A Summer to Remember

by Jessica Gunhammer

  “You two just sit back and relax, your food will be out shortly. If you need any refills or anything, please feel free to push the button on the small remote in the middle of the table.”

  “Thank you, Jeffrey,” Adrian said as the waiter walked out the door.

  “This is really amazing, Adrian. Thank you for this.” I scooted closer to him and he put his arm around me.

  “No, thank you for agreeing to come with me. I don’t think you know how amazing you are. Really.” I was going to open my mouth to argue with him on that, but I decided to keep my thoughts to myself and let us both enjoy our evening together.

  Chapter 13

  We made small talk while we ate our dinner. By the time we were done, we had each finished a pretty good amount of wine and it helped bring my nerves down a bit.

  “Thank you again. I’m having a great time, I would love to do something like this again.” I looked over at Adrian and I could tell something was bugging him. “Is something wrong?” He placed his hand on my thigh and turned to face me.

  “Okay, I think it’s better I tell you this now rather than later.” This worried me a little. Things seemed to be going so great. I had no clue what was going on. I nodded for him to continue. “Remember the night we met? I was actually at that party because I had just graduated from Brant and I was celebrating.”

  “Oh okay. So you graduated? That’s what you wanted to tell me?” I was still a little confused. If it was our age difference he was worried about, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal, and why would he be telling me this now?

  “That’s not all.” He looked down and paused for a minute. “I was offered a job in Florida.” He looked back up at me and waited for me to say something.

  “Why Florida? Doing what?” I didn’t have much emotion at this point, probably because it hadn’t completely sunk in yet. I hadn’t expected this.

  “My dad got me in touch with a guy a few years ago who ran football camps down there. I’ve been going to his camps since I was a senior in high school. He called me a few weeks before I graduated and wanted me to talk with a friend of his who was looking for a new football scout. He thought I would be good for the job. Long story short, after talking to his friend, he offered it to me.” He brushed his thumb on my thigh. “And the job’s in Florida.” He tried to read the expression on my face.

  “When do you leave?” I tried to keep a straight face and not let my emotions get the best of me. The wine wasn’t really helping matters.

  “I have to be there the beginning of August, so I’ll probably leave the last week of July.”

  “That’s only two and a half months away.” My stomach dropped and the rims of my eyes were filling up with tears.

  “I know. I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you as soon as possible before things went too far. It wouldn’t be fair to you if you didn’t know what you were getting yourself into.” He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in to his chest. I could feel a few tears fall down my cheeks. “I really like you, Ava. I wasn’t expecting to find someone over the summer, let alone find someone I’d share this kind of connection with.”

  I quickly dabbed away the tears and attempted to pull myself together. I didn’t want him to leave. Things seemed like they were finally falling into place for me and now I felt like everything was being ripped away. Maybe there’s a reason why Jason wasn’t fully out of my life yet. I’d always believed that everything happens for a reason.

  Jeffrey entered the room with our complimentary dessert and I slid away from Adrian so we could enjoy our cheesecake. After a few minutes and some small talk, the mood had lightened and I was finally able to get my emotions under control. I excused myself to the restroom and touched up my makeup.

  The thought of losing him already sent a piercing feeling through my heart. But for the first time in a very long time things became clear to me. I wanted to take a chance. I needed something different in my life. I’d played it safe my whole life and I didn’t want to do that anymore. Every time Jason and I would break up, I would always take him back because he made me feel like he was the best I’d ever have and that I should be lucky to have him. As bad as it sounds, a part of me always believed it was true, until now, when Adrian came into my life! When I got back to our VIP room, Adrian had already taken care of the bill and was getting our things together to leave.

  “You ready?” he asked when I entered the room.

  “Yes.” He went to open the door. “Wait.” I wrapped my arms around him. “If we’re only going to have two and a half months left together, we better make the most of it.” I pulled his head toward mine.

  When our lips met, a jolt ran through my body. It was more intense than before. I didn’t know if it was because of the wine or because I knew we only had a few months left to spend together, but whatever it was I didn’t want it to stop. I pushed him up against the door and continued kissing him. He wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled me closer. I pulled away and began kissing down his neck.

  “We can’t do this here,” he said in a hushed tone, disappointment in his voice. I trailed a few more kisses up his neck and then there was a knock on the door.

  “You’re right. We should probably go.” We backed away from the door as Jeffrey pushed it open.

  “Thank you. Have a nice night. I hope we see you again soon.” He held the door open. We walked past him toward the elevators, giggling about his timing.

  I couldn’t help but smile a little, thinking about the kiss we’d just shared in there, I’d never done anything like that before. I’d noticed that Adrian was involved in a few things I’d never done before, and I must admit I kind of liked it.

  We stepped into the elevator and watched the doors close in front of us.

  “I’m not ready to go home. Let’s stay here!”

  “What?” Adrian’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

  “Let’s get a room here. Let’s stay here for the night.”

  “Are you joking, because that’s not a very funny joke if you are.”

