A Summer to Remember

chapter 22





The rest of the week I spent going to the pool and going shopping with Lily until Adrian got off work. Lily came over to check out our place, and of course, she loved it! She thought it was “so cute we were shacking up together.” That’s Lily for you.

When Friday night rolled around, Adrian came home from work and told me about a party a friend of his was having. We hadn’t done much since going to the lake, so we decided tonight would be a good night to get out for a little bit. This would be our first night out together as an official couple in front of all of his friends. The only friends I’d met of his were the ones up at Brian’s cabin that weekend, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect when we got there.

When we entered the neighborhood, I knew the house we were going to was probably going to be a mansion. When I say mansion, I mean swimming pool inside the house kind of mansion. I was beginning to think this party was going to end up being a lot bigger than I’d imagined.

We turned down what I thought was a road, but when we finally reached the house, I realized it was actually their driveway. There were about thirty cars sitting outside in the drive, which circled around a large fountain. Some were even parked on the lawn. I had no idea how Adrian knew this guy, but someone had some major cash.

“Wow. There are a lot of people here.” I watched all of the people walking in and out of the house.

“Yeah, this is how Shane’s parties usually turn out. He knows a lot of people in town. His dad owns Boseman Auto Sales.” Okay, now the huge house and party were making sense. Boseman Auto Sales was one of the biggest car dealerships in town.

“His parents don’t care that all these people are trashing their house?” It looked like hundreds of abandoned cans and bottles were lining up the stairs to the front door.

“His parents don’t know. Every summer they take a trip to Cabo and Shane throws a few ‘get togethers’, as he calls them, while they’re gone. Then his housekeeper cleans up and he pays her to keep quiet.” He pulled up next to an SUV on the grass and parked the truck.

“If this is a ‘get together’, I’d love to see what a party looks like.”

“No kidding.” We got out of the truck and walked up the driveway to the front door. Adrian stopped to greet and shake hands with a few guys on the way up.

“How do you know Shane?” I asked once we got to the bottom of the steps.

“We played football together at Brant.” A smirk spread across his face. “We didn’t get along very well at first because he can be kind of a jackass, but we learned to get along.” We reached the top of the stairs and waited for a few people who were squeezing in and out of the doorway.

“If his parents are loaded, then why did he stick around here to go to school? Shouldn’t he have gone to some bigwig school or something?” Adrian laughed.

“You would think. He claims he stuck around because he wants to run his dad’s dealership someday, but everyone else thinks it’s because he’s too lazy to do anything else with his life. He just graduated college, has never worked a day in his life, including working at the dealership, because his dad doesn’t think he’s responsible enough yet, and he still lives under his parents’ roof. His parents, especially his mom, aren’t about to cut him off, so it’s just easier to stick around and do whatever he wants.” We were finally able to walk through the front door just as some leggy blonde and the guy she was clinging to were walking out.

The inside of the house was amazing! There were two curved staircases that followed the walls on each side of the room and came together in the center on the second floor. The ceiling in the entry was huge and shaped into a dome that had what looked like hand-painted artwork covering the inside. The crystal chandler that hung in the middle of the dome was gorgeous! I bet this place was really something when it wasn’t covered in red Solo cups and beer bottles and didn’t reek of alcohol and weed.

“Adrian!” A tall, tanned brunette was waving her arms crazily and running in our direction. When she reached us, she threw her arms around Adrian’s neck and hugged him.

I guess it never really crossed my mind that we might run into some of his ex-girlfriends, or flings, or whatever they may be. This girl was being a little too friendly with him to be just a friend, or if she was just a friend, then she wanted something else. We’d never spent much time talking about the people we had been with before we were together. The only reason Adrian even knew about Jason was because we ran into him the night we met.

“Hey, Sam. How’s it going?” I could sense Adrian was feeling a little uncomfortable.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so happy to see you! What has it been? Like six months? I’m so glad you came tonight! Let me get you a drink!” She grabbed his hand and started leading him into the kitchen.

“Actually,” he pulled his hand from hers, “I’m kind of here with someone.” He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me to his side. “This is my girlfriend, Ava.”

“Oh.” She looked me up and down with a look of disapproval in her eyes. She was clearly annoyed. “Nice to meet you, Ava.” She did a horrible job plastering a fake smile on her face and trying not to sound disgusted as she said my name.

“Yeah, you too.” I sounded a little more bitchy then I had intended, but I wasn’t one to be fake when I knew someone was being fake with me.

“Well, you two enjoy yourselves. I’m going to go get myself a drink.” She flipped her amazing long dark hair as she turned and walked into the kitchen.

“Well, that was awkward,” I said.

“Yeah. Sorry about that. I didn’t know she was back from Florida.” He sighed with relief; obviously happy that went as smoothly as it did.

“And she is?” I asked, trying not to let my jealousy creep into my question.

