Page 1 of Along Came Summer

Create a life that feels good on theinsideand not one that justlooksgoodon the outside.

I read that quote on the wall of a small coffee shop when I was just ten years old, waiting for my mum to collect her double-shot vanilla latte, and I have lived by it ever since.

Something about those words just correlated with me.

I am what I am.

What you see is what you get, and if you don't like it… well, tough cookies.

My name is Levi King, and I'm the eldest son of Grayson King. While it may not be significant to most, the name Kingishighly regarded in the publishing industry thanks to my father and Uncle Noah.

Evans & King Publishing was founded by my father and his best friend Noah Evans, who one night, while drunk on cognac, decided to partner up and open a publishing company.

I was only eight, and my little brother Devin was five when we met the Evans’. We up and moved from our two-bedroom flat—which was the size of a matchbox—in the city to a three-bedroom house in Welling, just outside of the city.

Despite my discontent about moving away from my school and friends, I was equally pleased I would no longer have to share a room with Devin.

I still recall the day we pulled up in front of our new home on that street. The road resembled those suburban ones you see in American movies. As the car rolled to a stop, I noticed a little girl who couldn't be much older than Devin dressed in what looked like a Tinkerbell costume, riding her pink and blue Tinkerbell bicycle, her pigtails swishing as she rode along the street.

As we piled out of the car, she got distracted watching the moving truck pull up, and she crashed into a tree and fell off her bike, hitting the floor with a clunk, followed by an adorable little whimper. Wincing, I instinctively went to help her but stopped when I saw my little brother halfway across the street.

Little did I know back then that that adorable little girl would grow up to be the woman who stole and obliterated my heart and unintentionally caused a rift between me and my brother.

That girl isMira Evans.

The girl I believed was the one I allowed to slip right through my fingers and fall in love with my brother.

The girl who ruined me and ultimately led me to meether.

Wait, I think I’m pacing ahead. Let me take you back to the beginning…

Levi, aged 19.

Four weeks before the Singapore move…

“Levi?”

I groan audibly into my pillow when I hear my mother calling my name for the seventh time in what seems like nanoseconds. Each call becomes louder, her voice pitching higher and adding to the already thumping ache in my temples.

“LEVI!”

“Ugh.” Wincing, I pinch the bridge of my nose and kick the covers off myself. Eyes still closed, I force my aching body into a sitting position and hang my head, waiting for the room to stop spinning.

Fuck, what the hell possessed me to drink so much? Actually, not so muchwhatbutwho.Nate. That'swho. That crafty fucker kept shoving those snake bite shots down my throat like it was water.

Ugh, my head feels like it weighs two tons sitting on my shoulders… and the thumping, oh, the thumping. I need some painkillers and a greasy breakfast in my stomach.

Pushing my messy hair back out of my face, I’m inwardly grumbling every swear word I can think up as I stand.

Am I naked?

Peeling one eye open, I glance down at myself and frown. I don't even remember coming home, so it’s no surprise I can't recall stripping down to my birthday suit.

“Wakey, wakey, eggs and bake—” My eyes that were practically glued shut seconds ago snap up when my bedroom door suddenly opens, and I hear the melodious voice of none other than Mira Evans.

Neither of us moves, and time comes to a screeching halt.

My body goes impossibly rigid, and so does she. Only to me, it feels like someone just dumped a bucket full of ice-cold water straight over my head when my eyes lock with her startled golden ones.

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