Page 1 of My Summer Fling

“Millie-Moo! Is that you?”

I inwardly groan. Just kidding. By the way the bartender is looking at me, I’ve outwardly groaned.

That. That voice is the sole reason I don’t want to be here. I’ve been dreading this day since my brother got engaged a month ago. The day I’d have to interact with his best friend…Noah Harding.

Years of repressed embarrassment have turned to anger that settles low in my stomach.

I turn, smiling as he approaches me. I wonder if he can feel all the rage I’m putting behind my unnecessarily wide smile. It almost hurts to look at him. He’s so much older now, and time has been very, very kind to him.

His brown hair is shaggy, longer than the last time I saw him. The scruff around his sharp jaw is just past a five o’clock shadow. And I can’t help but notice there’s still no ring on that left finger.

Once a player, always a player.

“It’s me!” I say through gritted teeth.

“Look at you!” he cries out, wrapping his big arms around my torso and lifting me into the air. I do not take note of how strong his arms feel. And I definitely donottake a deep breath to soak in his clean scent. “You’re all grown up!”

My arms are squished against my sides, and the hair that took me way too long to style is now disheveled and all up in my face. I grunt as he gives me one last squeeze and then sets me back down. I straighten my dress and clear my throat, picking up the glass the bartender has just sat down on the bar.

“So are you!” I tell him after my nerves have had a second to settle. “Are those wrinkles I see?” I reach out and touch the line between his eyebrows. He just laughs and throws his arm around my shoulders.

“I missed you, kid.” He kisses the top of my head like I’m still that little girl running around the house, trying to keep up with him and my brother.

“Millicent!” I hear my brother call out. I roll my eyes but I can’t help the smile that spreads on my face from hearing him call me by my full name. I roll out from under Noah’s arm, put my drink back on the bar, and turn to face my brother.

“Theodore!” I yell, throwing my arms out at my sides as he jogs up to me. It’s always been a little thing between us. It started when we were little, trying to see who could embarrass who the most by throwing out our full first names in public. But then it turned into something we shared, a burden of being named after our grandparents who had terrible old-timey names.

I wrap my arms around his neck as he lifts me up. God, I missed this. I rarely get to see him since we live on opposite sides of the country. And with us being the only family we have left…

I just miss this.

“You need a haircut,” I tell him, ruffling the top of his head once he puts me down.

He rolls his eyes in response.

“And Noah Harding,” he says, looking past me and going in to hug Noah. Ugh, I almost forgot he was even standing there. “The two people I wanted to see the most!”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen my brother so happy. His face is flushed with excitement, and I’m sure some of the color is from alcohol, too. Being redheads, we don’t really have the luxury of not blushing easily.

“How long’s it been since you two saw each other?” Teddy asks us.

“I can’t—”

“Eight years,” I deadpan, interrupting Noah and his bullshit. He knows exactly how long it’s been since he’s seen me.

They both give me a curious look, but I just take a long drink of my cocktail and then smile at my brother. We look so similar, everyone thought we were twins when we were little kids. Red hair, blue eyes, tons of freckles…the spitting images of both our mom and dad.

“Anyway, big brother,” I say, changing the subject. “What was this big thing you wanted to ask me?”

“Actually, there are two big things, and I also had a pretty big question for Noah.”

My stomach drops.

Fuck.

“Let’s grab a seat,” Teddy says, looking around for an empty area. We’re on a rooftop bar in the middle of the city, but he’s rented the entire area out for us, so it’s not as packed as it would have been otherwise.

I look around for my dog, knowing she’s probably off whoring herself for pets somewhere. I spot her lying on a couch, on her back, her tongue lolled out of her mouth as one of Noah’s friend’s rubs her belly.

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