A Summer Like No Other

Chapter 18 - Nick

My father wanted me to come to some sort of meeting with him, some teleconference he's having with partners from London. He doesn't know what a day off is, and if he thinks we can forget our conversation and move on, he's delusional.

I push open the door of the rehearsing room. Em's already there, listening to her iPod playlist on the stereo—the one I made for her when we were hanging out during winter break. She's dancing as if all movements mean the world to her, as if if she stops dancing she's going to fall apart.

"That was amazing!" I tell her when the music stops.

"Whatever. It's all bullshit." She's sweating and breathing hard.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Everything is great, wonderful, splendid."

But her voice is breaking.

I step closer to her, closer until I'm so close that I can touch her. One of my hands falls on her shoulder. She doesn't stiffen like I thought she would. I tilt her head toward me with my other hand.

"What's wrong?" I ask for the second time.

"Nothing," she whispers and I'm about to call her on her bullshit, when her gaze focuses on my lips. The last time that happened we had the best make-out session of my life.

She wraps one hand behind my neck and whispers, "I remember yesterday, I told you I really, really like you."

"Hmm. I remember," I reply and then even though I know I shouldn't be kissing her, there's no way in hell I'm pushing her away. She's too close, too intoxicating, too fucking sexy. When her lips brush mine, it's like we're both on fire. It's like our lips have been waiting to meet again, waiting to be together again, never wanting to let go.

I'm hard instantly. And when she whispers my name, I get lost in the moment. I nudge her mouth open and kiss her like I always wanted to, with everything I've kept bottled up for the past year, like it could be our last kiss. It should be our last kiss, but I can't get enough. My hands roam her back and then she's against the mirror, and one of her leg wraps around my waist.

And I'm about to explode. She molds to my body so perfectly and I love the way she feels in my arms, like she belongs there.

But then, I remember my rules. I remember I'm not supposed to be kissing her. I remember my promises to Roberto. I remember she feels insecure and sad right now. I pull back gently.

She bites her lip—that's what she does when she's unsure. I kiss her one last time, a small peck, something to reassure her that I don't regret kissing her. Because I don't. But I'm not sure what to do.

She runs her hand down my back, slowly. Teasing and tender. But her voice sounds so tired when she says, "If you tell me you can't kiss me because of my brother I'm going to kill you. I had a shitty day. And I can't take one more rejection."

"Kissing you seems like the only thing that makes sense to me right now."

"Oh." She smiles.

"But you know I can't have a relationship. I can't. Once school starts again, I'm going to have to work even harder than now. And my parents, it's complicated. And yes, your brother clearly would kill us, he would kill me if he found out."

"How about we forget all of that, all of this for the summer? One summer and then we go back to being friends, and that's it. Nothing more, nothing less."

"You deserve so much more than that," I reply even though I can picture it, even though she deserves much more. She fucking deserves the world.

But, one summer together. One summer in the city while everyone we know is away. One summer to help her deal with whatever she finds.

One summer.

Author's note:

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you're enjoying getting to know Em & Nick! I'll be publishing two new chapters every Friday and would love to hear from you, so don't hesitate to leave a comment. The full novella is already published/available on all e-retailers for only $0.99 in case you don't want to wait for the next chapter :) More information on www.elodienowodazkij.com :)