When Summer Ends

by Isabelle Rae

  She giggled drunkenly. “Just go. You said he was hot. All I saw was the ass and that was scrumptious,” she instructed, giving me a little push in the direction of the door. “Call me or text me when you get home so I know you’re safe. And tell him what I said!” she ordered, sounding like a mother hen even though she was drunk.

  “I will, and you guys be safe too.” I blew them all air kisses as I made my way to the exit.

  He was standing there leaning against the wall casually; he looked so handsome it made my heart speed up. “Hey, you have a jacket?” he asked, nodding at the coat desk. I shook my head in answer. We came here in a cab so I hadn’t even thought about a jacket earlier, maybe I should have done, it was almost midnight now and looked quite windy outside. “Here, you can have my sweater,” he offered, putting a blue hoodie in my hands.

  “But then you’ll be cold,” I protested, shaking my head and pushing it back to him. He took it out of my hands and rolled his eyes, fiddling with it. Suddenly he pulled it down over my head. It smelt amazing, just like he did. I smiled and slipped my arms through the sleeves. He laughed.

  “It’s a little big, maybe you’ll grow into it,” he teased. I pushed the sleeves up, and he nodded towards the door signalling for us to leave.

  I grabbed his hand making him stop. “Wait, my friends made me promise that I would tell you something,” I mumbled, slightly embarrassed. He looked at me curiously, waiting for me to say it. “They know I’m with you, and if you murder me that they’ll tell the cops you were the last one to see me,” I rushed out, blushing at how stupid that sounded. Damn it, Amy, I just made myself look like an idiot.

  He burst out laughing and pulled me towards the door again. “I’ll try my best not to murder you then. I wouldn’t want to be in trouble with the cops,” he replied with mock horror. I giggled, chewing on my lip.

  He pulled me over to a silver jeep; I had no idea about cars so I didn’t know what type it was. He pressed his keys, unlocking the car. As soon as the door mechanism clicked, he opened my door for me. I looked in and laughed. There was trash everywhere, all in the footwell and all over the seat. Newspapers, candy wrappers, empty soda cans just scattered around carelessly.

  “Oh shit, er, I should have cleaned the car out then called you. Whoops,” he muttered, grinning sheepishly as he grabbed all of the clutter and threw it into the back seat.

  “Thanks.” I smirked at him as I got in. I watched him walk round the car, noticing the muscles in his arms, and how the wind blew the T-shirt against his chest showing how flat it was. I bet he would look incredible shirtless.

  He climbed in interrupting my ogling. “So, what do you like to eat?” he asked, starting the car.

  “I don’t care. Whatever you want. I eat anything.” I shrugged, unconcerned.

  “Pizza?” he suggested. I grinned and nodded, I was secretly hoping for that.

  He smiled and drove down the road, pulling up outside a little late night pizza place not too far away. I climbed out and walked to his side. As we passed a group of guys that were sitting around, laughing loudly and genuinely being rowdy, he pulled me somewhat closer to him. Damn, he’s sweet.

  “Any preference?” he asked as we looked over the menu board.

  “Anything without anchovies, I’m allergic.”

  “Pepperoni?” he suggested, rubbing his hand up and down my back lightly, making me shiver. I nodded, biting my lip, trying not to show him his casual touch was affecting me.

  He ordered the food and bought us two cans of Coke. There was a little plastic table and chairs off to one side so we sat down to wait. I looked up at him and saw his eyes properly for the first time. They were beautiful. A light grey colour with a slight hint of blue, they were captivating, and I couldn’t look away. My whole body started to tingle. I couldn’t sit still. He smirked at me and looked down at his drink, releasing me from his intense gaze and those beautiful eyes. I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “So, have you done bar work before? You seemed to know what you were doing,” he asked, leaning in over the table.

  “My uncle has a bar. I’ve been behind one a few times, but I’ve never actually served until tonight.” I shrugged.

  “You make a decent bartender, the customers liked you. Oh, by the way, I grabbed your tips for you.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a handful of money and offering it to me.

  “I don’t want it, you keep it, it’s your job not mine,” I refused, shaking my head.

