The Summer I Loved You

by J. L. Lora

  She blew out a shaky breath. “Anyway, we got in the car. My mom was in the backseat. I rode shotgun and he drove. In the cupholder between us was a half-drunk bottle of Rebel Yell and his gun.

  Cam’s breath lodged in his chest but he didn’t interrupt her. He swallowed the churning and let her continue.

  “First, we stopped by her school. She went inside and came back with a Ziploc bag full of the petty cash. Then, we drove for a couple of hours and went into a convenience store. He told me to go down all the aisles and pick up chips and a drink. And then we got out and drove some more. He said we would go back and I was going inside with him and my mom would drive when we got out. My mom plead with him not to do this, that I was just a kid. But he told her to shut up and that’s when I got it. He was planning on robbing the store with me and forcing her to drive the getaway.”

  “Shit.” The word slipped out of Cam’s mouth.

  “It was a stupid idea. We would’ve gotten caught. Except, he was still drinking like he always was and had to pee. So, he stopped the car in the middle of nowhere. He must have been half drunk by then because he made us get out of the car, but left the gun in the cupholder. Mom didn’t notice but I did. I reached in and grabbed it. By the time he realized it, I was pointing it at him. Mom ran and took it from my hands. He advanced toward her. She told him to stop. He didn’t. She shot him on the side of his stomach.”

  “Fuck, Adri.”

  She continued like he didn’t speak. “He kept screaming that Mom would go to jail and he would tell them she helped him escape. We ran. Mom let him keep his phone and told him that if he called the cops he would end up back in jail because he was a fugitive. We hopped in the car and drove back home. Mom and I talked. On the drive back, she told me everything, the verbal abuse, his threats to take me from her, how he hit her in places people couldn’t see…”

  Her lips trembled a bit. “How the cops were no help. When she tried to file a restraining order when he’d threatened her at first, they’d said he had to hurt her first. After that, the abuse turned physical but she couldn’t go to the police because he threatened to take me. She’d never see me again. Anyway, after we left him, we went to her job first. Mom went in and put the money back. Then we drove home, talked, and decided to keep it a secret. They called us a few weeks later. Fausto died in a hospital from complications from the bullet wound.”

  Cam was reeling. He wouldn’t believe what he was hearing except it was Adrianna telling him and the truth was in her pale skin and spooked eyes. “Jesus, no one can blame you or your mom for doing that.”

  “He still messed us up. We left him the phone and he used it to call your father. He still has the tape.” She came around the desk to stand in front of him. “You see why I have to pay him? My mom can’t go to jail because of me.”

  Heat flooded his face and he took her shoulders in his hands. “Because of you? You didn’t do anything. You and your mom were victims.”

  “It was all my fault. I let him in. She told me like a thousand times, but I had this stupid idea of a family together. He made me believe it was possible and I let him in and ruined everything. I should have called the cops.”

  He couldn’t let her beat herself up like that. Not when he could understand what it was like to want your parents to love you and be together. He would have done the same. No, he probably would have shot Fausto himself. “You were not dumb. You were a kid. You wanted your family together and you didn’t know your dad was an asshole. Your mom didn’t tell you. That’s not dumb. It’s normal.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and this time she let him touch her. Her skin cold and clammy, she burrowed closer.

  “Cam, if something should happen, you have to take care of Bron…” Her voice broke and she buried her face in his chest.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Cam had spent the last twenty minutes alternating between berating himself and raging against his father. He should’ve hopped in the shower with Adri. She was taking too long and he was getting antsy. She was level headed but this whole thing with Walter and the secret, he’d never seen her like that. She had always been so sure, so brave about everything. She’d always held her head high in Acacia, despite what people thought about her family. Fausto had really fucked up their lives.

  Now, beyond the grave, he continued to do that. Why did he have to call Walter? Why had he been out to screw his ex-wife and daughter up until his last breath? Cam couldn’t blame Adri for being so scared. This threatened everything that was sacred in her life. Her mom. Bron. It covered all her bases.

