A Summer to Remember

by Jessica Gunhammer

  “Um…I don’t know. Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

  “I have two brothers and two sisters, I’m the youngest.”

  “Are you close with your family?”

  “Not really. I work construction with my dad, but other than that, we don’t spend much time together. I don’t see eye to eye with them very much. They’re fine living paycheck to paycheck but I’m looking for something more. I was the first one of my siblings to go to college. I know there’s more out there for me.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. I could tell the subject was making him feel uneasy. “What about you?”

  “I have a younger brother.”

  “Are you close with your family?” he asked.

  “Yeah.” I decided now would be a good time to try and lighten the mood. “Didn’t you say there’s supposed to be a full moon tonight? You want to walk down to the beach?”

  “Sure.” His mood perked up instantly. “I’ll go grab a blanket.” I followed him up the stairs.

  “I’m going to grab some warmer clothes.” I walked into my room and Lily walked in behind me.

  “Hey missy!” She shut the door behind her. “So what happened last night? I saw that you guys stayed back to ‘put out the fire.’” She plopped down on the bed.

  “And that’s just what we did.” Her expression dropped in disappointment. “Don’t look at me like that.” That look on her face always made me laugh.

  “You know, I don’t get you sometimes. You have this super hot guy that’s totally into you and you’re just acting like it’s going right over your head. What happened to ‘he’s different than all the other guys,’ blah, blah, blah?” She was clearly annoyed with me.

  “I don’t know.” I decided to play things cool until I could figure out what was happening with us. “I literally just went through a break up and I just met this guy. What if it’s all in my head?” I grabbed a pair of sweats out of my bag and pulled them on.

  “You can’t let an asshole like Jason have you thinking that every guy is going to hurt you like he did. Adrian is totally into you. His friends even said he’s never been like this with any other girl. You know he made that breakfast this morning because he wanted to make sure he had something you would like and then you didn’t even eat it. It’s not all in your head!” I slipped on a hoodie and zipped it up.

  “Are you serious? He made all that food for me?” I sat down on the bed next to her. Now I was the one feeling like an asshole.

  “Yep. He woke up early to go to that little store down the road and when he got there, he realized he didn’t even know what you liked, so he bought everything!” She observed my sweat suit. “Are you going somewhere?”

  “Oh yeah, we’re going down to sit on the beach. It’s supposed to be a full moon tonight.”

  “Girl! Why didn’t you say something! Don’t keep him waiting.” We both stood up and she grabbed me by the shoulders. “Don’t worry. I can tell. He’s not like Jason. So have some fun, will you?”

  Chapter 8

  When I walked downstairs, Adrian was sitting on the couch. He must’ve changed too, because he now wore sweats and a gray t-shirt. I couldn’t help but notice how defined the shirt made his muscles look. Lily was right, he was totally hot and I needed to have a little more fun. I spent pretty much all of high school with Jason so I’d never really gotten to date anyone other than him. I needed to just chill out and see where this was going. If all else failed, I could at least be lucky enough to end up with a new friend. A new, hot friend.

  “Sorry, I ran into Lily in the hallway and got a little distracted.”

  “No problem.” He opened the door and we walked outside.

  We had to walk a little over a mile before we reached the turn that would take us to the beach. The nice thing about where the cabins were was that you didn’t have the noise of regular campgrounds. All you could hear was the crickets chirping in the background.

  “Wow. It’s so beautiful out tonight.” I admired the moon beaming off the water as we found a spot and Adrian laid down a blanket.

  “Yeah, it sure is.” He sat down next to me. “You don’t get to see the sky like this in the city. It’s so nice to get away every once in awhile. You cold?” He must have noticed I had my arms wrapped around myself.

  “A little,” I lied. He picked up the extra blanket he brought and wrapped it around us.

  “Is that better?”

  “Yeah, thanks.” I could feel the warmth of his body against mine. The tingling in my stomach started up again.

  “Okay, this may sound strange since we just met, but I want you to know something. I like you. I don’t know what happened the night we met, but something told me you were different than any girl I’ve ever met. There was just something, I can’t really explain, but I have to tell you because we leave tomorrow and I don’t know if I’ll get another chance. I knew I would regret it if I didn’t. Sorry if that’s weird and I just freaked you out.” I could feel him looking at me, waiting for my reaction, but I wasn’t sure what to do or say. I’d never had a guy completely just lay it out on the table for me. The weird thing was that it actually seemed real and genuine, not like he was just trying to get in my pants or something.

  “I like you, too,” I managed to get out. Before I even had a change to react, I felt his warm lips press against mine.

  My mind was still trying to process what was happening, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t deny our connection was very real. Every thought I had faded away, none of my worries seemed important anymore. This was right where I wanted to be, right here, right now. I decided to embrace the moment, so I ran my hands through his hair and pulled him closer. His arm wrapped around my waist and he pulled me onto his lap. We continued to kiss as I pushed him back on the blanket.

