The Summer I Said Yes

by Tess Harper

  He pulled away but our lips kept kissing until he was only inches from my face. I slowly opened my eyes. His fingers slid down my cheeks and over my bottom lip.

  “Still a bit dazed? That’s alright. I’ll take it as a compliment.” He pulled the car out into traffic.

  “Hey I’m not…um…” What was I talking about? What was he talking about? My lips were still tingling.

  I frowned for three blocks. Peter kept on smiling.

  “What are you thinking about?” I asked, squirming in my seat.

  His grin deepened. “I don’t think you’re ready for my answer.”

  I pouted. “What don’t you think I’m ready for?”

  He raised his brows. “You sure you want to go there, Vaughn?”

  “Oh, I’m definitely sure. So, you gonna give it to me straight or what?”

  Peter laughed. “Oh, you want me to give it to you now?”

  “I think I can take it.”

  “Alright. Well…I was actually just thinking that an experienced girl like your knows how to work it.”

  My stomach did a summersault. Shit. What do I say? I sat there blankly staring at Peter.

  “You know…” he prompted.

  I gulped.

  “The radio?” he finished.

  All of my blood rushed to my cheeks. “Oh, yeah, ha-ha. I can work that!” I joked awkwardly.

  Peter laughed. “You’re my co-pilot Emily, which means you’re DJ.”

  I looked up at Peter and smiled. “I’ll try not to let you down Goose.” Way to go Top Pun. Seriously, cut it out with the bad jokes. This is a car, not a fighter jet.

  Peter chuckled. Why was he so sweet and amazing? And how the hell was I in a car with him, racing off into the sunset to meet his family?

  “Sorry, bad joke.” I said nervously. But not nearly as bad as the one I said inside my head!

  He grinned. “I got it.”

  I turned on the radio.

  No freaking way.

  I looked up at Peter and we both started laughing as Highway to the Danger Zone blasted through his speakers.

  “You’ve got good timing Vaughn,” Peter said, flashing me a devilish grin.

  “Ok,” I said, laughing and changing the station immediately, “That’s like…” I started laughing again, “changing the station.”

  “Well, Kenny Loggins would think you were funny.”

  “Hey!” I said, playfully hitting Peter’s arm. “I am funny. And as I recall, you laughed too!”

  I flipped to the Top 40 station which was playing commercials. Damn! I quickly turned to the oldies station.

  Peter started to sing without missing a beat.

  “You like Wham!?” I called out over the music.

  “And you don’t?” Peter laughed over the music before we both started in on the chorus of Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.

  “I knew you liked Wham!” Peter laughed. “Everybody likes Wham!”

  I turned down the radio, still laughing. “Correction, I like Zoolander, not Wham! You knew all the verses in that song, which means you actually like Wham!”

  “I didn’t know you were such a cinephile, Emily. I’m curious to see what else I’ll learn about you on our drive.”

  “And I’ve never met anyone who admitted to liking Wham! Just saying it while knowing that exclamation point is lurking behind the word makes me feel like a dork.”

  “Touché, Vaughn.” Peter conceded.

  “I’m just kidding, Peter.” I said in a more serious tone. “You’re the second person I’ve met who’s admitted to liking Wham!”

  Peter laughed. “Ouch, that stings.”

  “But, in all seriousness, tell me about your family, and your little brother. I have to admit, I’m a little nervous about barging in on your family’s intervention with him.”

  Peter’s expression grew earnest. “I’m glad you said that.”

  I looked down at my feet. Oh, shit… he doesn’t want me here. Why did I agree to this?

  “No, no—” Peter put his hand on my knee. I looked up into his soft and gentle eyes. “I’m not glad you said that because I agree with you, I’m glad because I’ve been meaning to talk to you about him and I don’t want you to feel like you’re intruding on something while you’re with us. I’m taking you to see my family because I love you, and because I want my family to meet you.” Peter’s face turned toward the road. “I’m a little embarrassed to admit this, but I’ve told my parents a lot about you, and they’re excited to meet you too.”

  He’d told his parents things about me? They were excited to meet me? Really? “Don’t be embarrassed,” I said. “I’m just as excited to meet them, and I’ve been gabbing Sophie’s ear off for months about you…” Whoops. Maybe just a tad too much information.

  Peter smiled. “The reason I chose this weekend for you to meet my family and to have this intervention with my brother is, well, for a few reasons. Firstly, because it’s Thanksgiving and so my brother and I are going to be home from school. And secondly, because Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks for your family and the people you love, which is why I want you here with me.”

  Okay, he must rehearse this shit. No one is this smooth, or this vulnerable… or this unbelievably perfect.

  I cleared my throat. “You promise I’m not going to be intruding on your family?”

