A Summer to Remember

chapter 20





After lying around at the pool all day and contemplating my decision to move in with Adrian, I was physically and emotionally exhausted. I only had a couple of hours to spare before Adrian would be getting off work and I promised him I’d be going over to his house every night this week. I jumped in the shower, threw on some sweats and a tank, and ran a comb through my hair. I wasn’t in much of a cooking mood so I decided I was just going to pick up pizza.

I pulled into the driveway around the time I expected Adrian to be home. I didn’t see his car, so I made my way up the stairs to the front door. I pulled my new key out and pushed it into the lock. I carefully walked to the coffee table and set the pizza and soda on the table. I spent enough time here over to weekend to be able to navigate around in the dark. As I turned back around to head to the light switch, it flipped on.

“Hey, beautiful.” Adrian walked in with a smile on his face and closed the door behind him.

“Hey!” I ran up and gave him a kiss on the lips. “I hope you don’t mind, I just picked up pizza.” I pointed to the box on the coffee table. “I’m a little exhausted and wasn’t in the mood for cooking dinner, or getting ready, for that matter.” I gestured toward my outfit.

“Not a problem, and don’t worry, you always look beautiful.” He kissed me on the forehead. “I’m going to jump in the shower.” He headed toward the bathroom.

I grabbed some glasses and plates and settled down on the couch, then picked up the remote and clicked on the TV to help settle my nerves. I was going to tell Adrian my decision tonight. Even though I knew he was going to be ecstatic, it still didn’t make it any easier. I was a little scared. I’d never done anything like this before. He walked out of the bathroom in just a pair of basketball shorts, which seemed to be his usual after-work attire, and joined me on the couch. I opened up the pizza box, put a few slices on a plate, and handed it to him.

“So, have you thought anymore about moving in with me?” he asked as he took a bite.

“Actually I have.” I put a slice on my plate and closed the box.

“And?” I could see the concern in his eyes.

“And I’m going to do it.”

A grin spread across his face. “Babe! That’s great! I’m so happy!” He leaned in and kissed me, then pulled back and took in the expression on my face. “You don’t seem too excited about it.”

“I am! It’s just that now I have to tell my parents and I’m kind of nervous about it. I had talked to them a while ago when me, Lily, Jason, and Steven had talked about moving in together at the beginning of the school year. I thought they would be okay with it since Jason and I had been dating for a while, but they were never too fond of him. You can imagine how they were when I pitched that idea to them.” My parents had always been nice to Jason but I always knew they didn’t really care for him much. He wasn’t exactly parent-friendly and I could always tell by their behavior when he was around. They weren’t exactly…well, let’s just say, very excited to see him.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be there with you when you tell them, if you want me to be. I’d love for your parents to get to know me. I’ll do whatever it takes for them to be okay with you living here. I don’t want you to be upset or uncomfortable with your decision in any way.” I swear he was almost too good to be true.

“That would be great, but you don’t have to do that. Speaking of getting to know you, my mom was wondering if you wanted to come to dinner sometime this week or maybe this weekend?” I opened the pizza box and pulled out another slice.

“I know I don’t have to. I want to. And of course I’d love to have dinner at your parents’ house.”

“Okay. Would you rather do it this weekend? I know you don’t usually feel like doing much by the time you get off work.” I watched as he poured himself another glass of soda then sat back on the couch.

“Sure. There’s actually a storm rolling in tonight, so I might have tomorrow off. If we get rained out, maybe we can do it tomorrow night. You should stay here tonight, just in case.” He smiled at me and it caused a warm fuzzy feeling to wash over me.

“I don’t have any clothes or anything with me.” I set my empty plate on the table and moved closer to him.

“You don’t need clothes. You can wear some of mine to bed and wear what you have on in the morning. I have an extra toothbrush under the sink.”

“You’ve been planning this all day, haven’t you?” It was kind of cute how much he wanted me to stay here with him.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I could see the corner of his mouth curl up. He put his hand on the side of my face and pulled me in for another kiss.

“You’re so full of it.” I climbed onto his lap and kissed him. Every night we spent away from each other felt like an eternity. I daydreamed about his kiss when we were apart. Now to be here and have him right in front of me, it was hard to stop.

“You want to go to the bedroom?” he asked.

“Here is fine.” I pulled my shirt over my head. He looked me up and down and didn’t ask any more questions. He ran his hands slowly along my hips and waist; I could feel the electricity between my bare skin and his fingertips. He carefully picked me up and laid me on my back on the couch. As he kissed my lips and trailed kisses down my neck and collarbone, goosebumps formed on the surface of my skin. He pulled off my sweatpants. He sat up and admired me in my bra and panties; I could feel my cheeks becoming warm. Even though I could feel the butterflies moving rapidly in my stomach, it didn’t stop me from feeling like I was in total control of the situation. The way he looked at me, I knew I could make him do anything I wanted.

Later that night I was lying in Adrian’s bed and I could hear the raindrops falling on the rooftop. I’d always loved the sound of rain at night, especially during the summer months. It relaxed me and helped me sleep like a baby. I could see the lightning flash through the curtains onto the bedroom wall, which was followed by a loud boom of thunder a few seconds later. I turned to see if it woke Adrian, but he was sound asleep. He looked so peaceful when he slept, like he didn’t have a care in the world. Well, I guess I had better prepare myself, tomorrow night will be the night I tell my parents I’m moving in with Adrian.