Page 33 of Be My Summer

The way you think of me…

The way you move me…

I like that shit, Summer.

For twelve minutes and thirty-two seconds, I basked in the awakening of Saul’s words. His confessions were gold. The second I folded the piece of paper, I was ready to reopen it and read it once more. However, I decided to let it simmer in my spirit before taking it on again.

Thursday, I found myself on a blanket big enough for two with my new project in front of me. On printed paper were the words of a fictional piece written by a young Black girl who had just entered her junior year of college. Hadn’t I searched her name and browsed her website for her small biography, I would have thought the words came from a seasoned woman in her forties who was on the brink of a new breakthrough.

Janese was her name and she was a powerful storyteller. The Diaries of Analeigh Wright was a story about a young college student on the verge of discovering herself when tragedy strikes and the opportunity to love threatens to pass her by. Life makes the choice to let it go but when it comes back around, it’s so much more beautiful, refined, and regal.

The suitor isn’t the man she thought she was head over heels for. It was a more mature version of him. A wealthier. A wiser. A more calculated version of her silly crush. It was his brother who graduated and returned to their hometown where she felt stuck since the day her mother was hit by a drunk driver and paralyzed from her neck down. While everyone else, including Marcus, her high school crush had gone to their dream schools while she was left behind to care for the woman who care so deeply for her.

I flipped another page of the enthralling love story, completely forgetting where I was or why I was here. The page-turner had me losing track of my progress and getting lost in the connection the two shared. I’d wholeheartedly become a reader of Janese’s. Her flawless document allowed me to remove my editor’s badge and tuck it underneath the sunvisor that shielded my eyes and face.

“Miss Summer.”

My body froze. The hairs stood on my neck. And, my nostrils widened.

I could smell his natural scent, telling me things I’d never been told before. Pursuing me like I’d never been pursued before. Promising to pleasure me like I’d never been pleasured before.

“Saul–”

This time, my blanket was big enough for two and my snacks were plentiful.

“Shouldn’t you be home working?” He asked, coming into full view.

“I am working. You should be doing the same.”

“Pulling away from the computer for a brain break and quick run was the best decision I’ve made this afternoon.”

“How much time do you have?”

He shook his head and responded, “None, but I will make time, Summer. You leave me no choice.”

“Ten minutes,” I demanded.

Kissing the skin of his teeth, hoping he could make up the time he’d lose, Saul agreed.

“Ten minutes, baby.”

“How long have you been running?”

“Thirty already.”

“You were headed back home?”

He nodded.

“To change and get back to the office. I have a few more hours of work for the day before I crash.”

Silently, I watched him grab the bottle of cold water. As he loosened the top, he pondered aloud.

“Come over tonight–”

“Tomorrow,” I insisted.

“Tomorrow?”