London Falling (13 page)

“No peeking.” I had wrapped the blindfold around his eyes as tightly as I could without hurting him.

“You’re not going to give me some kind of clue?” Beau was outwardly amused by the date I created.

“No way. I’m in charge today. You just have to trust me.”

“Does it involve body paint, bagpipes, or a floating hot tub?”

I laughed. The floating hot tub would have been fun, but I couldn’t find one of those in Chapel Hill on such short notice. “None of the above. You’ll see.”

I pulled the car onto the gravel path and turned into a dirt parking lot. It was almost sunset. We would have to hurry if I was going to pull this off. I threw my car in park and ran over to the passenger side to help Beau.

“I’m kind of at a disadvantage here with the blindfold.” I steered him toward the opening in the brush and led him down the path twenty yards before I stopped him.

I placed his hand on the trunk of the tree next to us so he could steady himself.

“Ready?” I couldn’t wait for him to get started.

“Yes, please take this off.”

I walked behind him to untie the knot, but as my hands traced over his neck, I changed my mind.

“There’s one thing you have to do first.”

I could see his eyebrow arch under the silk scarf and a smile crept across his face. I took a step back and my body met the bark of the tree. Beau turned in my direction, anchoring his hands on either side of me. I wasn’t entirely sure he couldn’t see right through the blindfold.

I reached forward, taking his face in my palms, and brought his lips crushing down onto mine. With the force of his body, he pinned me harder against the tree and hitched both my legs around his waist. We were completely derailing from the plan. I fisted my hands in his hair until I had loosened the knot on the scarf and freed his eyes from the cover. I watched as he took in our surroundings.

“Where are we?” It was getting darker. We were deep in the middle of the woods and I didn’t account for the light changing so quickly with the towering trees. Maybe we didn’t have time for a woodsy make out.

“You are on a
Love Match
scavenger hunt.” I smiled.

“Sweet. What am I hunting?” He pressed himself harder against me.

“Me.”

His right eyebrow shifted high. “What?”

“You better get going if you’re going to get your prize.” I wiggled out of his tight hold and landed next to him. “Here’s your first clue.” I handed him a folded piece of paper and tried to refrain from laughing. Mr. Adventurous looked worried all of a sudden.

“You’re not going to tell me anything else? I don’t even know where we are, London.”

“You have your phone so you won’t get lost, lost. You just might not find me. Good luck.” I winked at him. “Go that way.” I pointed ahead on the path where the light was dimming and watched until he was out of sight.

I had walked the route of my scavenger hunt three times, and it took me an average of twenty minutes to complete the course I had created. Beau could probably beat my time, so I estimated I had about fifteen minutes before he found me.

I ran back to the car and grabbed my bag. Everything I needed was packed inside. I had sent Beau on a loop so I could safely walk in the other direction without running into him. We would eventually meet in the middle.

There was an open patch of ground near the stone wall overlooking the grounds. I pulled out a thin tarp before spreading a blanket over top. I had two camping lanterns, which I anchored just off the corner of the blanket.

I pulled out my phone to check the time. He should be here any second. I looked down the path. It was empty. I had hiked past this place twenty times since I was a freshman, but I had never really stopped to look at the building that made the area such a famous landmark.

The round turret and the climbing ivy gave it a gothic feel that was starting to creep me out. Maybe I hadn’t concocted the best date. Beau was missing, the sun was almost down, and the legends about ghost stories in these woods all of a sudden haunted me.

One of the stories from the 1830s was about a student who had died on this land in a duel. Legend had it that in a panic to cover up his death, the students at the duel buried his body under a rock. When the girl he had been courting found out her beloved had died, she supposedly waited at the rock for him to return. The eerie part of the story was that the rock also happened to be the rendezvous point where the couple used to meet secretly for dates. There were legendary stories that circulated about people who had seen the ghosts of the torn apart couple walking the woods together.

After I watched last week’s
Love Match
episode, I thought this was the closest thing we had to medieval tales and a castle. I nervously scanned the woods again. Finally, I swiped the screen on my phone to call Beau. I couldn’t stand it anymore.

“London. Found you. Man, this is awesome!” Beau was smiling as he jogged through the trail.

I hid my phone in the bag.

“Gimghoul Castle at sunset? Great idea. Did you know this was on my bucket list?” He seemed ecstatic.

“Maybe.” Of course, I had started studying the list more intently. “I’m glad you like it.” Now that Beau was here, I wasn’t as nervous about the ghost stories. The castle did look like it was glowing from the dropping golden rays of the sun. It was beautiful.

He knelt at the edge of the blanket. “Now do I get my prize?” He started crawling toward me like a tiger on the hunt. It gave me chills thinking what he would do when he caught me. Although, that was the whole point: kiss at Gimghoul Castle at sunset.

I sat up on my knees, anxious for him to make his way to the edge of the blanket. His body collided with mine, and in one swift motion, he pulled me directly under him.

“Gotcha.”

My giggles quickly turned to something else. Beau was staring directly in my eyes, and it was impossible to hide how much I wanted him. My mouth parted as his lips descended on mine. I tried to steady my breathing, but the way he touched me only made me want more. I already loved kissing him. It felt hot, sexy, and just a little dangerous every time he made me moan. And he could make me moan.

“Hey! Hey!” I heard someone yelling at us. This was not happening.

