Just for the Summer (Chasing Carolina #0.5) Read online

  “I just want to lay low tonight. I don’t feel like sitting in the club with music so loud I can’t carry a fuckin’ conversation. I’m going to hang out up here. You, Emily, and Sierra can go clubbing, but my boys have a pool table with our names on it.”

  Jesus. How fucking hard is it for a chick to understand the word no? I know I probably sound like dick right now, but I am in no mood to go dancing with her. If I planned on fucking afterwards, then yeah, I would throw my name around to get in, but I plan on going home alone tonight. Dancing with Sophie will just give her the wrong idea.

  “Well, I need a beer. Anyone else coming to the bar?” Vance asks, standing with his arms folded across his chest with a look of annoyance on his face.

  Sophie and her two friends move together, standing in a united front and glaring at us. Just fan-fuckin’-tastic. Let’s cause a scene so I can end up on the front of some cheap tabloid. My dad will kill me. He already threatened to cut my race funding if I got into any more trouble. Four years of partying in college did not sit well with him. I am lucky I even passed.

  I’ve been branded the bad boy of racing, and my career is only just beginning. I tried to tell my dad good or bad publicity is still publicity, but he didn’t agree. He said Pop and he have worked hard to build the respectable racing company they have, and me getting arrested for drinking and driving, speeding, or public intoxication, and then having it plastered all over the television, magazines, and web isn’t how I build my career and fan base.

  It’s been six months since I was last in trouble, and that seemed to get Dad off my case. I just hope I can keep the streak up. Girls like Sophie are making it hard, when they seem to want to start drama over every little thing I do.

  “You guys are really going to ditch us on the Fourth of July?” Emily asks, seething with anger.

  We need to defuse this situation quickly. “No…not at all. Listen, we’re just exhausted from last night with y’all then going to the boardwalk tonight. We just want to lay low. Y’all go dance and have fun. Just send us a text tomorrow or something and we can get together,” I say, snaking my arm around Sophie’s waist and pulling her against me. I need to use the Kenzington charm right now.

  Her eyes soften as she stares up at me. “Okay. You go have fun playin’ pool then.” She leans up on her toes and presses her lips to mine for a quick kiss. I tighten my lips, just giving her a quick peck.

  Pulling away, I release her and give my boys a sly grin. Crisis averted. I told them about running into Ashlynn this morning, and they agreed they’d make sure we’d be going home alone tonight so I can try and smooth things over with her tomorrow.

  Finally, the girls leave, so we head over to the bar and each grab a beer before heading upstairs to the pool area. We spend the next hour playing pool with a couple of guys we’ve partied with a few times while here vacationing.

  The entire time, I have Ashlynn on my mind. I don’t know where she is tonight, but all I can think about is her and the guy from the beach this morning. I take out my frustrations on the pool balls. Every time it’s my turn to break, I imagine I’m smashing the tip of my pool stick into his face.

  First thing tomorrow, I’m heading next door, and I don’t care what I have to do; I’m finding a way to fix this. It should be me out with her, not that dipwad.

  I’VE TRIED ALL DAY TO enjoy myself, but I can’t get out of this funk I’m in. We just left the fireworks show down at the boardwalk, and the entire time, I kept thinking about how I’d rather be lying with Chase watching them, rather than Liam. Liam is sweet and extremely good looking, so one would think he’d be able to easily distract my thoughts, but no such luck.

  Now we’re all hanging out at Broadway Louie’s. We went to the night club here two nights ago, but tonight we just felt like hanging out and playing games. It’s like a bar with an arcade, so you can eat, drink, and play games to pass the time. Liam has been affectionate and sweet, but I just don’t feel that spark between us.

  I met him this morning on the beach. He is staying a few beach houses down from ours, but he’s only here for the holiday. Then, he’s flying back to East Yorkshire, England. He was jogging by when Nikki and I were stretching down by the water before our run. Nikki’s jaw practically hit the sand when a shirtless Liam sheathed in sweat stopped beside us and asked us if we’d like to join him for a run.

