Summer Love (Senior Year (Vol. 1))

by Marysue Hobika

  “Yeah,” I agreed.

  After clearing the air, I hung out and shot the shit with Connor. We retired to his basement and played Xbox until I had to leave. I wanted to make sure I was home when Carly called.

  I was in my room working on the drawing of the angel when Carly texted to see if she could come over. She was back from ensemble. I sent her a quick yes. We were taking things slow, and I couldn’t be happier. It was amazing to see the personal progress I’d made. I felt as though I’d come a long way since my drunk dial. Carly made me feel different. I promised myself I wouldn’t do anything to screw this up. I wasn’t my dad. There was no way I’d ever cheat on Carly, or do anything stupid like that. She was far too important to me. I knew I loved her but didn’t have the balls to tell her, at least not yet. I was a firm believer in the old adage that you can’t throw a word like love around—it needs time to marinate. Even Robert Frost would’ve been proud of my ability to channel the inner poet. When the time came to confess my love for Carly, I would be confident knowing that love truly was the Long Overdue Vindication of Everything.

  When the doorbell rang, I raced down the stairs. To my surprise, Nate had already answered the door.

  “Here to see Gavin?” he asked, leaning against the doorframe and giving what I perceived to be the casual “eye fuck.” Carly was wearing short jean shorts and a blue tank top that hugged her curves. I didn’t like anyone checking out my girl, especially my own brother. That was fucked up. I’d already set Lucas straight when I caught him looking at her ass, and I wouldn’t have a problem telling Nate, either. I wouldn’t call him on it now, though, because I didn’t want to embarrass Carly.

  Nate and I had already had it out last Sunday, the morning after Carly had been forced to quit Karma. I was pissed that she’d gotten hurt and Nate hadn’t done anything to stop it. I couldn’t believe he and the other guys hadn’t stood up to Brady. Carly had talent and it wasn’t her fault that Karma’s first gig tanked. Guys were different from girls—we threw punches and moved on. Nate and I had been settling our problems this way for as long as I could remember. Just like when Nate brought up the issue about our father, we fought things out, left a few bruises, and moved on. At this point in time, we were back to being brothers again.

  “Yeah,” she said. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

  I walked over to her, putting my arm around her and pulling her to me. She looked uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure if it was because Nate was looking at her like he was picturing her naked or if it was because she hadn’t seen him since she left the band. I was pretty sure it was the later.

  Nate cleared his throat. “I’m glad you’re here. I wanted to apologize for what went down with Brady. It was fucking bullshit that we didn’t stop you. We never should have let you run off like that. Practice hasn’t been the same this week without you. We were hoping that you’d reconsider.”

  “What about Brady? Did he change his mind?”

  “Don’t worry. We set Brady straight.”

  “Do you know why he has it out for me?”

  “No,” said Nate, quietly. Connor hadn’t a clue either when I’d asked him. Seemed like nobody knew what had crawled up Brady’s ass. “I promise he won’t try to pull something like that again.”

  “As much as I love playing with you guys, I can’t. It’s not just because of Brady. Don’t forget I bombed on stage. I don’t want to put everyone through that again.” Her eyes filled with tears and she was shaking. “Thanks anyway.”

  “I’m gonna keep after you until you change your mind. We need you,” said Nate.

  The three of us stared at each for a full minute. The conversation came an en abrupt end.

  “What are you guys doing tonight? Hanging out?”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “Becca and I are going to the movies if you wanna come,” Nate said.

  The last time we doubled with them, it was a disaster. “Thanks, but no thanks,” I answered for the both of us.

  “All right,” he said, “but let me know if you change your mind.” He hurried off to get ready for his date.

  “So what do you want to do tonight?” I asked Carly, leaning up against the counter and pulling her between my legs. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I wanted her to say, “Make love to me, Gavin. That’s what I want to do tonight.”

