Eternal: A Seaside/Ruin Crossover Novella (Seaside #6) (8 page)

“A very good girl.” I growled against her lips.

“Keep that up, and we’ll have Irish twins.”

“Practice is my favorite part.” I kissed her again. “How long do I have to wait again?”

“Six weeks.”

“Kill me now.”

“You’ll be fine.”

“I’ll die, but thanks for your concern.” I groaned into my hands. “I guess I’ll just have to get really good at cuddling.”

“And helping me feed Ella.” Nat scrunched up her nose. “I know I say it all the time, but I mean it. I love you, Alec Daniels.”

“I love you too, Nat.” I kissed her again and sighed as I looked at our little girl. Life was perfect.

Not always good.

But even when life was bad, even when you had hard times, you could still find perfection. And I was staring at it.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Demetri

I
COULDN’T SLEEP WORTH
shit. I was officially the little kid who goes to bed only to dream of Disneyland all night long. She was my Disneyland… I freaking wanted to jump into the bed, pull the covers over my head, and just… be with her. Like a crazy person.

Gabe had joked that he was going to put a lock on my door. Ha ha. I’d told him where he could shove it. But he hadn’t seemed fazed. Apparently, our duets had cemented our bond as bros.

Meaning, I had to find a new nemesis.

Something flashed by my window.

Awesome, the night before I’m going to get married a freaking bird was going to break into my room and kill me.

Well, I’d had a good run with her.

Something else flew by.

Holy shit, why were seagulls out this late?

Didn’t they have a curfew? Like all spawns of Satan?

I wasn’t making it up. Something else flew by and then landed on the windowsill.

Slowly, as to not scare it into attacking me, I turned on my side.

A bat.

A freaking bat.

Great. Another animal to add to my hate list.

“Shoo!” I waved my hand at it.

It stayed put.

Seaside had bats. Who knew? Or maybe this one had flown all the way up from South America just to haunt me. No really. If it could happen, it would happen to me.

“Yo,” I called. “You need to go.”

The bat stayed.

I needed a gun.

Or a giant-ass Tonka trunk to throw at it.

“Seriously…” I held my hands in front of my face. “…this is the moneymaker, all I got. Well, that and the voice. You ruin this, you disappoint women everywhere.”

The bat was unfazed. Maybe it was friendly? Like Dracula from Sesame Street?

I reached forward.

It lurched back just far enough for me to pull the window shut.

“Sucker!” I pointed at it and stuck my tongue out just as it took a dive toward the window.

Cursing, I fell backward on my ass.

My door jerked open. “Hey, you okay in here? I could have sworn I heard yelling… and why… are you on the floor?” Jaymeson cocked his head to the side.

“Why are you at my house?”

Jaymeson shrugged. “I live next door in that giant-ass beach house during filming, remember?”

“Which still doesn’t explain why you’re in my bedroom.”

“I watch you while you sleep then eat chocolate over your quiet body and take Polaroids to stash under my pillow. Why else would I be here? We’re out of popcorn.”

“Oh good, because that first explanation sounded way too detailed to be a lie.” I pushed up to my feet. “Now go home.”

“The girls are hanging out… watching movies. By the way, why are you in bed so early? It’s ten.”

“Easy. I’m so sexually frustrated and keyed-up. I figured a Nyquil-induced state would be the only thing to keep me from breaking down Lyss’s door across the hall.”

“It’s open.”

“Not helping.”

“No, seriously. She said she trusts you so much she’s leaving it open all night long…” Jaymeson did a little jig in front of me. “…all night long. All night.”

“Go be British elsewhere.”

“Aw, mate.”

“Not your mate.”

“Cheers.”

“Stop that!”

“Blimey.”

“Okay, now you’re just being annoying and saying words that people don’t even use in real life anymore.”

“Not true.” Jaymeson thrust his hand into the air. “One time—”

“Go home, Jaymeson.”

“I have an idea, though.” He shrugged. “Let’s have a bro night while the girls watch movies.”

“I’m sexually frustrated, and you want to sit next to me?”

“The man has a point.” He huffed. “Well then, good luck with...” He pointed at my body. “…that. And if all else fails, cold showers, friend.”

I cursed.

“Want me to sing you a lullaby with my accent? Does it for Pris every time. Then again, it’s not hard to—”

“Go.”

