Chapter 5

Summer couldn't really believe that Cohen's family was just going to adopt Ryan. Or whatever they were doing for him, letting him stay there.

And despite all her best efforts, she was actually a little…giddy about it.

It pissed her off.

It had taken her a long time to build her empire, she was the most popular girl at Harbor, well, with Marissa by her side anyway. The two of them ruled the school. Marissa did most of the public work, like organizing the fashion show and being social chair, but Summer supported her all the way and planned the behind the scenes after-parties and fieldtrips to Tijuana.

And she'd never been one to let a guy get to her.

She'd decided a long time ago that she was never going to let a guy hurt her, she wasn't going to give him a chance.

It'd been years since she'd let a boy affect her the way Ryan Atwood did.

She had to have him.

She shook off the feeling and lit a cigarette.

The last boy that had made her feel like this was the one that had turned her into little miss sexpot. He'd shown her about sex.

She'd been 13 and left to entertain herself in the lodge while her parents were skiing in Aspen.

He'd been seventeen. He'd told her his name was Alec and that he loved her and they spent the whole winter vacation together and she'd been convinced that it was love despite her nanny's warnings.

Alec had the most beautiful blue eyes…

And when he'd told her that she was just a fuck, that he and his friends got off on screwing virgins, she'd been crushed. Devastated.

She learned then that sex didn't equal love. Most of the time it didn't have anything to do with love. Sex was all about attraction and having fun.

She was attracted to Ryan. And she planned on having lots of fun.

Sure, some people called her a slut, but most of the boys seemed to like her confidence and she never slept with guys that had girlfriends, intentionally anyway, so the girls could just suck it up.

Marissa had held onto her virginity for so long and Summer at least had that to reassure her that she wasn't a total deviant. Hell, virginal Marissa was the deviant in Newport for being a virgin. Her mom was probably so proud.

Summer needed to get her mind out of Ryan Atwood's pants and get back to business. There were only a few more weeks in the summer before school would start back and she needed to make sure that she had as much fun as possible.

Her dad had laid down the law about her grades and she might actually have to go to class more than twice a week to pull them up.

She wondered if Ryan would be going to Harbor.

Ryan Atwood. Runaway. Street thug. Criminal. Hot hot boy.

"Sum? What are you doing?" Marissa asked, joining her in her living room.

"Just thinking. You?" she asked, deflecting the attention from her.

"Hiding. Luke keeps coming by the house, trying to apologize. He was fucking Holly, like, all out in the open."

"That bitch has no class. She should always hold out for a bed," Summer said, getting her friend to smile. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him to go fuck himself, what do you think I told him? My mom's been telling him that I'll forgive him with time, but she doesn't know anything about me," Marissa replied.

"She doesn't know that you're crushing on Seth Cohen," Summer said.

Marissa blushed and Summer knew that it was getting more serious. Marissa really liked him. "So? Your dad wouldn't exactly approve of you dating the town's newest juvenile delinquent either."

"Dating? I don't date."

"What about Zach?"

Summer winced. "He's still in D.C. with his dad. He's a non-issue."

"Summer. He's been writing to you for years, he thinks you're his girlfriend," Marissa said.

"Coop, I haven't seen that guy in over nine months. If he ever comes back to town or stops sending me those expensive presents, I'll let him down easy." Her dad had set her up with Zach Stevens, the senator's son, a couple of years earlier and he'd fallen hard for her.

"Fine, whatever," Marissa sighed.

"You like Seth Cohen."

"And you like Ryan Atwood," Marissa replied.

Summer lifted a pillow and covered her face. "What are we going to do?"

"Did you sleep with him, Summer?" Marissa asked.

"What? Ryan? No…"

"Summer," Marissa scolded.

"We might have done a little…something, but we had none of the sex." But she sure as hell had wanted to. If he hadn't looked like a P.O.W, she might not have been able to control herself.

"Uh huh," Marissa doubted.

"He was…bruised. Like, he was really messed up," Summer admitted. "I just wanted to make him feel better. I'm not a total bitch…"

"Its just…Seth is a really good guy. And I'd like to think that there might be…something between us one day. And he really cares about Ryan. I don't want you to…"

"You think I'm going to hurt his feelings?" Summer asked.

"Are you?" Marissa countered.

Summer huffed. "I think Ryan can take care of himself, Coop. He's a big boy. A very big boy…" she added.

"Summer. You know what I mean. You tend to…rip guys to shreds. I really like Seth…"

"I know, Coop, and I would never do anything to mess up your chance to have something good…no matter how geeky," she started. "But…there's something about Ryan. You saw it, too, don't make me remind you that you wanted him first."

"Summer," Marissa warned.

She sighed. "Okay. I like him."

"What?"

"I really, really like him. Like, more than a random fuck…I can't believe I'm saying this," she added.

"Summer, I'm…I'm proud of you."

She gave her the finger.

Ryan stared at the new patient form and tried not to chew on Kirsten's pen.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just…thinking."

She glanced over at the form. Seth was waiting at home but they were going to pick him up before they went shopping.

Seth was growing on him, but at least his enthusiasm about having a new friend in the house with him was buffering the weirdness he felt with the situation.

But Seth wasn't here now. Or Sandy.

"Your last doctor's visit?" Kirsten asked, seeing where he'd stopped.

"I didn't go to the doctor much. The health department…" he added.

"The health department?" she asked.

"Um…they do free testing there," Ryan said, regretting even mentioning it.

"Oh. Oh…" she replied, flushing.

"I'll just leave it blank," he said quietly.

He skimmed ahead and checked off some boxes about his history, aware of Kirsten watching him.

"We don't have to do this," he said, stopping at the family history portion. "I'm really okay, I'll be good as new in a couple of days…"

"If you're going to stay with us, we want you healthy. You don't have to answer the ones you don't know," she said.

"I just…I don't know what to put here. I mean, there's not a spot for 'drunk' and 'angry'," he muttered. Seeing her face, he immediately apologized. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay. You don't know about your grandparents?"

"Don't have any. As far as I know, I mean. I guess I have to have them," Ryan said. He folded the paper in half but she reached out and stopped him.

"Do you mind?" she asked. "I'm not going to embarrass you by coming in with you or anything…but…"

Ryan shrugged and let her take it.

She read over it for a moment and then passed it back.

He could see that she had questions. "What?"

"What kind of surgery did you have?" she asked quietly, motioning to the form.

"Oh. I broke my arm really bad and they had to put screws in it," he said.

She was still looking at him.

"And I had an accident with a screwdriver," he added with a sigh.

"How can you have an accident with a screwdriver?" she replied.

"Fell on it. Broke the 'no running in the house' rule," he said. He didn't mention that the screwdriver incident happened during the punishment phase.

"Ryan Atwood?" the nurse called.

"Don't be nervous. Dr. Perkins is a really nice doctor. I'll be in when she's done examining you, all right?"

He never thought he'd be so relieved to go into an examining room.