Last Summer Read Online Free PDF

possibility that one of Ella’s breasts might fall free of her skimpy tank.
    A very high possibility, but then, Ella was not a prude. And, clearly, neither was Taryn.
    “La Perla, right?” Taryn asked casually, motioning to Ella’s pink bra strap under her tank. “Best lingerie in the world.”
    “Uh, yeah,” Ella said, taken aback by the input.
    Grinning, Kelsi shook her head. “I knew the two of you were soul mates,” she said teasingly to Taryn.
    “I should go,” Ella said, blowing kisses to her sister, Beth, and Jamie. Then she turned and headed for the spot where she’d arranged to meet Jeremy, trying to brush off the suspicion that Taryn kind of annoyed her.
    “Sorry, boys,” she singsonged at a deliciously disheveled surfer dude and his completely Chad Michael Murray friend, both of whom grinned at Ella as she passed. “I have a date.”
    “I could be your date,” Chad said with a twinkle in his eye.
    “I have a hot date,” Ella clarified, but with a little smile to take the sting out of it.
    Then she forgot the cute surfer boys entirely, bobbing and weaving her way through the crowd. She headed toward the stage where the band was playing something very Death Cab-meets-Sufjan Stevens, but didn’t give the band members a second glance—she wouldn’t make that mistake again. Farther out on the pier, couples huddled togetheragainst the wooden railing and groups sat around fishing lines, apart from the madness of the party. Ella made her way to the farthest corner, her pace—and her pulse—quickening as she saw Jeremy standing there, waiting.
    When he saw her, a smile flashed across his face and he started toward her, slowly.
    He looked so good, Ella couldn’t believe it. She felt as if she hadn’t seen him in days instead of just hours. He was so deliciously Seth Cohen-ish. That dark hair and sexy, lopsided grin. His amazing lifeguarding body that he concealed perfectly in baggy jeans and long-sleeved T-shirts. She wanted to eat him up.
    They finally reached each other.
    “Hey,” Jeremy said, and pulled her into his arms.
    “Hey to you, too,” Ella said back, which made them both laugh a little bit. Ella was usually so forward with guys and the last couple of summers were perfect examples. She had pursued Peter and Ryan with all the confidence in the world. But she couldn’t figure out what it was about Jeremy that made her nervous and yet so excited all at once.
    “You look so beautiful,” Jeremy said, looking down at her. “I mean, you always do, but even more so here.”
    Ella smirked, ready to snap back with a flirtatious, sarcastic comment.
    Until she looked up at Jeremy. He gazed back at herwith his deep brown eyes as if he could never stop looking at her. Ella felt her breath catch in her throat.
    Every other guy Ella had been with had obsessed over her looks. Ella had loved it, but part of her had always wondered if that was the only reason they were so interested in the first place. But with Jeremy, she actually believed that she was beautiful. And she knew that it was all the more special because he actually cared about her.
    Slowly and softly, Jeremy tipped up her chin and leaned in to kiss her. She relaxed for what felt like the first time in days. Jeremy smiled at her softly as he pulled her closer and kissed her again and again, sending a zing of electricity through her body. She slid her arms up around Jeremy’s neck, letting her hands run through his messy dark hair, and gave in to the freedom of summer.
    No clock, no school, just the two of them and a million stars overhead.
    Finally , Ella thought.
    Pebble Beach and Jeremy.
    She was home.

4
    Beth looped her hair back into a ponytail, and stretched in the lazy morning sunshine that lit up her room in her family’s cottage. She took in a few deep breaths—filling herself with the scent of cedar from the chest at the end of the bed. The patchwork quilt on her bed was ragged and perfectly familiar, and Chauncey the cork