Cipher (The Cipher Series) Read Online Free PDF

matter what they’d done. She closed that door in her mind, like she worked so hard to do whenever she thought about it. Focus on the here and now. Beach. Boyfriend. Friends.
    After finding a parking space, she and Cody walked toward the spot on the beach their group usually set up camp in. A football came hurtling through the air toward them. Cody released her hand and caught it with practiced ease, then tossed a beautiful spiral back to the guys.
    Kendall ran up to Summer and enveloped her in a hug. “You came! I’m so glad! The guys are throwing the ball around…” Kendall made a shooing motion at Cody and tugged Summer the other direction. “The girls are over here.”
    “I’ll come find you in a little while,” Cody said, walking backwards with his eyes on her, before turning to join the guys.
    Kendall grinned at Summer. “I knew you two would make up.”
    Summer wanted to say it wasn’t that simple, but arguing wouldn’t do any good, and she supposed she and Cody had made up. It was easier to just let it go, so that’s what she did. With the salt water-scented breeze floating over her, nothing mattered as much anyway. She closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before letting it out. The beach had been a big selling point when Dad had sat her down at the beginning of last year and told her he was thinking of taking a job in San Diego. It didn’t take much to convince her to leave Chicago. A fresh start in a new place was something they both needed. And what better place to start over than sunny California, where the beach was practically her new backyard?
    Summer said hi to the girls, drifting in and out of the many conversations they had going on. When everyone else was involved in talking about their upcoming dance routine, Summer broke away. She moved closer to the shore and sat in the sand, just a couple of feet back from where it was damp from the reaching fingers of the ocean. This was exactly what she needed. A couple of moments to relax in one of her favorite places.
    “Hey, Sunshine.”
    A smile spread across her face. Only one person called her that, and he’d been doing so since the day they’d met. “Mister Bond.”
    She’d felt it only fair she give Troy Bond a nickname, too, so she’d decided on Mister Bond. Maybe not the most original, but it stuck. He sat next to her, and she turned toward him. “So, what are you doing here?”
    “You know me,” he said with a casual shrug. “I love a good party.”
    “But you think you’re above all the people at this party.”
    Troy grinned, mischief dancing in his eyes. “I am. So are you, though, and you’re here. I suppose you came with that boyfriend of yours. How is Studmuffin anyway?” Troy refused to call Cody by his name, too, but the way he said the nickname was far from a compliment.
    The real answer to his question was complicated, and one she didn’t plan on telling anyone, so she decided to go with a joke that was based in the truth. “I think he’s more muffin than stud today.”
    Troy laughed, lifting her spirits with the sound. He actually got her jokes, which apparently wasn’t an automatic thing—who knew? Lately, they’d been hanging in different circles, though. At least they shared chemistry this semester, giving them a few minutes of interaction at school.
    Summer remembered that Troy had a date last night, and she was glad he hadn’t answered her call during it—things would’ve gotten messy. “What about you and Lexi?”
    Troy grabbed a handful of sand, then let it slowly drift through his fingers. “She’s pretty.”
    “And?”
    “That’s it. She’s pretty, but nothing else.”
    “Yeah, the girl’s about as deep as the lyrics to a Kesha song.”
    He laughed again, the corners of his eyes crinkling with his smile. “Sounds about right.”
    Troy used to have shoulder-length hair that he constantly bleached. Since it was naturally dark, the process turned it orange