One Summer Isn't Enough (Summer, #4)

chapter 4

CONRAD

About three years after she had gone to study abroad in Spain, I was in my fourth year of college. Med school was coming closer, but that wasn't even what my mind was on for the majority of the time. Belly was.

I hated not knowing what was happening with her in Spain, especially when she seemed to be having regular conversations with Jere. The only way I got any information about her was through my regular calls with Laurel, but even then, it didn't feel the same. It didn't feel, I don't know, honest. Like I was finding all of this out through some creepy way of stalking.

So when Laurel mentioned that Belly's college graduation was in a few weeks during one of our weekly phone calls, I decided that that was it. Enough of this staying-away bullshit. I had to see her, to take her in with my eyes, to hear her voice again. I didn't care if she didn't want me anymore, if a boy from Spain had taken her away from me. I just wanted to be near her again. To feel how my heart sped up again, like how it used to whenever she was close to me.

On the day of her graduation, I was nervous as hell. Obviously, it had been so long since we had last seen each other. And the terms on which we had parted weren't exactly usual. She had just broken off an engagement to my brother, for Christ's sake.

But then I took one look at the photo I have tucked into my wallet: a picture of Belly and me waltzing during the debutante ball during the last summer when Mom was alive. Seeing the way she was gazing so fondly up at me as I took in the delicate features of her face, our feet moving in perfect symphony to the music, it calmed me down faster than any amount of whiskey ever could. I was ready to see her again. I could do this. I could be the man who would love her as she deserved.

I'll never forget the moment when I first caught her eye at her graduation. She was wearing this deep-blue robe over a simple white dress with light blue trim that hugged her figure so nicely. Her hair was shorter, shoulder length instead of touching her mid-waist like it always did.

All of this was different, but the look on her face when she saw me was the exact same: how her mouth slowly curled into a familiar grin as her eyes lit up. And that's when I knew. No matter what happened, how much distance was between us, how long we had been apart, nothing could come in the way of how I felt for her, and how she felt for me. And the amount of love and sheer emotion I felt for this girl at that moment–it was indescribable.

She approached me first. "You came."
I reached out to tuck a stray lock of her hair behind her ear. Her breath audibly hitched as I did so, and I'm ashamed to say that it made my heart rate speed up by about a hundred beats per minute.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. Plus," I added, "I wanted to meet this Benito guy that Laurel's told me so much about."

She rolled her eyes, smacking me on the arm. "I told her not to tell anyone! And it wasn't anything serious," she adds, glancing up at me. "Turns out he really just wanted to become friends with an American girl."

She couldn't see it, but those were the words that I needed to hear the most. That she hadn't moved on from me, from us. That if I put my hand out for the second time, she'd be willing to take it with hers and give me another chance.

I was about to respond when someone announced over the loudspeaker for all graduating students to come up to the stage. She took my hand and gave it a quick squeeze before saying, "I'll see you in a bit?" When I nodded, too dumbstruck by her sudden move to do much else, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed me on the cheek, whispering, "I really am glad you came, Conrad." With that, she turned and strode towards the growing crowd of students gathering around the stage, while I watched her gown billowing behind her, grinning like an idiot.

During the ceremony, I sat next to Laurel and Steven. When Belly's name was called, all three of us stood up and cheered louder than anybody else, because we were all so proud of how far the annoying little girl we used to Belly Flop every summer had come.

After the ceremony was over and Laur and Steven had said their goodbyes, Belly and I were standing by my car, which was parked in the guest parking lot.

The wind rustled her hair so that it looked like a little kid's again, the way it always used to after she had spent time at the beach.

I leaned against the side of my car and looked down at my feet, unsure of how exactly to propose what I was going to ask her.

After a few moments, I cleared my throat and asked, "So, do you have any plans now?"

She shook her head, her eyes peering at me hopefully as she waited for me to continue.

I brought my head up to look her in the eyes. "Well," I started, "I was thinking we could celebrate your crossing this milestone in a more...unorthodox way."

She raised her eyebrows as a little smile crept onto her face, saying, "And what does that entail?"

Come on, Conrad. It's now or never. "I was thinking we could drive to Cousins and spend the night there." I paused for a moment before quickly adding, "The house is clean, and the weather's really nice, too, so we could catch a few waves and whatnot, if you were up for it."

She looked down at her feet, smiling, and before I knew it, she ran up to me and trapped me in a tight hug. I seized my chance, and, like a weirdo, deeply inhaled the soft, sweet scent of her shampoo.

"I'll take that as a yes?" I asked hopefully, already knowing the answer.