  As she wrapped her arms around my neck and reached up on her tiptoes, she whispered, “This.” She kissed me hard on the lips, causing my body temperature to rise. All thoughts disappeared. Our tongues danced, as we explored each other’s mouths. I was blown away when she took things further, sliding her hand down to grab my cock. The shy, quiet girl who couldn’t play in front of a crowd vanished. Carly was doing things to me that I couldn’t explain. This girl standing in front of me with her hand on my manhood was bold, brave, and sexy. At this point, I was sure there was no turning back.

  “I want to do this all night,” she sighed. My first thought: “I can’t do this all night. I might not be able to last another two minutes.” My next thought: “How did I get so lucky?”

  Fuck the promise I’d originally made to myself. I was going to give her what she clearly wanted. I concentrated on her warm lips, easily my favorite feature, kissing them until they were swollen. With my hand inching down her leg and my tongue now behind her earlobe, I heard her moan. I undid her shorts and slipped my hand under. I felt the silky smooth skin of her freshly shaved pussy, and I knew it was time. She was wet and ready. With my pointer and middle finger primed for insertion, I heard a voice that stopped me in my tracks.

  “Holy shit, bro. What the fuck! I think you two need to get a room, or better yet, take it upstairs to your own,” Nate said.

  “You son of a bitch!” I yelled, looking for anything I could to throw at him—a knife, perhaps. However, at that moment, Carly took precedent over getting revenge. Red consumed her beautiful face, and I knew she was embarrassed for getting caught. I pulled her close to block Nate’s roaming eyes. Nate laughed as he walked out of the kitchen, pissing me off even more. Carly trembled in my arms.

  This was my fault. What was I thinking, trying to finger Carly in the kitchen? Imagine if that had been my mother who walked in instead of Nate? I don’t even have the words to describe how that conversation would’ve gone.

  I immediately felt remorse. Could I have just ruined everything I’d been working for with Carly? How could I have just given into temptation like that, knowing where I was and what I was doing?

  Carly lifted her head, which had been tucked under my neck. “I’m so sorry, Gavin,” she said.

  “Don’t apologize, Girly. This was my fault. I should never have let what just happened get to that stage. Do you hate me?” I asked.

  “No, not at all,” she said. “Do you think Nate will tell anyone what he saw?” she whispered.

  “Probably … but don’t worry, Car, I’ll have a talk with him. Come on,” I said, kissing her and leaving the room. I needed some space or I was going to take her upstairs like Nate suggested and that wouldn’t be cool because my mom was home.

  There wasn’t a lot to do, so we settled on watching a movie in the family room. Carly laid on one end of the couch, her feet in my lap. My mom walked through several times, but we were a safe distance apart so she didn’t catch us doing anything inappropriate. I couldn’t get what had happened in the kitchen out of my head. I guess the only thing I could do was wait and see what would happen next.

  The movie ended and I shut the TV off, feeling restless once again. There was no way we could end such an up-and-down night like this. “Let’s do something. I’ve got to get out of the house.” It was hard having Carly so close, yet so far away. I had no idea what was running through her mind.

  “Sure,” She agreed.

  I stood and grabbed her hand. Calling out to my mom, I told her we were going for a walk and that we’d be back later. I didn’t have a plan but headed for the door. Hot air hit us immediately. T
he sun was down, but the humidity was still high. Sweat beaded on my forehead and Carly looked a little flushed as well. We walked in silence for a couple of blocks, I’m sure both still thinking about what had occurred earlier.

  Suddenly an idea popped into my head. I made a quick turn and cut through several backyards, holding my finger to my lips for Carly to remain quiet. She flashed me a curious look. Finally, I stopped in front of a wrought iron fence that surrounded a kidney-shaped pool.

  “What are we doing here?” she whispered.

  “Swimming,” I said.

  “Swimming?”

  I nodded.

  “Do you know these people?”

  “No,” I shrugged, like it was no big deal.

  “I can’t swim in that,” she pointed at the perfectly landscaped pool.

  “Why not?”

  “Because we could get in a lot of trouble.” She chewed on her bottom lip.

  “After what we’ve already done tonight, I think this should be the least of our worries,” I said, hoping she wouldn’t take it the wrong way.

  “Ha, ha,” she said. “Very funny.”

