A Summer Like No Other Bonus

“Your brother called me. He was panicked because you weren’t home when they got back from your Nonna’s restaurant. They all were. They looked for you everywhere. At school, at the usual spots.”

She runs her fingers through the grass. “I wanted to sleep at school, in the rehearsal room actually, but then I felt the urge to come here, to see the water, to imagine I was on a beach with the warm sand almost burning my feet, with the salt water splattering on my face. Do you remember last year, how much fun we had in the summer?”

Do I remember? I want to go back to that time of my life, and stand up to my father, tell Roberto I’ve been falling hard for his sister, and beg her to give me a chance. Maybe we wouldn’t be into this mess if I had manned up earlier.

I sit behind her, wrapping my arms around her. I feel her stiffen. “I’m here. I’m here for you,” I whisper and she relaxes against me. It’s subtle but it’s there.

“It all seemed easier before. I’m sixteen and I feel like it’s never going to be the same again.” She sobs and the sound breaks my heart. “You should have seen the look on her face when I knocked at her door. You should have seen how she closed the door of her car. She didn’t close it, she slammed it.”

“Maybe she didn’t want to be found.”

“I’m not sure. It wasn’t like she said she didn’t want to be found, or it’s not like she was scared. She looked disgusted. By me.” She shudders and I tighten my embrace.

I wish I could make her forget her pain, ease it, take part of it with me if I need to.

Her body shivers. “She has a family. She has everything she needs. Why didn’t she keep me?” Her voice shakes, as if she’s trying to stop herself from crying again. If she needs to cry she shouldn’t be afraid to let the tears out. “Why wasn’t I enough?”

“Em…” I want to tell her how she’s more than enough, more than amazing, more than me, but my words catch in my throat. She turns her head to me—and my thoughts jump out of my mind. All I see is her. All I feel is her. All I want is her.

Our faces are close to one another.

“One last time,” she whispers and I want to yell that I want more than that. But what can I offer her right now?

“One last time,” I reply and when our lips meet, I never want to let go.

One last time.

A little bit of flirting in the Hamptons

The sun is warm on my skin, but the sun isn’t the reason I feel so flushed. Nick’s in the water, laughing with Rob, laughing with a bunch of girls who look at him like he’s the best ever. And maybe he is. I know he is.

I turn on my stomach and grab the latest Seventeen magazine. Mom made sure I didn’t only bring Dance Magazine and Pointes magazine to the beach. She said I should branch out a little while in the Hamptons, forget about all the hard work we put up during the year.

And she’s right, it’s nice to relax.

I flip the pages to an article about a girl who survived a car crash and how she’s dedicating her life to helping others. I don’t know how I would react. I don’t know how anyone would react.

Droplets of water fall on my naked back. “What the heck?” I shriek and turn around. Nick’s standing in front of me, shaking his head and laughing so loud I’m sure everyone’s staring at us. But I don’t see anyone else but him. His green eyes, his grin I love so much, his abs that can rival any Abercrombie model out there. I blink. Once, twice.

He bends down and grabs my ankle.

“What are you doing?” I slap his hand away.

“You promised you’d come into the water.”

“I am in the water.” I point to the foot he’s not holding which is immersed into the

Ocean.

“Come on, Em. You know you want to…”

Roberto edges closer to us. “I’m heading home for a bit—I have to study a bit.” “Mom said we shouldn’t worry for at least two days while we’re here.”

Roberto winks. “I’m not worrying, I’m living. I love the experiment I’m working on and I’ve got to make sure it goes well.”

“Overachiever,” I mutter. I should be dancing too, using the small room turned into studio in our gigantic mansion, but Nick’s here. With me. I’m not going anywhere.

I stand up. My hands fly to my stomach. I’m a dancer, I know that my body is in good shape but it’s not the same having dozens of people watching you dance than having your

crush—your brother’s best friend—looking at you in a bathing suit. My bathing suit isn’t as tiny as some of the girls still jumping in and out of the water. One of them calls Nick but he doesn’t answer.

“You’re being rude to your audience,” I tell him.

“Nope. I’ve told them I was going to spend time with you.” His lips turn up and he leans in. “And you really have to get into the water.” He wraps his arms around my waist and lifts me off the ground.

“I swear if you don’t put me down, I will tell everyone how you screamed while watching Halloween for the first time.”

“You screamed.”

I raise one eyebrow—the same way he does. “Your word against mine.” But my voice is too breathy. I’m too close to him, I’m too attuned to every part of our bodies that are touching. If I bent down only slightly, our lips would touch. He licks his lips and I can’t look away from his mouth.

He leans in. He’s going to kiss me. He has to kiss me.

But instead he drops me into the water.

You can listen to the audiobook for free on the eretailer of your choice as well as YouTube. And if you’d like to know what happens next to Nick and Em, make sure to start reading Always Second Best now…