Page 79 of Those Summer Nights (Sweet Cravings 2)

He was right. We had all summer. “I’ll have a tequila sunrise.”

I sat down in one of the stools and watched J.J. flag down the bartender. I was so awkward doing things like that. If he wasn’t with me, I probably would have stood there for 30 minutes being ignored and then walked away with nothing.

J.J. handed me the cocktail.

“Oh, it’s pretty.”

“You didn’t even know what it looked like?”

“How was I supposed to know? I’ve never had one before.” I took a sip. “Mmm. It’s good too. Do you want to try it?”

He leaned forward and took a sip through the tiny straw. He stuck his tongue out like he was in pain. “It’s so sweet.”

“Mhm.” I took a bigger sip and smiled at him.

He smiled back. “So new phone, huh? I saw that your screen was cracked. What happened to it?”

I wasn’t sure if he was asking how I broke it in the first place or if it finally died on me. But I wasn’t going to ever not tell J.J. something just because it was uncomfortable. I wanted to have a real relationship with him, not a summer fling. Besides, the conversation with my dad was still bothering me. It was nice to have someone who wanted to talk to me about this kind of thing. “The screen was cracked because I threw it at my ex’s head when I walked in on him cheating on me. I missed…it hit the wall instead.”

“Bad luck.”

I laughed. “Yeah. And it was still working but I needed a new number so while I was at the store it just made sense to upgrade. Well, downgrade actually. It’s an older model. Phones are freaking expensive.”

“I know. I lost my phone back when I was in high school right when smartphones were becoming a thing. I went to the store and they showed me these thousand-dollar phones and I couldn’t even believe it. A few years before that there had been free upgrades.” He laughed.

“Oh yeah, I remember those! Ugh, I wish that was still a thing.”

He leaned a little closer. “So that explains the broken phone, but not the new number. Who are you ghosting?”

I swallowed hard. There was something in his eyes that I was beginning to recognize after our conversation the other night. I would have originally thought it was jealousy. But I knew it wasn’t now. He was being protective. And the way he was looking at me made me feel all warm and fuzzy. He was wondering if someone was bothering me. He was trying to help. Unfortunately he couldn’t protect me from my own father. I had to learn how to take care of myself around him.

“No one,” I said as I took a sip of my drink to clear my head. “The added bonus of my ex not knowing my number is good. But I needed a new phone plan because my dad is cutting me off.” I didn’t look at him as I said it. Saying it out loud sounded stupid. It was like I was a spoiled brat with my dad cutting up my credit cards. But it wasn’t like that. I worked hard for everything I had. The scholarship I’d gotten to SMU paid for more than half of tuition and on-campus housing. I hated asking either of my parents for anything. And I would have taken a hug from my dad over a check in the mail any day. That wasn’t in the cards though. Regardless, it still sounded bad. Like I was an entitled asshole.

I kept talking so that J.J. couldn’t fill the silence. “It’s not a big deal. He has two young daughters with his new wife and apparently he needs to focus all his time on money on them.” You still sound bratty. “Which makes sense because I’m old enough to take care of myself. They still need him, you know? And he did offer to continue to pay for my last two semesters of school, so I can’t complain. I was actually more than happy to change my phone plan. I needed a new phone anyway.”

J.J. put his hand on my knee. “When we first met you said he threw money at you instead of love. I could tell it was a big deal when you said it then. And it’s a big deal now.”

I finally met his eyes and he wasn’t looking at me like I was spoiled rotten. He was looking at me like he was sorry that my father was the rotten one.

He shook his head. “And I have to wonder…if he showed love that way, how is he going to step it up now?”

“He’s not. He made that pretty clear on the phone.” I blinked fast, surprised at how emotional J.J. caring made me. “He does this thing whenever I call…he talks about his family like I’m not a part of it. I’ve fought it off for a long time, but I’m done trying. He doesn’t want me in his new life. So I’m going to give him what he wants.”

J.J. lowered his eyebrows like he could feel my pain. “I’m so sorry, Mila.”

“It’s fine. Really. Our conversation today was a long time coming.”

“Anyone who doesn’t want you in their life is crazy.”

I smiled. “I don’t know…you fought me off pretty hard.”

He shook his head. “I didn’t want to set myself up to get hurt again when I’ve been burned before. But I realized pretty quickly that you were worth that risk. You’re worth any risk, Jellyfish Girl.”

> “About that.” I was looking for the perfect opportunity to tell him I might be transferring. I leaned a little closer to him. The bar was getting more crowded as it got later, but it somehow made it more intimate. “The reason I called my dad today was to tell him to hold off on tuition to SMU. I applied to transfer to the University of New Castle. I’m still waiting to hear back, but…I’m hoping to stay in Delaware this fall.”

The smile on his face was so genuine. “Delaware’s a lot closer than California.”

“It is.”

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