  From the look on Chase’s face when he saw us together, I know he thought I’d hooked up with him. Since Becca lied last night about us going out to a club to make Parker and Chase jealous, I can see how he’d assume the worst. I know it’s wrong of me to allow him to think that, but he deserves to be jealous. After seeing him with that girl last night, I wanted him to hurt as much as I was.

  It sucks that the last twenty-four hours have gone completely different than I imagined. I assumed after our day together yesterday we’d be celebrating the Fourth of July together. I only have a few weeks before I head back to Georgia. Maybe I read him wrong. I thought from the way he was flirting with me yesterday that he liked me, but maybe he’s just that way with every girl.

  “Here are your drinks, ladies,” Liam says with his soft and sexy British accent, setting down a tray full of red, white, and blue shooters. They are delicious and perfectly patriotic for the holiday.

  I have always had a thing for British and Australian accents. I live down south, so pretty much everyone talks with a drawl and it sounds normal to me. I know northern girls go all crazy for a southern drawl, and that’s how I am with a foreign accent.

  I have to admit though that I love Chase’s voice. It’s a deep gruff with a slight drawl, not too thick. Here I go again; I can’t escape my thoughts of Chase! Everything leads to him.

  Liam is gorgeous, funny, and super sweet, and yet I’m thinking about Chase. I’m an awful person. That’s the only reason I can come up with as to why I am feeling this way.

  We all grab a shot and hold them up, yelling, “Happy Fourth of July!” before tossing our shots back.

  I am feeling the effects from the shots we’ve done; this is my fifth one. My head is fuzzy, my body feels light, and I have a goofy grin on my face. I’m smiling for no other reason than just to smile I guess. I twist the cap off of my water bottle I’ve been drinking in-between shots.

  “I gotta pee,” I blurt out a little too loudly as I stand and sway slightly. “You coming with?” I ask, smiling down at Becca, who’s people watching. She loves people watching in bars, because people get drunk and make total asses of themselves.

  “Sure, I’ll touch up my makeup while you tinkle,” she says giggling.

  “Just come find us when you’re done,” Tamara says, standing and heading back towards the arcade games. Nikki and Liam are already playing the one beside our table.

  “Will do,” I yell to her over the loud voices and music. Becca and I head towards the restrooms. The place is packed and there’s a line, of course.

  While in line, I suddenly smell Chase’s body spray. I could smell him on me last night after we got off of the boat from spending the entire afternoon sitting on his lap, and asked him what he wore. I thought it was cool a wealthy guy like him chose to wear just a body spray, instead of an expensive cologne. Either way, no matter the price, he smelled amazing, and I was sad when I went into the ocean today and my bikini no longer smelled of him.

  I hear the timbre of his laughter behind me and spin around to find him walking towards us. My heart is beating frantically against my chest, and I suddenly feel like a thousand butterflies are fluttering around inside my belly. I try to turn back towards the line of people I’m behind, but I can’t get my eyes to leave him. It’s as if I’ve lost control of my own body.

  A look of shock flashes across Chase’s face and maybe disbelief as he slides his eyes from my toes back to my face. I feel my body flush as it reacts to his burning hot gaze sliding over me.

  I’m wearing a red sundress and white wedged heels. My dress stops a few inches above my knees an
d the neckline is low, showing off my breasts, which I know Chase really likes, since his eyes always seem glued to them every time I’m around him.

  “Ashlynn,” he says, stopping a few feet away from me, “wow, you look gorgeous.”

  I feel every ounce of anger I’ve had harbored inside me towards him last night and today slowly dissipating. I bite the inside of my cheek as he takes another step towards me. I breathe him in deeply before speaking. “Thanks. I love the shirt…very patriotic.”

  God, I sound like an idiot.

  He lets out a deep chuckle. “I figured I should show off my patriotic side tonight, since it’s the Fourth of July and all.” He frowns slightly and reaches up to rub the back of his neck, looking like he too can’t believe the dumb stuff coming out of his mouth.

  Parker steps up beside Becca, mirroring her stance against the wall. He bumps arms with her while a small smirk plays on his lips. “You are lookin’ mighty fine tonight too, Becca.”

  She rolls her eyes at him. “Why thanks, Parker. You don’t look so bad yourself. What are y’all doing here tonight?”