  “I promise. Besides, I think I need some outside perspective. Sometimes it’s hard to evaluate a situation critically when you’re too close to it. I don’t want my emotions to cloud my judgment and cause me to say something I don’t mean to say. Having you there helps me feel like this isn’t the end of the world.”

  “What’s really the issue? Is it that he’s partying too much and missing class? Are his grades dropping? Because those are both common first semester problems. You said he played a winter sport, right? If he falls below the average to compete, he’ll do anything to pull himself together so he can play.”

  “I wish it were that simple.” Peter sighed. “It’s not grades. John’s a smart kid and he’s still on the dean’s list. It’s his spirit. Something happened to him this fall. He withdrew from everything. I thought we were close, but he hasn’t returned my calls in months. It’s not like him.”

  “I’m so sorry Peter. Adjusting to college is tough. He’ll snap out of it, I’m sure.” I squeezed Peter’s knee. “You’re such a good brother. John’s a lucky kid.”

  Peter took my hand in his, “Thanks,” he said. Then, he squeezed my hand tighter and ran his lips over the soft underside of my wrist. “Your skin is so smooth.”

  My cheeks grew hot…Please, not now! I pinked and turned to hide my face.

  Peter’s grip did not loosen. His lips felt like fire against my skin sending sparks of electricity through my body.

  “Mmmm,” he murmured, or maybe I murmured it. My body tingled. Peter watched the road hungrily. I was glad he wasn’t looking at me. Considering how flushed my face was, I’m sure how much I wanted him was printed all over my face.

  He let go of me. “This is our exit,” he said. I glanced over just in time to see the sign: All Maine Shore Pts - 1 Mile.

  “Peter,” I sighed.

  He grinned. “I know, I know. You’re really impressed with my driving skills. I’ll show you more when we get to my house and settle in.”

  My entire body shivered with anticipation, but he didn’t kiss me again. Instead, we spent the rest of the ride talking and laughing and finding out crazy things about each others music tastes, like my obsession with Ke$ha and his love for Berry Manilow.

  He turned onto Ocean Avenue. “Almost there.”

  “You didn’t tell me your parent’s beach house was on the water…” My voice trailed off as the full impact of where we were settled in. On the left side were some of the biggest, most spectacular mansions I’d ever seen in my life. They were the kinds of dream homes art and home decorating magazines highlighted as features. There were tennis courts, helicopter landing pads, g
ardens that rivaled Versailles, and pool houses as big as the place I grew up in. Each one seemed grander and bigger than the last. My jaw dropped as we drove down the street. “You’re joking, right?”

  Peter just smiled. “Last house on the block.”

  No freaking way. He couldn’t possibly be talking about the one with the gate. That was not a house! “You’re not talking about the one with the gate?”

  Peter pulled into the driveway and punched in a code to open the gate.

  “No way Peter!” I laughed as I hit his shoulder. “You never told me you were a billionaire!”

  Peter laughed and rubbed his arm. “I’m definitely not a billionaire.”

  I was so shocked that I started to choke on the freaking air as I breathed. He wasn’t a billionaire? Then we must not really driving up a long, winding road in the middle of the most elegantly manicured fruit orchard I’d ever seen. The trees were decorated in rich fall colors that brought out the iciness of the chilly sky and the blinding white of that three story, gazillion square foot ‘house’ with cheery white shutters on either end of every window and a bright red door.

  “You have a fountain with a cherub squirting water out of its arrow. You are a billionaire.”

  Peter shook his head. “My father’s landscape designer bought that at an auction like six years ago. I fucking hate it.”

  I giggled. “Thank god because it’s absolutely ridiculous.”

  Peter pulled around the circle at the top of the driveway and parked under a gigantic American flag mounted on a gold pole batted in the sea breeze. He turned to me. “Well, we’re here.”

  I tried to hide my excitement as I grabbed his arm. “I’ve never been to a place this nice before. When you said you were taking me to your beach house in Maine I figured you were taking me to your family’s shack on the shore…I didn’t think you were taking me to your beach mansion.”

  Peter smiled, leaned in and kissed my forehead. All my worries melted away. When I opened my eyes, his warm, beautiful green eyes were looking down at me. “Ready?”

  I bit my lip. “Yes.”

  Peter got out, walked around the car and opened my door. He took my hand and led me up the stairs to the front door.

  “What about our bags?”

  “I’ll get them later and we can settle in. I can’t wait to introduce you to my family.”

  My heart pounded. His family? As in the dad who thought the ridiculously expensive cherub squirting water out of its arrow was a good idea? I hugged my stomach.

  “Emily, what’s wrong? Do you need some time to yourself first.”

  “No, I just…I’m really nervous. Are you sure your family is going to like me? Am I underdressed?” I glanced down at my cardigan and skinny jeans. “Should I have worn a collared shirt?”