“You kids shouldn’t be out here. Go on!” A guard from the castle walked on the other side of the wall and motioned to us to leave, throwing his hands in the air.

Mortified, I scrambled out from under my frustrated partner. My romantic gothic date was a complete catastrophe.

Beau reached for my hand and pulled me up. He shrugged his shoulders. We started stuffing my scavenger hunt items back into my bag. Back to the drawing board.

CHAPTER NINE

It didn’t seem to matter what date Beau and I devised. We could never find a way to be truly alone. His roommates were never gone. Those boys played video games like it was oxygen straight to their lungs. Nina and Candace were more unpredictable every day with their habits. I couldn’t count on them to stay out of the house. Beau knew so many people on campus, and with my small stage fame, it meant that in public we had to act as if we were strictly group partners on an experimental date. Our blog had also collected quite the following. Each week we had more and more comments from students sounding off on our
Love Match
theories. People were watching and waiting for our weekly updates, including Professor Garcia.

The colorfully clad professor began our class lecture. “All right. I know you are just itching to get your spring break started, just don’t forget that while you are in Panama City or Myrtle Beach that your reality shows are still on air.” The girl in the row below us groaned at the reminder. “I would like to point out a few of the projects I’ve noticed that are coming along nicely.”

I held my breath and avoided Beau’s face. I couldn’t look at him. It made me feel too guilty. Although, what had we really done since the Valentine’s pact? He had other classes he studied for, I was back in rehearsals, and we could never find a way to be together alone. That was until tonight. Spring break was the start of a full week of alone time. Beau. Me. An empty beach house.

“Maggie and Blair have just done an exceptional job so far this semester with their
Lion’s Den
project. Ladies, I wanted to let you know at the halfway point, your grasp of the class concept is phenomenal. Helping launch a new business in town is so original.” Professor Garcia clapped her hands in the air, just a few rows in front of the pair. “The other group I think everyone has noticed this semester is the dynamic duo of Beau and London. You two have really examined the theories of reality production and have challenged the notion of relationship theory—truly good work, you two.”

I didn’t mean to slide lower in my seat, but the praise from our professor brought sudden awareness to my partner and me. Beau seemed to take it in stride. His hat was on backward and he was cool as usual.

“Ok. That’s it for today and for the week. Be careful out there on the beaches. Sunscreen people! Don’t come back looking like tomatoes.” Professor Garcia laughed at her joke.

I looped my arms through my backpack straps, being careful not to stand too close to Beau as the class filtered out of the swinging doors. I caught a wink from him before I turned the corner to leave Manning Hall. In an hour’s time, I would be on the road, headed to Beau’s family beach house.

***

North Carolina beaches weren’t particularly warm in mid-March, but Beau told me the house had a hot tub on the deck so it was a good idea to pack a bathing suit. I had been giddy for two weeks over the invitation to go with him to Holden Beach. I assumed since it was our senior year that he probably had some crazy Cancun adventure planned with his roommates. It seemed that would make the top of his bucket list. He never told me what was on his calendar originally. I accepted the invitation with limited questions. He assured me his family would not be at the house. His mom was too busy working on a big insurance case and his father taught at the local high school. His spring break wouldn’t be until April. We had the whole house to ourselves.

Storm clouds hovered on the horizon. I saw a flash of lightning when I hit the peak of the bridge that careened onto the island named Holden Beach.

I pulled into the driveway, admiring the breathtaking house sprawling in front of me. Beau mentioned his mother was an attorney, but he never said anything about his family’s financial status. The house was unreal. His motorcycle was parked in the garage. I stepped out of the car and looked up at the towering three stories rising above me. The wind had picked up and my hair whipped in the breeze.

“Hey! You made it. Let me help you. I’ll be right down.” Beau leaned over the lowest balcony railing before jogging down the stairs.

I moved to the trunk and pulled out my backpack. My laptop was snugly crammed inside. With an entire week at the beach, I’m sure there was going to be plenty of time to work on the project. I thought I heard thunder cracking overhead.

Beau met me at the bottom of the stairs. I wasn’t sure if we should hug or kiss. Seeing him away from school was surreal. It was as if we were untethered from the world that had brought us together.

“I’ll take that.” He slipped the bag off my shoulder and reached for the suitcase in my hand. “Come on. I want to show you the house. Good thing you got here before the rain.” He surveyed the storm clouds on the horizon.

Eagerly, I followed him up the stairs, taking note of the cute ass leading me upward, one step at a time. He ushered me past a row of rocking chairs and into the house through a sliding glass door.

“This is the kitchen. Snacks in here. Drinks in the fridge. Help yourself to anything.” He breezed past a stainless steel refrigerator and the double doors that opened to the walk-in pantry. “TV over there.” He pointed to the couch and a sleek flat panel splayed across the longer wall in the open room.

This was evidently the NASCAR version of the house tour. I scarcely had time to get my bearings before he raced toward the hallway.

“Down here are all the bedrooms.” He wheeled my suitcase along the shiny pine floors. “I thought you might like this room.” He stepped aside to give me a clear view of the ocean.

The room was decorated completely in white. There was a set of French doors that opened to the ocean side of the deck. Beyond the breakers, I saw another streak of lightning. Thank goodness I had made the four-hour drive before the clouds unleashed the rain. I glanced around at the rest of my accommodations.