Demetri
“You think anyone would miss her if we drowned her?” I asked Jaymeson as we watched
Angelica run into the ocean, both hands in the air. The production crew took after
her as she splashed around and giggled
for the cameras. Gag me.
“I know I wouldn’t
,
” Jaymeson grumbled
. “
I seriously should have said no when they asked me about this damn show.” He sighed
. “
The things I do for my friends.”
“Oh
,
come on
.”
I nudged him
. “
You were the one
who
was complaining about not finding any hot girls. Now you’re surrounded by them. Just
take your pick.” I pointed to the part of the beach that was roped off so we could
have our own private beach day. Girls were
screaming and holding up signs.
Jaymeson shrugged
. “
Maybe I’m not into that anymore.”
“Women? Holy crap
,
you
’
r
e
—”
“Stop being an ass.” He grabbed a beer
and sat on the sand
. “
I mean
,
maybe I’m not into being known
as
a womanizer anymore.”
“Right.” I chuckled and took a sip of my bottled water
. “
And I’m a dinosaur.”
“Hilarious.” He set his beer down and cursed.
“Dude, what’s wrong?” I threw some sand at his feet
. “
You
’
r
e
more depressed than Alec these days!”
Jaymeson shrugged
. “
It’s my step-mom.”
“What about her?”
Alyssa ran by us and joined Angelica in the ocean, only she looked comp
le
tely happy to be surfing rather than pra
ncing around. Damn
,
she was hot.
“So you know how my parents had this crazy divorce last year?”
“Who doesn’t? That shit was even on CNN.”
“Right.” Jaymeson swore
. “
So anyways, my dad ended up having to pay a lot of money to my mom because he was
caught being unfaithful. They had started a joint production company and she wanted
all of it. In the end she got it because she was able to prove that as per their pre-nup,
he cheated, therefore
forfeiting
any rights he had to the company.”
“Well
,
that was dumb.”
Jaym
e
son laughed humorl
es
s
l
y
. “
The bastard didn’t think he’d get caught.”
“Most don’t.”
“Anyways
.”
He took of his sunglasses and leaned back on his elbows
. “
Last night my mom got a bit wasted and was spouting out this nonsense about these
pictures of her and some guy together the night the divorce was finalized. Granted,
he can’t legally do anything, but he’s apparently threat
e
ning to go to the press with the pictures. Some of them are apparently really bad
.
H
e claims my mom
’
s
squeaky
clean reputation will be shattered, so he’s bribing her. Wants half the production
company. I’m sure it helps that they were producing the new series of dystopian novels
that hit the New York Times last year.”
I scratched my head. It was weird how messed up some people were. I mean
,
if you looked at Jaymeson you would think he di
dn
’t have a care in the world, but now
…
I just felt bad for him.
“So what is she going to do?”
“Apparently the guy she was with was going to the press himself
to
deny it. She wants him to take the fall
.
S
he claims he was the guilty party
.”
“That’s bull shit.” I snorted
. “
Especially if she was part of it
.”
“Well…” Jaymeson took another swig of beer
. “
She thinks he drugged her. She’s on some pretty serious anti
-
anxiety meds and pain
-
killers
for
fibromyalgia. But she hadn’t taken anything that night because she was having champagne.
Granted this was all from her drunken mouth last night as she stumbled around the
house. But anyways, she says something was slipped into the champagne.”
“How?”
“The bottle was already opened.”
“Hmm…” I drank the last of my water and closed my eyes, leaning back against the warm
sand. “That’s a lot of drama.”
“Tell me about it.”
“That why you don’t wanna whore around anymore?”
Jaymeson laughed
. “
Part of it. The other part is there is no chance in hell I want to get myself saddled
to some chick whos
e
just go
i
ng to abuse my money and fame. I’d rather be single my entire life than fall in love.”
“Hah!” I burst out laughing
. “
It’s going to be a great day when you fall, Jaymeson, and believe me, you will.”
