A Summer to Remember

chapter Five

I studied myself in the full length mirror before I turned to my “good” side versus my “bad” side. I looked healthy and due to the time in the sun, my dyed hair had gained even more blonde streaks which was always a good thing.

However, I knew I would be limiting my time in the sun from then on out. I had the perfect golden tan and I had no wish to go overboard, not to mention sun damage that would have my youthful skin looking liked aged leather by the time I was in my fifties.

My mother religiously avoided the sun and her skin was gorgeous. It was easy to think it was okay to sun worship at my age. I knew if I wanted great skin well into my later years, I would have to ease up on the booze and the sun.

There was a sudden knock on my door and I yelled, “One moment!”

I quickly began to put away the dresses, still on their hangers, back in my closet. I didn’t know whether it was a woman’s intuition or just plain old logic but I knew it was Paul at my door.

“Come in!” I exclaimed after I sat down and began to study my face in the vanity mirror to make sure my makeup was absolutely perfect.

I’d decided to wear dark eyeliner, mascara and red lip gloss for my lips. I looked naturally attractive instead of a glamorous City chick and that was fine by me.

The door opened and closed behind him. I made it a point not to look at him even as he walked over and stood above me though he was behind me. I started glossing my lips again though they didn’t need any extra gloss just to have something to do with my hands. If they were free, they might act in a way I might regret for the rest of my life.

“I’m assuming Jude doesn’t know you came to personally accompany me downstairs?” I inquired as I closed the container of lip gloss and stuck the tube in my clutch purse.

“No. I needed to see you alone because I didn’t want you to freak out when we got to the club.”

I laughed though there was very little mirth in it and the act obviously made him uncomfortable enough to slip his hands in the pair of black jeans he wore. He looked dashing and very sexy, even I couldn’t deny this. His close-fitting, perfectly structured jeans were finished off with a white silk shirt that clung in all the right places and although he had a few buttons undone, he wore not a speck of jewelry. It was so very obvious we were part of the “summer crowd”, the money crowd with parents who were worth not just millions but hundreds of millions—and in the case of both our families, billions.

I didn’t know exactly how my father made his money other than he owned a major share of CDG Investments at one time and sold his share to his partners. It was, obviously, the same firm my brother worked for now. Paul’s paternal grandparents came from old money. On his grandmother’s side of the family, the money had been earned through various West Virginia coal mines her family once owned and had long since sold. The money on his grandfather’s side came from a Pennsylvania steel company.

“Why would I freak out or be upset about tonight? We’re all going to have a good time and as a group of friends. I promise no improprieties from me will happen towards you what so ever.” I turned around to face him and tried my best to wear a cordial smile on my face. “I don’t mess around with men in relationships—it is a firm policy I stick to religiously.”

“Yes, I know but Ashley has come down with her group of friends and she is going to meet us at the Beach Bar. I didn’t want you to feel like I’d betrayed or lied to you so I wanted to tell you myself,” he explained in a soft yet deep, melodic voice.

Our eyes met in the mirror as I turned away from him and steeled my own out-of-control emotions. “That’s great she was able to make it.”

Paul opened his mouth to say something else when Talia barged through the door and stood there, her hands on her hips while she worked her Christian Louboutin platform sandals she wore which matched a black velvet bustier top combined with a pair of tight violet Capri skinny jeans.

“Jude’s looking for you, Paul.”

He smiled at me before he turned away and walked out.

Talia slammed the door behind him with her foot. “What the hell is going on and why did he feel the need to try to get all cozy with you when he is meeting his girlfriend at the Beach Bar tonight?”

I sighed out loud. “It was a friendly conversation and we barely mentioned his girlfriend. He wasn’t flirting with me you know. It is possible for a man and a woman to talk without any kind of sexual connotations. For God’s sake, he’s more like my brother—you know that.”

Talia laughed and I hated when she did this because it was mocking and made me feel petty and small. “Keep telling yourself that. The same way Savannah has convinced herself she feels nothing for Jude but every time they are in the same vicinity, her cheeks flush with embarrassment and she would give anything to be with him.”

She walked over and stood in back of me. “I have been surrounded by fake people for the past two years. Since I left Vassar and decided to pursue my music career in a cesspool like L.A. Can you please be straight with me for once?”

I finally stood because I was tired of the height advantage and I had to look my best friend in the eyes. She wouldn’t be convinced if I talked to her while we both faced my vanity mirror.

