The next morning, when I woke up, I didn't want to leave the bed. I regretted the previous night – what I had said, what I had done – and was afraid to face Tony after it. I stared up at the ceiling and heard the door open. Then I heard Tony's voice.

”You're awake.”

”Mmhm...”

”Look, Abby, I'm sorry that I yelled at you last night,” he said and sighed as he sat down on the bed next to my feet. He rested his hand on my thigh and squeezed it gently.

”No, it's okay, really. I was... I wasn't really myself,” I admitted with a deep sigh, ”I'm sorry about the way I acted.”

”I know this is hard for you and you're absolutely right but please, just, give it a little time. Even if I suck at talking and telling you stuff, I want you to know that it really means a lot to me that you're here, even if I don't always show it,” he said quietly.

”You're too sweet,” I mumbled and couldn't help but grin like an idiot. Then I leaned closer to him and touched his cheek with my fingers.

”I just wish we spent more time together,” I whispered and bit my lip, ”I wish you weren't so busy all the time.”

”I'll try my best to fix this,” he promised before grabbing the back of my head and pulling me into a quick kiss.

”Thank you,” I nodded.

”So, uh... About last night,” he murmured, ”I made a promise to you.”

”About what?” I asked and furrowed my eyebrows. Then he leaned closer again and pressed his lips
against my mouth.

”Don't you remember? I promised to satisfy you,” he whispered into my mouth.

A grin spread across my face and he pushed me onto my back before climbing on top of my body. And as he kissed me and caressed my skin with his soft fingers, the whole world seemed to disappear. It was only him and myself and that moment.

”I really love you. I really do,” I whispered against his lips.

He chuckled and nodded and was about to kiss me when he suddenly lifted his head up and looked straight into my eyes.

”You're so beautiful, Abby,” he murmured and bit his lip, ”And...”

”And?” I whispered and furrowed my eyebrows as I looked at him.

”Fuck. I love you, Abby. I love you.”

And as I heard the words – that he loved me – it was as if nothing else mattered anymore. None of the fights from the previous nights, nothing that had been said mattered anymore because what mattered was that it was him, my boyfriend, Tony, confessing his love for me for the first time.

”You make me a very happy girl,” I whispered with a foolish grin.

”I'm a lucky guy to have you,” he told me and once again, I had to admit that he knew just the right words to tell me.

I grabbed the back of his head and pulled his face down and kissed him with tons of passion. He laughed into my mouth but when I moved my hand down his stomach and grabbed a handful of him down there, he got serious again and groaned against my lips, nearly biting my lower lip. All of a sudden his hands were on my waist, touching and caressing the bare skin under my shirt, and my god how I enjoyed his touch. It had been way too long since the last time he had touched me like that.

His soft fingers trailed down my stomach and didn't stop until they were between my thighs. He caressed me gently through my panties and tortured me by teasing me. I moaned against his mouth and started panting as his fingers rubbed my sweet spot. Shivers ran down my spine as his fingers worked their magic and just as it was getting too much to handle, he pulled his hand away and grinned like a fool.

”Stop teasing me,” I muttered and kissed him roughly. His hand went down again but this time he stuck his hand into my panties and pulled them down. He pushed his thigh up and between my legs and I groaned as a wave of pleasure ran through my body. He leaned up and got up on his knees as he unzipped his jeans and pulled them down to his knees with his boxers.

He leaned down again and started positioning himself between my thighs and once he was ready, he thrust his hips against mine and slowly entered me. It was torturing, the way he moved so slowly, and I had to beg for more.

”Fuck, Tony, just do something already,” I whined and he laughed once again. Then he covered my mouth with his, and pushed his hips into mine so roughly that I would have screamed if his lips hadn't been tightly against mine.

---

After hearing that Tony really did love me and having some rough sex, things seemed a bit more right. I thought that I could actually settle down and start my life in San Diego with Tony. It didn't seem like such a wasteland to me anymore. I realized that if Tony and I got a place together, we could start acting like a proper couple and I could start living my life over there.

But thinking about getting my own place with somebody was a little too much for me. I was still very young and didn't want to grow up so fast. Maybe, in a way, I would always be more comfortable with being Tony's summer fuck. Maybe I just wanted to enjoy my summers in Miami and feel reckless again while having a secret relationship with somebody older than myself. But none of that would ever happen again, I realized, because I had come way too far with Tony to ever go back to that again. We had to either share our future together or break up, and I didn't want to lose him, not after having to fight for him for such a long time.

It was as if Tony had read my mind because one night, as we were laying in bed and I was just about to fall asleep, he opened his mouth and spoke quietly.

”I have to find an apartment soon,” he mumbled. I opened my eyes and looked at his face for a while.

”Huh?”

”You know how Jaxin and Natalie will have a baby soon and we can't keep living here like this forever,” he explained. I bit my lip.

”What do you mean, you? You have to find an apartment? Aren't we in this together?”

”I just... I figured that maybe you don't want to buy a place here.”

”Why wouldn't I?”

”Because some time ago you weren't feeling so good about this place,” he told me, ”You said that you didn't feel like you belong here.”

”Yeah but it's not like that anymore. I want to live with you – alone with you - without any roommates.”

”You do?” A grin spread across his face.

”Of course I do,” I said and laughed. He nodded and smiled and I closed my eyes.

But suddenly I wasn't tired anymore so I opened my eyes and cuddled closer to his body. He pulled me into his arms and I buried my face into his warm chest and took a deep breath in.

”Tony?”

”Yeah?”

”Do you remember how we met?” I murmured and kissed his chest.

”Uh... No. It's been such a long time.”

”What? How can you forget?”

”Come on, Abby, it's been, what, five years, huh? How can you remember?” he asked and chuckled quietly. His chest vibrated against my cheek.

”I have to remember how I met the guy who changed my life.”

”Well, then, tell me how we met, Abby.”

”Well, you were really drunk which is probably why you don't remember. You had just come home from the bar and was taking a piss on your back yard – both of our parents were asleep already – and I was sitting by our pool. Then, somehow you noticed me for the first time, even though we had seen each other a thousand times before, and came over to my side. You were trying to hit on me but as I was only 17, I didn't understand it until a while later. And then, you just pulled me into a really rough kiss and we ended up having sex and that's how it started. Now, five summers later, we're finally something more than just fuck buddies.”

”Did I really sleep with you the first night we met? When you were 17 and I was 23?” he asked.

”Well, uh, I'm pretty sure you didn't care about my age back then. You were smashed,” I said and giggled.

”Oh my god.”

And as we laid there, I couldn't help but realize just how lucky I was. At the beginning of that summer I had thought that I could never get serious with him and fortunately I had been wrong because he had really, truly changed my life. I knew that I had no need to be scared of settling down because I would have him right by my side. Our relationship, whatever the hell it was like, was more than just about sex and I couldn't wait to see what the future held for us.