  “Chloe, you earned it, you get to keep your tips. You made like fifty-two dollars in just under an hour, imagine how much you would earn working all night.” He raised his eyebrows, looking impressed.

  “Yeah, maybe you should get me a job there then,” I joked.

  “I can put in a good word if you’re serious,” he offered, flicking his head to the side so his hair moved out of his eyes.

  I laughed and shook my head. “I don’t think I could stand that every weekend. It must get boring, I bet?” I asked curiously. It had been fun tonight, but doing that all the time would get a little tedious, watching everyone around you get drunk while you’re working would get a little annoying after a while.

  “Yeah having girls throw themselves at you all the time definitely gets irritating after a little while,” he said, laughing. Oh right, I get it, he’s a player and uses the bar to meet girls. Nice one, Chloe, you just got picked up as his easy lay for the night.

  “Yeah, I would imagine it would,” I muttered sarcastically. I was annoyed at myself for even thinking any different. What the heck would a guy like him see in me anyway? Why on earth did I agree to this? He thinks I’m the kind of girl to put out on a one night stand. Great, just great.

  “Yeah, you only had an hour of the guys drooling over you, imagine if you had that every weekend for the last year,” he stated, turning his nose up. Wait, was he actually being serious when he said it gets irritating? Oh crap, now I’m just confused.

  Luckily the pizza came over then, so that interrupted our conversation. “We’re now closing, guys,” the man said, plopping the box down on the table.

  “Oh, I thought we could eat in,” Will replied, looking at him confused.

  “Usually yeah, but I need to get home early. There’s a sign on the door.” The guy nodded at the piece of paper taped to the inside of the door.

  “Oh right okay, thanks.” Will stood up and grabbing the box and turned to me. “Sorry, I thought we could eat in. If you want we could eat it at my place, it’s just around the corner,” he suggested as we walked to the door.

  “Is it cleaner than your car?” I teased.

  He laughed and shook his head sheepishly. “No actually.”

  “Okay well I guess I need to put up with it so I can eat my pizza.” I rolled my eyes playfully. He laughed and opened the passenger door for me, waiting until I was buckled in before putting the box on my lap.

  He drove us down the road for a few minutes before pulling up outside an apartment building. He took the box off of my lap and climbed out, while I scrambled along behind him and up to the second floor, stopping outside his door. He fumbled with the keys while I took off my shoes. My feet were killing me from wearing high heels all night, I would undoubtedly have blisters. He let the door swing open and looked at me apologetically. I walked in and stopped, my mouth dropping open in shock. His place was a tip. There were empty takeout cartons and soda cans everywhere. Dirty dishes scattered around the place, and random clothes on the floor.

  Wow, he’s a slob! “Oh crap, have you been robbed?” I joked, trying not to laugh.

  “Ha ha,” he replied as he walked past, grabbing my hand and pulling me further into the lounge. I looked down at the sofa; it was littered with magazines and clothes, a half drunk mug of what could have been week old coffee was sitting there.

  I burst out laughing. “Will, this place is disgusting! Maybe we should have just sat on the floor in the street it would have been healthier.”

  �
��Stop whining and suck it up,” he stated, taking the cup off of the seat and brushing everything else onto the floor, making me laugh harder. Wow, his idea of tidying up blows big time. “Sit and eat,” he ordered.

  I sat down on the sofa, which was actually surprisingly comfortable. He put the box on my lap then walked off into another room; I pulled out a piece of pizza and started munching on it. When I looked down I realised I had my feet on a load of his papers so I pulled them up, tucking them underneath me.

  He came back a minute later with two cans of Pepsi. “I didn’t have anything else. I would offer you juice, but you’d have to drink it straight from the carton because I have no clean glasses,” he said, laughing sheepishly.

  “You’re disgusting. I bet the bedroom’s worse,” I mused, shaking my head and laughing.

  “Want to go check it out?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me looking incredibly sexy. My food got stuck halfway down my throat so I choked. Oh man, does he think I’m here to have sex with him? He laughed and patted me on the back, handing me the can of drink. “I was kidding… well, maybe I was kidding,” he teased, smirking at me.