  Chase and Parker look from me to Becca before settling back on me. I turn and look to Becca for guidance, who glaring at Chase and Parker. I may be forgetting about all the pent up anger, but from the looks of Becca, she certainly isn’t.

  “We’ve been playing a few rounds of pool and drinkin’ beer. That’s about it. We watched the fireworks earlier down at the boardwalk. We looked for y’all, but couldn’t find ya anywhere. We don’t have your numbers, so we couldn’t text anyone,” Chase says, never taking his eyes off of mine.

  He was thinking about me tonight at the fireworks too. How did things get so messed up so quickly?

  I twirl a strand of my hair around my finger. Chase’s eyes are so intense they make me nervous. I can feel them practically burning straight through me, seeing every thought that pops into my head.

  Becca answers for me, seeing I’m tongue-tied at the moment. “We’re just here hanging out, playing games, and celebrating like everyone else.”

  Chase rubs at the back of his neck again, which I noticed yesterday is a nervous habit of his, and for some reason, I find it to be extremely sexy. Every time he does it, his large, muscular biceps flex and go on display for me, showing off the tattoo along the inside of his right arm. It’s of two checkered flags, with his last name underneath them.

  It’s kind of cheesy, but I love it.

  “So…are y’all here alone?” He’s adorable when he’s nervous.

  I wonder where his date is from last night. Just thinking about her gets my blood simmering once again.

  “No, Tamara, Nikki, and Liam are around here somewhere.”

  As soon as I say Liam’s name, Chase’s smile disappears. It makes my chest ache seeing the look of disappointment in his eyes. “What about you? Where’s the girl from last night?” I ask, not hiding the annoyance in my voice.

  “I’m just here with Vance and Parker.”

  Parker tenses as his eyes dart towards the crowded bar. I follow his line of site and see it’s Liam who’s caught his attention.

  Seriously? Talk about worst timing ever.

  “Well, nature’s calling. I hope you have a fun evening, Ashlynn. I’ll see ya around.”

  “Yeah, it was nice seeing you, Chase.” My words are barely audible over the music; plus, by the time I say anything, he’s already disappearing into the bathroom.

  Of course the men’s room doesn’t have a mile-long line, letting him run away from me easily, while I’m stuck out here in the damn hallway.

  Seeing him turn away from me and head into the bathroom is like a sucker punch to my gut. The sparks between us are unlike anything I’ve ever felt before, and it feels like no matter how strong that pull is, something keeps getting in the way of one of us making a move.

  “Tamara is outside throwing up in the bushes. I just called a cab to come get her. She said if you wanted to stay, she’s fine with that, but if not, to meet her outside. She was on the phone with her boyfriend when I came to find you. Nikki’s outside with her,” Liam says when he approaches.

  Well, after all of this, my buzz is quickly wearing off.

  “Okay, we’ll go with her. If you can, let her know to wait for us. We’re next, and I really need to pee. I won’t last the entire car ride.”

  “I’ll go let her know,” he says and walks off in the direction he came from.

  As we’re walking into the bathroom, Becca grabs my arm, stopping me from entering the stall. “Wait a sec, Ash,” she says, halting my steps.

  Turning, I give her a questionable glance. “What’s up?”

  “How are you feeling after talking to you know who? I know my head is all over the place. Why the hell is Parker so damn hot? That man is a walking orgasm. I practically came as soon as he bumped me with his arm!”

  We burst into a fit of giggles, causing the girls at the sink washing their hands to give us weird looks.

  “I honestly don’t know. I really like him, but he is a player. I keep telling myself to just have fun. If anything happens, it happens. It’s been a really long four months, and Chase seems like the perfect guy to end my dry spell. If only I could stop getting jealous every time I see him around another girl. My mind doesn’t know how to do casual, Becca. I am afraid I’m going to leave South Carolina broken-hearted.”

  Becca pulls me in for a hug. “Follow your heart, not your head for once. I say go for it. Have fun. We’re only young once. So go have as many hot, random hook ups as your little heart desires. We’re on vacation. We gotta live it up, girlfriend!”

