extra keys in there,
but I don’t tell him that. He crams the items back in and slams the
drawer shut.

“I know I owe you a lot of answers,” he
finally says, bracing himself against the cabinet. “But it’s not
safe to talk here. Can we go somewhere else?”

Go somewhere and talk? Has he completely
forgotten the last few weeks?

“You can’t just show up here like nothing
happened,” I say.

I try to choke back all of the emotions that
I want to throw at him, but they’re begging to be let out of the
glass jar I’ve been keeping them locked away in. I don’t know which
feeling wants to riot first, but based upon the sudden rage I feel
upon seeing him, I think anger is leading the way.

“Haley, I know I fucked up a lot of things,
and I know I let a lot of people down, but I can explain things,”
he says, keeping his voice calm. I wonder if he’s even nervous.

“Why are you here?” I ask. He has to know
what’s going on. There’s no other reason for him to randomly show
up in Crescent Cove again.

“Can we please go back to Taylor’s house and
talk there?” Vin asks, easing across the room closer to me. He
stops a few feet away. “We really don’t need to be here.”

As much as I want to hear what he has to
say, I don’t trust him right now. Hell, I don’t know if I trust
anyone other than A.J. and Colby. For all I know, Vin knows
everything and he’s here to bring me down just like Liquid Spirit
and Dominic and whoever the hell else is behind this.

“Does Topher know you’re here?” I ask,
ignoring his request to leave Shark’s studio.

I hate being rude and harsh in front of the
gorgeous photographs lining the walls. Shark’s masterpieces
shouldn’t have to witness this awkward and angry reunion. I
should’ve sent them out the door with Colby. At least they’d be in
a safer place instead of hanging around while I blast Vin with
questions.

When Vin doesn’t answer, I realize that he
hasn’t even told his own brother about his return. I don’t care
what kind of bad blood exists between them now. Topher deserves to
know that his brother is back in the cove. I grab my phone from my
pocket, but Vin knows my move before I even hit Topher’s name to
dial.

“Don’t call him,” Vin says. “He won’t answer
for you.”

I ignore his warning and press the call
button. Then I send up a prayer that Topher
does
answer this
time so I don’t look like the ultimate idiot. When my call is
immediately rejected and sent to voicemail, I want to cry, but I’ll
be damned before I let Vin see me cry over this.

Vin doesn’t show an ounce of emotion as I
put my phone back into my pocket. Instead, he holds up his own
phone, selects Topher’s name, and calls him. He puts the call on
speaker phone. Topher answers after two rings.

“Hey kid,” Vin says. “What are you
doing?”

“Hanging out with Miles,” Topher’s voice
says through the speaker.

“Everything okay?” Vin asks. “Joe called me
earlier, and I just wanted to check on you.”

“I’m good,” Topher tells him. “I’m over at
Kale’s. Emily and Miles are here too. We’re going to stay here
tonight. Kale needs us, and Emily’s been upset.”

Vin glances my way, but I can’t even break
down. I can’t feel much of anything at this point. What am I
supposed to feel? Hurt? Betrayed? Broken? I don’t think I have the
energy to feel anything other than defeated.

“Okay, well, just take care of yourself,
okay?” Vin says. “And call me if you need anything.”

Topher says he will, and the call ends after
a quick goodbye. So that’s how it is now. Topher is avoiding me.
We’re right back there, back where we were after the kiss-and-run
incident. He wasn’t kidding. Running away from things is the one
thing he is definitely good at doing.

“Just so you know, I didn’t want to have to
do that,” Vin says. His voice is sincere, which I hate even more
right now than ever before. “I’ll answer your questions if you’ll
let me follow you to Colby’s house.”

I don’t bother giving him an answer because
I know him well enough to know he’ll follow me out of plain
stubbornness.

“This is fucking weird as hell,” Colby says
as we pull into his driveway. Vin’s rental car pulls in behind us.
“Are you not freaking out?”

Of course I’m freaking out. I lost my job –
again – today, and this time it wasn’t because I interfered with
Vin’s plans for his little brother. This is because someone wants
to frame me or my friends for bringing Drenaline Surf down from the
inside.

We enter through the garage, which is weird
because I’ve always gone into Colby’s house through the back door.
He and Vin avoid eye contact with each other as we settle into
Colby’s living room.

“Start talking,” I say immediately, not
giving Vin a chance for small talk or stupid questions. I want
answers, and I want them now. I point to the couch and am actually
surprised when Vin sits without argument.

“Joe called me earlier this week,” he
starts, without any hesitation. “He’d been sending me links to the
online articles and forum threads, so I’ve been keeping up from a
distance.”

Colby doesn’t bother to sit. Instead, he
leans over the back of a chair, propping his arms against the top
of it. It’s almost like he doesn’t want to be in the same oxygen
bubble as Vin. I wish their tension and dislike didn’t run so
deeply. I sit on the other end of the couch, closer to Colby than
my ex.

“I don’t know what went down today, but
Drenaline Surf is being blackmailed, and apparently it’s really
bad,” Vin says. “Joe wouldn’t even tell me what the blackmail is,
but it’s something he definitely doesn’t want going public.”

“Well, if you’re looking for an answer, I
don’t have it,” I tell him.

“I know you don’t,” Vin says. “When Joe
found out from Jace about the blackmail, he called me and asked if
I could fly back home. Jace gave his resignation today, shortly
after he talked to you, Emily, and Kale. He said he couldn’t stay
any longer.”

