Demetri
“He’s not answering his phone. Are you sure there
’
s not something I can help you with?”
You know, other than slamming the door in your face
?
I
t’s freaking six in the morning. Do I look like a rooster?
“Uh…
No.” April blushed a bright red
. “
I don’t like to be a bother to either of you
.
I only had his number from when he gave me the key.”
“Oh right.” I nodded
. “
Well let me give you mine
,
o
k
ay
?”
April stared at me oddly before pulling out her phone and punching the numbers in.
“Got it.”
“Cool.” I nodded my head
,
hoping she’d get the hint that all I wanted to do that early in the morning was go
to a very dark place where pillows and blankets would wrap around my body. Or Alyssa
.
T
hat would work to
o.
“You
,
um…” April laughed and shoved her hands in her pockets
. “
You look really grown up.”
What the hell? Did she just call me old? “I uh…”I scratched my head
. “
Thanks you look…
nice.” Wow, well done. What did she expect
?
Had
I mentioned it was six am?
“Bye
,
Demetri.” April looked at me twice over her shoulder before getting into
her rental car and driving off.
“Who the hell rings the doorbell at six
A.M
?”
came
Jaymeson
’
s voice
from
behind me. I couldn’t very well say
your insane mother
,
so I just shrugged.
“Go back to bed.”
“Don’t want to
,
” Jaymeson grumbled, his voice low and scratchy
. “
The girl I brought home last night got clingy.”
“Clingy?
And what the hell, Jaymeson? Weren’t you saying you were over it yesterday?
”
Grinning, he shrugged. “Weak moment, and y
eah, she
’
s all over me.”
“She’s awake?” I sat on the barsto
ol and put my head in my hands.
“Hell
,
no. She’s still sleeping.”
I jerked my head up
. “
Huh? Then how the hell is she all over you?”
“I watched her—”
“
P
lease tell me this conversation is going to get less creepy soon.”
“Shut up.” Jaymeson threw a
C
heerio at my head
. “
Girls
.
T
hey get this weird look when they sleep
.
H
er eyebrows are all furrowed, and her lips are in this tight line and I swear to you
her eyes are like rolling behind her eyelids.” He shuddered and threw a handful of
C
heerios in his mouth
. “
I swear to you the only thing she’s dreaming about right now is how to trap me into
marriage.” Shaking his head a few times he
banged the table with his fist
. “
And that
,
my friend, will never happen. Seriously. I already feel smothered.”
I stared at him blankly.
“What?” He shrugged.
“Nothing.” I leaned back in my chair
. “
I’m still trying to decide if you’re a genius or insane.”
“And?”
“
Jury’s
still out.” I saluted him and pushed away from the table
. “
And I need more sleep.”
“Damn. I thought I could convince you to go surfing this morning.”
“And get eaten by a seagull? Or better yet, have one poke my eyes out? No
,
thanks.”
Jaymeson let out a bark of laughter
. “
Seagulls don’t attack people.”
“Um, tell that to the website that has a record
ed
three thousand eight hundred and two seagull attacks to date!”
Jaymeson was silent and then
,
“
You made that up.”
I flipped him off and walked up the stairs shouting
,
“Who cares! It’s probably true somewhere!”
I tried to quietly creep into Alyssa’s room. The camera crew for the morning shift
was usually too lazy to follow us around the house
.
M
ost of them were either out getting coffee or taking a breakfast break, meaning I
could go jump into her bed without her parents murdering me for compromising her on
national television.
The wood floor creaked just as I made it to her bed. Damn
,
but my girlfriend was beautiful. Seriously.
And
now I was the creepy one because I was seriously happy to watch her sleep. I reached
out and touched her cheek with my hand and sighed.
Alyssa’s eyes flickered open just as she jerked back into the bed and swore. “What
the hell
,
Demetri! I was sleeping!”
“I know.” I gently pushed her f
a
rther across the bed and crawled in
. “
But I thought we could have a morning slumber party.”
“You piece of crap. You just want me to rub your head while you go to sleep and I
stay
awake
staring at the ceiling!” Alyssa turned away from me, but I grabbed her and tucked
her into my body.
“Not true! I just want to hold you.”
“Right.”
“And I mean, if you wanted to rub my head or my back or something
,
I wouldn’t complain…”
“Slut.”
“Whore.”
“You woke me up.”
I grinned
.
“That I did.”
“You know I can’t go back to sleep once woken up.”
I kissed the top of her head
.
“I’m well aware of that fact
,
which is why I was so quiet upon entering
your
room. Notice that I only hit two of the squ
e
aky parts of the floor, not all six.”
Alyssa turned to face me, her eyes still barely open and her lips all flush
. “
Notice how you were staring at me like some creepy homicidal killer that belongs on
one of those crime shows.”
