Summer Forever by Amy Sparling Read Free Book Online Page A

“Tell me the truth, boy.”
    He laughs. “Well…I was going to tell you about this in a more … exciting … atmosphere.”
    Okay, now I’m curious. “What does that mean?”
    “Trust me, it’s cool and you’ll like it. But can it wait until dinner? Jace wants us to double date and tell our old ladies the good news at the same time.”
    “So Bayleigh and I are old ladies now, hmm?”
    “Hey, those were Jace’s words, not mine.”
    “Okay fine, I’ll wait. So what else is up?”
    “I don’t know, you tell me. You sound like you have a secret yourself.”
    I bite my lip and clutch the phone tighter. He knows me so well. But I don’t know why I’m so worried about telling him my idea—it’s a good idea. I take a deep breath so that I can let it all out at once. “I’m selling a lot of artwork and I just found out that people are talking about me online and they like my work and I kind of hate college and I’m thinking I should just drop out and focus on my business.”
    “Wow. How did you say all of that in one breath?”
    I sigh into the phone. “Seriously? Is that all you have to say?”
    “No, Becca, I’m sorry. I was just playing around.”
    I hadn’t even realized my heart was pounding until I take a deep breath and feel like I’m running a marathon. Even though this is my life, Park’s thoughts on it really matter to me. Maybe I’m just delusional. I need some confirmation that this could be a good idea. “Well?” I ask impatiently.
    “You really want my opinion?”
    I nod and then realize he can’t see me. “Yes, I do.”
    “I think you should do more than just paintings. You should take your most popular designs and sell digital prints, stickers, coffee mugs, stuff like that. Put your designs on T-shirts and handbags and stuff. The world likes your art and you could set all of that up online without having to paint more canvases.”
    “That sounds like…like you’re encouraging me…”
    “Of course I’m encouraging you. I’m very much a ‘follow my heart’ kind of person. If that’s what you want to do, do it. I’ll support you.”
    “You’re the best,” I say with a smile.
    “Hey,” he says suddenly.
    “Yes?”
    “I miss you.”
    “I miss you, babe.”
    “I mean I miss you , miss you.” I can almost see his eyebrows wiggling in that suggestive way that makes my stomach flutter.
    “Maybe we can remedy that,” I whisper into the phone, hoping that I sound at least a little bit sexy.
    “I hope so.”

Chapter 9
     
    The remedy comes quickly. Ollie calls me just a few minutes after I get off the phone with Park and tells me that C&C BMX Park will be closed down tonight, courtesy of a transformer outage that left the facility without power. The power company will have it up and running by tomorrow morning, but for now, I’m free.
    It’s only four p.m. when I get the good news, and I decide to surprise Park with my company. He had said he was planning on cooking a frozen pizza for dinner, so I know he’ll be home. Nervous is about the most underrated word in the world to describe how I feel as I shower and get ready to drive over to his house. I use the fancy conditioner so my hair will look great, and I shave my legs…twice. I want tonight to be perfect because you never know if it’ll be the night.
    I’m so excited and anxious to see him that I don’t bother going through every outfit in my closet to deliberate on them—I just grab something quickly. Luckily, that something I chose was a form-fitting pair of ripped up jeans and a black tank top with rhinestone decorations along the neckline. If the cleavage on this shirt happens to make my boobs look awesome well…that’s just a random coincidence.
    Knowing that boy can eat an entire frozen pizza by himself, I stop at the grocery store and grab another pizza, a dozen brownies from the bakery and a two liter of Coke. The whole time I’m shopping and driving to his place, Park is texting me silly things