A Summer to Remember Read online

  “Anytime.” He forced himself to look at me for a minute and smiled.

  When we pulled up to the pub to eat, the guys decided to go in and see how long it would take for us to get a table. Since it was graduation night, a lot of the restaurants were going to be packed. Jesse has a cousin who works as a hostess here so hopefully if she’s working we can get in fast.

  “Okay, what the hell was all that ‘he never treated you right you could do better’ talk about?” Lily crossed her arms and waited for an answer.

  “I have no idea—I was wondering that same thing. We’ve only been broken up for all of what? Two hours? And I already have his friends hitting on me? Great!” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice and Lily couldn’t help but laugh.

  “I must admit, it was cute, though.”

  “Only cute because he was saying it to me and not you! I mean, he’s a really nice guy. but he’s just not my type. So if this is something you and Steven are trying to do, I’m not feeling it!” I’ve never had to worry about them trying to set me up before but they’re the type of people who would try and do it and then call it a coincidence.

  “Hey, this has nothing to do with me. I’ve known you almost my whole life, I’m pretty sure I have your type figured out by now.” She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to look offended, but she knows she would actually do something like that.

  “I’d sure hope so,” I joked.

  “Hey! We’re in!” Jesse yelled out the door and waved us to come in.

  Chapter 3

  After dinner we all jumped in a white taxi van sitting outside and headed off to our destination. As we got closer, I could hear thumping music and yelling from the swarms of people walking the street. I had no idea how this many people were going to fit in one house at one time, this was madness!

  “So maybe you’ll meet a new guy tonight.” Lily leaned forward from the backseat and interrupted my train of thought.

  “You can’t be serious.” I stared at her in disbelief. “Jason and I just broke up like hours ago, literally.”

  “Yeah. So? It’s never too early to start looking and you know I’ve never been too fond of Jason. Plus these are mature college guys.” Lily sat back and stared out her window.

  “Yeah, but they’re still guys. How much more mature can they be?” We both laughed as we passed a group of people watching two guys wrestle on someone’s front lawn.

  “I’m guessing this is your destination?” The taxi driver came to a stop, I opened my door, and we all crawled out.

  “Thanks, man, keep the change.” Steven handed him twenty and closed the door behind him.

  I stood there in awe. I’ve never seen so many people in one place before. I couldn’t believe the police hadn’t showed up yet. It was only a little after seven and the sun was slipping behind the mountains. I had a feeling as the sun went down, things were going to get a little crazy.

  As I looked around, I noticed that there wasn’t just one party, it was like a block party. There were people going in and out of houses on both sides of our destination and across the street. Almost everyone walking the streets had a red cup or two in their hands. I guess this is what it’s like to live near the college.

  “Come on! Let’s go get a drink!” Lily grabbed my arm and dragged me inside the big blue house in front of us. It really was like the frat houses you see on TV, even down to the ugly floral print couch sitting on the front porch with some brunet guy and blonde girl making out on it. We walked through the door and all you could smell was liquor, beer, and weed. I looked around and the place was packed. Everyone was standing shoulder to shoulder.

  “We’ll try and find us some drinks. You girls wait here,” Steven yelled over the murmur of voices. He and Jesse headed off toward the back of the house.

  “Oooooh!” A bunch of guys yelled from the room on our right.

  “What’s that all about?” I asked Lily.

  “I don’t know. Let’s check it out.” We squeezed through all the people and finally made our way into the room.

  “Beer pong. We should’ve known,” I said to Lily.

  “There you are! I see you two found the beer pong table. I just signed Steven and I up for the next game,” Jesse said as he handed me a drink.

  “Thanks.” I grabbed the red cup and took a drink. I’d never been a big fan of beer, but tonight I made an exception. Anything to help take my mind off that jerk Jason.

  “No problem.” He smiled. I never realized how nice his smile was until tonight.

  “Dude, I already told you, I’m not playing. There are at least five houses I’d like to hit up and remember before I get shitfaced,” Steven snapped at Jesse.