  Here I was sitting on a beach, or the closest thing we have to a beach around here, under a beautiful full moon, making out with a gorgeous guy I just met. This was something I didn’t do often and I felt semi-guilty about, but I couldn’t help the fact that it just felt right, like I was supposed to be here with him.

  I pulled away so I could catch my breath. Neither of us could manage to get out a word, we just sat there staring at each other for a good thirty seconds. I tried to suck in every detail I could about this moment.

  “I really wish this weekend didn’t have to end.” He brushed a strand of hair away from my face.

  “Me too. You know, just because the weekend has to end doesn’t mean this has to end.” I gave him a little smile.

  “You’re right about that.” He reached up and grabbed my face and pulled it toward his. This time when we kissed, it wasn’t hungry. This was more passionate and soft. I really didn’t want this weekend to end. He pulled away and looked at me with disappointment in his face. “We should probably head back to the cabin. We have to leave early, and by the look of everyone tonight, I’m pretty sure I’m going to be the one driving back tomorrow while everyone else gets to sleep.” I was finally with a guy who was actually mature and responsible and I was wishing he wasn’t. I had to smile a little at the irony.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right. It’s getting late.” I stood up and wiped the sand off my legs. It was probably a good thing that he put a stop to things. I needed some time to get my thoughts together before I did anything too crazy.

  We walked back to the cabin as slowly as we possibly could. The walk was rather quiet as we realized the night was coming to an end. When we finally reached the cabin, we noticed all the lights were turned out.

  “Everyone must be sleeping.” He turned the knob on the front door and pushed it open. I followed him in and shut the door behind us.

  “I can’t see a thing.” I put my arms out in front of me to find my way to the stairs. I ran into an end table. Adrian laughed behind me.

  “Here give me your hand. I know this place like the back of my hand. Brian and I used to sneak out and go down to the campgrounds where our buddies
used to party and sneak back in before his parents woke up.” I grabbed his hand and he led me up the stairs to my room with minimum noise.

  I turned on the lamp in my room and noticed I had three missed calls and a text on my phone. They were from Jason. The text read:

  We need 2 talk.

  I miss you.

  I’m sorry.

  “Everything all right?” Adrian came up behind me.

  “Yeah, everything’s fine. Just a friend seeing how our weekend is going.” I set my phone back down on the nightstand. Right when I was starting to get my mind off of him, he had to go and text me. Typical Jason move. “Thanks for getting me up here with no major injuries.”

  “Not a problem.” He wrapped his arms around my waist.

  “I think I’m going to go to bed. I’m really exhausted.” I wasn’t totally lying, I was pretty tired. But the fact that Jason thought he could just text or call whenever he wanted and everything would be how it used to be really pissed me off!

  “Okay. Are you sure everything is all right? You seem a little distracted.” He couldn’t hide the worry in his voice.

  “Yeah, everything’s fine. I’m just tired.” I tried to sound as convincing as possible. “I’ll see you bright and early.” I stood on my tippy toes and gave him a simple kiss on the lips, hoping it would help him believe me. Leave it to Jason to ruin a perfectly good night.

  “See you in the morning.” He walked out of the bedroom and pulled the door closed behind him.

  I laid down on the bed and shut off the lamp but I couldn’t get Jason’s text out of my head. My mind was racing with all the whys and what ifs. I was so sick of going back and forth with him. Just when I was finally having fun and enjoying myself with someone else, he felt the need to barge back into my life!

  Chapter 9

  The next morning came too soon. My mind and body felt groggy from the lack of sleep and the amount of alcohol consumed over the weekend.

  “Wake up, sleepy head! We gotta hit the road.” Lily came in and sat on the bed beside me. “So how was last night?” She looked at me, eager for details.

  “It was nice.” I shrugged.

  “Nice? Really? That’s all I get?”

  “Okay, well, it was great.” Lily’s lips curled into a smile. “Until we got back here and I had three missed calls and a text from Jason.” Her smile dropped just as fast as it formed.

  “Dammit! I knew that was going to happen. Steven talked to him yesterday and apparently Cally and him got into some big blow up fight. Surprise, surprise. So then he started asking all kinds of questions about you and how you were doing and all the same stuff he always does.” Lily had never been a big fan of Jason but she put up with him because he was Steven’s brother and my boyfriend.

  “Why does he always do this to me?” I could feel my heart starting to waver.

  “Um, because you’re hot and he knows you can do better. Duh!” I tried to hide my face but she could see her comment didn’t make me as happy as she thought it would. “You’re not seriously considering getting back together with him, are you?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “No, Ava! I refuse to let you put yourself through that again! He’s never going to change. Not only that, but what are you thinking? You’ve spent the weekend with this great guy who could give you a fresh start and here you are doing this? You shouldn’t even be entertaining the idea of you and Jason getting back together. I love you and I love Steven, but I’m sorry, Jason is a douche.”

  “Lily, I’ve spent four years of my life him.”

  “And it’s been the same result every time! You want to spend the next four years doing the same thing?”

