Page 19 of Small Town, Big Storm

Right back to thatnight?—

The sun has finally gone down and it’s a relief.

It’s been blazing hot the last week—with daily temperatures above a hundred for a full seven days in a row.And the weatherman predicts it’ll last at least a few more.

I’m avoiding going home.

We don’t have air conditioning and my dad is a grumpy bastard on the best of days, but on these ones?Where the relentless heat means that we can’t even open the windows at night to get a reprieve, he’s going to be even more of an asshole than normal.

So, I’m lingering on the beach long after my closing shift at the snack bar—known as The Shack—has ended.

And it’s as I’m shoving my feet into the sand, bypassing the still-warm surface to feel the cool grains beneath drift between my toes, that she walks up.

Poppy.

“Hey,” she murmurs as she plunks down next to me.

My eyes linger on the parts that jiggle—her ass, her tits, her thighs—and my dick goes hard.

Fuck.

I angle my hips away from her, hoping she doesn’t notice.

But she seems too preoccupied to realize I’m sporting wood.

And, gradually, as we sit here in the warm summer air, my dick starts to behave.

“Are you going to come to the barbecue?”she asks softly.

I frown, look over at her.“What barbecue?”

“Clover and Clem and some of the guys are cooking.”A smile.“We’re celebrating the end of summer.”

“Tell that to the weather,” I mutter.

She giggles.“I know.It’s been ridiculously hot.So?”she prompts a few moments—or maybe a fewminutes—later.

I’m focused on the mere inch that separates our bodies, on the vanilla scent of her sunscreen, the silky tease of her hair as the light breeze tickles it over my arm.

So, I have no fucking idea what she’s talking about.

“Wh-what?”I stammer.

“The barbecue,” she says, amusement in her voice.“Are you going to come?”

I did go.

I hung with her and the others.

Ate some charred hot dogs we “grilled” over the fire pit, consumed my body weight in s’mores, drank enough beers that climbing the cliffs and jumping off Grizzly Rock under the light of the full moon into the water below seemed like a great idea.

The cold seized our lungs, took that buzz right off.

And it left Poppy shivering.

And me holding her close under a blanket I stole from the beach supplies we all keep at The Shack.

It was the most efficient way to keep her warm.