Summer Rush (10 page)

Is this how it’s always going to be? Am I ever going to feel worthy of happiness again?

Startled by the loud clap of thunder, I snap out of my internal struggle to realize that it is now pouring out.

“Hey, come on…we can wait out the storm at my house!” Joey shouts as he gets closer, nodding to the house behind me.

Turning around, I see the beautiful beach front mansion that I’ve always dreamed of living in since I was a little girl.

“That’s your house?” I yell, pointing at it.

“Yeah, it’s our vacation home,” he answers, taking my hand and quickly pulling me in the direction of the house.

His vacation home? Are ‘ya kidding me?

We enter through the back gate which opens up to an unbelievable outside living space complete with a three tier brick patio and an infinity pool with a hot tub cascading into it. Why you need a pool when you live on the ocean is beyond me, but I guess when you have this much money,
who cares
? Joey grabs our surfboards, and hangs them on a rack next to the outdoor shower. I’ve always wanted one of those; I have to resort to the outside hose to spray the sand off myself before entering the house. Grabbing my hand again,
which I’m beginning to really like
, he runs up the back steps, past the outdoor kitchen, and through the sliding glass door.

“Jesus, it’s like a monsoon out there,” he says once we step inside.

Being a little overwhelmed with this house and the fact that it’s not even his real home, but his
vacation
home, I softly respond, “Right?” while staring at the ground.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Joey asks, lifting my chin with his finger.

Shaking my head no, I respond, “it’s nothing…really,” and give him a half smile.

“There’s something bothering you…tell me.”

Looking at him, his eyes so warm and his smile so innocent, I wonder how I ever imagined he was a horrid person. I need to know what happened; why the transformation?

“What happened?” I ask quietly.

He looks at me, confused.

“What do you mean?”

“Last summer. You were... different. You carried yourself differently.” I try to explain it as nicely as possible.

“You mean, why was I such a drunk asshole last summer, and now I’m not?”

Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.

Nodding my head yes, he lets out an apprehensive sigh and rubs his face. “Hope, last summer...well actually the last few years, but especially last summer, I did a lot of things I’m not proud of. I drank a lot, partied a lot, thought I was above everyone else–including the law.”

My eyes open like a deer in headlights, surprised by his reference of being above the law. He closes his eyes, clearly pained to be admitting this. “God, I hope you don’t hate me after hearing this, Hope,” he sighs, dropping his chin to his chest.

“Look, whatever happened has clearly had a positive effect on you. You are nothing like the person I met last summer,” I softly say, resting my hand on his shoulder.

Looking from my hand to my face he says, “I regret everything. I wish I could take back what I did, how I acted, how I treated you...” He cups my face with his hand.

“It’s okay,” I whisper, although it really wasn’t; he
was
an ass to me last summer. But ass and all, I still developed feelings for him.

“No, it’s not, Hope!” Joey says in an angry tone, removing his hand from my face and fisting them at his side. “You are a nice girl, amazing actually. I had feelings for you immediately, but the way I treated you and the way I went about it…that’s just not okay. I don’t even know why you’re standing here with me right now!”

“But…”

“No, it’s true,” he cuts me off, holding up his hand to stop me. “I was awful to you and pissed that you weren’t feeding into my bullshit lines. So the last time I was in to see you I left the restaurant, annoyed, and partied hard and…”

“Just stop!” I interrupt him. “You made a mistake. You learned from your mistake, and you’re a better person because of it. That’s all that matters.”

I forcefully hold his cheeks with my hands, making him listen to me. I’m not going to stand here and listen to him beat himself up, emotional over a mistake he made that I’m sure he has already paid for. The transformation he has made because of it is amazing, and that’s all I care about.

Staring me down with eager eyes he pushes his lips against mine, holding my face to his with such force that I couldn’t get away if I tried, which I’m not. His full lips press harder against mine, sending a flood of hunger through my veins. The warmth of his hands leaves me weak in the knees, melting me under his touch.

With just one kiss, I’m at the mercy of this man.

Removing his lips from mine, he takes a step backwards and pushes his hands in his pockets. He drops his chin to his chest and closes his eyes, like he’s ashamed of what he just did. Still numb from his kiss I stand there, speechless.

“God, Hope, I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to…” Joey rambles, trying to justify his actions.

“I liked it,” I admit, cutting him off.

Looking up at me, surprised by my confession, he takes a step forward and removes the space between us. “I liked it, too.”

Driving home from Joey’s house, I have a smile plastered on my face and I feel…happy. No shame or guilt is holding me back. I’ve broken through the mold and I’m accepting this new me with someone new. I’ve been denying myself happiness for over a year and it feels great to finally let it back in, like taking a breath of fresh air.

Ahhhhhh…

It’s Sunday, and my day off, so Joey and I are going out on our first
real
date. I was given the “wear something nice” order, so I’m pulling everything out of my closet, frantically looking for something
nice
to wear. Doesn’t he know I’m a plain Jane, and my wardrobe consists of jeans, shorts, t-shirts, and cami tops? The closest thing to
nice
I have is the black pants I wore on Christmas and, well, thinking about what happened the last time I wore them, it doesn’t seem appropriate to wear them on my first date with Joey. Not to mention it’s the summer and too hot to be wearing black pants anyway.