  “Some of us have to pee out here!” a woman—who sounds like a man, due to her chain-smoking—shouts at us, breaking us out of our moment.

  “Oh my gosh, sorry!” I shout, waving apologetically at her before hurrying into the stall.

  Tamara threw up two more times before our cab pulled up. Thankfully, that was the last time she got sick, because if she would’ve gotten sick in the car, I think it’d be safe to say I would’ve been upchucking too.

  As soon as the cab dropped us off at our beach house, Tamara headed straight to the bathroom to brush her teeth and then headed to bed. Nikki, Becca, and I got out of our clothes and into cotton shorts and tank tops. It’s a warm night tonight, so we each poured ourselves a glass of sweet tea and went out onto the deck.

  It’s so relaxing here. The only sounds are crickets and the ocean waves crashing against the shore. There’s a gentle breeze that feels amazing right now, because it’s so humid tonight. I can see lights on in a beach house about a quarter mile down the beach, but other than that, it’s deserted around here. More than likely, everyone is down at the boardwalk partying it up, celebrating Independence Day.

  We spend the next hour talking about anything and everything. I love just hanging out with my friends. We talk about Chase and Liam, both of my girls picking on me about how they wish they were stuck between two hot guys vying for my attention.

  Liam tried to come home with me tonight, but I let him know with Tamara being sick it was probably best he didn’t. I could see the disappointment in his eyes, but I knew if I invited him back here, he’d get the wrong idea, and I just don’t want to deal with the drama of trying to keep things platonic between us.

  He leaves in two days, so I told him to text me tomorrow so we can get together to explore the boardwalk some more. He could tell things with me were off by my behavior, but it was hard to hide the fact that my run-in with Chase had dampened my mood.

  We hear a car pull up out front and the sound of Chase, Vance, and Parker’s voices traveling through the night air echoing around us. They’re laughing and cursing as they make their way towards their beach house.

  Nikki smacks my thigh and raises her eyebrows up at me. “Well, now’s your chance to try and fix things. There’s no one around to interrupt you two.”

  I feel my stomach drop as I stand. My palms are sweating, so I wipe them on the fro
nt of my shorts. “What if he’s brought a girl home with him? I’ll look stupid showing up on his doorstep, and not to mention desperate.”

  “Do you hear a female voice? No! Now drag your ass across the lawn and go knock on his fuckin’ door,” Becca snaps at me, whipping her hand out towards their house.

  Resting my hands on my hips, I glare down at her. “What about you, miss bossy pants? Why don’t you drag your ass over there right beside me and talk to Parker?”

  Huffing out a loud sigh, Becca jumps to her feet. “Unlike you, I’m not chicken shit. I’ll march my ass over there, bang on the door, and take exactly what I want.”

  Laughing, I roll my eyes at Becca and her overdramatic behavior. “Fine, let’s do this. You’re lucky I’m still kind of drunk.”

  I’M JUST HEADING UPSTAIRS to shower, when I hear a knock at the door. Parker and Vance are in the kitchen making a frozen pizza, so I keep climbing the stairs, figuring they’ll get the door. I pray it isn’t Sophie and her friends showing back up here. If so, I’ll pretend I’ve had too much to drink so I can avoid her.

  “Chase!” Vance hollering my name causes me to stop mid-step.

  Shit.

  “What?” I shout back down the stairs to him.

  “You have a visitor, douchebag; that’s what.”

  Sliding my hands over my face, I go back down the stairs, preparing myself to fend off Sophie, but I’m shocked when I find Ashlynn and Becca standing in my kitchen.

  She looks just as beautiful as she did earlier tonight, except now she’s even more stunning standing before me without a drop of makeup, her blonde hair up in a messy bun, and wearing adorable, cotton, heart-covered shorts and a red lace tank top.

  “Ashlynn, what are you doing here?” Walking towards her, I rest against the kitchen island and take her in, my eyes roaming over every inch of her. A ghost of a smile forms on my lips as a tiny grin appears on her face.

  She loves it when I stare at her; I can see it in her eyes as she stares back at me. She’s like an open book, revealing everything she’s feeling in those beautiful blue eyes.