I nod and climb in.As his hand rests on my lower back, I feel the heat of his skin penetrate my thin T-shirt.Only then do I realize that I’ve spent the whole day in my porch-cleaning clothes.Finn must think I’m a slob.
I close my eyes in embarrassment.
Just then I hear the roar of a motorcycle barreling toward us.I stare out the open passenger door while Finn steps up onto the sidewalk to get a better look.
The rider is leaning forward to clutch the handlebars.He stops in front of us and removes his helmet, and thick black curls fall around his eyes.He brushes them back off his face.
It’s one of Finn’s brothers.The one who was yelling loudest when I was driving Summer’s truck.
“What’re you doing here, Declan?”Summer scowls at him.
“What’reyoudoing here?”He eyes Melvin then Summer again.
Oh.Declan and Summer are together.She doesn’t strike me as the type who needs a man, but it’s obvious there’s something going on between them.Declan looks like he wants to bite Melvin’s head clean off his neck.
Sharks.All the MacLaine men…
“Declan, you giant doof!”Summer throws up her hands.“You were staring right at me when I said I was taking Emma to get her license.And whad’ya know?Here I am!At the place where people come to get a license!”
The sarcasm doesn’t seem to bother Declan.“You were gone a long time, and Special K needs you to ride with him up to the rim.A couple steers broke a fence.Hurry up.”
Summer isn’t moving.She crosses her arms over her chest.“I got Phyllis’s Toyota.I’ll meet you there.”
He drops his head to the side and half closes his eyes, like she exhausts him.“Do I have to come over there and get you?”
“Hell no.You do not and you will not.”
Melvin steps closer to Summer’s side.
Uh-oh.
Declan kicks the bike stand, throws his leg over the seat, and sets down his helmet.Then he strolls over to Summer and shoves his big body into the narrow space between her and Melvin.
“Step aside, champ,” Declan says, grabbing Summer by the forearm and pulling her toward the bike.
Summer tosses the Toyota keys to Joe, who snags them in midair.
“Gotchu covered!”Joe says.
I watch more of the strange dynamic unfold between Declan and Summer.He spins her around and shoves his helmet on her head, then snaps the straps under her chin.He grabs her by the waist, lifts her up on the seat, and then slides in front of her.
I can tell by the stiff line of Summer’s shoulders that she’s pissed off.I’m surprised she hasn’t punched Declan in the throat.
He starts the engine, kicks up the stand, and slowly turns the bike.But before he loosens the throttle, he grabs both Summer’s legs and yanks them forward so that her bent knees hug his body.She slips her arms around his torso and tucks her head against his back, and Declan shoots off at a shocking speed.
I’m not even sure what just happened.It was either the middle of a love story or the start of a revenge slasher film.
Finn smiles at me.“Yeah.They’ve been like that since they were teenagers.”
“Interesting.”
“Declan likes fast things.He’s a pilot.When he was a kid, he ran instead of walked, rode a horse instead of ran.Then he discovered motors when he was eleven and he’s had a need for speed ever since.”
“I don’t like fast things,” I say, even though he didn’t ask me.“My dream has always been to stay in one place forever.”
His eyes narrow, and he lowers his chin, like he’s examining me.I break the eye contact because it makes me self-conscious.It makes me want too much from him and give too much of myself to him in return.
I’m hopeless.