  “No, I’m serious.” I turned to face him. “I just want to be with you tonight.”

  “As tempting as that sounds, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “What? Why?”

  “I have to work in the morning, and judging by the kiss I got up there, if we stay here tonight I probably won’t be getting much sleep.” I felt a little crushed, but deep down I knew I was rushing things. “I would gladly do it if I wasn’t working with my dad.” The elevator doors opened and we stepped out into the lobby. “Listen, this is our first date of many more to come. We’ll have plenty of nights like this one. I don’t want to you feel like you have to rush things because I’m leaving and then regret it later.”

  “I won’t.” I smiled at the thought of being with him.

  “Then you won’t regret waiting, either.” He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. “It’s getting late. I’m going to take you home. I promise we’ll have more time together this weekend.”

  “Okay.” We went outside and got into the truck that the valet already had waiting for us.

  When we reached my house all the lights were out. Adrian got out of the truck and walked around to open my door and help me out. Which I was grateful for, my feet were killing me. You’d think I would know better than to wear brand new heels on a date, but of course I’d put up with the pain just to be sure I looked good. I used him to steady myself as we walked quietly to the front door. I opened up my small black clutch and pulled out my pink key ring with the letter “A” in cursive. I unlocked the door and turned back to Adrian to say goodnight.

  “I won’t be able to see you much the rest of the week because I’ll be working on the edge of town at that new housing development. So between the drive time and trying to wrap up this project, I won’t be getting home until late. You want to do something Friday night, though?”

  “Of course. What did you have in mind?” I leaned up against the railing of the
deck, attempting to take some pressure off my feet.

  “It doesn’t matter to me. How about you think of something and let me know.” He stood in front of me and put his hands on my hips.

  “Okay. We can do whatever I want?”

  “Whatever you want.”

  “Even if I want to see a really horrible chick flick?” I joked.

  “Even if you want to see a horrible chick flick.” He leaned over and gave me a soft, gentle kiss on the lips. “Goodnight, Ava.”

  “Goodnight, Adrian,” I whispered as he pulled away.

  I watched him drive away. Knowing that I only had a couple months left with him, I had to make the most of it. Even if we didn’t end up lasting, I was determined to make sure we’d have a summer to remember.

  Chapter 14

  I was woken up the next morning by my cellphone buzzing on my nightstand. I picked up my phone and saw Lily’s name across the screen.

  “Hello?” I answered, irritated. She knew I wasn’t a morning person.

  “Morning, sleepy head! Time to get up so I can hear all about your date last night!” I never understood how she could be so chipper all the time, especially in the mornings.

  “It’s too early,” I grumbled.

  “Girl, please! It’s nine o’clock. You want to go to the pool?” I knew that even if I tried to say no she was going to end up getting her way anyway, she always did.

  “Might as well, I’m up now.”

  “I’ll be there in forty-five minutes and you better be ready to spill about last night. Bye.” She hung up and I set my phone back down on the nightstand.

  About a half hour passed before I decided to get out of bed. I knew if I didn’t, she’d come up here and drag me out the door. I didn’t do much except wash my face and throw my hair up in a bun on top of my head.

  “Ava! I’m here!” Lily yelled up the stairs. “Let’s go!”

  “I’m coming! Hold your horses!” I grabbed my phone and pool bag and went downstairs.

  “You ready? I’m hungry. We should grab some food on our way there.” Even in a cover up, no makeup and her hair literally thrown on top of her head, Lily still managed to look amazing. She was one of those girls that looked good even when she wasn’t trying to.

  “Sounds good.” I locked up the house and jumped in her convertible. We drove to the nearest drive-thru and got a couple salads and some caffeine. Lily’s known me long enough to know she wasn’t going to get anything out of me without food and caffeine first.

  When we got to the pool, we weaved in and out of groups of elementary school kids and looked around for two empty chairs. By this time it was late morning, so it was already pretty packed. This pool is where most of the richer parents took their kids for play dates. Or should I say, where the richer parents had their nannies take their kids for play dates. It was one of the nicer pools in town. There were giant umbrellas for shade and a covered sand pit for the kids. It also had three different pool areas for different age groups; a small pool for toddlers, a bigger pool with a play area for elementary aged kids, and one with waterslides for the older kids. We managed to find two chairs under a giant blue umbrella, so we dragged them to the grassy area near the back fence, farthest away from all the screaming kids running around.

  “So how was it?” Lily laid her towel down on her chair and made herself comfortable.

  “It was amazing. You’ll never guess where he took me.” I sat down on my chair.

  “Where?”

  “Rooftop Terrace.” Lily flew up into a sitting position. I laughed, I didn’t even know she could move that fast.

  “Shut up! How did he even get reservations? Steven and I have been trying to get in for months, and when I say months, I mean literally months!”

  “Apparently his uncle works there so he was able to squeeze us in. Not only that, we were upgraded to a VIP dining room because one of their regulars had to cancel at the last minute.” Lily laid back down in her chair.