“Sam.”

“Yeah, I got that.” I was a little irritated because he knew what I was asking and he was just trying to get out of answering the question. “I mean how do you know her?”

“She’s Shane’s sister.” He paused for a brief moment. “We dated a few times.”

“And by dated you mean slept together?” I slowly slipped out of his arm, trying not to make it too noticeable, but suddenly I didn’t feel like being touched by him.

“It was a long time ago.” He reached toward me to pull me back, but I stayed just out of reach.

“Six months isn’t really that long ago.” My irritation and jealousy weren’t masked so well that time. Suddenly I felt like coming here wasn’t such a good idea. I started to feel anxious; this was way too much for me. I pulled my phone out of my purse and texted Lily the address to come pick me up. Who knew how many more “Sam’s” we might run into?

“Listen, you can’t seriously think that I wasn’t with anyone before I met you. You were with Jason before you were with me. That doesn’t mean you’re going to run off to be with him. At least, I hope not.” It’s funny how he could say something like that but I didn’t hear a hint of insecurity in his voice.

“Yeah, but he’s an idiot! Sam is gorgeous!” I crossed my arms over my chest and looked off in the direction she’d disappeared in.

“No, you’re gorgeous.” He turned my head to look at him. “She’s just your average rich girl with a fake tan and too much makeup.” He leaned down to kiss me. I leaned in for it but then pulled away as I remembered something he’d said a few minutes earlier.

“Wait, did you say Florida?”

“What?” He looked at me, confused.

“Did you say you didn’t know she was back from Florida?” I asked again.

“Sam? Yeah. She goes to school…Oh, no, Ava… don’t even think like that.”

“Don’t think that I should be a little worried that you’re taking a job where you’re hot ex-bed buddy is living?” This time I was able to control my emotions a little better, at least on the outside.

“Ava. You have nothing to worry about. Come on, let’s go get a drink.” My phone vibrated. I had a text from Lily saying she would be there in five minutes.

“Actually, Lily just texted me. She and Steven got into a huge fight. She’s really upset and says she needs to talk,” I lied. I needed to get out of here before I got all crazy and ruined everything. There was no reason for me to be flipping out right now, anyway. He hadn’t done anything wrong. I wouldn’t be this insecure all the time if it hadn’t been for Jason! Adrian wasn’t Jason! At least I hope not…I really couldn’t deal with this right now.

“Okay, we can go. Where is she? I’ll drive you.” I stopped him as he led me toward the front door.

“No, you stay here. Have fun with your friends. She’s already on her way, she’ll be here in a few minutes.” He turned to look at me.

“Are you sure?” He seemed genuinely concerned.

“Yes, I’ll be fine. She’ll probably want me to stay over, so I’ll see you in the morning.” I was trying to think of anything to get out of being with him tonight. I was so confused about what just happened that I needed to think things through.

“At least let me walk you out.” I was about to protest but I was saved by a tall blond guy who came over and started talking aimlessly about who knows what. I’m guessing he was also an old football friend of Adrian’s. He said he wasn’t going anywhere until he could get Adrian a drink. He was my out.

“Go. I’ll see you tomorrow.” My phone vibrated, Lily was waiting outside. “Lily’s here anyway.”

“All right. I love you.” He gave me a quick peck on the lips and wandered off with the blond guy. I headed out the front door.





“All I have to say is wow! Who lives in that house?” Lily asked as soon as I got in her car.

“This guy named Shane. His dad’s the one who owns Boseman Auto Sales.” I set my purse on the floor and fastened my seatbelt.

“That house is huge!” She took one last glance in her rearview mirror as she drove down the driveway. “I left Steven at the party, so is it okay if we swing by there and pick him up? We don’t have to hang out there if you don’t want to.” I was a little surprised Lily was so…sober. I guess since she and Steven had been fighting about her drinking so much lately, she’d decided to cut back. I was so thankful for that right now.

“Yeah, that’s fine. And I don’t have a problem being there for a little while. I just had to get out of there.” I looked out the window and stared off into the darkness.

“So, what’s going on? What happened back there?” Lily turned onto the main road. I sighed with relief, knowing Adrian and Sam were behind me.

“I met one of his ex-girlfriends, and suddenly I wasn’t in the mood to be there anymore. Or anywhere around him, for that matter.”

“Was she that hideous?” Lily looked at me and raised her eyebrows.

“Actually, no. She was gorgeous.”

“I’m sure she wasn’t as gorgeous as you are, and plus, she’s probably crazy or something.” I laughed a little. “Well, there’s gotta be some reason why they’re not together anymore.”

