Read Online One Perfect Summer by Paige Toon - Free Book Online Page B

don’t talk when we’re working, and I’m out of the pub the second I can get away.’
    It’s true, I’ve seen him practically every minute that he’s not working.
    ‘Is your dad here?’ he asks suddenly, looking back up at the dark cottage.
    ‘Yes,’ I reply. ‘He and Mum were already in bed by the time we got back. Lizzy’s asleep,’ I add, although I’m not sure if that’s true. I hope she can’t hear us. Our bedroom overlooks the front garden and is just metres away above our heads. ‘Shall we go for a walk?’
    ‘I don’t want to keep you up.’
    ‘Joe . . .’ I say tenderly.
    We walk down the lane, passing the last few cottages. Dyson runs ahead of us and we can hear his nose sniffing and his paws padding further along the dirt track. There’s a full moon tonight, and the air is unnervingly still. We go through a gate into a field and sit down on the grass up against a dry stone wall. It feels better to be out here alone. Well, alone except for Dyson. But his presence is comforting. Joe looks past me, deep in thought.
    ‘What are you thinking about?’
    He shakes his head abruptly. ‘Nothing.’
    ‘Tell me.’
    Finally he answers. ‘I don’t want to go back.’ Pause. ‘But I have to.’
    ‘Do you really have to?’
    ‘My money is hidden under my mattress, for one.’
    ‘Don’t you have a bank account?’ I ask with a frown.
    ‘My parents don’t exactly do things by the book,’ he says with a wry smile. ‘They pay me in cash.’ His face hardens. ‘I can’t believe he’s coming back tomorrow. It’s been four years since I’ve seen him.’
    ‘How old is he?’
    ‘Twenty-six.’
    ‘Maybe he’s changed?’
    ‘No. No. He hasn’t changed.’
    ‘But you have.’
    ‘What do you mean?’ he asks.
    ‘You were only fourteen when you last saw him. You’ve grown a lot since then.’
    ‘He’ll still be bigger – and stronger – than me.’
    ‘Bloody hell, Joe, I don’t mean I want you to fight him!’
    ‘I’d kill him if he ever touched you.’
    ‘Stop it! Why would he touch me, anyway?’
    ‘To get at me.’
    He pulls away roughly, as though the thought angers him too much to be near me.
    ‘What did he do to you?’ I ask carefully. ‘Did he used to beat you up?’
    Nothing, and then he nods.
    ‘Often?’ I ask.
    ‘Once I ended up in hospital.’ I have to strain to hear him. ‘My parents told the police that I’d fallen downstairs. They threatened to leave me on the streets if I ever told anyone the truth.’
    I gasp. ‘How old were you?’
    ‘Six.’
    ‘Six!’ My eyes widen with horror. ‘Six?’
    He nods.
    ‘Oh, my God, Joe, that is awful.’
    ‘That wasn’t the first time he hurt me and my parents did nothing about it. Or the last,’ he says bitterly. ‘They don’t care about me.’
    He’s said this once before, but I didn’t believe it then.
    ‘No wonder you want to get away . . .’
    He turns to look at me. ‘The only thing keeping me here now is you,’ he says simply.
    We kiss, gently at first, then more passionately as we fall back onto the grass. He hovers above me, supporting his own weight so he doesn’t crush me. His tongue explores my mouth and I wrap my legs around him, pulling him closer, wanting him to be closer. I slide my hands up inside his T-shirt and drag my fingernails down his back. He gasps into my mouth and I feel him down there, hard and pressing into me.
    I pull him in tighter. I want him so much . . .
    His lips trail to my neck and his hand slides up my shirt to my breast.
    ‘I want you,’ I whisper urgently.
    He moves away from my neck and kisses my lips again, gently.
    ‘I love you,’ I add, wondering if he heard me the first time.
    ‘I love you too.’
    ‘Did you hear me?’ I ask, unable to keep the worry from my voice.
    He laughs quietly.
    I release my grip on his legs.
    ‘I want you too, but Dyson is putting me off a bit.’
    I glance to his left at Dyson, who is panting and watching us both intently while his