“Why the hell would you say that?”
“Because the ones who fight it the most, fall the hardest.”
****
Alyssa and I walked back to the beach house hand in hand. Maybe it was just because
of all the crap going on with Jaymeson
’
s life and then Alec
’
s issues
—
I just felt thankful that I at least had Alyssa
—
we had each other.
“I love you
,
” I whispered once we were out of earshot of Jaymeson and Angelica.
Alyssa froze and then turned
. “
How much?”
“Enough to pet a bird
,
” I said straight-faced.
She giggled and jumped into my arms. I swung her around and found her mouth, crushing
my lips against hers with such force
I almost stumbled to my knees.
“Well…” She alternated between nibbling
and sucking
my lower lip. I needed to lean against something strong before I passed out. “I kind
of love you a lot too.”
“How much?” With her legs wrapped around me I walked her into the house and slowly
ascen
ded the stairs
toward
my room.
“Enough to return the big bird costume I rented for Halloween.”
“Hilarious.
” I fell backwards onto the bed with her on top of me.
“Fine.” She straddled me and leaned down until her lips were a breath away from mine.
“I love you enough to never let you go.”
“Even if I do some crazy shit and make you pissed at me?”
“Well
,
that’s a given
.
I mean
,
you are Demetri Daniels.” Her tongue reached out to touch the side of
my
mouth. My entire body felt like an exposed wire as her nails scratched up my arms
and then rested on my chest. “I love you enough to go shut the door.”
“Thank God.”
Alec
“This is really pretty
,
” Nat said as we entered the hotel suite looking out onto the Puget Sound. “I hope
we see a whale.”
Laughing, I pulled her against my chest
. “
A whale
,
huh? I’m not sure we’re close enough to open water, but we can go whale
-
watching tomorrow if you really want
.
”
“I want.”
“I want too…” I kissed her hard on the mouth
,
allowing the past to evaporate. It was just
her and me
. My phone buzzed in my pocket.
Nat pulled back
. “
You should get that.”
“Nah.” I continued my assault
,
lifting her into my arms and carrying her to the bed. My phone went off again.
“Alec, it could be important
. J
ust get it.” She pushed me away and I relented.
With a curse I looked at the screen.
“Who is it?” Nat asked.
“Um…” I didn’t want to lie
,
so I shrugged and walked to the outside patio careful to close the sliding doors behind
me. “What?” I snapped into the phone.
“Alec, I’m sorry to call you now
,
but we have a problem.”
My laugh sounded bitter as I
pinched the bridge
of my nose. “
You
have a problem. I’m happily a few hundred miles away enjoying my girlfriend. I’
ll deal with stuff when I g
et back.”
“He wants the production company.”
“So?” I focused on the water and bit hard on my lower lip
. “
He’s wanted that all along
.
W
hat’s the big deal now?”
“It’s not just about ruining my reputation now, Alec. It’s about yours and Demetri
’
s.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying as of tonight if I don’t sign over his half of the company, he’s going
to go to the press and tell everyone that not only is Demetri
…
well
,
you know the sordid tale, I don’t have to repeat it. It makes me sick to repeat it.”
“But we didn’t—”
“—I know.” April sighed on the other end
. “
I
know nothing happened,
you
know nothing happened. We both know something was in that damn champagne
,
Alec. We woke up in disarray, pictures were taken—
”
Her soft sobs broke my heart as I leaned against the railing of the patio and cursed.
“How did everything get so messed up? I don’t want Demetri to find out this way
.
H
e can’t find out this way! It will destroy him.”
“How the hell would you know? You don’t even know him!” I snapped.
“I know that no kid wants to see
someone they care about
in a compromising position with the person they’ve called brother their entire life.”
“Shit.” I kicked the railing and
shook my head. “Where are you?”
“Seaside.”
“Just…
let me think about what to do
,
and I’ll call you back later tonight. Keep your phone on you
,
okay?”