  He smiled and grabbed my shoulders, looking down at me with smoldering green eyes. “Emily Vaughn, my family is going to love you. They are going to fall in love with you the same way that I have. And you have absolutely nothing to be nervous about.”

  I took a deep breath and tucked my hair behind my ears. “Okay, I think I’m ready.”

  Peter stared at me.

  I looked down. “What? Did I spill something on my shirt?”

  “No.”

  I looked up to see him smiling. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Absolutely nothing.”

  I immediately pinked and raised my hands to hide my face, but Peter grabbed them and pulled me to him. I gasped as his lips crashed into mine, coaxing my lips open. My knees felt weak, but I stood on my toes to get closer to this blissful, sweet, addictive feeling and wrapped my arms around his strong, chiseled shoulders so I wouldn’t fall. The only thing I could hear was the waves crashing against the rocks below us and the pounding of my heart.

  He broke the kiss first, pulling his head back slightly as he kissed my left cheek and temple. I lowered myself back down onto my heels and looked up at Peter.

  Alright, I could deal with his family not liking me as long as he continued to kiss me like that. I was the luckiest woman in the world. Here goes nothing…

  Peter opened the big red front door to the most gorgeous room I had ever seen. A twenty foot ceiling soared above us with an antique chandelier illuminating the creamy marble floor beneath our feet. Great round pillars flanked the entryway to the grand living room that lay before us. The entire room was floor to ceiling windows, that felt like if you took one step beyond the glass you would fall into the ocean.

  My mouth hung open. “This is unbelievable.”

  Peter smiled and took my hand. “Come with me.” We walked to the living room. A lush oriental carpet cloaked the hardwood floor. I only had a few seconds to admire it before I raised my eyes and ceased to think anything at all.

  Right in front of us was the most amazing seascape view I’d ever seen. Long, dark rocks jutted out into the ocean, coming to a tip where the waves crashed into the surf.

  “I have never seen such an amazing view,” I murmured.

  Just then we heard footsteps. Peter turned, but I was still too mesmerized by the seascape to move.

  “Johnny!” Peter said excitedly as he stepped away from me to give his brother a hug. “I’d like you to meet my girlfriend.”

  I smiled. My heart couldn’t stop racing. I don’t think I’d ever get used to hearing Peter introduce me as his girlfriend. I turned, so pathetically giddy that I almost giggled.

  Peter smiled and held out his hand dramatically. “This is Emily,” he introduced.

  The smile that was plastered to my face a moment before fell.

  My heart stopped.

  His brother was 100% lean, tough muscle. Even his baggy, washed-out black t-shirt and basketball shorts couldn’t hide it. His sandy blond hair was wind-tossed and sexy, as if he’d just gotten back from a walk on the beach…or had just finished making out with a girl who’d raked her fingers through his hair.

  His eyes bore into mine, anguished and piercing and devastatingly blue. I knew those eyes. I could never forget those eyes. They haunted my dreams and darkest desires.

  I tried to stop my body from shaking, but I couldn’t. My heart was beating too fast. I felt light headed. I was going to collapse at any second.

  This can’t be real. This can’t be real.

  But it was.

  Peter smiled at me. “Emily, this is my brother—”

  “Jack,” I finished for him in a whisper.

  ***

  The sequel to The Summer I Said Yes will be available soon!

  If you want to receive an email when Tess and/or Grace release a new book, feel free to sign up for Tess' new release list. We will only email you when there's a new book out.

  ***

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for reading and for taking a chance on two indie authors!

  If you liked the book, feel free to either recommend it or loan it to a friend. We've enabled Kindle lending for this book so that it can be shared and enjoyed.

  We also want to take a moment to say that we appreciate all reader feedback. Indie authors are not reviewed by traditional outlets, so we succeed and fail by your reviews. If you enjoyed The Summer I Said Yes (or if you didn't enjoy it), please feel free to review it on Amazon, Goodreads, or your blog/facebook/twitter/preferred retailer. If you have a favorite author, please consider reviewing their books!

  Thank you again for spending an afternoon with our book :) It's a dream come true.

  Happy Reading,

  Tess and Grace

  About the Authors

  We're Muffin Top Books!

  Two girls who enjoy life, love romance, and rock their muffin tops!

  Hang out with Grace and Tess online:

  http://www.muffintopbooks.com

  muffintopbooks@gmail.com

  Facebook

  Twitter: @MuffinTopBooks

  If you want to receive an email when Tess and/or Grace release a new book, feel free to sign up for Tess' new r
elease list. We will only email you when there's a new book out.

  Tess Harper

  I'm a young woman in my twenties writing about other young women in their twenties losing & finding love, discovering themselves, and following their passions. I love (tastefully) smutty stories and happy endings, so I write romance! In addition to writing The Summer I Said Yes with Grace, I've also written Love Me In Shadows on my own.