The end of summer was creeping up on them, and Vince had stuck to his promise of remaining nothing more than friends with her: friends with the understanding he was so glad now that he'd made perfectly clear. They of course still held hands every chance they got. Some things were just too hard to fight. Sal seemed more worried about Grace stressing out than Vince doing anything to disrespect Rose. So if he ever caught Vince holding Rose's hand, he'd have to cut him some slack. For Vince to be feeling for Rose what he felt now and not be doing anything more than holding her hand was a show of restraint even Vince didn't know he had in him especially given all the times he'd had to see her in a two-piece bathing suit. The risk of his time being cut short here was not one he was willing to take.

Then one night just a couple of weeks before the dreaded end of his summer vacation, as he was getting into his car to go see Rose, he got the text from her that nearly stopped his heart.

OMG! We're moving to Nevada!

With his stomach taking a sudden dive, Vince responded immediately.

Why? When?

Vince sat in the car, wondering if he should just go or wait for her response. He decided he'd wait. He didn't want to make her wait to have to pull over to respond. Nevada? What the hell? He remembered her telling him about the vacation they'd taken there at the beginning of this summer and the friend they knew out there. But why they'd be moving there he had no idea.

My stupid stepdad got a DUI. His class-A license was taken away. Without that, he can't work anymore. Their friend in Nevada offered them both jobs along with room and board in his casino/hotel. My mom's already talking about getting my transcripts from school, so I can get enrolled over there this fall.

Vince panicked. Sal and Grace were away for the weekend. Rose wasn't his girlfriend yet. But he had every intention of staying in touch with her once he left and coming out to visit her as much as he could. Hopefully they would make things official between them in the very near future then he would come back next summer. He had to be cool for now. But this could ruin everything.

Do you have to go? Can't you stay here with Grace?

Since Grace and Sal had announced their engagement, Rose's mom had made an unusual, sudden change in her conduct with Rose. From what Rose had told Vince prior to the engagement, she'd always been cold and distant, caring more about herself than anyone else. Suddenly she was showing Rose the attention and affection she never had in the past. Sal told Vince in confidence he thought the calculating bitch was up to something. Grace would have a much better life now, and if her mom wanted to have any part of it, the one way to stay on Grace's good side was through Rose.

Of course Vince didn't share this information with Rose especially since he could tell that, while she didn't admit to it, Rose was happy about the change. Little by little this summer Rose had opened up to Vince about her relationship with her mother or lack thereof. She said she didn't care, and what her mother lacked in parental attention and affection, Grace more than made up for. But Vince saw the expression in her eyes when she spoke about her mother sometimes. It hurt her more than she'd ever admit.

Regardless of how many times Rose said it didn't matter, like any normal girl who'd been neglected by a parent for too long, she craved her mother's attention. When Grace moved in with Sal, they told Rose she was more than welcome to move in, too—that Sal had plenty of room. But Rose chose to stay because her mother said she wanted her to. Rose said she'd decided to stay because she didn't want to switch high schools, but Vince knew better. He'd seen the twinkle in Rose's eye when she told him her mother actually wanted her to stay.

I already mentioned that. My mom says she wants me to go with her.

This was bullshit. Her mother never gave a shit about her before. Vince texted Sal this time.

Does Grace know about Rose moving?

Almost immediately his phone rang, and he answered.

"Moving where?" Sal's concerned voice was all the answer Vince needed.

"To Nevada," Vince explained quickly, and within seconds he was off the phone with him.

He rushed, trying to stay under the speed limit to get to Rose. She was in the playground where they always met, sitting on the swing staring at her feet. He rushed over and sat in the swing next to her. Her tears nearly choked him. There had to be a way to fix this.

He touched her leg gently. "Have you talked to Grace?"

She nodded and sniffed but said nothing else.

"Did she...was she able to convince your mom?"

Rose stood up suddenly. Her lip was trembling, and Vince was on his feet in an instant facing her. "She didn't have to convince her, Vincent. She never wanted me to go with her. She used me as leverage." She paused to whimper and wipe her face, breaking Vince's heart in the process. "I heard her on the phone, whining about the hot weather in Laughlin and how she'd have to work as a housekeeper at the hotel. She told Grace she'd let me stay as long as Grace promised her that once she had her own restaurant, she'd let her work there and help her get a place out here. The moment she got off the phone, she looked at me and just told me I was staying as if it were no big deal to her that she's moving away and leaving her daughter behind. She's never given a shit about me, and I just don't understand why."

