Free Killer Summer by Ridley Pearson Page A

him.”
    “That’s seriously random.”
    “I don’t know if he did or didn’t. He’s just dead, you know? You’re the first person I’ve met . . . first person my age and all . . . you know?”
    “Yeah. Same here.”
    The tailpipe didn’t sound all that terrific. And there was a low grinding noise coming from the back axle. Just her luck if the car broke down before tomorrow night.
    “How much farther?” she asked.
    “That’s the ski hill. Warm Springs side. Half Pipe’s on the other side. River Run. I board. Half Pipe is awesome.”
    “I’ve never skied.”
    “What do you do?”
    “Tennis.”
    “You any good?”
    Summer stared Kevin down, though at no time did he take his eyes off the road.
    “Yeah, okay, I get it,” he said.
    “I’m thinking of going pro.”
    “A friend of mine’s on the snowboarding circuit. He has endorsements and stuff like that. But I think his parents basically pay for everything. He hasn’t exactly won anything yet.” He added, “You won anything?”
    “Of course I’ve won . . . I’m a winner . . . I win.”
    “Anything big?”
    “Big enough.”
    The road narrowed, evergreens towering claustrophobically on either side. Sunset was fully an hour away, but the sky was all pink and turquoise and full of promise.
    “Wow,” Summer said about it, not meaning to sound so impressed.
    “Yeah, I know,” Kevin agreed.
    “It’s, like, the town just disappeared.”
    “That’s what happens here . . . the outdoors, the wilderness . . . it just kinda takes over. That’s what it’s all about.”
    “It’s awesome.”
    “L.A.?” he guessed.
    “Is it that obvious?” she asked.
    “I don’t mind, I’ve got a bunch of friends from there.”
    “They moved up here?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “Whoa!”
    “You and your dad could.”
    “Ah . . . I don’t think so,” she said. “You don’t know my dad.”
    She leaned out the window to see the tops of the trees. A pair of birds crossed the sky.
    “Almost there,” he said. “Another couple of miles.”
    “Hey, just keep driving and don’t stop, as far as I’m concerned.”
    “Yeah, I know what you mean.”
    They were quiet again. But there was nothing uncomfortable about it. Silence was usually a contest for her, a weapon. With the window rolled down, the wind was in her face, her hair whipping, and it made her laugh. Her father had been hammering this same message into her for the past two years: “You’re growing up too fast. Slow down and have some fun. Don’t be in such a hurry to grow up: it’s oversold.”
    “This is way cool,” she called into the wind.
    “Yeah?” he called back.
    Not long after that, Kevin parked the car in the beaten-down grass about thirty yards from the hot springs and well off the road. Steam rose from the springs.
    He turned the key off and set the parking brake. She got out of the car. Waiting to make sure he was looking, as he climbed out from behind the wheel, she reached down and pulled her T-shirt up over her head while she walked toward the springs. Then she popped the button on her jeans and unzipped the fly. She knew his heart would be racing by now. She knew what she was doing.
    Her own heart was racing too, but for a different reason. She didn’t want him decoding her embarrassment.
    He wouldn’t be able to get his pants off without some major awkwardness himself. She thought that might slow him down, give her more time to make a show of her striptease. But despite all her planning, as she wiggled the jeans over her hips and down to her knees, as she sat on a rock stalling for time while kicking off her sandals, her chest felt tight.
    She wasn’t sure she could go through with this. Only her father’s combativeness and certitude drove her on. If he hadn’t dragged her along on this trip, she wouldn’t be in a position of stripping naked in front of a virtual stranger.
    Now Summer’s sandals sat on the grass alongside the jeans. She stood.
    Kevin was looking right at