“Hey!” I dug my hands into her mop of
dark
hair and massaged her skull
. “
No fair. Besides
,
I was staring at you because you’re really pretty.”
“One point for you this morning.”
I sighed happily and kissed her forehead, then threw my leg over hers so
she was trapped with me in bed.
“Are we going to talk about it, Demetri?” Alyssa’s head was against my chest so her
voice was muffled.
“About you and Alec and why the hell he’s acting different?
Ten days
ago you were freaking out about what he may or may not do
,
and now you won’t even talk to me about it.”
I swallowed and played with a piece of her hair. Did things always have to be so complicated?
“All I know is that I hope whatever’s bothering him
,
he can get it out before he and Nat get back here. If anyone can help him it’s Nat.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely. I mean
,
it’
s like they’re already married. She’ll fix him.” I had to hope she would
;
otherwise, I just wasn’t sure I could handle any more bombs getting dropped on our
happy little lives. Not after all the shit we’d already been thr
ough. I just wanted to be done.
**
**
We all sat around the dinner table that night with
Ruben
and the rest of the production crew. He called the meeting to order and took a sip
of his soda. “Alright
,
kids…” I groaned, why did he call us kids? “This week’s theme is…”
“Please let it be sleep
,
” I interrupted.
“Sex?” Jaymeson grinned shamelessly while Alyssa punched him. Angelica was staring
at the ground like it was going to su
ddenly open up and swallow her.
Ruben
looked around at all our eager faces. “The past.”
“Son of a bitch.” Was the man trying to kill me?
“How is that a theme?” Alyssa asked.
Ruben
nodded happily to Alyssa
. “
Great question!”
I rolled my eyes
. “
Shoot me now.”
Ignoring my outburst
,
Ruben
took a seat
. “
Not only does your past define your future
,
but it makes you seem more real to your fans. They want to know what you were like
growing up. Did you play any sports? When was your first kiss? You know
,
that type of stuff. So we’ll have a series of confessionals this week where the producers
will ask you questions
,
but you’ll also be getting to know the rest of the cast and their pasts through a
series of games and activities.”
“Yay
,
” I said dryly.
Jaymeson raised his hand
. “
Yeah, um
,
Ruben
?”
“What?”
“I was in a tragic accident when I was…” His finger went into the air as if he was
doing math
. “
Like seventeen, so I don’t remember anything from my childhood.”
“Interesting.”
Ruben
folded his arms
. “
That makes sense
.
I mean
,
I never believed that rumor that you could have slept with that many Hollywood starlets
at the ripe old age of sixteen.”
Jaymeson grunted
. “
Believe it.”
Ruben
glared
. “
What? No memory loss?”
“Well
-
played, damn it.”
Jaymeson sulked
,
leaning his
elbows
against the table.
“As I was saying
…
”
Ruben
smirked
.
“If you were a closet cross
-
dresser when you
we
re ten—”
“
W
hat the hell?” I snapped
. “
At ten? Kind of early
…
”
Ruben
folded his arms across his chest and continued
. “
If you kissed a girl and she punched you when you were four, or you have some sort
of weird toenail fetish
—
it’s all gonna come out this week. Be prepared. There will be a fishbowl
for each of you
in the middle of the room with questions. Each day you’ll be asked to retrieve one
from the bowl and
answer it for
your cast members. Remember, this is supposed to be fun.”
“Is that why it feels like hell?” I asked aloud.
Ruben
didn’t answer
.
I
nstead he placed the fishbowl
s
on the counter, full of white pieces of paper.
Each fishbowl had a name on it.
“Who’s going to go first?”
“We have to start now?” Jaymeson whined.
“Yup
,
”
Ruben
said.
“I’ll go.” Alyssa popped up from her seat and retrieved a piece of paper from
her
bowl.
Ruben
nodded
. “
Go ahead, read it aloud.”
Alyssa’s face paled. She looked to me and then back at the paper
.
H
er voice shook as she read the question. “Who did you lose in a tragic car accident
when you were sixteen
,
and was it your fault?”
I jumped out of my chair and ripped the paper out of her hands. “Hell
,
no. She
doesn’t
have to answer that.”
Ruben
smirked
. “
Her contract says she does.”
I clenched my fists at my sides
. “
You piece of shit.”
Ruben
narrowed his gaze on Alyssa
. “
We’re waiting.”
I grabbed her hand for support and nodded to her. Before answering, she turned her
brilliant blue eyes to me
.
A
smile broke out on her face. She didn’t look at
Ruben
or anyone else in the room
—
no
,
she looked at me, only me.
“My first boyfriend died when I was sixteen. It was an accident. Nobod
y’
s fault really. And it’s taken me a long time to be able to realize that sometimes
acciden
ts happen—”
“
Great
,
”
Ruben
interrupted.
