A Summer to Remember

pocket. I pulled it out and looked at the number on the screen, it was an unknown number, it must be Adrian.
    “Hello?” I answered.
    “Is this Amazing Ava?” I blushed as I remembered what I punched into his phone.
    “The one and only.”
    “Are you coming up to the lake?” The sound of his voice alone made my stomach do backflips.
    “Actually we’re just getting ready to head out of town now. We should be there in about forty-five minutes.”
    “Really? Cool. I’ll give you the directions to the cabin.” I was relieved to hear he sounded just as excited as I was feeling.
    “Actually, I really suck at directions, let me have you give them to Jesse.” I handed the phone over to Jesse, who looked a little irritated, but took the phone anyway. I listened intently, trying to hear the voice on the other end of the line. After a few minutes of talking back and forth, Jesse handed the phone back.
    “Hello?”
    “Hey, I guess I’ll see you in a little bit. I’m really looking forward to seeing you again.” I smiled to myself.
    “Me too. See you soon.” I hung up my phone. I could feel my cheeks becoming warm so I turned and looked out the window to keep anyone from noticing.
     

 
     
    CHAPTER 6

    A fter what felt like hours, I finally spotted the sign to the entrance to the cabins. I’d been to this lake many times growing up, some of my best summer memories happened here. We used to come up here at least three times a week and park our cars in a little gravel lot and walk about forty-five minutes to spend the afternoon cliff jumping.
    “He said cabin twenty seven, right, Jesse?” Steven asked.
    “Yeah. Take the next right and it should be down at the end of that road.” Jesse pointed Steven in the direction of the cabin.
    Jesse was right, a few miles down the road we saw a large cabin in the distance. I could feel the butterflies multiplying in my stomach, only this time it was more like anxiety. What if I just imagined the feelings I had last night? What if I really was crazy and I was just some girl he met at a party? Heck, he could just be a man whore and I was his next prey.
    While all these thoughts were racing through my head, we pulled up to the front of the cabin. There he was, standing on the front porch, beer in hand, waiting for our arrival. Well, there wasn’t any turning back now. Everyone got out of the car but me. I took more time than the others, hoping my nerves would settle a little.
    “Hey! I’m glad you guys found the place. Let me give you a hand.” He set down his beer and helped Jesse and Steven unhitch the boat and unload our things. Lily and I waited impatiently on the front deck while Adrian admired Steven’s boat. Steven made sure to tell him every little detail, including the custom paint job.
    “Where do you want me to set up the tents?” Jesse asked.
    “Bro, look at the size of this place.” He gestured to the cabin. “There are plenty of rooms in there for you guys. It’s only me and two of my buddies and their girlfriends staying here.”
    “Damn, all right. Where can we put our stuff?” Jesse grabbed his things and headed toward the front door. Adrian took my bags and the rest of us followed him into the house. After a short tour of the house we all had our own rooms. Well, except Lily and Steven, they were sharing a room, of course. I decided to unpack some of my things before going downstairs to join the others.
    “Hey.” I looked up to see Jesse standing in the doorway. “Can I come in?”
    “Sure.”
    “You going to be okay staying in here by yourself? The room I’m in has two beds if you’d feel more comfortable in there.”
    “I’ll be fine in here.” I smiled at him. “Thanks for the offer, though.”
    “If you need anything, I’ll be down the hall.” I could hear the protectiveness in his voice. Jesse had always been a good friend of mine, kind of like a brother to me. But the last few times we’d been around each other, things had started to get a little weird. I was hoping we weren’t going to have to have a conversation about this.
    “Thanks.” I gave him one last smile before he walked out the door.
    Adrian’s friends had come back from spending the day out on their boat, and decided to start a little pit fire in the back of the cabin overlooking the lake. It was dinnertime and everyone was clearly hungry, so while they were inside getting things ready to grill, I sat out by the fire and watched the sunset. I’d