  “No.” The thing about Jason was that I knew what to expect with him, he was my safety net. But with Adrian, I knew he could walk out of my life as fast as he came in. I just needed some time to think things through.

  “Then you need to open your eyes and see what’s going on here.” She had disapproval written all over her face. I knew she wouldn’t stop the lecturing until she felt she had made her point.

  “Lily! Ava! Let’s go!” Saved by Steven.

  “This isn’t over, just so you know.” She got up off the bed and walked out the door. I started gathering my things and heard a knock on the door behind me. I turned around to see Adrian standing in the doorway.

  “You mind if I come in?” Seeing him again was comforting.

  “Sure, I’m just getting my things together.” I grabbed a few of my items off the nightstand and shoved them into my bag.

  “So I was hauling some stuff downstairs and I heard you telling Lily that it was Jason who texted you last night.” I turned around and stared at him. I was a bit embarrassed and a little pissed off that he was listening in on our conversation. “I wasn’t eavesdropping! I swear. I was just walking by and happened to hear that.” He put his hands on my shoulders.

  “Look, I don’t know anything about this guy, but I know you have some history with him. I’m not trying to put you in any sort of awkward situation and I don’t want you to feel that you can’t be honest with me because I told you I like you. I know you’ve dated other people before and so have I. Just because I told you that last night doesn’t mean I was expecting this to go somewhere right away, if at all. It was just something I knew I would regret not saying.”

  I sat down on the bed and he joined me. There were a million thoughts running through my head right now and none of them seemed to be making any sense.

  “I’m sorry I lied to you. I just got nervous and things were going so great before that and I didn’t want to ruin things. You’re a great guy and I like you, I really do. I’m just a little confused right now, that’s all.”

  “I get it.” He put his arm around me and I leaned into him. He smelled amazing.

  “Ava! You ready yet or…Oh!” Lily came around the corner and seen us. “Um, we’ll be in the car whenever you’re ready.” I caught a quick glimpse of the smirk on her face before she turned around.

  “Well, we better go. We don’t want to keep everyone waiting.” We stood up and I grabbed my bag as we headed for the door.

  “Hey, you think maybe you’d want to get dinner or something this week? Maybe tomorrow?” I turned to him and smiled.

  “That actually sounds perfect.” We walked downstairs and went outside to join the others. The guys threw the last of the bags and coolers into the cars as we all said our goodbyes.

  “Hey, we have an end of the summer party here every year. You guys should come back up,” Brian said as he was getting into Adrian’s truck.

  “Sounds like fun! We’d love to. Just let one of us know when it gets closer and we’re in,” Lily answered for the group, without anyone else’s input, of course, which is what she does best.

  “So tomorrow’s a plan then?” Adrian came up behind me.

  “Yes, it’s a plan.” He leaned down to give me a hug. His touch reminded me of what happened on the beach last night. As he let go, I couldn’t stop myself from putting my hand behind his neck and pulling him in until our lips met. I’m not sure what came over me, but I couldn’t leave after all that had happened between us and pretend like there wasn’t some amazingly intense connection between us. That kiss was all the reassurance I needed to prove there was something there. And I wasn’t going to be able to just let that go. Not even for Jason.

  Chapter 10

  The drive home was quiet. I didn’t have a problem with that since I was exhausted from the events of the weekend. I rolled up my hoodie and placed it up against the window. It didn’t take long before I fell asleep. It only seemed like a matter of minutes before Lily was waking me up.

  “Ava, we’re here.” I looked out the window. We were sitting outside my house.

  “Okay. Thanks.” I got out of the car and walked up the driveway.

  “Call me tomorrow!” Lily yelled out Steven’s window.

  “Will do. Bye.” I waved at Jesse sitting in the backseat, he
smiled and waved in return. “Thanks for driving, Steven.”

  “No problem,” he said as he backed out of the driveway.

  I watched them drive off in the distance before I went into the house. I opened the front door and was almost bowled over by our two dogs. I rubbed both of their heads and gave them each a treat before we went upstairs to my room.

  I tossed my bag on the floor and collapsed onto my bed. I’ve always loved the feeling of coming back to my own space after being away for the weekend. I don’t know how people that go to college and live in a dorm can be away from their own room for so long. Luckily, we live close enough to the college that I don’t have to stay in the dorms.

  My room is a lot different than other girls my age. Two of my walls are painted a deep blue that match the carpet and the walls have framed photos of my idols from the fifties rather than posters of the latest celebrities.

  I went into my bathroom, started the shower and got in. I couldn’t remember the last time a shower felt this nice. I liked to think of the water running off my body as all my worries going down the drain. If only it was that simple.

  When I finished, I slipped into a tank top and pajama pants because I knew that I wouldn’t be doing anything but lounging around all day. I jumped in bed and glanced at my phone. I’d missed a few calls and two texts. Great! Two missed calls and a text from Jason:

  Steven just got here so I know

  you made it home. Please

  call me so we can talk.

  Really? It’s only nine in the morning and this is already starting? Then I saw I had a missed call and a text from Adrian.

  Just wanted to make sure