The Vincent Boys 01 - The Vincent Boys

against her neck.
    “That sounds promising,” she giggled and ran her hands through my hair.
    “Oh, it’s real promising,” I assured her.
    Ashton pulled back so she could look up at me. “My parents want to know if they could take us out to eat tonight.”
    The anxious tone of her voice told me she was actually worried I’d say no. The fact her parents were even considering accepting me as good enough to date their daughter made me willing to do anything they asked, short of staying away from Ashton.
    “Sounds good to me,” I said, pressing a kiss to her nose. “Where are they taking us?”
    “Hank’s, of course. I want a burger.”
    I pulled her to me for a kiss and enjoyed the soft feel of her lips against mine. She didn’t shy away or worry about who may be watching. Instead, she wrapped her arms around my neck and deepened the kiss. I may not have parents that love me but I have Ashton. Nothing else really matters. She is all I need.

    Ashton
    I hadn’t been in bed long when my phone started ringing. I picked it up to see Lana’s name appear on the screen. I hadn’t talked to her in about a week. Curious as to why she was calling so late I pressed ‘OK’ and put the phone to my ear.
    “Hello?”
    “Hey, I hope it’s not too late,” she replied.
    “Nope. Not at all. What’s up?” I asked, knowing she wasn’t calling me at midnight because she wanted to chat.
    “Um, well, I was wondering if maybe you think this summer I could come visit you.”
    The idea of having Aunt Caroline in my house even for a week this summer made me cringe. But I did miss Lana. I couldn’t not see her because her mom drove me nuts.
    “Sure. What week are you thinking of coming?” I asked, hoping it was only a week.
    Lana paused a moment. “I was kind of wondering if maybe I could come down after graduation and stay the summer with you. Before we go off to college—maybe have one last summer to hang out?”
    Wait . . . the whole summer? There was no way I could put up with Aunt Caroline all summer. My dad may even move out if that happened. But surely Aunt Caroline wouldn’t have Lana calling me to see if they could stay the summer. She’d just call my mom. So did that mean . . .
    “Do you mean just—you—come visit for the summer? Not your mom?”
    Lana let out a small laugh on the other end of the line. “Yes, I mean just me. Mom has things to do this summer. I need some distance from her before I go crazy. She and Dad are still at each other’s throats.”
    “Then, YES! I would love for you to come spend the summer . . .” I paused, realizing that Lana wasn’t a fan of Beau and that he would be with me all summer. Was this a good idea? I didn’t want her to make him feel unwanted. He had enough of that with his stupid father and his aunt.
    “I think this is a great idea. I’d love to see you but you understand that I’m with Beau now . . .?” I trailed off, waiting on her to respond.
    “Oh, yes, I know. I’m glad y’all worked this all out. How are things going with those two these days? Is Sawyer handling the fact you and Beau are together better now?”
    Not exactly. Maybe. I didn’t want to give her cause to dislike Beau more so I decided on a small white lie.
    “Yes, we are all moving on. Sawyer and Beau are even bonding again. Soon it will all be water under the bridge.”
    “That’s wonderful. I’m so glad it’s all worked out so well for you.” The sincerity in her voice made me feel guilty. I loved Lana but her sweet, innocent, trusting heart made me feel like an awful person sometimes.
    “Yep, life is good.” That wasn’t a lie. Life was good. I had Beau.
    “So, do you think you might talk to your mom about calling my mom and convincing her this summer thing is a good idea?”
    She really must need to get away if she was already planning her escape. The least I could do was get Mom to help her out. Besides, it would be fun. I could fix her up with Kyle, or Ethan or Justin. Ethan was the sweetest out of those three. He was probably a better fit.
    “I’ll talk to her in the morning. I’m sure she’ll love the idea.”
    “Thank you so much,” Lana replied. I could hear the excitement in her voice. Yeah, I’d be excited too if I was going to escape Aunt Caroline a few months sooner than planned.
    “No problem. It’ll be fun,” I assured her.
    We said our goodbyes and hung up. I rolled over on my back and stared at the ceiling fan. Tonight had been amazing. Both