Edward

The sun had set, and the sky was dark when we pulled up. I felt better than I had earlier in the day. After Jacob headed back to the bar, I'd gone for a swim to clear my mind. The water had been refreshing after the heat of the day. And I swam hard – against the waves – allowing the water to crash over me and cool me down. It was exactly what I needed. I felt relaxed for the first time since I'd come home. And it was also the first time I felt like maybe this summer wouldn't suck so much after all.

I just needed to get my shit together.

I hadn't thought about her since. Not really. By the time I got home, there was just enough time to shower and get ready before Jacob showed up. My dad seemed happy that I was going out, but my mom seemed a little disappointed I wouldn't be staying for dinner. I assured her that we had three months. There would be plenty of dinners, plenty of time.

I could see the flames of the bonfire as we got out of the car. There was already a pretty big crowd. And I was ready for a beer. I can't tell you how many of these things I'd been to over the years. Truth was they were always the same. Same people, same few places. But being away for as long as I had been, I found that the faces looked mostly different.

"I'll go get us something to drink," Jacob said. But he wasn't looking at the cooler. No, his eyes were trained on the blonde standing beside it.

"I'll get my own," I told him knowingly.

Once the beer was in my hand, I wandered over to a big piece of driftwood away from the fire. Some people I didn't recognize were sitting on one end, and I took a seat on the opposite side. I leaned back, taking in my surroundings.

"Edward fucking Cullen."

I looked over in the direction where I'd heard my name, and I stifled a groan.

"Newton." I nodded. "How are you?"

Mike Newton was an asshole. Always had been. I hadn't even been here ten minutes, and I was already regretting my decision to come.

"Good, really good," he said, sitting down next to me. "How 'bout you?"

"Can't complain," I said.

He took a drink of whatever was in the red plastic cup. From the smell of it, I assumed it was all rum. His eyes were glazed over, and his speech was barely on the sober side of slurred. "Saw your dad today."

"You, and everyone else, I guess."

"I was disappointed it wasn't you."

"Oh, yeah? Why's that?"

God. This asshole was about to get on my fucking nerves.

"Oh, no reason. Just doesn't seem like summer without Edward Cullen cleaning the pool."

This.

This was the reason I hated this fucking place.

My first instinct was to get pissed, and possibly punch him in the face. Because seriously…what a fucking douchebag. But the longer I looked at him and smelled his rum-saturated breath, the more I realized that he was just pathetic. I'd always resented him for having everything I didn't, but here he was, clearly drunk and unhappy, doing the same fucking thing he'd been doing his whole fucking life in the same place as me. And suddenly, it was like a weight lifted.

I laughed.

It felt good.

Hell, it felt goddam amazing.

"Yeah," I said, laughing again. "I can think of worse ways to spend the summer than spending it in the sun. Working for my dad's not bad at all." As I said the words, I realized they were true. There were a fuck ton of things that could be worse. And I wanted to kick myself in the balls for being such a whiny-ass pussy all day. "How's working for your dad panning out? Must suck to be in a suit and tie inside all day." I nodded my head in the direction of his drink. "You should probably take it easy, Newton. You seem a little stressed."

I took a long drink of the beer in my hand and stood up to find Jacob. He'd been right. I needed this. And for the first time since I'd been home, the summer didn't feel like a punishment – it felt like it was full of possibility.

I tossed my empty in the bin by the fire and made my way back over to the cooler. Jacob was clearly somewhere engaged with the blonde since I didn't see him anywhere. I grabbed another beer, and as I was bending over, I heard her voice.

"Nice ass, Tom."

I stood up, then froze. It couldn't have been for more than a couple seconds. But in those seconds, I panicked. I thought about how I'd embarrassed myself. I thought about how I couldn't stop thinking about her all fucking day. And then I pulled myself together, and remembered the way I'd been feeling not even two minutes before.

She was just a girl.

Yeah, she was a rich girl with perfect tits and a gorgeous face, and there was no way I'd ever have a shot in hell with her. Except for the nagging little fact that she'd seemed more than happy to let me see her naked.

But still, at the end of the day, she was just a girl.

"Not as nice as yours," I said.

I turned around, and fuck. She was standing there, the wind blowing her long hair all around her. Her wide eyes sparkled; even in the dark I could see them. She was barefoot wearing a strapless sundress. I couldn't make out the color, but it didn't matter because why the fuck would I be looking at her dress when I could look at her face?

"You're right," she told me, smiling. Fucking smiling. "It's not."

Then suddenly, she turned around and headed in the opposite direction, down toward the water.

What the fuck?

And just as unexpectedly, she turned back and called out, "You coming?"

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A/N

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