“I’m not done
,
” Alyssa snapped, returning her attention to me
. “
After rain the
re’
s always a rainbow
,
right?” She reached out and touched my face
.
H
er fingers grazed my cheek and then my chin
, then
she brought my head slowly to hers and kissed my lips. “If Brady was the rain…
then Demetri was
my rainbow.”
She grinned at me, but there was no time for me to smile back. My lips were on hers
in such a fast frenzy that she stumbled backwards. I lifted her into my arms and devoured
her mouth, plunging my tongue into her warmth, tasting, teasing
—
but most of all claiming.
Mine, mine, mine
.
A throat cleared behind us. I didn’t give a damn. I
kept
kissing her, for everyone in the freaking universe to see. She was mine
.
I loved her
,
and damn anyone to hell who thought they could ruin what we had, including
Ruben
.
After a few more
blissed-
out second
s
where I
’
m
not
proud to admit I undressed her with my mind at least a dozen times, I
placed her back on the ground.
“Well
,
that was awkward.”
T
his from Jaymeson.
Angelica w
as still staring at the ground.
“Who’s next?”
Ruben
asked.
Jaymeson pulled a piece of paper out of his fishbowl, with a bored sigh he read the
contents. “Do I have any STD’s?” He laughed
. “
Is this for real?”
Ruben
eyebrows lifted.
“Shouldn’t this be Angelicas question?” Jaymeson added
,
flinging the paper into the air
. “
Whatever, doesn’t matter. No, I don’t have any STD’s
.
I’m
not that much of a man-whore.”
I didn’t think
it
would be the right time to actually point out that
,
yes
,
he was in fact the biggest man
-
whore I’d ever met.
Ruben
looked to me.
“Fine, my turn.” I rolled my eyes and grabbed a piece of paper from the bowl
. “
Do you ever wonder why you and Alec look like polar opposites?” I laughed and slammed
the paper on the table
. “
I think we all know the answer to that one.” I pulled Alyssa to my side and kissed
her head
.
“I’m the hotter one
,
and when I was in my mommy’s tummy it was summertime
.
T
herefore
,
I have lighter hair and eyes. When Alec was in our
mother’s
tummy it was winter
,
so he looks darker and
,
might I add
,
more pale.”
“Did a stork also drop you off when your mom went into labor?”
T
his from Angelica.
“She speaks!” I clapped and handed her the fishbowl
. “
Your turn
,
slut.”
“Very funny.” She dipped her hand in and pulled out the strip of paper
.
H
er eyes widened as she looked at the paper
,
and then she crumpled it up into her hand. “This is stupid
,
Ruben
.”
She put her hands on her hips
. “
I’m not doing this. Find another way to get everyone’s dirty secrets!”
“What’s fair is fair.” He
was seething
.
“Fine.” She slammed the paper onto the counter
. “
Yes
,
it sucked when I got pregnant at sixteen! Yes
,
it almost ruined my film career
,
and that’s a
hell
,
yes
,
I went to rehab to deal with the abortion!” She stormed out of the room
.
T
he sound of her heels clicking against the
tile floor may as well have been my conscience making me feel like
a genuine jackass. How did I not know any of that? To be fair
,
I didn’t really pay attention to gossip
.
M
ainly because I wasn’t interested in who I was “sleeping with
”
or what starlet I just “abandoned.”
“Holy shit.” Jaym
e
son looked down at his hands
. “
Holy freaking shit.”
“You’ve said that.” I tried to laugh
,
but it fell on deaf ears. He turned to me and scowled
. “
L
ast night I…” He swallowed
. “
I may have told her something like she should just go kill herself since nobody liked
her.”
“
A bit harsh, Jaymeson
.” Alyssa snapped.
Jaymeson pushed away from the table and ran after Angelica
,
leaving Alyssa and me in the kitchen with the production crew and
Ruben
. “Happy now?” I asked
. “
Tell me
,
is it your goal to ruin everyone
’
s lives?”
Ruben
sneered
. “
Maybe you should be as
king your brother
that question.”
He grabbed a can of soda from the fridge and began talking abou
t edits to the production crew.
My stomach filled with dread. I quickly dialed Alec’s number to fill him in on what
was going on, but his phone was off
.
E
ither that or dead. He needed to know what kind of hellstorm he was coming back into.
We were officially a few questions away from
the point of no return. Nobody knew Alec and my original reasons for being in Seaside
in the first place, except a select group who’d take it to their grave
s
. If they kept asking questions
,
I didn’t even want to think about the ramifications. Forget the shit Alec was going
through
.
W
e had much bigger problems
.
L
ike how we we
re
going to keep our past hidden when
Ruben
was stopping at nothing to make it public?