Page 93 of Villainous Summer

I nodded, apprehensive.

“Amy-Rae showed up to school, and her eyebrows were gone. She had to pencil them on for months afterward. Missed our freshman formal at the end of the year because she was so embarrassed.”

Autumn cleaned up the first aid supplies, sliding them under her kitchen counter. “I don’t know how she did it, and honestly, I don’t want to know. To this day, Summer calls it nothing more than karma from the universe. But I know better.”

“So, you’re saying she’s going to remove Cory’s eyebrows.”

Autumn shook her head. “Summer had a knack for finding weak spots. Amy-Rae was vain, so what happens to her? She gets her beauty taken. I don’t always like it. I try to talk her out of it sometimes, but that’s Summer. You want to punch him in the face? Summer will go nuclear on him.”

Hesitating, I thought back to the list on Summer’s phone. “Did any of this nuclear option involve butterflies and an ad about goats?”

The smile gracing Autumn’s face told me everything I needed to know.

Ten minutes later, I thanked Autumn for cleaning me up and for talking to me.

As I left her studio, I wished I had more clarity on who Summer was, but the new information only confused me more.

Letting myself back into Summer’s apartment, I peeked into her bedroom to find she had turned over in her sleep.

On her stomach, she was breathing deeply, her tangled blonde hair over her face.

Was this the face of a woman who would remove a girl’s eyebrows? Others might have been appalled by the story, but all I could feel was a sense of understanding.

Summer was protective of herself and, more importantly, protective of those few people she loved.

Wouldn’t I do the same for a friend? For my own family?

My urge to beat this Cory guy to a pulp was born out of the same desperation as Summer had.

Flopping down into the chair she had at her vanity, I studied Summer’s sleeping form.

What exactly was this nuclear option Autumn seemed so sure Summer had been acting out? What had she already done to him, and what troubles lay in wait? And why did it make me want her all the more?

Watching her dream, I was struck with her beauty. Being loved by Summer was a hard battle, and it was one I intended to be the victor of.

Hours later, she woke up, still bleary-eyed, but her skin took on little pink spots.

After a quick shower, she came out into the living room, where I was watching a season four episode of The West Wing.

She settled on the other side of the couch, pulling her knees up to her chest. “You stayed.”

“You asked me to.”

She blinked at me, chewing her bottom lip as if embarrassed to admit she would do such a thing. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Are you really that surprised?” Leaning forward, I placed the back of my hand on her forehead.

Her fever seemed to have broken.

“Still surprising. Especially after kicking me out of your house the other day.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “That was dumb of me. My dad showed up, and I—” Huffing loudly, I shook my head. “My dad was a shitty husband to my mom—you know that. Seeing him again after being with you . . .”

Summer frowned but let me keep talking.

“I’ve spent a decade telling myself that the worst thing I could do was to become my father.”

Summer shook her head, scoffing. “It’s obvious to anyone you’re not your father, Van.”

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