  “But really, Girly, don’t worry. We won’t get in any trouble,” I stated confidently, leaning over to kiss her.

  Carly pushed me away, “Seriously, Gavin. Don’t try to distract me.” I laughed because there wasn’t any anger in her voice. It was light and teasing. “I can’t swim in somebody else’s pool.”

  “Look at the pool, Girly. It’s begging us to take a swim. That’s what it’s there for. The people who live here don’t even use it. It’s like a toy sitting on a shelf collecting dust, and there’s nothing worse than that.” I paused to let my words sink in. “Come on, please. It’ll be fun.” I saw Carly debating what to do. Ever since the beginning of summer, she’d been doing things she never would have before, which included taking risks, evident by her earlier actions. She’d discovered it was fun to break the rules once in a while. And for some reason, that turned me on. There was no way I was letting her back out this time.

  “Come on, I’ll help you over.” Without giving her a chance to argue, I lifted her high enough in the air so that she could place her foot on the top of the four-foot fence and jump down onto the other side. She landed gracefully, and I quickly joined her. We were standing on the inside of the fence, the gleaming pool in front of us.

  “Now what?” she giggled.

  “We swim.”

  I quietly kicked off my shoes and pulled my dark T-shirt over my head, tossing it to the side. Carly had never seen me without my shirt on, even though she’d already explored my lower half a little bit, and I worried what she would think of my naked chest. At first, her eyes were wide with surprise. Once the shock wore off, they filled with heat. I slowly approached Carly and took her hands in mine, placing them over my heart.

  “I had no idea your tattoo was so huge,” she said. “I’d seen the edges of it peek out from under the sleeve of your T-shirts, but I didn’t know it ran up your arm and around your chest and back.”

  “Does it bother you?” I asked. It was a lot to take in. I’d gotten it shortly after my parents’ divorce. I wasn’t eighteen, but I used a fake ID and the artist didn’t question it. I think he let me get away with it as a favor from one artist to another. The tattoo had been another way I’d tried to get back at my dad for leaving us. He’d always been vocal about his hatred of tattoos, even though I’d wanted to get one since I was a kid. He thought they were for rednecks and punks, and I’d wanted to prove him wrong. This tat was personal. I held my breath waiting for Carly to answer. I couldn’t believe how much I wanted her to like it.

  “No. I love it,” she said, her eyes blazing. “Did it hurt?” she asked.

  “Did it ever,” I confessed.

  “Can I touch it?”

  “Of course.” I was thinking that she’d already touched something else without asking permission, not that I minded. The thought of her hands upon my body again set my mind in motion. Carly turned me on like no one else ever had. I’d always be hers, and I hoped she’d always want to be mine.

  I held my breath while she lightly traced the black ink with her fingertips. She started with the head of the dragon on my chest and made her way down the top portion of my arm where the feet were, and then around back to where the tail spanned across my shoulders. I shivered. I’d never experienced such a rush. When I’d been with Harper, we’d bypass the foreplay and just get down to business.

  “It’s beautiful,” she whispered, her voice laced with emotion. “I can’t believe you designed it yourself. Is there a significance behind it?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I’ve I never told anyone why I chose a dragon.” This was true. No one knew the meaning behind my ink, but I was glad Carly had asked. I wanted her to know why it was so important to me. “I’ve always been interested in Japanese culture,” I said, “especially art. I drew this particular dragon because it represents freedom and fearlessness. It’s symbolic of the way I make decisions. Through the dragon’s eyes, I’m free to make choices that make me happy and not my dad, starting with this tattoo. The dragon is powerful and courageous, two attributes I try but don’t always succeed to mimic. So there you go—my version of The Boy with the Dragon Tattoo.”

  “Hmm,” she said, using her tongue to retrace her steps back to the front of my body. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop from crying out as sensations rippled through me. This girl drove me fucking crazy. She continuously made me feel things I didn’t think I was capable of feeling.