“Jace resigned?” Colby asks. “So who’s
running Drenaline Surf now?”

“Well, technically, it’s always been mine,”
Vin admits, shrugging like it’s not a huge deal. “Joe never put it
back in his name, and he said if I want Drenaline Surf back, I can
have it, so here I am.”

Wait a minute. My brain races to catch up
with everything. Jace is gone. Vin is back. Vin actually
wants
Drenaline Surf, and did he say he knows I’m
innocent?

I lean forward, halfway across the couch.
“Say that again,” I tell him.

“I’m back?” he asks.

“No, the other part. You know I’m not
blackmailing Drenaline Surf,” I say.

I need to hear him say it. I need someone
other than my roommate with a criminal record and my best friend
with a lawsuit to believe in me. I need someone credible. I need
someone to take my side who probably shouldn’t be on my side.

“You’re not blackmailing Drenaline Surf,”
Vin says, putting the words into the universe. “When Joe told me
about it, I ruled you out immediately. I know you. You’d never do
this.”

It’s the most bizarre feeling. It’s like I’m
back on the sand while A.J. drinks Milwaukee Best and Vin talks
about Logan and the future of Drenaline Surf. There’s truth and
belief and a future. There’s something magical in the atmosphere,
even though we were broken down on the side of the road that night.
It’s magical right now, here in Colby’s living room, with Shark’s
photography on the walls. There’s truth and belief, and I may
actually have a future still.

Colby walks around the chair and motions for
me to move down so he can sit. I don’t hesitate. I scoot closer to
Vin, letting Colby have the corner.

“Alright, Brooks,” Colby says. “Let’s have
it. What do you know? What can we do?”

Vin explains that the most recent blackmail
is related to a phone conversation that happened the night of the
inventory crisis. It was after Logan left, leaving only Emily,
Kale, and me in the store to possibly hear something.

“I don’t know what they talked about, but it
was between Jace and Joe,” Vin says. He runs a hand through his
hair, seemingly frustrated to be on the outside of this. “Whatever
they talked about is at risk of being leaked, and they’ll shut down
Drenaline Surf before they let it get out.”

If I hadn’t been scared before, I’m scared
now. That’s why the store was closed today. I wonder if the
blackmailers demanded that Drenaline Surf shut down or go out of
business. Are they demanding money? Is there a payoff or do they
want us to be a puppet, playing into their game while they pull all
of the strings? And who the hell is this person or people?

Vin looks past me at Colby. “Do you remember
Jake’s memorial service? The one at the actual funeral home before
the paddle out?” he asks.

I glance over at Colby. He nods and then
looks at his carpet, like he doesn’t want to go back there. I
didn’t know there was a memorial service outside of the paddle out.
Maybe I need to just trap these two in Colby’s house, force them to
make peace, and then tell me everything because I’m sick of being
on the outside.

“Remember how everyone split apart? How
Topher refused to even speak to Reed and Miles told A.J. to fuck
off?” Vin asks. “We’re entering that again. Lines are drawn. People
are choosing sides.”

That’s it. Crescent Cove versus Horn Island.
My roommates versus the West Coast Hooligans. That was made
perfectly clear tonight when Vin called Topher. He chose his
Hooligans over me, without so much as giving me a chance to explain
my side of the story. And Emily is with them by default, because
she and Miles have been together much longer than I’ve been with
Topher.

“So that’s how it goes down,” I say, sinking
into the couch cushions. “They join forces, and I’m the girl from
North Carolina who clearly can’t be trusted. It’s like I can feel
California slipping through my fingers.”

Colby sighs. “I’m sorry,” he says. “You just
happened to make friends with two of Crescent Cove’s worst. But on
the bright side, you still have A.J. and me.”

“And your job,” Vin adds. “Jace is gone. No
one else is doing PR for me. It’s either you or no one. And for
what it’s worth, I’m here.”

He’s here? But for how long? As soon as the
smoke settles, he’ll be gone again. He’s here to clean up the mess
that is Drenaline Surf. When it’s fixed, he’ll take a paycheck for
his hard work, hand Joe the keys, and walk away again, just as a
hero instead of the villain. This is his chance at redemption. And
I don’t know if I can even trust him.

“You’re lying,” I say. “You won’t turn
against your own brother. I don’t care what happens. You’ll side
with Topher in the end because that’s what you do. You have Horn
Island in your veins. In the end, you’ll join Team Kale and Emily
Are Innocent.”

Vin leans in toward me, staring me down like
the day I met him on The Strip.

“Haley, do you think I’d be in Colby
Taylor’s living room if I didn’t believe in you? You can deny it,
but you know me well enough to know that I’m biting the hell out of
my tongue to play nice with him right now for you,” he says. “You
can tell me every bad thing you think about me when this is over,
but for now, I need you to let me be on your side, so are you gonna
let me in or not?”

I feel like I’m in the witness protection
program sitting outside of the precinct this morning. It’s a few
minutes after eight o’clock when Vin finally takes off his
sunglasses and asks if I’m ready.

“You sure you don’t want me to go with you?”
he asks. “I don’t care if people find out I’m back. I just don’t
want Pittman taking advantage of this.”

“He won’t,” I say. I never thought I’d be
defending Officer Pittman, but I know that he won’t abuse this
moment. “I don’t want people to see us together. We can’t afford
more rumors, and you can’t blow your cover. People can’t know
you’re on my side, right?”

Vin lets out a defeated sigh. He lets the
seat back in his rental car and puts his sunglasses back on.