Page 88 of The Summer of Wild

"My grandpa was a better father to me than my dad ever was," Wilder confides in me. "But that doesn't change how I felt growing up knowing my dad wanted something else. That we weren't good enough. That we didn't—or couldn't—offer what Margot and Elowyn did. I mean, I'm happy Elowyn grew up in a loving home, and that she doesn't have a clue how hard it is to deal with all these fucking abandonment issues. But he's my dad, too. And it would have been nice if he had stuck by the woman he married and tried to be a good dad to me, too."

"It's his loss," I stand on my tippy toes and kiss his lips. "He missed out. Despite him, you're a loyal friend who takes care of everyone around you."

Wilder plays with my hair. "I'm not loyal, Blondie. I'm fucking my best friend's girl."

"Is that all you're doing?" I challenge. "Fucking? Because what I saw in that video, that wasn't just—"

"You know it can't be anything more," he interrupts. "You've always known that."

"I didn't," I reply as my heart dips in my chest. "I thought we were... we were..."

His fingers find my chin and he lifts my face. "We don't know if he's ever coming back. Cash is going to Johns Hopkins soon and I doubt he'll make a detour here on his way there. But I'm not a loyal friend. I haven't been one for a long time."

"You've been one to me," I run my fingers along his chest.

"But not to Cash."

"Cash left us," I remind him. "And he didn't even have the decency to say goodbye. I'm not going to let you beat yourself up over whatever is happening between us. We deserve better, and I'm not sorry about anything we've done since he hopped on a plane and left us."

The toaster pops and I jump at the sound.

"I'm not Cash's," I reinforce.

"You are your own," Wilder gives me a small smile.

Except I don't want to be my own.

I really, really want to be Wilder's.

Chapter 23

The Sister Moment

Queen Isla and her red suitcase are standing on the front porch when I open the door.

"Frank and I broke up," she cries as she steps forward and snakes her bony arms around my confused shoulders.

"Why?" I groan as I pat her shaking back.

"He was hooking up with one of the cashiers at work," she says before sobbing uncontrollably.

I'm not surprised a relationship built on secret library sex between a TA and his student didn't last the summer. The question is: why did Queen Isla think it would?

"I'm sorry," I offer half-heartedly.

"He said I was difficult," my older sister sniffles. "Can you believe that?"

Me? Uh, yeah, I can believe that. But she's my sister, and only I'm allowed to call her difficult.

"What a dick," I shake my head as Isla lets me go.

"He's a total dick," Isla hiccups, her green eyes filled with unshed tears.

"Come on," I motion toward the kitchen with a nod of my head. "Mom just finished making oatmeal cookies."

"The healthy kind?" my sister pouts.

"The healthy kind," I roll my eyes as I head inside, dragging her along with me.

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