Chuckling, he lifted his hands into the air and backed up. “Fine. See you on the other side.”

The door slammed.

And I was left more wide awake than I was before.

I was just getting ready to jump back into bed when my door slammed open and Alyssa launched her tiny body in my direction like a lion attacking a zebra.

Her mouth was on mine.

Her tongue, touching my tongue.

Her breasts pressed against my naked chest.

I groaned.

And sadly, pushed her away.

“Whatcha doin?”

“Saying goodnight?”

“Say it again… I dare you,” I whispered against her lips.

“You ate three fish meant for seals today.”

I kissed her again. “I also sang One Direction. Give me my prize, woman.”

“Prizes come tomorrow night.”

“Can they come tonight too?” I joked.

She smacked me on the shoulder. “Goodnight, Dem!”

“Goodnight, love of my life, sexiest woman on the planet. Oh, and PS, Jaymeson offered to sing me a lullaby. He was going to fix the problem, and here you go…” I pointed down in exasperation. “…and stir things up again.”

She tilted her head, a seductive smile curving around those lush lips. “Mad because I’m good with my hands?”

“How good?” I croaked, not so sure I wanted to hear the answer, considering I was ready to explode on the spot.

Her voice dripped with sex. “Wanna see?”

I nodded, mouth dry. Hell yes.

With a saucy grin, she waved them in front of her face and winked.

“Cute. It’s like sign language for the lion to come out and play. Do it again. See if I don’t chase you down the hall and claim any prize I can get my hands on. Go ahead. Run antelope, run!”

“Ha.” She threw her head back and laughed. “I’ll see you in the morning… Just think. This is the last night you have to sleep all by your lonesome.”

“There was a bat!” I said in desperation.

Lyss’s eyes narrowed as she peeked under the covers. “In your bed?”

“No!” I coughed, swatting her hand away. “At the window. It taunted me, said… mean things.”

“The bat talked to you.”

“No, well…” I scratched my head. “…tt communicated with its eyes.” Yeah, that so wasn’t helping my case.

“And it said…
‘I’m going to kill you in your sleep’
?”

Awesome. I could have really done without the cheesy Count Dracula voice.

“No, but—”

She crossed her arms. “Dem, was there really a bat?”

“YES!” I went over to the window. “It was right here.”

She squinted and walked over. “Wow, look at that bat-filled sky. It’s just… insane.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Cute excuse, a bat. Didn’t see that one coming.” She laughed. “Love you.”

The door closed.

With a curse, I glanced back at the window, only to see the bat sitting there again, freaking glaring at me like some demon-possessed creature. Swear, it’s eyes were even red.

“I’ll get you,” I vowed.

Really, that should have been my cue right there. Seeing a bat was like seeing a black cat, right? Because the next day… though I was convinced was going to go as planned…

Didn’t.

It just…

Didn’t.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Demetri

“
W
HAT DO YOU MEAN
the cake’s missing?” I yelled hoarsely into the air. Somehow I’d managed to lose my voice that morning, on top of everything else that had happened. It had started with no hot water and had just gone downhill from there. On a brighter note, the bat was gone, but I was pretty convinced he was just biding his time before he pounced. “Cakes don’t just go missing.”

Jaymeson gave me a blank stare then lifted his hands into the air. “All I know is that Alyssa’s crying.”

“Shit.”

I pushed passed him and knocked on Alyssa’s door. “Baby, can I come inside?”

“Y-yes.”

My heart damn-near stopped when she answered the door. She had no makeup on, her eyes were puffy, and she had tears streaming down her face.

I pulled her into my arms and kissed her head. “It’s fine. Who needs a stupid cake anyway?”

“It was part of your g-gift!”

“Well done,” Jaymeson whispered behind me.

I sent him a seething glare then returned my attention to Lyss. “My gift?”

“It was a taffy-filled cake.” She sniffled, wiping underneath her eyes. “And now it’s missing!”

“Jaymeson will find it.”

“Right. Jaymeson will just go door to door…” he said under his breath.

“Really?” Another sniffle as she wiped her nose and looked at both of us with hopeful eyes.

“Absolutely.” I kicked behind me and came into contact with some important and tender part of Jaymeson, if his curse was any indication. “And everything’s going to go just fine. I promise.”

