This Summer Will Be Different
by Carley Fortune
Contents
Chapter 5
Overview
Felix unexpectedly picks up Bridget and Lucy after Bridget’s car won’t start, forcing an early, charged reunion. Lucy is overwhelmed by attraction, while Felix’s guarded demeanor hints at strain. During the drive, his small kindness exposes lingering intimacy, and his dry “Friends, sure” undercuts Bridget’s attempt at normalcy.
Summary
Lucy and Bridget spot Felix reading as they approach. Lucy, unprepared for seeing him before the wedding, greets him with the family nickname “Wolf” and gives him a restrained hug, overwhelmed by his clean-shaven look and the pull of old feelings. Felix remains guarded and helps load Lucy’s bag, offering to fix Bridget’s stalled Mustang.
During the drive, Lucy chooses the back seat to avoid their combustible chemistry. The island scenery rolls by as motion sickness and lack of sleep hit Lucy. Felix, anticipating this, hands her a nut bar he bought “just in case,” revealing attentiveness that unsettles Bridget, who probes how he knows Lucy’s habits. Felix deflects by referencing last summer.
Ocean air fills the truck as Lucy steadies herself. Bridget remarks it’s nice they’re friends. After a long pause, Felix replies, “Friends. Sure,” a dry, ambivalent response that exposes unresolved tension and contradicts the veneer of casual familiarity.
Who Appears
- LucyNarrator; overwhelmed by Felix’s presence, struggles with motion sickness, and senses his guarded distance and lingering connection.
- Felix (Wolf)Bridget’s brother; clean-shaven, reserved, quietly caring for Lucy, deflects suspicion, and pointedly questions being labeled friends.
- BridgetLucy’s best friend; stranded by a dead Mustang, orchestrates pickup, teases Felix, and seeks normalcy by calling them friends.