Summer Love (First Love Book 1) (4 page)

When Chad emerged from the house, Marissa started walking toward the road.

“So, do you really want to walk? Or we can go for a ride.” Chad gestured toward a midnight blue Firebird in the driveway.

Marissa had forgotten that Chad was old enough to drive. Realizing he had a license wasn’t as shocking as finding out he had such an amazing car. Marissa climbed in the passenger seat and buckled her seat belt. She noticed a pack of cigarettes sitting on the dash. “Mind if I have one?” she asked as Chad started the car.

“Your cousin would kill me if he found out I had you smoking.”

Marissa laughed. “Yea, because I had no friends to corrupt me back at home. My mom’s boyfriend even buys them for me. I’m not that young and innocent.” She lit a cigarette and rolled down her window.

The car was silent for a few minutes. Neither knew what to say. Finally Chad pulled the car over and turned to her.

“I need to know what you are thinking. Are the age, distance, and Anthony too much for you? Do you want to try a relationship? Do you even think of me like that? Are you...” Chas was cut off before he could finish his next question.

              “No. Yes. Yes. Well, the distance is definitely a problem, but I’m here until August so we can worry about that later. But what will your friends think when they find out you are dating a junior high kid?”

“What friends? Most have already turned their backs on me. Brayden seems to support us though.”

Marissa nodded. “One more thing.” She took a deep breath and chose her next words very carefully. “One more thing. If you are expecting me to sleep with you any time soon, you are clearly out of your mind. It will not happen. And I absolutely will not tolerate being cheated on.” Marissa was afraid to look at him after all she had just said. It was probably a deal breaker for him. He had obviously already been in a sexual relationship, but Marissa wasn’t ready. Especially since he would be her first boyfriend.

Chad reached out for her face. His piercing blue eyes looked directly into hers before he replied. “Tamara was the first and only person I have ever slept with. I am fine with that. I was always so drunk or high I barely remember it. I wasn’t ready then, and I’m not sure if I’m even ready now. I sure wasn’t ready for the consequences, and I will not be repeating that for a very long time. Now, do you have any more conditions?”

“No,” Marissa whispered, mesmerized by his eyes.

“So, will you be my girlfriend?” he asked.

“Yes,”

Marissa started to turn away, thinking the conversation was over. Chad pulled her towards him and leaned in. Their lips met for only a moment, but Marissa knew it was a moment she would never forget. When they separated, he put his arm around her and pulled her close. She rested her head on his shoulder.

“It’s not going to be easy,” he told her. “Anthony takes a lot of my time. And I still have two weeks left of school. I probably won’t see you much before then. And I really should try to find a job this summer instead of depending on my parents for everything. But I want to spend as much time with you as I can this summer.” Chad looked at the clock on the dash of the car. It was 4:30. “I should probably get you back to Brayden. I don’t want you to get in trouble for being late.”

The ride back to the park was silent, but they held each other’s hand the entire way. When they parked and got out of the car, they walked into the park hand in hand.

Chris was the first to notice the couple. He shook his head and walked off with a couple of other guys. Brayden was more excited to see them together.

“You should stay over tonight,” he told Chad.

“I can’t exactly leave Anthony at home.”

“So bring him with. We have a crib that Lynn had bought for when Marissa’s sister comes up. We can set it up in the basement and hang out like old times.” He looked at his cousin. “You can stay down there tonight too, as long as you two don’t get any crazy ideas.”

Chad laughed. “That’s not going to be a problem. But I have a lot of homework to catch up on if I plan on passing this year. That was kind of my plan for the night.”

“You are seriously spending a Saturday night of a three day weekend on school work?” Brayden asked.

Chad nodded. “I’m really behind, especially in Algebra and Physics, since I took that month off when Anthony was born.”

“I can help you,” Marissa spoke up. It was true; she had taken high school algebra the previous year. “I’m not the greatest in science, and I’ve never taken it, but isn’t physics basically math?”

“No offence, but isn’t that a little advanced for you?” Brayden asked.

“I take a lot of advanced classes. I was sent to the high school for algebra and English last year,” she explained.

“Are you seriously going to want to spend your summer vacation helping with homework?” Chad definitely would appreciate the help, but didn’t want her to feel like it was something she had to do.

“It gives us a reason to see each other,” she pointed out. “I really don’t mind.”