  “If you think I’m going anywhere near a bed in your place, you’re very much mistaken. When was the last time you changed your sheets?” I joked.

  “You have to change your sheets?” he asked, looking shocked. Oh my God, is he serious? Yuck! I looked at him disgusted and shocked. He burst out laughing. “Oh, Chloe, you are too funny.” He shook his head, laughing so hard that he had tears in his eyes. I laughed too, but my laughter was more out of relief. I can’t believe I actually thought he was serious. Damn, I am so gullible.

  “So, tell me some more about you,” he encouraged, going for his fifth slice of pizza.

  “Um, like what?”

  “You got any brothers or sisters, do you have any hobbies, where do you work. That kind of thing,” he replied, shrugging.

  “Okay, well, I don’t work, I go to school. I don’t really have any hobbies, I like to swim and read, and I’m an only child. What about you?” I answered, watching his reaction to my answers.

  He smiled so I felt myself relax. He obviously wasn’t bothered about the fact that I was still in school, which meant he knew I was under eighteen. “Well you know where I work. I like to play pool, but that’s just for fun with the boys, and I have an older sister and younger brother.”

  “Yeah? How old?” I asked, finishing my drink and looking around for a trashcan or something to put it in.

  He grinned and took the can off of me, putting it on the floor. I rolled my eyes. “My brother, Sam, is nineteen, and my sister, Kaitlin, is twenty-five. Um hey, this might be a little forward so you can say no if you want to…” he trailed off looking embarrassed. I looked at him curiously waiting for him to continue. “Well… er… my sister’s getting married tomorrow. I was planning on going on my own, but I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?” he asked, looking at me hopefully.

  Holy crap, he wants me to go on a date to a family wedding? That’s a little awkward! “Umm…” I mumbled, biting my lip, thinking; on the one hand I would like to spend more time with him. He seemed incredibly sweet but, on the other hand, what if it was awkward? I couldn’t exactly leave if I was bored. It was a wedding which would mean dinner and then a party after, it was an all-day thing probably.

  He smiled awkwardly. “You have a think about it. The wedding’s at two o’clock tomorrow, if you want to come you can call me. I mean, it’s just a thought, I told them I would go on my own because I don’t have a girlfriend, so my plus one’s going empty. My sister said something about setting me up with some of her single friends in the evening.” He winced which made me laugh.

  “Right, and you don’t want that because you have enough with girls flirting with you at work,” I teased.

  “Exactly! Wow, you can listen. Maybe I had you pegged all wrong,” he mused, grinning.

  “Yeah? You thought I was an airhead who would put out in your dirty bed?” I asked, sticking my tongue out at him. He didn’t say anything; he just leant forward and kissed me lightly. For the second time I was too shocked to do anything.

  He pulled away before I’d recovered. “I didn’t think you were an airhead.”

  “But you did think I’d put out in your dirty bed,” I retorted sarcastically.

  He laughed wickedly. “Come on, I’ll drive you home if you’ve finished insulting my place,” he suggested, standing up and holding out a hand to help me up. I stood up and held out the pizza box to him, he laughed and threw it on the couch, waving a hand at it dismissively. “I’ll sort it later.”

  “You truly are gross.”

  He made a small bow as if it was a compliment and grabbed my shoes off of the floor. “Come on then, Cutie, let’s get you home,” he said, heading towards the door. He put my shoes down and waited while I slid my sore feet into them. We chatted easily as he drove me home; he was surprisingly easy to talk to. When we pulled up outside my house, he jumped out and came around to my side, opening the door just as I was about to, so I pushed against fresh air, almost falling out of the car. He laughed but stopped immediately when I glared at him.

  “Sorry,” he muttered, trying to stifle his laughs. I slapped his chest as I stepped out of the car; it was so hard that I immediately started to think lustful thoughts. I blushed and looked away from his smirk; he looked like he knew what I was thinking. He followed behind me and walked me to the door. “So, yeah, you have my number from where I called you, if you want to come tomorrow then call me. The latest I’ll be able to pick you up is one thirty I guess, so yeah…” he trailed off looking uncomfortable.