  “Oh my God! I am so jealous right now! You have the best boyfriend ever. Well besides Steven, of course.” Boyfriend? I guess I hadn’t really thought of calling him my boyfriend. I started to get a little giddy inside at the thought of it.

  “Of course.” I joked with her.

  “So how was it? Was it amazing?” She pried for details as usual.

  “Oh yes. The view was absolutely spectacular!”

  “I wasn’t talking about the room.” She lowered her sunglasses onto the tip of her nose and looked at me.

  “Of course you weren’t.” Lily never failed to make me laugh. “It was great. I haven’t had that much fun in a long time. Well. Except…” I thought about the bombshell Adrian dropped on me last night. I could feel a lump forming in my throat just from thinking about it.

  “Except what?” Lily was concerned. She must be able to see how upset I was even behind my bug-eyed sunglasses.

  “He’s leaving in two and a half months.”

  “Leaving? Leaving for where?” She looked at me, confused.

  “Florida,” I choked out.

  “Like vacation leaving or moving leaving?”

  “Like leaving, leaving. This might be the last few months I get to spend with him. I may never see him again after this.”

  “Oh Ava, I’m sorry.” She sat on the edge of my chair and hugged me. I didn’t realize tears were running down my cheeks.

  “I don’t understand. What’s in Florida?” I wiped the tears from my face and explained to her what he had told me the night before.

  “Okay. Well, that’s an amazing job offer. Do you really like him?”

  “I haven’t known him long, but I think I do.” I didn’t want to explain to her the stunt I tried to pull last night. When I woke up this morning I was feeling a little embarrassed about the whole thing. I should be able to control myself and not just throw myself at someone I’d just met.

  “Well, why don’t you see how things go this summer and if you still feel the same way…maybe you should go to Florida.”

  “You’re crazy! I can’t do that.” I was shocked she would even suggest such a thing.

  “Why not? I mean, I’m your best friend and I would hate to see you leave, but I think this guy is really good for you and I want you to be happy. Besides, Florida is definitely not the worst place in the world to be.”

  “I’m already enrolled to take classes at Brant in the fall and my family is here. I can’t imagine leaving them or you behind.” Just the thought of leaving them got me upset.

  “I’m not saying you have to make a decision now, but it’s an option. It wouldn’t be so bad for you to get out of this town and they have great schools down there. Schools that are ten times better than Brant.”

  “It’s an option, but it’s a crazy option.” I couldn’t even imagine leaving my family and friends behind. It literally scared me half to death. The reason I think Lily and I got along so well is because even though we’re so much alike, she is way more outgoing than me and she always knows how to give me that little push to get me outside of my comfort zone.

  “Just think about it.” She got up and went back over to her chair.

  We spent the next couple hours talking about things not related to Adrian. Like Steven’s most recent habits that annoyed Lily. They seemed to be arguing a lot more since Jason and I broke up. Lily tended to be a little over dramatic at times and I think Steven didn’t really know how to deal with it. He’d always been really quiet and laid back and he was incredible smart. For as long as I’d known him I don’t think he’d ever gotten less than a 3.8 GPA. I’d always thought of Steven as a super sweet guy with a great heart. The type of guy that would loan you a hundred dollars if you needed it and would never ask you to pay him back. He wanted to go to Brant to play football and get a degree in business, which was completely opposite of Lily.

  Lily’s always wanted to go to film school and travel the world, but her parents wouldn’t allow it. They wanted her to go to Brant and get a deg
ree so she could get a “real” job. Of course her parents loved Steven because he was exactly the type of guy they wanted her to marry. I knew Lily loved him, but sometimes I wondered if her free spirit was going to get the best of them one of these days.

  When late afternoon rolled around, we decided to gather our things and head home. As we walked through the parking lot to Lily’s car, my phone rang. I dug through my bag until I finally found it stuffed in the bottom. I pulled it out and saw Adrian’s name on the screen.

  “Hello?” I tried not to sound too excited.

  “Hey, beautiful! How are you today?” I smiled.

  “I’m doing pretty good. How about you?”

  “I’d be better if I was with you.” I could feel my cheeks turn red. “I’m just on break so I thought I’d call and see what you were up to. I was going to call you this morning when I was on my way to work but I figured you wouldn’t be up yet.”

  “Yeah, I’m not much of a morning person. I’m just leaving the pool with Lily. She came over and picked me up this morning and we’ve been hanging out here for a while. We’re heading back to my house now.”

  “That sounds fun.”

  “Will we be able to hang out tonight?” I had a feeling I knew what his answer was gonna to be, but I thought I’d ask anyways.

  “Probably not.” He sounded disappointed. “I’m sorry but I won’t get off until late and I’ll be really exhausted. Working in this heat really takes a toll on me.”

  “Okay, I understand.” I tried not to sound too disappointed.

  “Don’t forget about Friday,” he reminded me, trying to give me something to look forward to. “Have you thought about what you want to do yet?”