  And what kind of asshole, knowing everything Fausto had put them through, blackmailed women who were only trying to defend themselves? Walter was worse than Fausto. He was a leech and roach. Cam wasn’t going to let him mess with them anymore. He pulled out his phone and texted Chase.

  Walter is here.

  Not even a minute later his phone went off. “What the hell is he doing down there?”

  Cam sighed, hit the speaker icon, and placed the phone on the bed. The evening, the secrets, Adri’s sadness, the asshole he had for a father all weighed heavy in his shoulders. “He’s trying to manipulate me into giving him money by blackmailing Adrianna.”

  “Blackmailing her with what? What did she supposedly do?”

  He looked up to find her standing at the door. Her face serious, her eyes somber, but her shoulders didn’t droop. She was holding her head high as ever.

  “She did what she had to.” He extended his hand to her.

  She closed the door behind her, locked it, and crossed the room. He leaned back against the pillows and she leaned against him.

  “Okay,” his brother said. “Tell me what you need me to do.”

  “Walter has a voicemail recording from over eleven years ago. I need to retrieve and destroy it. Do you think your friends can help with that?”

  Adri’s soft gasp was the only sound for a while.

  “I can ask, but…”

  “I know I told you I never wanted you mixed up with them again, but I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t—”

  “No, it’s not that. I think getting that may be easier than you think. Walter is not a genius. He’s probably got that in his old laptop and if he’s in Maryland, I can go to the brownstone and get it. Lux has helped him with it in the past.”

  Adrianna sat back to look at him.

  “You can trust them,” he mouthed. “Okay?”

  She hesitated but then nodded after a few seconds.

  “Okay, when can you go?”

  “I’m texting with Lux. She’s on a date but told me to pick her up.”

  “Call me when you get there. I’ll owe you two.”

  “Oh, please. If she’s willing to end the date without me explaining, it wasn’t going well to begin with. Will call you when I get to Hades.”

  “You guys call your parents’ house Hades?” Adrianna asked.

  He brushed the strands of hair that had fallen over her eyes. “Tells you everything you need to know.”

  “Won’t your mother have something to say about them snooping around?”

  Cam shook his head. “She takes Ambien and is probably asleep but if she’s awake, Chase will know how to deal with her.”

  She nodded. “Thank you. I know I laid all this heavy shit on you and you don’t have to—"

  He placed his fingertips over her lips. “I do have to. You had to solve things on your own for long enough. But now you have me here and we’re going to do it together. I’m your man, right?”

  “Yes,” she said without hesitation.

  “Then let me be your man. Trust me to help you solve this.”

  “I do trust you, Cam.”

  “Good. Then tell me I’m your man, Adri.”

  “You’re my man, Cam.”

  He pressed her tight to him.

  “I don’t like feeling out of control,” she whispered against his neck.

&
nbsp; “I know but if Chase and Lux can get the computer and we can destroy that message, he will have nothing over you. I also want to talk to my lawyer, just in case.”

  She stiffened, her breath rushing out. They sat in silence for a few breaths and then her body went limp again. “Okay.”

  His chest tightened. He couldn’t imagine how difficult this was for her. He pressed his lips to her forehead. He had to reassure her, make sure she knew that her and her mom’s lives were safe with him. “I’ll retain him in you and your mom’s names. That would ensure attorney-client privilege.”

  She pulled back and looked in his eyes. “How do you know all this?”

  Cam chuckled at the surprise in her tone. “Keeping Chase alive and out of jail hasn’t been easy. It’s taught me much about life, the law, and things you don’t even want to know about.”

  “That had to be hard for you. What did he do?”

  “Depends on the age. He ran around with gang members, hotwired cars, beat one of Walter’s sleazy ass friends who tried to touch Lux to a pulp, joined a fight club, and landed in the hospital a bunch of times doing stunts.”