She sobbed now, and Vince reached out to embrace her as she continued to cry into his chest. He'd never felt so much hatred for someone in his life like he did at that moment. He couldn't fathom how such a heartless bitch could've possibly produced someone as special and sweet as Rose.

As her crying calmed, Vince pulled away to look at her. It killed him to see her so sad. He wiped her tears away as they fell from the corners of her eyes. "Don't cry, Rosie. Maybe she just figured you'd be happy about staying since you had brought it up earlier."

Rose shook her head. "No, she's never loved me. I don't even know how to describe it, but from the time I was a little girl, I always felt this...I don't know distaste for me, like I was more of a hindrance to her than a blessing."

"Some people just don't know how to show their feelings, but Grace has always loved you." Vince wiped another one of her tears again. "You said it yourself. It more than made up for your mother's lack of affection."

She sniffed some more, wiping her face with the sleeve of her hoody. "Yeah, I know, but I guess I was hoping that maybe..." She shook her head again. "God, I'm stupid. How could I actually believe that after all this time, she finally decided she loved me?"

The flare of hatred was back, and it was blazing. "No you're not," he said firmly cupping her face. "Listen to me. It's not stupid to hope that your own mother had finally come around and was gonna start acting like one." He shrugged. "So she sucks at being a mom. You have an awesome sister who loves you more than anything in the world."

Rose looked down for a moment without saying anything.

"I love you, Rosie." If he'd lowered his voice any more she may not have heard him.

Rose looked up at him, immediately shaking her head. "Vincent, don't—"

"I do." He'd felt it for a long time now, but he hadn't planned on telling her until he was sure he wouldn't freak her out. He remembered her speech about love being a gradual thing, but he couldn't hold it in anymore.

"You don't have to say that just because—"

"I'm not just saying it." He took a step closer to her and looked her straight in the eyes. "I don't just love you. I'm in love with you. And I know you said it's a gradual thing, but for me it wasn't. It got me fast and—"

"I love you, too." She put her hands over his, and for the first time that night she smiled making his heart go wild. "I'm in love with you, too, Vincent. I know I said it was a gradual thing, but you've made this the most amazing summer of my life. I'll never forget it."

After staring at her for a moment and taking in her unbelievable words, he looked down at her lips. "Can I kiss you?" he whispered.

He felt her go tense, and his eyes were immediately on hers. Seeing that she had gone from happiness to anxiousness, he was almost afraid to ask, but only because he didn't want to get too excited.

"You've never been kissed?" She flushed as she shook her head and bit her lip. "Don't be embarrassed, Rosie. It'd be an honor to be your first. If you let me, I'll show you how." He smiled trying to calm his insides as she nodded softly. Could this get any better? He was about to be Rosie's first. "Lick your lips and tilt your head." She did as she was told, and he kissed her gently just once then whispered against her soft lips. "Relax." She did, and he kissed her again, this time parting her lips with his tongue, feeling her gasp when their tongues touched. He couldn't help smile. "Just do what I do. You'll get the hang of it in no time."

Bringing his hand around her neck, he pulled her even closer to him and went in for a longer one, savoring her sweet mouth. It wasn't a long kiss; he didn't want to overwhelm her. He pulled away and smiled, leaning his forehead against hers. "You're a natural."

She smiled back. "I wanna thank you, Vincent."

He pulled back to look in her eyes again. Something he loved to do now. "For what?"

"I'm gonna remember this day forever, but not for the reasons I thought I would earlier. You've completely turned today around for me. I can hardly wait to move in with Grace now." She hugged him, leaning her face against his chest, and it felt perfect holding her like this. "Vincent?"

"Yeah?"

"Kiss me again."

He laughed as she pulled away to look at him. "I was already wondering if it was too soon for that." Before he did, he held her face in his hands for a moment. "This doesn't end this summer, Rose. I'm coming back next year, and in between I'll text you every day. I'll see what I can do about coming down to visit you, too." She didn't have to respond; he saw it in her big, bright eyes. This made her as happy as it made him. So before she could respond, he leaned in and gave her another much longer kiss than the first.

~*~

Rose

Like most girls, Rose had daydreamed about her first kiss for years. She never would've imagined that it would be on a day when she'd finally had to face the devastating fact that her mother had no interest in raising her. And she certainly hadn't imagined it would happen the day she professed her love to the guy doing the kissing. She'd always assumed the kissing would come first, and later there would be declarations of love, but this made it even more special.

