28 Summers Read Online Free PDF Page B

trying to read the basic English literature canon (all white males, as her roommate, Bisma, had pointed out, a fact Mallory hadn’t even noticed, which was completely pathetic); she wasn’t in a position to think about a career, much less kids. “So what will you do?”
    “Probably work for a lobbyist in Washington—one of the good guys, though. I’m one of the good guys, Mallory.”
    “I can tell,” Mallory said, then she worried her tone was too earnest. Time to wrap it up, she thought. The microwave was beeping its reminder. “Well, have fun tonight. I’ll call Cooper back tomorrow.”
    “I’ll tell him,” Jake said. “And hey, good talking to you. You saved my night.”

    The third conversation was months later, at the tail end of the spring semester. Mallory had just hung up with her mother, who’d told her that Cooper had gotten an internship in DC and that he’d be renting a room in a house in Chevy Chase that summer. Mallory was calling to beg him to come home instead. Mallory couldn’t bear the thought of spending an entire summer alone with their parents and being the sole recipient of her mother’s irritating attention.
    Jake picked up on the first ring. “Blessing residence.”
    Mallory grinned. “Jake?” she said. It was now the end of freshman year and she had acquired some moxie. “It’s Mal.”
    “ Mal means ‘bad’ in French,” Jake said. “But you must be the good kind of bad.”
    Mallory couldn’t believe that talking to someone she’d never met could feel so seductive . “How are you?” she said. “Are you…getting ready to graduate?”
    “Yes, thank you for asking,” Jake said. “But I have zilch in the way of job offers, so I’m sitting on the end of your brother’s bed teaching myself Cat Stevens songs on the guitar so I can support myself as a subway performer.”
    “I love Cat Stevens,” Mallory said.
    “All the best people do,” Jake said.
    “I have every album. My favorite is Tea for the Tillerman .” Mallory tried to tamp down her enthusiasm. She hadn’t thought her crush on Jake McCloud could get any worse, but now that she knew he liked Cat Stevens, she was a complete goner. “Put the phone down next to you and let me listen while you play.”
    “Tell me if I’m any good,” Jake said. “And if the answer is no, please lie to spare my ego. Okay, something from Tea for the Tillerman, here we go.” He set the phone down and then she heard him strumming the first chords of “Hard Headed Woman.” He started to sing: “I’m looking for a hard headed woman, one who will take me for myself…”
    His voice was great . It had strength and it was on key and controlled. It was sexy. He sang to the bridge and then he picked up the phone.
    “What do you think?” he said. “Should I quit and apply at Long John Silver’s?”
    “Woo-hoo!” Mallory cried. “You sounded terrific! You’re going to be a very rich and successful subway performer.”
    “Aw,” Jake said. “Thank you, that’s sweet.” He cleared his throat. “Hey, did you call to talk to Coop?”
    “Coop?” she said.

    Mallory doesn’t know if Jake remembers the content of their repartee or even that they had a repartee—it was so long ago, over five years. As she leads the boys to the car, she thinks it might have been better if Jake had turned out to be not her type because then she could just be her normal self instead of being sick with infatuation.
    The boys love the car! Cooper whistles and calls shotgun; Fray and Jake climb in the back, and Mallory cranks up the radio.
    Fray says, “Should we swing by the package store? I have money.”
    “For once,” Coop says.
    “I have two cases of beer at the house,” Mallory says. “And a fresh fifth of Jim Beam. I know my audience.”
    “I love you, Mal,” Fray says.
    “Hey,” Jake says, smacking Frazier’s shoulder. “She’s mine.”
    “She’s mine”? Mallory thinks. Is it going to be this easy?
    She wants to believe