“Well, it gets worse. She goes to school in Florida, the same place where Adrian is taking that job. That’s what set me off. So I just told him you and Steven got into a fight and I’d be staying with you tonight. I didn’t feel like it was right for me to be pissed off about it because he’s right, we’ve both dated other people. I’m just, I don’t know, having doubts, I guess. I really don’t want to get my heart broken again.” I thought back to the times Jason and I had broken up. No matter how many times it happened, it never got any easier. I was starting to feel like I was in over my head. Competing with girls like Sam? I didn’t know if I had it in me.

“That’s understandable, but do you really think he’ll do that? He just doesn’t seem like that type.” Lily must really like Adrian, it seemed like every time I had something bad to say about him, she always had something good to say. She was never like that with Jason.

“I don’t know.” I watched the streetlights pass by the window. “I really wish I knew.”





We pulled up in front of a beige house. It was no mansion, but it was pretty decent. Lily and I got out of the car and walked up to the side of the house. She opened a gate to the backyard and we walked in.

“Whose house is this?” I whispered as we went down the stepping-stones along the side of the house.

“Chad’s parents.” I remembered Chad from high school, he played football with the guys. He was always a super nice guy and the girls all loved him, so it was hard to keep track of who he was dating. I noticed a few guys from our high school football team were here with their girlfriends, sitting around a stone fire pit. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. The backyard was pretty nice and looked like it would be great place to barbeque. It was well laid out and the plants and trees were manicured nicely. I was admiring the stonework and the landscaping when someone else caught my eye. Crap! It was Jason. He was sitting on a small rock wall near the side. When he looked up and saw me, a smile formed on his face.

I looked around the fire pit for somewhere to sit. Just my luck, the only open seat was next to Jason. I hesitated for a minute, debating whether or not sitting next to him was such a good idea. This was ridiculous! I was being silly. It wasn’t like we were in second grade or something and he had cooties. He wouldn’t try and do anything stupid in front of all these people. Lily watched me carefully as I sat next to Jason.

“Hey,” I said quietly. It wasn’t like anyone else would hear me. All the guys were drunk and trying to talk over each other.

“Hey.” He gave me a slight smile. I could feel my stomach turn a little. A part of me really missed that smile.

“How have you been?” I asked.

“Not too bad. How about you?” I thought of Adrian and Sam.

“I’ve been better. I could sure use one of those right about now.” I eyed the red cup in his hand.

“Oh yeah? You want me to show you where to get one?”

“Yes, please.” He got up and walked by me. Lily had her eyes glued on me. I tried to ignore them burning into me as I got up and followed him to a small bar in the corner of the yard. He walked behind the bar and opened up a small mini fridge. He pulled out a bottle of Malibu and what looked like pineapple juice. He knew it was my favorite.

“The usual?” he asked, holding out the two bottles.

“Of course.” I wandered around to the back of the bar and watched him as he poured and mixed my drink. He handed it to me when he was finished. “Thank you.” I was a little relieved to see he didn’t seem so angry anymore. Funny thing was, I wasn’t feeling as angry about what had happened anymore, either. Everyone made mistakes, there was no sense in holding a grudge.

“No problem.” This was the old Jason I remembered, when he was nice and went out of his way to do things for me. It reminded me of why I fell for him in the first place. He stayed close to me and stared into my eyes. I could feel him slowly moving closer. Part of me wanted to turn around and get the hell out of there, but there was another part of me that wanted to stay and see what would happen next, and that’s the part that won.

“I just want you to know I will never find another girl like you.” He looked down at his cup then back up at me. “We had some really good times together.” He was right. We did. I couldn’t deny that some of my best memories were with him. “I’m not trying to win you back or anything, I really just want you to be happy. I want you to know that I do realize I screwed up, big time. It might have taken another guy walking into your life for me to realize it, but I do.” He moved in so close to me I could feel the heat of his body. “I will always love you, Ava.” I felt his lips softly press against mine, as if he was waiting to see what my reaction would be. I didn’t move, so he continued to kiss me. I couldn’t help but kiss him back. He’d never kissed me like that before, not even the first time. This time it was different, it was so passionate I could feel it through every inch of my body. My heart ached as I thought of how many times I’d wanted him to want me like this. It felt safe and familiar, but I couldn’t ignore the fact that it didn’t feel right. I pulled back suddenly.

“I’m sorry. I can’t do this again.” I headed for the gate.

“Ava! Wait!” At this point we had everyone’s attention. He caught up to me when I reached the side of the house. “Please, give me one more chance.” I stopped and looked at him. We just weren’t the same people anymore. I’d changed. I wanted different things in my life now that I realized I deserved better.

“I can’t.” I pushed the gate open and he didn’t follow.

“Ava!” I heard Lily call when I finally reached her car. “What the hell was that about?” I knew she was pissed at me.

“Can we just go home?” I begged as tears trailed down my cheeks. “Please?” Lily looked at me, and her pissed off look turned to sympathy. She came around the car and gave me a hug as I broke down.