  Jeez, he is really sweet. I gripped the front of his T-shirt and pulled him closer to me, going up on tiptoes and pressing my lips to his. He wasn’t shocked like I was when he kissed me. He kissed me back immediately, one hand going up to the side of my neck. He pulled back and I was a little giddy. The kiss was so sweet and soft that it made my insides do a little flip. He licked his lip lightly, his eyes locked on mine, the beautiful shade of grey making me a little light headed.

  “I’d better go. Thanks again for helping me tonight,” he said, letting me go and turning to leave.

  As I watched him walk down the path towards his car, I realised that I didn’t want him to go. I definitely wanted to see him again, kiss him again, and have him wrap his arms around me. “Will?” I called, making him stop halfway up the path. “Pick me up at half past one then.”

  He grinned. “Great, okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, Chloe.” He looked so happy that it made my heart beat a little faster.

  I quietly let myself into the house and crept upstairs. Once in the solitude of my bedroom I flopped on the bed and let out a little sigh. I sent a text to Amy telling her that I was home safely, and then pushed myself up off of the bed and grabbed my pyjamas. I pulled off his hoodie and looked at it with wide eyes because I’d forgotten to give it back to him. I’d just have to give it to him tomorrow instead. I smiled at the thought of seeing him again, I could hardly wait. I pulled on my pyjamas and slipped into bed, I couldn’t keep the happy smile off of my face as I drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Two

  When I woke up I immediately remembered last night. Images of meeting Will and us flirting washed over me leaving a warm sensation in the pit of my stomach. I smiled when I thought about seeing him again today. I was actually pretty excited to see him again, even though it was with all of his family there. I rolled over to look at the time and gasped. Holy crap, it’s after twelve, he’ll be here in under an hour and a half! I jumped out of the bed and dashed down the stairs looking for my mom. I had no idea what to wear to a wedding; I was assuming that jeans and a tank top were out of the question.

  “Mom, I’m going to a wedding this afternoon, what should I wear?” I cried as I burst into the kitchen at full speed.

  My parents both smiled and looked at me, confused. “Good morning to you too, Pumpkin,” my dad laughed.<
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  “Right sorry, morning guys. Mom, what should I wear?” I repeated, looking at her pleadingly.

  “You’re going to a wedding? Who’s is it? I don’t know of anyone getting married.” She frowned and looked at me as if I had lost my mind.

  “A friend’s sister is getting married. His date backed out at the last minute, so he asked if I would go with him instead,” I lied, shrugging. I couldn’t exactly tell them that it was the bartender I met at the club I snuck out to last night while they thought I was at a movie marathon at Amy’s.

  “Oh, okay. Well, how about you borrow my strapless dress, the one with the pink roses on it that I wore to Kara’s Christening,” she offered.

  I gasped and looked at her with wide eyes. Wow, that dress is beautiful. “Really? I would love that,” I gushed, trying not to jump up and down on the spot. I was pretty sure that I had the best parents in the world. My mom’s dress sense was awesome. I thanked my lucky stars that we were the same size, because more often than not, I wore her clothes rather than mine.

  “Go get ready. I’ll sort it out for you. What time are you going?” she questioned, getting up from the table. My dad got up too and poured a glass of juice, holding it out to me as he walked past, kissing my forehead.

  “Thanks, Dad.” I turned back to my mom. “Will’s coming here to pick me up at half past one.” I chugged the glass of juice as fast as possible, eager to go and shower so I would have time to do something nice with my hair.

  I rushed a shower and dried my hair quickly, pulling it up in an elegant twist and straightening the loose bits around my face and my bangs. Once I was done beautifying myself, I pulled on the dress and looked in the mirror. I smiled, happy with the result. My dark blonde hair looked better than I thought it would, and my brown eyes were sparkling with excitement. The little make-up that I had put on complemented my complexion perfectly. The dress was beautiful, and clung to me in all of the right places, showing off just the right amount of cleavage. I sighed happily and grabbed my shoes and purse, heading downstairs as I pulled them on. My parents had already left; they were going to visit some old friends and wouldn’t be back until late.