  “Come on, man, just one game.” Jesse liked to be the center of attention. Especially when it came to beer pong, he prided himself on his “skill.”

  “Yeah, and one turns into two, and two turns into three, and three turns into waking up tomorrow and not remembering a damn thing.” I lost interest in listening to Steven and Jesse arguing and browsed the room to see if I knew anyone. I wasn’t having any luck. Most of them must go to the college.

  I turned to the door and there he was. Jason.

  He strutted in with that skanky redhead Cally on his arm. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to walk up and punch him in the face, or her. I’d be just as happy punching her. Maybe I should just pretend like I didn’t see them. I decided to go with the less violent of the two, so I turned to look the other way.

  “Are you okay?” Lily looked at me and immediately zeroed in on Jason. “Oh Ava, are you going to be okay? We can leave if you want.” She leaned in for a hug, but I pushed her away. I knew if I hugged her, the tears would start again. She turned and glared at Steven. “Why is your brother such a jerk?”

  “I’m okay,” I said quickly. She raised her eyebrows. “Really! I’ll be fine.” I was doing everything in my power not to fall apart.

  “All right, dude, since you’re being a baby, I’ll go cross our names off the list.” Jesse was completely oblivious to the current situation, as usual.

  “No! Wait! I’ll play!” I yelled after Jesse as he turned away.

  “Are you sure?” A grin spread across his face.

  “Yeah. Are you sure?” Lily asked, staring at me with a blank look on her face. I ignored her and turned to Jesse.

  “Yeah, I’m not very good. I haven’t played for a while, but if you’re down, I’m down.” The look on his face told me he was definitely excited.

  “I don’t need you to be good, I’m just in it for the free beer!” Jesse laughed and put his arm around my shoulders.

  “All right! Next up! Greg and Adrian against Jesse and Steven!” a guy yelled over the crowd.

  “Actually, it’ll be Jesse and Ava!” Jesse grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the crowd towards the table. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. I even heard a few people laugh in the background. I’m not a big fan of crowds. I could feel myself get a little nervous.

  “Are you sure you want a girl on your team?” the announcer asked as he eyed me up and down.

  “For all you know, I could be his secret weapon,” I snapped at him before I even realized it.

  He looked me in the eyes. “All right then,” he said. “Let the games begin.” He proceeded to hand me a ball and back away.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jason pop out of the crowd and into the front row. Great, just what I need. First, I made myself sound like some badass beer pong player and now I had the guy who could make me turn into an emotional wreck in a matter of minutes standing in the front row. I was going to be the laughing stock of the night.

  I closed my eyes for a second and tried to get my mind straight. I looked up to make eye contact with the guy standing across the table from me, but I froze. It took every muscle in my jaw to keep it from dropping. This guy was gorgeous, all six feet of him! You could see every curve of his perfectly tan, sculpted body through his gray fitted t-shirt. His hair wa
s a chestnut brown that most girls would kill to have. The thing that really caught me off guard were his eyes. He had the most amazing green eyes I’d ever seen. He smiled at me as I’m admired him and my heart literally skipped a beat. He had the most perfect smile and to top it off…he had dimples.

  “Ava, are you okay?” Jesse interrupted my admiration session.

  “Yeah, I’m just concentrating,” I lied. I seemed to be doing a lot of lying tonight.

  “Okay, well I think that’s long enough. You’ve been standing here like a zombie for like three minutes,” he whispered.

  “Oh my God! Have I really?” I was horrified.

  “No, but it feels like it.” I smacked Jesse and turned back to the team standing across from us.

  “Can we start yet?” The green-eyed guy’s teammate asked, sounding irritated.

  I got into position and we made eye contact. We both threw a ball, but mine, of course, bounced off the table and rolled into the crowd while his sunk into one of our red cups.

  “I believe that’ll be your drink.” He looked at me and smiled.