“Yeah?” There was that smile. “You promise?”

“Of course! What else could happen?”

Famous last words.

Two hours later…

“We have a big problem.” Wes ran his fingers through his hair. “As in epic.”

I rolled my eyes and put on the white linen jacket. “What? The punch is missing too?

Gabe burst through the door and slammed it behind him. “Did you tell him?”

“I was about to.”

“Tell me what?” I growled.

Wes and Gabe shared a look.

The door opened again. This time it was Jaymeson, only his shirt was ripped, and it looked like he had lipstick running down his neck.

“Uh, you and Pris get in a fight?”

“S-so many of them.” Jaymeson shook. “The yelling… the screaming—”

“The perfume.” Gabe shuddered.

“Like I said...” Wes nodded. “…huge problem.”

I sat, thinking if I didn’t, I’d probably lose my mind. “Okay, what’s going on.”

“The wedding location was leaked,” Wes said slowly. “Not sure how since security has been so tight, but there are people… everywhere.”

“Townsfolk?” I asked in a hopeful voice.

“Teens.” Gabe damn-near growled. “Everywhere.”

“Damn Twitter.” Jaymeson sighed heavily. “Everything needs to be moved. I’ve already taken care of it with the coordinator, but we have no idea where to take everything and—”

“Outside.” I snapped my fingers. “We’ll get married on the beach.”

“But all the people…” Wes jerked his head back at the door. “Promise, where you go, they’ll follow.”

With a wicked grin, I crossed my arms. “Oh?”

“I’m not comfortable at all with that look.” Wes’s eyes narrowed.

“Earn your keep, Football,” I barked.

Gabe opened his mouth.

“You too, Twilight.”

Gabe rolled his eyes. “What do you want us to do? Create a freaking diversion by running in the opposite—?” His voice trailed off as realization dawned. “Bastard.”

“Brilliant bastard.” Jaymeson clapped twice. “And it just may work. If the guys run in one direction, the screaming ovaries follow, and we can have a quick wedding on the beach!”

“Just call me Romance.” I puffed my chest out.

But an hour later…

“Help!” Gabe yelled above the noise. “There’s too many!”

“Fetal position!” Jaymeson barked. “Abort. Abort!”

Gabe gave us all a sad look before he hung his head and succumbed to the crowd of screaming girls.

Wes tried to pry them away, and it worked, or would have worked had Jaymeson not run out into the crowd, colliding into Gabe, creating what I was sure everyone on social media would soon call a hottie sandwich, or something just as degrading.

They hugged.

Because really what choice did they have but to stick together and pray that the girls didn’t grab their parts?

“Got a Plan B?” Wes said beside me.

I opened my mouth.

Just as the rain started.

He slapped my back as I hung my head. “I’m a total failure.”

“There has to be somewhere we can go, somewhere private… Come on, don’t you guys have any romantic places?”

My eyes were wild as I glanced around the boardwalk. We were currently hiding behind trashcans, which meant that we hadn’t been swarmed — yet. I told the girls and the guests to stay in the house. It was a small gathering, just a few aunts and uncles and her parents. All in all, ten of her family members were now huddled inside one of the rented beach houses, waiting for orders.

“Think!” Wes slapped me hard on the back. “Some place private, some place romantic, someplace—”

“Eureka!”

“Wow! People really say that? Well, I’ll be.”

“I know where we’re going.”

“Mind sharing with the class?” He elbowed me then pointed to Gabe and Jaymeson. Someone pulled at Gabe’s shirt. His eyes widened.

“Holy shit!” I yelled as loud as I could. “Is that Brad Pitt? I thought he wasn’t coming. Hey, man. Yeah,” I said into the cell phone. “Sounds great. We’ll meet you at the aquarium!”

News traveled faster than lightning. The girls pulled away from their victims and ran full speed down the boardwalk.

“Thanks.” Gabe bent over and pressed his hands against his knees. “Pretty sure I just saw my life flash before my eyes. Last thing I want to see is Jamie Jaymeson begging for a chick to keep her hands out of his pants.”

“She touched me,” Jaymeson said in a detached voice. “Even when I said no.”

“Er, thanks… Jaymeson.” I tried to touch his shoulder.

He flinched.

“Give it time.” Wes whistled low in his throat. “So, the new location?”