“Honey, is everything okay in there?” my mom yells from the living room, obviously hearing my frustrated rant.

Stomping my feet down the hallway, and huffing to myself, I meet her in the living room.

“No! I’ve got a date tonight, and I’m supposed to be wearing something nice, but I don’t own anything nice,” I blurt out in frustration.

“You have a date? With who?” she asks with a big smile.

Smiling at her enthusiasm, I answer, “A customer from the restaurant.”

“That’s exciting! When did you meet?” she continues.

“Well, uh…we met last summer, but didn’t talk much, but now he’s back and…”

“Does this have anything to do with you and Trent breaking up?” she asks with a skeptical look.

“Kind of…let’s just say he left a lasting impression on me last year and seeing him again this summer made me realize a lot of things,” I respond, cutting the story down to just the basics. The important stuff.

“Do we get to meet him? It’s such a joy seeing you happy again.”

Looking at her confused, she continues, “Hope, your father and I had noticed for a while that things were going downhill between you and Trent. You lost the sparkle in your eyes and the pep in your step. We’d known for a while that Trent wasn’t the one for you, but we wanted you to see it for yourself.”

“And you see it now? The sparkle?”

She smiles that loving smile that only mothers have.

“I do.”

Smiling at her, and realizing that Joey
does
put the pep in my step, I answer her previous question. “And yes, you do get to meet him. He’s picking me up in…” I pause to look at my watch and check what time it is. “Oh crap! He’s going to be here in a half hour!” I panic, not even close to being ready.

“Wheel me in my room. I might just have something for you.”

Desperate for help I follow her orders and wheel her into her bedroom.

“Open the closet door,” she asks once we get in there.

I do, and find a line of beautiful dresses hanging in the closet. I’ve never seen them before.

“Mom, these are beautiful. Where’d you get these?” I ask, looking at them all.

“Oh, honey, I’ve had these since I was your age. Sadly, they’re all back in style again,” she chuckles.

Checking the tags, I find they are exactly my size. Sighing in relief, I pick out a beautiful strapless pastel yellow sundress.

“That’s one of my favorites,” my mom adds behind me.

Excited to go and try it on, I lean over and kiss my mom’s cheek, then quickly run to my room.

“Hope!”

Crap, I just left her in her room!

“Sorry.” I apologize, wheeling her back into the living room. She laughs.

“Thanks, honey.”

Hurrying back into my room, I slip on my dress, clip my dull brown hair up into a French twist, carefully apply some mascara, and add some lip gloss. Just as I slip my white flip flops on, I hear a knock on the screen door.

“Sweetheart?” my dad calls from outside my bedroom.

“Come in!”

Peeking his head around the door, my dad smiles at me. “You have a young man waiting for you when you’re ready.”

“Thanks, Dad. I’ll be right out.”

Checking myself in the mirror one last time, I make way out to the living room. Joey is waiting for me in the entry way next to my dad.

My heart skips a beat, seeing how handsome he looks dressed up. He has on tan linen pants, a white button down shirt with the sleeves a quarter of the way rolled up, flip flops, and his hair is perfectly gelled. Seeing his tanned, smooth, muscular chest peeking out of his shirt is enough to make my temperature rise; he is unbelievably gorgeous.

“Wow, you look beautiful,” Joey compliments me.

“Thanks, you don’t look so bad yourself,” I answer, trying to calm the out of control butterflies in my stomach. Smiling, I nod my head toward my parents. “I see you guys have already met.”

“Yes, we have,” my dad answers. My mom winks at me from behind Joey with a huge grin. She obviously approves of his looks. “Well, don’t let us hold you two up,” my dad continues.

“Yes go, have a good time,” my mom chimes in.

“It was very nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Taylor,” Joey says, shaking my dad’s hand and nodding to my mom.

After I give them both a quick peck on the cheek, we make our way out the door.

Seeing his car in the driveway brings back all my insecurities from earlier. Parked next to my truck is a shiny black BMW with its top down. Suddenly, I’m ashamed of our small, three bedroom ranch. We come from such different worlds,
it’s not even funny.

Being a gentleman, Joey opens the passenger door for me before entering his side. Instead of looking at him I stare out the window, fighting back the knot forming in my stomach. There’s no way we can have a future together. Who knows what he thinks of me now; not only do I drive a beat up truck, but I also live in a house that’s maybe a quarter of the size of his
vacation
home. I can only imagine what his regular house looks like.

“Hope, is everything okay?” he asks in a concerned voice.

Turning, and looking at him I immediately feel bad, seeing the frightened look on his face.

“Yeah, it’s nothing,” I lie, forcing a smile.

“Tell me,” he says, seeing right through me.

“You just… I just…”

“Hope, it’s fine. Just tell me,” he says with his breathtaking smiling.

“We just come from totally different lives, ‘ya know?”

“Um, no I don’t. What do you mean?” he asks, arching his eyebrow in confusion.

“Your family is incredibly wealthy and, well, mine is far from it,” I admit, staring at my hands on my lap.

“Really…that worries you?” he asks, lifting my chin so I can look at him.

“Kinda,” I respond, shrugging my shoulders.

“Well, I couldn’t care less about that, so you shouldn’t either,” Joey assures me with a wink. “Okay?”