Free Summer Forever by Amy Sparling

it was tailored to his muscles. Instantly, I feel underdressed in my teal knee-length dress with a shimmery overlay of lace.
    “Park is here!” I call out to my parents as we walk into the kitchen. Dad yells for Park to join him in the living room and Mom showers him with offers of food and drink. Okay, so maybe this day won’t be as awkward as I had imagined.
    During dinner, Park acts like a total gentleman. It’s almost as if he’s an entirely different person from the laid back guy I know. He’s proper and polite and eats with a fork and a knife. I’m weirdly proud of him, of the guy I’ve brought home to meet my parents and how well put together he is.
    I kind of want to shout, “See, Mom and Dad? Park quit his job and started a business and you love him! Why can’t you let me do the same thing?” But I don’t. I’m smarter than that.
    Dad asks about Park’s house and how the renovations are going. They talk about flooring and air conditioning and Dad offers to help him with repairs. Everything is going really well, better than I could have expected. And after dinner, everyone, including my mom who is perpetually on a diet, likes all three of my pies. It turns out that eating a slice of each on one plate is the actual definition of heaven.
    “So, Park,” Dad says, throwing an arm around his shoulder as he walks us to the front door. Mom and Dad have agreed to let me out of family Thanksgiving early to go see a movie with Park. “In the last few months, you’ve moved away from your home down and came all the way here to Texas. That’s a big life change.”
    “Yes, sir it was.” Park doesn’t skip a beat. “It was the right move for my career.”
    “Uh, huh,” Dad says. “And did Becca have maybe a small part in your decision?”
    Park doesn’t hide the emotion in his eyes when he replies. “Yes, sir. She certainly had a lot to do with it.”

Chapter 13
     
    While the rest of the nation crams into super long lines at four in the morning on the Friday after Thanksgiving, Bayleigh and I have a better idea. We do our Christmas shopping on December first. It’s after the stupid Black Friday rush of idiocy, at least that’s what Bayleigh calls it, and it’s before the stores get insanely packed with Christmas shoppers.
    December first is the perfect date for holiday shopping.
    Now, if only I knew what to get Park.
    Last year had been easy. Park’s favorite band, Zombie Radio, had a gig in Houston and I’d managed to score backstage meet and green passes along with front row seats. It had taken two weeks of listening to the radio and calling in thirty million times, but my dedication had paid off. It was a free present, but Park said it was the best one he’d ever gotten.
    Trying to find a way to top that gift this year will be next to impossible.
    “Why don’t you just give him the gift of sex?” Bayleigh suggests. “You can’t beat that.”
    “Oh my God, shut up,” I say, rolling my eyes as I find a great parking spot just outside of the mall. My shopping list today includes about a million toys for Jett, and collector’s addition box set of the Blood Crave series by Christina Channelle for Mom. She’s obsessed with young adult books and that’s her favorite author, so she should love it.
    Dad’s gift will be a new wallet for his police badge since the one he has now is all worn out and looks like it’s survived through about twenty apocalypses. For Bayleigh, I’m getting her a gift card to Victoria’s Secret (which is what we get each other every year) and as many bottles of nail polish as I can fit into one shopping bag at Sephora.
    I’m not exactly sure what I’ll get Ollie, but I know it’ll be in the form of some kind of t-shirt at his favorite surf shop in the mall. I have everyone figured out and accounted for; everyone except for the most important guy in my life right now.
    I sigh as we walk inside the mall. Bayleigh has been talking this entire time but I haven’t