Rose had heard of boys Vincent's age mistaking lust for love all too many times. They'd put up with girls who they didn't even really like, just because the girl was giving it up, and they truly thought they were in love. Vincent had yet to even kiss her when he'd told her he was in love with her. So it meant that much more to her.

Sex was not something they'd talked about yet. Rose got the feeling Vincent was almost afraid to. Judging from all the other things he'd already experienced in his short life, she was sure he was no virgin. Going by his kissing alone, she'd say he was plenty experienced.

Kissing was their favorite thing to do the last two weeks he was there. Of course they were careful no one ever saw them. But Vincent had behaved so well throughout the summer that, by the end of summer and with Rose using the ole "but he's only here for a couple more weeks—days" plea, they pretty much got to spend every day of those last two weeks together. They'd made the most of them.

Rose cried the day he left. Grace had warned her enough when she saw how close she'd gotten to Vincent that even thinking about any kind of relationship surpassing a friendship was unwise. He lived too far, and it probably wouldn't work out. Having gone through what she had with Sal during their breakup, she was terrified of Rose being hurt.

Just knowing she wouldn't be seeing him for a while hurt like hell. But Vincent had promised to be true to her, even from as far away as he lived, as long as she stayed true to him. Rose couldn't even imagine another boy making her feel what Vincent did. He was her prince in what now felt like a fairy-tale life.

Rose's mom had moved away weeks ago. For her whole life the woman had managed to hang around like a dark cloud dimming even the pleasant events in her life by simply not showing up. That was all behind her. Rose was happy now. She was done letting her mother bring her spirits down.

Rose had gone from living in the slums and going to one of the worst high schools in the district to living in the hills of La Jolla in a beautiful home and attending one of the highest-ranked schools in the area not just academically but in sports as well. She was now part of one of the best teams in San Diego County, and she was a starter. On top of all that Sal insisted on sponsoring her, so she could play on a club team as well. She had once upon a time until her mother decided she wasn't paying for that anymore. But unlike in her old neighborhood, the teams out here were all ranked silver and above, and yet she'd still made the cut when she tried out.

She was already done with her first semester at her new school. Things between her and Vincent were still perfect He'd been out to La Jolla many times thanks to all the parties leading up to Grace and Sal's wedding. Then there was the wedding itself. He'd been there the whole weekend. In between all the parties Vincent had come up a few other times on his own. His dad was so proud that he'd been completely trouble free for so long that he'd let him use his car a few times to drive down and see her. Vincent hadn't been in trouble even once since his tagging incident.

Now he was back again for another visit, and she packed a picnic they could take to the beach where they could have some alone time. Done eating now, they lay on the blanket she'd brought doing what they loved doing most.

Vincent completely respected the fact that she wasn't ready to do more than just kissing and what had progressed to heavy petting now. But she loved how intensely deep he kissed her sometimes. That alone felt almost erotic.

Most recently he'd begun to run his hands up and down her legs like he was doing now, and he literally groaned in her mouth. "Damn, this drives me nuts."

Rose smiled, squirming as his lips moved from hers and nipped her neck now. Feeling him tongue-suck her neck drove her nuts and made her tingle in places she knew she shouldn't be. She wasn't ready to go there yet. Still a small moan slipped. "You drive me nuts, Vincent."

The moan had been embarrassing enough, but being so breathless that she could barely get the words out surprised even her.

Vincent pulled away from her neck to look at her. His intense eyes fixed on hers. "Rosie, Grace doesn't know about this, does she?"

Rose smiled. "That you drive me nuts?"

"Well," he chuckled, but it still didn't hide the worry in his eyes "that and that we're doing a little more than just kissing now."

Running her fingers through his hair, Rose chewed the inside of her lip. She knew what he was worried about. "I tell her a lot. But so far all I've only told her is that you're the first boy that's ever kissed me."

"And the last," he added quickly lifting a brow.

Rose laughed now, "Yes, Vincent, and the last."

He smiled, kissing her softly before pulling away again. "You're not gonna tell her any more are you?"

She shook her head, tracing that perfectly arched eyebrow of his. "Not yet."

"But you will eventually?"

She smiled again, hoping to assuage some of his worry. "I'll warn you before I do. But trust me, I wouldn't tell her anything that might get you banned from coming to see me. You think I'm crazy or something?"

"No," he said staring at her lips. "I just don't know what I'd do if that happened."

"Well, it won't, so don't worry, okay?"

Vince leaned in, and she could tell just by the look in his eyes this wouldn't be one of his usually sweet kisses; this one had erotic written all over it, and she braced herself, her heart already thumping wildly.

More to come!