“Nothing is going on between Paul and I. Don’t you know you’d be the first person I’d tell? Okay…there are more than…friendly feelings between us but we aren’t stupid. We know we can’t act upon them. Jude would kill us both. Not to mention he has the beautiful and perfect girlfriend. Why would he give me the time of day? I’m not stupid you know.”

My best friend shook her head. “Listen, I know this all goes back to all the shit that went down at Vassar. It wasn’t your fault, anymore than what happened in the aftermath. I am so very sorry that Kevin ruined a part of your life but you have to stop this! I am so tired of seeing you around here, moping and eternally feeling sorry for yourself. You’re not dead you know and you can still have children.”

Talia had said what we vowed never to talk about though she was correct. Yes, I could have children but Kevin had ruined me and the reason why I wasn’t a complete human being was entirely his fault.

“I’d rather not talk about this at all. I know what he did to me because I live the nightmare every single day, Talia. I don’t need to be reminded. Plus, we really should go. I’m sure they are waiting for us downstairs.”

She grabbed my left upper arm as I tried to pass her and whipped me around to face her. “Did you tell them? I mean, does Savannah and Autumn know?”

I glared at her with pure fury in my eyes. “No, they don’t. You’re the only person who knows and I would like to keep it that way. You got it?”

Talia’s pale green eyes softened before she embraced me and I responded. I wouldn’t cry though; I’d shed enough tears to fill the Atlantic Ocean and then some. I would never allow Kevin to drag me through the mud ever again. He had taken so much from me but I refused to give him my pride.

“I wouldn’t tell anyone, Jerri, you know that, because it isn’t my place. I just want you to heal and become the vibrant, vivacious and fun loving woman I knew at school. Who says you want those bad little rug-rats anyway? I know for a fact I could give less than a shit about kids and I don’t want them either. Don’t you know I would trade places with you any day of the week?”

“No, you wouldn’t. It’s easy to say what you do and don’t want until you meet the perfect person and then you realize you didn’t know anything. I don’t want your pity, I just want to get out of here and party. Have a good time and do what people our age do without any regrets.”

Talia’s pale green eyes glared into mine before she crossed them tightly against her chest. “Fine, let’s go.”



The Beach Bar wasn’t merely a place in Westhampton where a bunch of wealthy kids got together and had too much to drink. Unfortunately, it was also home to the locals as well and that meant extra talent to be spotted. I didn’t see anything wrong with having a one night stand with a “townie” as we called them. As long as he had condoms and wasn’t named Guido, we were good to go.

I admit I went overboard trying to convince myself that I didn’t care when Ashley would show up to fawn all over Paul because an hour after we’d arrived, she still hadn’t made it yet.

I had several Absolut shots—in a variety of mango, vanilla and raspberry—before I ordered a Cosmopolitan and began to drink like it was my last night on earth.

Talia, ever worried about me, dragged me to the dance floor and as “Who’s that Chick?” by David Guetta featuring Rihanna began to play, I allowed my body to sway rhythmically and the music transported me far away from my current situation.

Out there on the dance floor, I forgot about my problems and my body took over. I knew men were watching, staring at me with open lust and attraction but I didn’t care about that. All I wanted was to feel good and forget about Paul, not temporarily but permanently.

Funny how life always decided to throw a monkey wrench in my carefully cultivated plan because I hadn’t been dancing for more than ten minutes when I heard a laugh so familiar, my heart felt like it stopped beating.

I stopped dancing but before I could step off the dance floor, Savannah and Autumn had joined Talia to help with damage control.

“Come on, let’s get some air. You’re flushed and you’ve been dancing for a while.”

“What are you talking about?” I inquired as all three shots of vodka seemed to hit me at once along with the Cosmopolitan I downed like it was water. “I just started and the night is still young.”

I’d almost forgotten about that deep, sexual voice and that laugh until it assaulted me again and this time, it claimed all of my senses.

I could smell his cologne: Ed Hardy’s Born Wild, a fragrance I’d picked up as a joke because this described his bad boy attitude though he was just as privileged as I was and liked to act all tough.

I could hear his voice as he spoke to another young woman, his latest victim of lust and the receiver of all the love and sex he used to provide so willingly to me.

The taste of his body was on my tongue now. So beautiful, creamy and lush followed by a slight fruity aftertaste.

I could feel the lean hardness of his body because like Paul and Jude, he’d also been a swimmer and had their exact body type. A diver, his physique was perfect and I loved the soft skin yet the roughness of his face when he hadn’t shaved and the way his facial hair would tickle my neck and my jaw ever so gently.