“Fine.”
“April?” I was pleading, grasping at straws.
“What?”
“Why do you want the production company so bad? What
’
s so awful about giving him half of it? He gets what he wants, we don’t expose Demetri
to all of this and everyone’s happy.”
“—I just. I can’t
,
Alec.”
“Why?”
“I need to go.”
“Don’t you dare hang up
,
April. Tell me. Now.”
She sighed heavily on the other end
. “
I need the money.”
“How is that even possible?”
“Look, I knew you wouldn’t under
s
tand. I need to go.” The phone went dead. I stared at it for a good five minutes before
cursing and s
tuffing it back into my pocket.
I turned to see Nat staring at me, confusion in her eyes
. “
Everything okay?”
“It’s perfect.” I gave her my best fake smile and tugged her to me
. “
It’s fine because I have you.”
The need built up within me again. The need to forget all the shit and just lose myself
in her. Numb mysel
f to the hell that was my life.
My fingers moved to the hem of her shirt. I kissed her hard on the mouth and lifted
the sh
irt effortlessly over her head.
“Oh, so it’s going to be like that?”
s
he said breathlessly
.
“Exactly.” I lifted her into my arms and walked her into the room, leaving the sliding
glass door open. A cool breeze teased her bare skin as I laid her across the bed.
“Like this
.”
I ran the back of my hand down her arm and watched as her eyes
dilated
and closed.
“I love the way you touch me.” She sighed happily.
I knelt on the bed and hovered over her
. “
And how do I touch you?”
“Like you’re afraid I’ll disappear if you don’t.”
She was more accurate than I would have liked. I nipped her lips with my teeth and
moved my hands down
to brace her hips. She was absolutely glowing. I swear the longer I spent with her
the more beautiful she became to me. Nat tilted her head
. “
What are you doing?”
“Memorizing
,
” I said simply.
“The size of my hips?” She swatted my hands away
. “
N
ot romantic.”
I rolled my eyes and placed my hands back on her hips
. “
Not the size. And you’re perfect
,
by the way
,
so stop glaring at me. If you must know
,
I was memorizing the way your body fit so perfectly into my hands. Your curves, your
skin
.
I
t
’
s like everything was made just for me.”
“It was
,
” Nat whispered.
Speechless. I could only stare at the beautiful girl in front of me. I was the luckiest
bastard in the world. I had a girl
who
loved me more than life itself,
who
gave me everything she had and more, and here I was…
stripping her of her clothes and possessing
her with my guilt.
“What’s wrong?” Her hand touched my cheek while her other hand moved u
nder
my shirt
,
trying to bring it over my head. Chuckling, I pushed her hand away and took it off.
“Hmm, that’s more like it.” She beamed.
“Nat?” I licked my lips and moved from my position hovering over her so I could just
hold her. Though I wanted nothing more than to have sex and forget about the entire
night
,
I needed answers.
The hard part about hiding everything from Nat was that somehow she had turned into
my best friend, not just my girlfriend. When I had an issue or wanted to talk about
something, I went to her. And now I couldn’t. It was bad enough that I couldn’t talk
to Demetri or Jaymeson, but now I couldn’t even talk to the one person in the world
I knew had the wisd
om to help get me through this.
“How many times do you think a person can mess up before the damage is
irrevocable
?” I tucked her body into mine and placed my hands across her flat stomach and dipped
my fingers into the front of her jeans, mindlessly playing with the fabric
while I waited for her answer.
Her soft sigh didn’t make me feel any better. “I don’t know
,
Alec, I think it depends
on the person and the situation.”
“What
do you mean?”
“I don’t know. I guess I
’
m going to use you as an example
,
so don’t get mad. But when everything went down our senior year with Demetri, he was
hurt and mad because he felt like history was repeating itself. I mean
,
in a way he was betrayed by you twice. The first time you did it you were being an
ass
.