  She stared at him open-mouthed. Cam saw an opportunity to distract her until he heard from his siblings. He told her about what he’d been through with his brother. Chase wouldn’t mind.

  “Holy shit,” she said when he finished. Then kissed him. “You’re a good brother.”

  “I would do anything I have to for my family. Whatever I have to do. I hope you believe in that, Adri. Because you’re a part of me, too. I would do anything for you.”

  She smiled, so hard, so wide. She believed him. It was in the soft look in her eyes, in the warm palms that settled at his cheeks, in the slow kiss that twisted everything inside him. He pulled her to straddle his lap, his hands sneaking under her tank to caress her thigh.

  She ground her hips against him and his cock stirred. “Adri—"

  His phone went off. It was Chase.

  “Cam, we’re at the house. Marilyn is sleeping but we can’t get into Walter’s computer. He changed the password.”

  Of course he did. Nothing could ever be easy. “Shit. What are our options?”

  “Well…I can have someone hack into it,” Chase said.

  “But?” Cam asked.

  “It may be easier to just deal with Marilyn, get the password and then I can take it to someone to locate the audio and destroy it and any other version he may have. I’ll have him wipe Walter’s hard drive clean.”

  Dealing with Marilyn meant upping her stipend.

  Irritation flushed all over his body. He shouldn’t have to pay his mother to do the decent thing but then again, the decent thing had never applied to Marilyn and Walter. He wanted to say fuck it, just have Chase destroy the whole thing but with Walter’s password, they could do so much more.

  He looked at the wrinkle on Adri’s face and he couldn’t do it. He’d do whatever he had to do to give her peace.

  “Do it. Wake her up. Tell her I’ll add to her allowance and will put the house in her name again.”

  Yeah, whatever he had to. After that, he wouldn’t have to deal with his mother again.

  •••

  "Come on, you have to wake up or I'm doing this without you."

  Cam woke up to the fluttering of her lips over his. His eyes drifted open and found her face hovering over his, her eyes hazed, and her hair cascading over them. The smile she wore bled into him until he slowly mirrored it.

  He pulled her on top of him, his hands roaming up and down her back. They’d fallen asleep after Chase arranged everything. It had taken a while for his siblings wake up their medicated mother. Walter had nothing on Adri and the smile on her face before she’d fallen asleep was worth every penny he’d paid.

  Adrianna nipped at his lower lip. “We need to hurry before she wakes. I was going to wait until after I dropped her off at school but I can’t. I want you too much right now.”

  Need jolted through Cam’s body. "Were you really about to start without me?" he managed between kisses.

  "Mmhmm," she murmured. "It took you awhile to get up."

  His skin ignited with her touch. He was dynamite too close to the flame. Burying his fingers in her hair, he pulled her back and brought himself to a sitting position.

  The soft sound that broke from her throat was sexy like nothing Cam ever heard. Leaning forward, he devoured her mouth. He explored, his tongue slowly sliding over hers, provoking soft moans. Her fingers dug into his leg while she followed the movement of his tongue with her hips.

  They moved in unison, touching each other where they needed and how they needed. They knew how to make each other tick. Cam reached under her night tank, pulling it over her head and discarding it next to them. He placed kisses on her neck, his hands slid over her breasts and she arched against them. He circled her nipples with his thumbs, trapping them against his index fingers.

  He tugged. She whimpered. Taking his face in her hands, she bruised his lips while her hips drew circles over his cock. One of his hands snuck into the waistband of her shorts. Finding her mound, he pressed his thumb against it. His lips took over for his hand at her breast, trapping her hardened nipples between his tongue and the roof of his mouth.

  Adrianna threw her head back, pressing her pussy tight against his hand. He bit the hardened nipples until he heard the small gasp and she shattered around his finger. He caught her against him.

  With Adrianna coiled tightly around his body, Cam smiled. He began kissing on her neck until she lifted her head. Smiling, she leaned to kiss him. It was different this time. She leisurely kissed over his jaw, down his neck.