  “Oh, honey, I’m just warming up.” I smiled back at him. Okay, I had no idea where that came from, but I liked it! Suddenly I really had the urge to kick these guys’ asses.

  The game surprisingly continued pretty even until each team had two cups left. Jesse took his place and got into position. He took his shot and sunk it into the back red cup. Everyone cheered.

  He put his hand on my lower back. “All right, Ava, you just have to get it in that front cup and we can end the game. No pressure.” He smirked.

  “Yeah, no pressure at all,” I said sarcastically. I glanced up at the green-eyed guy, smiled, and looked back down at their cups. Okay, all I had to do is make it in that last cup and it’s game over. I took a deep breath, stepped up to the table and raised my arm. I tossed my ball into the air and held my breath as I watched it arc. It landed in the cup and spun around the edge. The green-eyed guy’s friend stuck his finger in the cup and tried to pull it out, but failed, and pushed the ball into the cup. Everyone started cheering.

  “We won!” Jesse yelled as he picked me up and spun me around.

  “You’re not too bad for a girl,” my handsome opponent said as he came over to shake my hand.

  “Yeah, well, you’re not too bad yourself,” I replied.

  “What’s your name, anyway?”

  “Ava. Yours?”

  “Adrian. You go to school here?”

  “Ava!” Lily called. “I think we’re going to head over to the next house. You ready?”

  “Yeah…sure!” I yelled back in her direction.

  “We’ll meet you out front! It’s too hot in here!” She, Steven, and Jesse proceeded out the front door.

  “Okay I’ll be out in a sec!” I looked back at Adrian. “Sorry about that, but we try and stick together at these kinds of things.”

  “No problem. I’m actually heading to the next house myself. Mind if I tag along?”

  “Sure.” We made our way out of the house.

  Chapter 4

  “Ava! Over here!” Lily yelled across the still crowded lawn. Adrian and I made our way over.

  “Guys, this is Adrian.” I moved out of the way so they could get a good look at the hot guy standing behind me.

  “Hey! Weren’t you just on the team who’s asses got kicked by my girl Ava here?” Lily came over and put her arm around my shoulders. I could tell by the slurring in her words and failure to balance on her own that she’d had a little too much to drink. Not to mention she was smiling a little more then usual.

  “Yes, as much as I hate to admit it.” He looked down and ran his fingers through his hair. “That would be me. It’s okay, though, because next time I’ll be winning. She just got lucky this time.” He winked at me.

  “Next time, huh? That sounds like a challenge.” I couldn’t help but admire his smile, and of course those dimples.

  “Okay, guys. What house are we going to next?” Jesse sounded a little irritated. He couldn’t really be jealous of a little flirting…could he?

  “Well, we can go to the house next door. They have Jell-O shots,” Adrian suggested.

  “We love Jell-O shots! Don’t we, Ava?” Lily yelled in my ear.

  “Yes, we do, Lily. Next door we go.” Steven came over and took Lily’s hand. ‘Thank you’ I lipped to him. He just smiled and kept talking to her in an attempt to keep her distracted. Adrian and I followed them to the next house, staying a few feet behind.

  “Sorry about that. She’s had a little too much to drink tonight.” I looked at Adrian apologetically.

  “No need to apologize. She seems like a lot more fun than some of my friends when they’ve had too much to drink.” He laughed.

  As we walked up the sidewalk to the white house next door, someone ran right into me, almost knocking me over. Adrian grabbed me just as I was about to hit the ground. Next thing I knew, we were standing chest to chest and I was staring directly into those beautiful green eyes.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry.” I pulled away and attempted to brush the beer off my hand and arm.

  “Don’t worry. I didn’t mind.”

  I looked up. Jason was standing on the front porch of the house, staring at us. By the look on his face, he didn’t seem to be enjoying himself. Cally came around the corner and handed him a Jell-O shot. He took it from her and put on a show, laughing and acting like he’d never been happier. Did he really think I was going to buy that? Not a chance!