  We were face to face once more. I decided to carpe diem and gently caressed the side of Carly’s cheek. I whispered in her ear, “I’m glad you like it.” Once again, I found my way to her luscious lips. Then, to my surprise, I was transported back to my kitchen when Carly had unexpectedly grabbed my unit. I felt her fingertips slowly making her way down to the Promised Land. If my balls weren’t blue before, they were now. Even though we weren’t on the basketball court, I gave her an assist and shed my shorts. Here I was, in the flesh, standing in front of the girl I’d already come to love, wearing nothing but my boxer briefs. It was damn near impossible to hide just how much she turned me on.

  Carly followed suit and threw her arms in the air. This was all I needed, the invitation I was waiting patiently to receive. I reached out and pulled the bottom of her tank top over her head, tossing it on the ground with my clothes. I ran my hands down the length of her arms, and this time is was her turn to shiver. Goose bumps surfaced on her silky smooth skin. I made quick work of unbuttoning her shorts and letting them fall to the ground. Seeing her in nothing but a black lacy bra and matching panties drove me insane.

  Even though I’d already touched the forbidden fruit earlier, something about the way she looked now changed everything. Carly had the body of a goddess. Yes, her pussy was smooth to the touch and perfectly manicured as I’d found out earlier, but she had been fully clothed before. Now, the tables were turned. She was borderline naked and as the thoughts raced through my mind, I pulled her toward me. I’d almost forgotten where we were, but then remembered that nothing was more romantic than floating in a body of water with a gorgeous girl locked between my legs. Something about the word wet made everything seem better. I applied the theory of carpe diem yet again.

  I led Carly to the edge of the pool and climbed in. I reached my arms up and helped her into the water, letting her incredible body slide against mine as I lowered her. She wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. I know Carly had seemed ready and willing earlier this evening, but taking things slow was just as much for me now as it was for her. Everything with Carly felt so damn good that I wanted more than just to fuck her; I wanted to make love to her. I’d had sex before, but I knew with Carly, it would be different. She already made me feel things that no other girl had.

  “Even if we do get caught, this is totally worth it,” she whispered in my ear, her words making it impossible to ignore how good she fe
lt in my arms and how much I wanted her.

  My answer was to crush my mouth against hers. Our tongues ran circles around each other, dancing. It felt so good to feel her warm skin pressed against mine. At his point, the pool felt more like a hot tub. I knew she could feel how much I wanted her, evident by the way my pulsating penis pressed against her leg. Her hands clenched onto my back, fingernails slowly digging in. I unhooked her bra and tossed it on the patio. Running my tongue from earlobe to breast, I stopped just short of the nipple. In a counterclockwise motion, I circled her areola with my tongue, which instantly triggered her soft moan.

  “You’re beautiful,” I whispered, hoping my words would keep this incredible evening and embrace going.

  I continued my exploration of her body, my tongue and hand serving as the compass, until I finally made my way back to her soft lips. Carly’s eyes were shimmering with passion and excitement when I finally pulled away. I was dying to take things further, especially considering my dick was rock solid and I probably couldn’t exit the pool anytime soon, but all of a sudden, I asked myself, is this the time or place to make love for the first time? I don’t know when I turned into such a pussy, but I wanted our first time together to be special, which didn’t consist of getting it on in someone else’s pool. I’d been dreaming of this very moment since I first laid eyes on her and not being able to pull the trigger worried me. Was I growing up? Had I actually reached the point of adulthood where these types of decisions actually impacted the rest of my life? Why was I turning into Socrates and philosophizing everything? What the fuck! Why was it so difficult to answer these questions?

  The only explanation I could come up with was love. I was truly in love with Carly and had reached the pinnacle of understanding what that word defined. In her ear I whispered, “Let’s swim.”

  Carly slowly untwined her legs from around me, letting her feet drop to the bottom of the pool. Her normally melodic voice was hoarse, but echoed my words. “Let’s swim.”

  I ducked under the water without making a splash and swam to the opposite end. Carly appeared next to me within a few seconds. We swam around as quietly as we could, trying not to attract any attention. The cool water felt refreshing, helping to bring my body temperature back down to normal. Eventually, Carly sat on the pool steps with just her shoulders peeking out of the water.