Spending every summer with his grandmother in the south of England isn't Ryan's idea of a good time, and when he finds someone his own age to hang out with, he doesn't much care who that is. Alex might not say much, but company is company when there's nobody else to choose from, and Ryan will simply have to make do. It isn't, after all, like he really needs a friend. But Alex is more than just a kid with a thing for smashing up greenhouses, and Ryan finds himself dragged further and further into a dark, uncertain world of alcohol, bruises, a mother's madness, and a father's anger. Worst of all, Alex is dragging Ryan into a world of lust, attraction, and midnight kisses that Ryan is struggling to keep confined to southern summers. This thing with Alex can't go further than summer -- but Alex, and the shadows that surround him, are not so easily forgotten. Ryan can't forget Alex, but the longer he hangs on, the more he discovers ... not just about Alex, but about himself, his future, and the things that really matter. But eventually, summer must come to an end.

Our Last Summer

“Get over your crush, then?” Tom observes in late January, and snickers when Ryan stares at him. “Come on, it was obvious you had one. Who was it? Francine again?”


While he still says nothing, and still throws out the odd idle observation of a girl’s attributes so he doesn’t attract attention for avoiding them, he’s no longer so anxious when the others discuss the merits of Hannah James’ arse over Maria’s Marquez’s breasts. It is simply irrelevant.


In March, he sends Alex a text that more or less summarises his entire new situation:


Happy birthday—whenever it is this month. And FYI: I can now spend an hour staring at Maria’s rack in History and not even get a hard on. She’s hot!


The reply is surprising—both in that it comes at all, and that it shows a thought process of Alex’s that Ryan would never have guessed at.


Next Tuesday. Thanks. And FYI: she can’t have been that hot, then.


Chapter 38