  “You know that guy?” Adrian asked, nodding in Jason’s direction.

  “Yeah, actually. We used to date, but it was a long time ago.” Okay it wasn’t really a long time ago, but after all that had happened today, it felt like a long time ago. “Anyway, how about those shots?” I grabbed his hand and led him inside, right past Jason and Cally, who were staring at us as we went by.

  Maybe I’d had too much to drink, but I felt really comfortable with Adrian. How could I feel like this with someone I just met?

  “I’m going to find the bathroom. You wanna grab us some shots?” he asked.

  “Sure. I’ll go find Lily and Steven. They’re probably in the backyard. You just want to meet me back there?” I looked around the room to see if I could spot where the drink station was set up.

  “Sure.” He let go of my hand and headed up the stairs in front of us. I felt a little sad when he had to let go of my hand, which made me feel a little weird, because I hardly even knew the guy. Okay, I needed to find Lily.

  “You sure have moved on pretty fast,” a familiar voice said from behind me. I didn’t want to turn around and face him, but at the same time, I did.

  “Even if I have, why do you care?” And there I was, standing face to face with Jason.

  “I don’t, but geez you sure haven’t wasted any time.” I heard the irritation in his voice.

  “Well if I have or haven’t, it sure isn’t any of your business, now, is it?” I turned to walk away and Adrian was there, standing right behind me.

  “Everything okay?” he asked, as he gave Jason the eye.

  “Everything’s fine. Can we go find Lily now?” I grabbed Adrian’s arm and walked him towards the backyard.

  “Are you sure you guys are broken up? For being broken up for a while, that conversation seemed a little more heated then it should’ve been.” I came to a stop in front of the back door.

  “Okay, maybe we haven’t been broken up for a while. Maybe it’s more like a few hours.” I looked down at the floor, ashamed I had lied to him.

  “Why didn’t you just tell me that in the first place?” He put his hand under my chin and raised my head up so I was looking into his eyes.

  “You just seemed like such a nice guy and talking to you is the only thing that made me not think about him. I shouldn’t have just said that. Now I’ve just made you sound like a rebound or something.” I needed to stop talking. “We dated off and
on throughout high school and he just broke up with me today, right before graduation. I didn’t see any of it coming and that’s the truth. I’m sorry.” I looked out the back door at the people sitting outside. I was too humiliated to look him in the eyes.

  “Ava, don’t worry about it.” I looked at him as he laughed. “I was just asking you a simple question. You don’t owe me any kind of explanation.” This guy was the hottest, funniest, sweetest guy I’d ever met. I didn’t even know what to say to that. I heard Lily and Steven bickering as they came in the door behind me.

  “Ava! I’m tired. Can we go home?” She laid her head on my shoulder.

  “Well, she made it through two houses.” I laughed.

  “Yeah. Barely.” Steven was clearly irritated.

  “I’m too tired for this…” Lily whined.

  “I’ll call a cab to take you guys home. You want to meet us outside?” Steven asked me as he wrapped his arm around Lily to help steady her. Steven was usually more patient with her, but tonight was clearly different.

  “Yeah, I’ll be out in a sec.”

  “Nice meeting you.” He nodded at Adrian before he and Lily walked away.

  “You too,” Adrian replied. “Well, I guess I’ll walk you out, then.” This time, he grabbed my hand and led me toward the front of the house.

  “You don’t have to walk me out, you know.” I was a little giddy inside, flattered he was actually taking the time to do so.

  “Do you really want to run into that Jason character by yourself again?” He looked at me with his eyebrows raised.

  “Okay, you’re right.” I laughed and followed his lead out the front door. We saw Steven and Lily standing down by the curb waiting for a cab, so we made our way toward them.

  “So, me and some friends are going up to the lake tomorrow. We’re staying at my buddy’s cabin if you guys want to come up. It’s always a good time.” I could tell he was hesitant about asking me in the first place, so I figured what was the worst that could happen if I gave this guy a chance?