A Summer to Remember - By Jessica Gunhammer Page 0,22

and not let my emotions get the best of me. The wine wasn’t really helping matters.

“I have to be there the beginning of August, so I’ll probably leave the last week of July.”

“That’s only two and a half months away.” My stomach dropped and the rims of my eyes were filling up with tears.

“I know. I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you as soon as possible before things went too far. It wouldn’t be fair to you if you didn’t know what you were getting yourself into.” He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in to his chest. I could feel a few tears fall down my cheeks. “I really like you, Ava. I wasn’t expecting to find someone over the summer, let alone find someone I’d share this kind of connection with.”

I quickly dabbed away the tears and attempted to pull myself together. I didn’t want him to leave. Things seemed like they were finally falling into place for me and now I felt like everything was being ripped away. Maybe there’s a reason why Jason wasn’t fully out of my life yet. I’d always believed that everything happens for a reason.

Jeffrey entered the room with our complimentary dessert and I slid away from Adrian so we could enjoy our cheesecake. After a few minutes and some small talk, the mood had lightened and I was finally able to get my emotions under control. I excused myself to the restroom and touched up my makeup.

The thought of losing him already sent a piercing feeling through my heart. But for the first time in a very long time things became clear to me. I wanted to take a chance. I needed something different in my life. I’d played it safe my whole life and I didn’t want to do that anymore. Every time Jason and I would break up, I would always take him back because he made me feel like he was the best I’d ever have and that I should be lucky to have him. As bad as it sounds, a part of me always believed it was true, until now, when Adrian came into my life! When I got back to our VIP room, Adrian had already taken care of the bill and was getting our things together to leave.

“You ready?” he asked when I entered the room.

“Yes.” He went to open the door. “Wait.” I wrapped my arms around him. “If we’re only going to have two and a half months left together, we better make the most of it.” I pulled his head toward mine.

When our lips met, a jolt ran through my body. It was more intense than before. I didn’t know if it was because of the wine or because I knew we only had a few months left to spend together, but whatever it was I didn’t want it to stop. I pushed him up against the door and continued kissing him. He wrapped his hands around my waist 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