The Sweetest Summer(136)
“Ha!” Mickey started dancing around the two of them, doubled over with laughter. “We told you the mermaid was gonna pop a cap in your ass for being so disrespectful! And look at you now, the Prince of Bayberry Island just cryin’ like a baby.”
“He’s an asshole. Let’s just keep walkin’.”
Maybe that was true, but Clancy knew even assholes could be right every once in a while.
By the time he arrived at the Safe Haven, he felt numb. The sadness sat like a big lump in his gut, but the crying had stopped, and now he had no idea what to do with himself. Evie was gone.
He headed across the lawn and down the family’s stairs to Haven Beach. It was a cloudy morning. The rest of his family was probably helping his dad set up for the closing ceremonies. He had promised he would be there, too, but right now he just couldn’t face anyone.
Clancy shoved his hands in the pockets of his shorts and walked, heading nowhere. He realized he’d never again be able to stroll along this beach without thinking of her—how soft her skin was, how sweet she tasted and smelled, how happy she made him feel.
As soon as Clancy turned back, he saw a figure running toward him. He knew who it was, even from this distance. Perfect form, great speed, effortlessly long strides eating up the beach—it was Duncan.
It took about two minutes for them to meet up.
“Mom sent me to look for you.”
“Well, you found me, Sherlock.”
“What’s your problem, dude?” Duncan leaned down and looked up into Clancy’s face like he was a lost kid at Island Day. He made a fake pouty face. “Did Felicity go home?”
“Shut up.”
Duncan chuckled, swinging his arm around Clancy’s shoulders. “Look, I’m telling you straight up—fourteen is too young to become stuck on one girl. It’s not healthy, okay? You’re not even a man yet, and men are supposed to spend, like, ten to twenty years checking out all the options before they make a choice.”
“Thanks, Dr. Ruth.”
“Clancy. Dude. I’m trying to be a helpful and understanding big brother, for real.”
“I’m honored to benefit from the vast experience of a sixteen-year-old.”
“Hey, it’s two more years than you got, suckah.”
They walked quietly for a few moments; then Duncan patted him on the back, and not very gently. “You need to get over her, man. Move on. It was a summer fling, and they never amount to anything.”
“This one will. She promised to write me.”
Duncan shook his head. “They all do.”
“Evie is different.”
“Whatever you say, champ.” Duncan bumped his knuckles against Clancy’s biceps. “You’re gonna make it. You can’t see it now, but one day you won’t even remember that girl’s name.”
Chapter Eighteen
At least she wasn’t half naked.
That was the mantra Evelyn repeated to herself as Clancy drove up a small gravel road to his mother’s house. Tonight was the annual Flynn family cookout, and Clancy assured her there was no reason the two McGuinness girls needed to hide behind costumes. No one ever attended their cookout except family. That certainly made things smoother with Christina, since she now refused to wear her pirate ensemble. After they had returned from viewing the children’s play the previous day, Chrissy insisted she was a mermaid.