“And it gives you the perfect reason to stay over!” Brayden exclaimed.

“I will take all the help I can get. If the work isn’t done, I can’t take finals. And believe me, there is a lot. Jump in the car.  I’ll run home and get Anthony and we’ll head over.”

The three climbed into the car. A few minutes later they were in Chad’s driveway. He pointed to a grey Camry parked next to him.

“You two can wait in that car while I get Anthony.” He got out of the car and disappeared through the front door.

“How many cars does he have?” Marissa asked as she moved to the other car.

Brayden shrugged. “He has a bike too, or at least he used to. He got the Camry when Anthony was born. I forgot you didn’t know just how loaded his family is.”

“Then why is he wanting to find a job?” she asked.

“He doesn’t get along with his dad very well.” Brayden buckled his seat belt. “He is actually planning on moving in with his older brother in a few weeks, but I think that’s a horrible idea. He has a trust fund that is more than enough to live on, but he just isn’t the type to take the easy way out. He never has.”

Chad walked out the front door carrying an infant seat, duffle bag, and a diaper bag. Marissa jumped out to help him, but he shook his head. “I got it.” Not listening, she walked around the car and opened the back door for him. Chad set both of the bags on the driveway and clicked the car seat into the base that was already strapped in to the back seat. He walked to the back of the car and put both bags in the truck and returned to the house. Moments later, he emerged carrying two more bags, which he put into the trunk with the others.

He was buckled in the driver seat with the car started before he said a word. He turned toward the back seat. “Think Lynn would let me stay for a few days? I have nowhere to go until Eric gets back from his vacation next weekend. And I don’t need to worry about finals anymore, because I don’t have a sitter to even be able to go to school.”

“What happened? And who is Eric?” Marissa asked.

“Long story short, I got kicked out. Eric is my older brother. I was already planning on moving in with him in his apartment this summer. Of course that wasn’t for a couple of more weeks.” He put the car in reverse and headed to Brayden’s house.

“Can’t hurt to ask. Too bad she’s working days; otherwise I’m sure she would be able to help out with the baby. Your dad couldn’t have waited until school was out?”

“It wasn’t him,” Chad told him, turning on to Brayden’s street. “It was my mom, because of Chris. But I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“I can watch him while you are in school,” Marissa spoke up.

“Perfect! Why didn’t we think of that?” Brayden exclaimed.

Chad shook his head. “I can’t ask you to do that,” he told her.

“You’re not asking, I’m offering,” she pointed out.” And you can trust me; I have practically raised my sister. I’m even a certified babysitter. I was just going to sit around bored all day waiting for you guys to get out any way.”

Chad pulled into Brayden’s driveway. “Let’s take this one step at a time. We don’t even know if I can stay here.” He looked at his girlfriend. “I don’t want to hide the fact that we are together, but right now, it’s probably best.”

Marissa nodded and headed in to her aunt’s house, followed closely by the boys.

An hour later it was settled that Chad could stay until the end of the school year, on the condition that he went to school each day. Chad also agreed to let Marissa babysit.

Marissa was stretched out on the basement floor playing with Anthony, while Brayden and Chad set up the crib and carried in Chad’s bags from the car.

“Just because I’m here doesn’t mean you have to stay at home tonight,” Chad told Brayden. “I’m sure you had plans.”

“I was supposed to go shoot pool with Chris, but that was before I said you should stay over. Besides, I had forgotten Marissa was getting here today, and I don’t feel right leaving her alone all the time.”

“You don’t have to entertain me,” Marissa spoke up. She had picked up Anthony, who had fallen asleep on the floor, and put him in the crib. “You either,” she told Chad. “I’m fine staying here with him if you guys want to go do something.”

Chad shook his head. “You are not spending the first day of summer babysitting. Besides, I want to get some of that homework done.”

“And I already told you I would help with that,” Marissa reminded him.

“If I’m not needed around here, I guess I’ll head out for a bit. I’ll be home around midnight.” Brayden disappeared up the stairs.

Chad glanced from the sleeping infant in the crib to his new girlfriend. “You are amazing,” She blushed. “I mean it,” he told her. “Helping with Anthony and helping with school. Is that really how you want to spend your summer?”

“I really don’t mind. Speaking of school, should we get started?”