  "This one’s for you," she murmured, her teeth raking over the soft skin. Her hand gliding along his shaft.

  Cam lost it then, flipping her back into the bed. She lifted her hips when he reached for the waistband of her pajama shorts. He slid them down her legs and knelt between her legs. He reached for her hips, bringing her close, setting her ass over his thighs, spreading her for his cock. The morning light filtered in, shining a spotlight on the divine sight that was her pussy.

  “God, I want to eat you right now. You’re so pink and wet.”

  She squirmed. “Cam.”

  He planned to make her scream with pleasure again while he lost himself in her luscious pussy. Cam grabbed his dick in his hand and inched it inside her, shuddering when the head grazed her entrance. Every sense clashed together when he eased past her folds into her wet heat. He reveled in the slow shuttering of her eyes and how tight her teeth closed around her bottom lip.

  “God. Jesus. Cam.”

  His heart sped into a gallop. “I love it when you take my cock, when you tighten around it. Do it for me, baby. Let me feel that.”

  She clenched and release and clenched again and the familiar ache pulsated through every corner of his body.

  He took advantage of the almost foot he had on her and pushed her knees to her chest, rolling forward.

  “You’re so deep.” She gasped.

  “I know, so good. So. Fucking. Good,” he strangled out.

  He placed his hands on the bed by her hips and let his hips drive into her in a natural cadence. Her hands hooked behind her knees and she pressed them closer to her, balancing herself and leaving room for him to sneak one hand and rub circles into her clit.

  Her mouth flew open and her belly flushed.

  His balls tightened, and his cock turned into granite. “You have to come, baby. Come on. Let it go.”

  He squeezed her clit and she moaned or exhaled. Cam couldn’t be sure because everything inside him exploded and numbness descended over him. He collapsed on top of her, needing to have her all around him. Adrianna wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his back. She pressed kiss after slow kiss to the side of his face. He couldn’t talk or get off her until his breath evened out.

  He raised his head to look in her eyes and she smiled at
him. “That was okay. I think we can do better.”

  He pushed himself on his elbows. “Challenge accepted.”

  But the next thing he heard wasn't her musical moans but the one sound that could effectively kill his wood, no matter how hard it was.

  "Mommy? Why is the door closed?"

  The door knob rattled, cutting through his raising heartbeat. Cam swore. One second, he was still buried deep inside Adrianna, the next he was at the foot of the bed.

  He reached for a shirt, realizing his pants were only half off. Adrianna jumped back into her pajamas shorts.

  "Daddy? Is Mom still mad at me?"

  Adrianna flipped on the light switch. "I'll go get her in the shower." She headed towards the door, stopping to flash him a disarming smile over her shoulder. "Seventh inning stretch. We’ll continue this after I drop her off."

  Cam smiled back. “You got yourself a promise.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  “We want to do a strong girl concept. Like princesses in jeans and combat boots. Ayla is going to paint her grandma, who was in the army. I want to do Abuela with a tiara and a cape because vice-principals are heroes too.”

  Adrianna’s gaze flew from her daughter’s to Cam’s. His smile was still in place and he didn’t hesitate to respond. “You’re right. Your abuela is a hero too. She’s always had to be strong for her family.”

  Adri mouthed her thanks. It meant the world that he didn’t think differently of her mom now that he knew the truth. She was so grateful to him for taking away the threat of Walter. She was lighter today and embracing her happiness full on. “Abuela is going to do backflips. She’s already so proud of you.”

  Bron nodded. “Can I please go rearrange the flowers on the tables? They’re all crooked now.”

  Adri nodded. “Yes, please. The lunch crowd was crazy today and they kept touching everything and we had to put tables together. And thank you, beautiful.” Bron went to the other tables and she dug into her salad, keeping an eye on her. “I’m so hungry. How was the drive from the school?”