Summer Love in the City (Summer Instalove)

PROLOGUE

* Kim *

*** Two and a Half Weeks Earlier ***

It was starting to get late, and the crowd at Julian’s Pub was thinning out. I was sad to see

Joanna leave early, knowing that I wouldn’t see her for at least a month. With her gone for

two weeks, and then our pub closed for their summer renovations for another two, it was

going to be a strange gap in our usual social schedule.

Four weeks wasn’t really a long time, except that we were all twenty-two, and everything

seemed important. We were at the point in our lives where everything was shiny and new,

but we were hopefully mature enough to acknowledge it.

“Ladies, I think we need a round of lemon drop shots to close out tonight,” I announced.

Becca held up her hands, saying, “I still have half a glass of wine, count me out.”

“I’m in,” Kate said.

Laura laughed. “How about I have a ceremonial sip of yours? I’ve already had three drinks.”

I shook my head. “I’m not sure whether to be horrified that half of you are lightweights, or

impressed that people know their limits.”

“How about both?” Becca asked. “If you’re pushing us into meeting men, we’re going to

need to know both when to let go, and when to draw lines.”

Signaling Sherrie, our bartender, for two lemon drops and a round of water, I realized that

Becca was right. “I guess all any of us can do is keep our eyes open, and trust our gut

instincts,” I said.

The other girls nodded, and I realized that we were all a bit nervous about our summer

breaks.

I knew that my girlfriends thought I was joking about the whole “friends before mens”

sentiment, but it was a little more than a joke. We were definitely all at places in our lives

where it was inevitable that some of us were going to find a boyfriend, which might blossom

into a real, serious relationship.

It was downright weird that my friends looked to me for dating advice. I had barely dated at

all, so I was scarcely an expert. And although I was very outspoken with women, I

somehow lost my edge when I was speaking with men. Maybe I’d just seen too many

losers trying to pick up women who were too shy to tell them off properly.

Even though I’d been on a handful of first and second dates, and had a bland two-month

relationship, dating made me freaking nervous.