A Summer to Remember

and pulled me closer. I pulled away and began kissing down his neck.
    “We can’t do this here,” he said in a hushed tone, disappointment in his voice. I trailed a few more kisses up his neck and then there was a knock on the door.
    “You’re right. We should probably go.” We backed away from the door as Jeffrey pushed it open.
    “Thank you. Have a nice night. I hope we see you again soon.” He held the door open. We walked past him toward the elevators, giggling about his timing.
    I couldn’t help but smile a little, thinking about the kiss we’d just shared in there, I’d never done anything like that before. I’d noticed that Adrian was involved in a few things I’d never done before, and I must admit I kind of liked it.
    We stepped into the elevator and watched the doors close in front of us.
    “I’m not ready to go home. Let’s stay here!”
    “What?” Adrian’s eyebrows raised in surprise.
    “Let’s get a room here. Let’s stay here for the night.”
    “Are you joking, because that’s not a very funny joke if you are.”
    “No, I’m serious.” I turned to face him. “I just want to be with you tonight.”
    “As tempting as that sounds, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
    “What? Why?”
    “I have to work in the morning, and judging by the kiss I got up there, if we stay here tonight I probably won’t be getting much sleep.” I felt a little crushed, but deep down I knew I was rushing things. “I would gladly do it if I wasn’t working with my dad.” The elevator doors opened and we stepped out into the lobby. “Listen, this is our first date of many more to come. We’ll have plenty of nights like this one. I don’t want to you feel like you have to rush things because I’m leaving and then regret it later.”
    “I won’t.” I smiled at the thought of being with him.
    “Then you won’t regret waiting, either.” He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. “It’s getting late. I’m going to take you home. I promise we’ll have more time together this weekend.”
    “Okay.” We went outside and got into the truck that the valet already had waiting for us.

    When we reached my house all the lights were out. Adrian got out of the truck and walked around to open my door and help me out. Which I was grateful for, my feet were killing me. You’d think I would know better than to wear brand new heels on a date, but of course I’d put up with the pain just to be sure I looked good. I used him to steady myself as we walked quietly to the front door. I opened up my small black clutch and pulled out my pink key ring with the letter “A” in cursive. I unlocked the door and turned back to Adrian to say goodnight.
    “I won’t be able to see you much the rest of the week because I’ll be working on the edge of town at that new housing development. So between the drive time and trying to wrap up this project, I won’t be getting home until late. You want to do something Friday night, though?”
    “Of course. What did you have in mind?” I leaned up against the railing of the deck, attempting to take some pressure off my feet.
    “It doesn’t matter to me. How about you think of something and let me know.” He stood in front of me and put his hands on my hips.
    “Okay. We can do whatever I want?”
    “Whatever you want.”
    “Even if I want to see a really horrible chick flick?” I joked.
    “Even if you want to see a horrible chick flick.” He leaned over and gave me a soft, gentle kiss on the lips. “Goodnight, Ava.”
    “Goodnight, Adrian,” I whispered as he pulled away.
    I watched him drive away. Knowing that I only had a couple months left with him, I had to make the most of it. Even if we didn’t end up lasting, I was determined to make sure we’d have a summer to remember.
     

 
     
    CHAPTER 14

    I was woken up the next morning by my cellphone buzzing on my nightstand. I picked up my phone and saw Lily’s name across the screen.
    “Hello?” I answered, irritated. She knew I wasn’t a morning person.
    “Morning, sleepy head! Time to get up so I can hear all about your date last night!” I never understood how she could be so chipper all the time, especially in the mornings.
    “It’s too early,” I grumbled.
    “Girl, please! It’s nine o’clock. You want to go to the pool?” I knew that even if I tried to say no she was going to end up getting her way anyway, she always did.
    “Might as well, I’m up now.”
    “I’ll be