Chad signed. “I’m just so horrible in math. I was barely passing before Anthony was born, and then I ended up taking a month off. It might already be a lost cause.” He reached in one of his bags and began to pull out papers along with his textbook. “I need all of this turned in before I can even take the final,” he explained. “And I just don’t get it.”

Marissa smiled. “You say lost cause, but I see it as a challenge. Hope you don’t get sick of me; because we will be spending a lot of time together helping you get caught up.

She grabbed the first page on the stack and begins explaining the assignment. Chad listened intently and tried his hardest. They lost track of time as they worked together. When Chad understood an assignment, Marissa sat back and read a book until he had another question.

The couple was sitting in the basement, Chad working and Marissa reading, when Brayden came home just before midnight.

“Are you two seriously wasting your Saturday night like this?” He flopped on the couch and turned on the TV.

Marissa went through the stack of completed papers. Chad worked his way through about a third of the missing assignments that night and Marissa checked them when he was done. She handed Chad the finished work. “He’s right. You did enough for one night. I’ve had an insanely long day on no sleep, so I’m going to go up to bed.”

Chad put the work away and stood up. He walked to the bottom of the stairs with Marissa. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much you have helped me today.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Night,” Marissa told him as she disappeared up the stairs. She closed herself in the small guest bedroom and collapsed on her bed, which was covered in clothes that she hadn’t bothered to unpack. So much had happened in the twelve hours she had been in town. She picked up the phone and called her best friend.

“You were supposed to call me hours ago!” Melissa exclaimed as she answered the phone.

Marissa began replaying the events of the day. She told Melissa about Anthony and about Chad asking her out. She explained about him getting kicked out and about her tutoring and babysitting, although she left out the part about Chad apparently being rich. As soon as she started talking, she forgot how tired she was. It was nearly 2 a.m. before she hung up the phone and went to sleep.

Anthony had woken up shortly after Marissa went upstairs. Brayden stood by and watched as Chad got him changed and fed.

“Are you going to tell Marissa the truth about why you got kicked out?” Brayden asked, once the baby was satisfied.

“What do you know about that?” Chad asked.

“I was at the pool hall with Chris, Mel, and Tanya, but that doesn’t answer my question.”

“I don’t know. I can’t just come out and tell her I got kicked out because of her. I don’t know why Chris made such a big deal about it. She’s not Tamara.”

“I think you should tell her,” Brayden advised Chad. “As far as I know, you have been completely honest with her so far. Why stop now?”

“I just don’t see that ending well. If I tell her that I was kicked out simply because I refused to break up with her, she will probably feel guilty and end things,” Chad explained his dilemma.

“She might. But what if she finds out from someone else? This is a small town, and you know how people talk. Don’t you think she would take it better coming from you?”

“Do you honestly think she would stay with me if she knew?” Chad put the tired baby back in the crib. After a few minutes of squirming, he fell back asleep.

“I don’t know. What I do know is that nothing has scared her away so far. She’s okay with the age difference. She accepts your son. She doesn’t even seem to be bothered by your criminal record. She may only be 13, but she is not a normal thirteen year old girl.”

Chad sank into the couch and pulled his cigarettes from the pocket of his jeans. “Can I?” he asked Brayden.

Brayden nodded. He moved across the room, opened the window, and switched on the ceiling fan.

Chad lit his cigarette. “I know I should tell her. I need to, I’m just scared. We haven’t even been dating a full day and so much has already happened. At some point, it’s going to be too much for her to handle.”

“Look, I’m not going to tell you what to do. I’m not going to lie, last summer, your little crush on my little cousin scared the hell out of me, but you have changed so much in the last year. You have been able to overcome every obstacle that has been thrown your way. Not saying the age difference doesn’t worry me, but she is more mature than anyone else her age. Probably more than we are. I just don’t want to see you screw it up by keeping secrets. Be honest with her.”

“You are probably the only other person that will accept this relationship. If you really think I should tell her, I will.”

Brayden nodded. “I do.” He yawned and looked at the clock on the wall. “I’m going to get some sleep.” He stood up and began to walk toward his bedroom.

“Night man. I’ll try to keep him quiet when he wakes up.”

“With my TV on, I doubt I will even hear him.” Brayden disappeared into his room and closed the door.

Chad stretched out on the couch. He knew there was a pull out bed he could use, but he was just too tired to bother with it. “Please, sleep well, son,” he whispered toward the sleeping baby before he drifted off to sleep.