T
he second time was because you were being a protective ass.”
“Right.” My
hands tensed against her skin.
“I know you would never do anything like that again
,
because
y
ou have me and you know I’m a crack shot with my pistol. But…
I think if you would have kept on
with
that same behavior, there would have come a point where Demetri would have just walked
away.”
“He can’t.” I choked and then cleared my throat
. “
I could never lose him.”
Nat turned around in my arms and cupped my face with her left hand. “Alec, you won’t.
Why are you so worried all of a sudden?”
I opened my mouth to tell her everything, but no sound came out. Nothing. I stared
blankly at her while her
searching
eyes e
xamined my face with curiosity.
“I think I’m
done
talking.” Yup. I was a bastard. I devoured her mouth and rolled on top of her
,
stripping her of her bra in the process. “Y
e
ah
.”
I looked down at her half
-
naked form
. “
Definitely done talking.”
**
**
We stayed in bed for a few hours before Nat ordered room service. It was already nearing
midnight when my phone rang again. I was in the bathroom
,
so I let it go
to voicemail. Or so I thought.
“Hello?” Nat’s voice may as well have been a nail in my coffin. I quickly burst out
of the bathroom to find her sitting on the bed, my phone in hand, talking. My heart
slammed in my chest as she bit her thumbnail and tilted her head to the side. “I’m
not sure. I’ll ask him.”
“Alec?” Nat looked in my direction
. “
Jaymeson
’
s mom wants to know where you guys keep your
ibuprofen.”
Sighing in relief
,
I held out my hand for the phone but Nat waved me off as if to say
,
O
h
,
its fine
.
I’ll talk to her
. Shit. “Um, Nat
,
we don’t really
keep
any pills of any kind in the Seaside house, even ibuprofen.”
“Oh
,
I forgot. Right.” Nat
nodded
and spoke into the phone
. “
Yeah, they don’t have any
,
but there
’
s a corner store about a quarter of a mile down the street or you could just knock
on my parents
’
door. I’m sure
they’re
home.”
Freaking h
ell. That’s just what I needed.
I held out my hand for the phone
,
but Nat waved me off again and said goodbye
,
handing me th
e phone once she hit end.
“She wanted
ibuprofen
?” I turned away so she wouldn
’t see my scared shitless face.
“I guess. She sounded surprised that I answered
,
but then again she may have been thrown off because it was your phone
,
and yeah
,
I don’t know.”
“That’s probably it.” I licked my lips and made a mental note to put my ph
one on silent from here on out.
“What do you want to do?” Nat came up behind me and wrapped her arms around my stomach.
I laughed
.
“You mean other than lay naked with my girlfriend all hours of the day and night?”
“Horny bastard.” Nat slapped me on the ass and released me
. “
Besides I want to see whales! Remember?”
“How could I forget
?
” I teased
. “
You’ve only withheld massages for the past four hours until I book the whale
-
watching trip.”
Nat bounced onto the bed and looked at me eagerly. Her bright brow
n eyes dancing with excitement.
“I’ll call—”
“
Y
ay!”
“—if
…
” I held up my hand.
“You give me a ten minute massage.”
“Eight minutes.”
“Eight and a half.”
“Deal.” She held out her hand
.
I decided to tackle her against the bed instead. “What are you doing?” Nat laughed
and pushed against my heavy body as I smothered her.
“Sealing it with a kiss
,
” I said innocently as I kissed both cheeks, her forehead, and her nose.
She opened her mouth to speak but I didn’t let her. My lips covered hers. She tasted
so warm and inviting, and I was shak
en up again after April’s call.
I removed Nat’s bathrobe.
“Oh my gosh! I have to eat,
hydrate
!
Seriously!” She pushed against me, but I was like this possessed insane man. The minute
my hands touched her naked skin it was like I couldn’t control anything but the need
I
had to brand her with my touch.
So I took her. Again.
Until I could forget about the phone call and April for the second time that night.