The sound of his voice, so perfectly masculine but there was an underlying sweetness and the way he could ease me out of a bad mood by just whispering softly into my ear.

What the f*ck was Kevin doing here?

“Just my luck…what the hell is he doing here at the same place we’re at and why haven’t we left already?”

Talia gave Savannah a warning look before she scurried off to try to find Paul and Jude.

“Honey, we had no idea!” Autumn exclaimed as she grabbed me by the shoulders and stared at me with frightened gray-green eyes. “Last time I heard, he was accompanying his parents on a trip to the south of France. He’s not even supposed to be in the States!”

That was definitely a problem about our small circles and who we chose to date and hung out with because there was no escaping Kevin. He worked for the same investment firm as my brother though Jude had no idea what had gone down at Vassar or Kevin’s balls still wouldn’t be attached to his body.

I’d told all three of my friends about the one incident but they didn’t know the fallout of said incident, no one knew except Talia.

I began to hyperventilate before Talia tried to pull me away from the scene but something inside me rebelled. I twisted away from her and marched straight up to Kevin and his group of friends.

My ex looked me over in an appraising manner, his golden-hazel eyes stared me up and down like I was just another piece of flesh and his dark brown hair was coiffed perfectly, longer in the back for a more preppy look. He was immaculately dressed and his left arm was slid around a platinum blonde with a glass of champagne in her hand. She looked me up and down with icy blue eyes before she glanced at Kevin.

“Who’s this, babe?”

That sealed the deal. Her strong Australian accent mixed with her tanned skin, perfect body and the proximity to my ex-boyfriend had me seeing red. Who the hell did this Aussie bitch think she was? Obviously she was my replacement but I was determined to not go down without a fight.

I grabbed her by her long blonde hair and twisted it around my fingers in anger. “This cheap skank is who you left me for? After everything that happened to us—to me—this is what I get in return for…all that wasted time?”

“F*ck off, Jerrica, and if you want to keep everything in tact, you’ll let Jenna go.”

Suddenly, the whole situation was interrupted by my brother who peeled me off of Jenna and my hand was clutched so tight, I didn’t realize I was holding strands of her fake blonde hair until I looked down at my right hand. I let them go as if they were diseased before I laughed in Kevin’s face.

“You’re not even worth it. I wish I never met you and I wish you hadn’t changed my life to the point where nothing will ever be the same again…all because of you!” I screamed in sheer frustration and bitterness. “You ruined me for every man after you and if I was smart, I would have cut off your testicles and turned you into a goddamn eunuch! You deserve it you self serving a*shole!”

It was Paul who grabbed me by the waist and led me away as I collapsed in tears that began to flow whether I wanted them to or not. My heart beat like a piston in my chest and I cried gut-wrenching sobs that wouldn’t and couldn’t be silenced.

Talia walked over and tried to intercept me from Paul. “I can take over. I know what she went through and right now, she needs a friend.”

“It’s okay, Tal. I got this—”

“Um, excuse me, lover boy but you don’t have shit. Your perfect Ashley and her entourage have decided to make an appearance. They are all Paris Hilton’d up with their little f*cking rat dogs in tow. I think you should see to your girlfriend and leave this situation to me.”

For once, I didn’t fight Talia as she slid an arm around my waist and we walked along the beach, away from the nightmarish scene that had just taken place.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have attacked her. It wasn’t her fault and she doesn’t have a clue what a rat bastard Kevin is. He did his damage and left me…I need to move on but God knows I don’t know how, Talia.”

She held me closer as we stopped walking. “Have you finally considered therapy? You need to talk this shit out with an expert and someone who can help you transition to a normal life.”

I laughed then with mirthless ease. “A normal life? You know there is no such thing in my future, not for me. I can pretend his betrayal meant nothing and then I can concentrate on trying to get Paul but is that really going to make me happy? I thought I wanted to be here for the whole weekend but all I want to do is go home. Back to the City and crawl under the sheets on my bed. I can’t do this anymore, not now.”

My best friend smiled and stared deep into my eyes. “Let’s go. I got this. I’ll take care of everything, okay?”

“What would I do without you?” I questioned in a soft tone of voice.

“Probably go mad but it’s all good. You know that.”

I took a deep breath and began to walk back to the Beach Bar with my best friend. The sooner I escaped the Hamptons and returned back to life and reality, the happier I would be.