Relatively Famous (22 page)

“Maybe you just want out. Is that it? First you put this all on Dani
,
and then you put it on me? Maybe this is about you. You just want a fall guy so that you won’t feel guilty about bailing. So, you want out? Be my guest!”

“I’m not the one bailing, you are.” Olivia’s eyes welled up with tears. “You are. Because you’re not going to fight for me, are you?”

Mark’s head was spinning. How had this escalated so quickly? He didn’t even know what they were fighting about. All that nonsense about Dani? And had he really been looking at Jenny that way? No, he hadn’t. It had caught him off guard when he didn’t feel attracted to her anymore. He could explain himself to Olivia and try to repair the damage
,
or he could just let her go. But right now she was falling apart
,
and he had no idea what he was supposed to do.

Olivia took her bag off the counter and turned to leave. “I never should have gone out with you. I knew it. This was all a terrible mistake. Goodbye, Mark.”

Mark didn’t say anything as he watched her leaving. Had they just broken up?

Shouldn’t he be relieved that she was gone—that the sham was over—because this is what he’d been waiting for, right? But Mark found himself calling after Olivia. “Don’t give up on me.” The front door slammed. “Don’t give up on me,” Mark said again softly.

Chapter 42

Dani was in serious danger of flashing everyone at Ava’s party. She tried to adjust the top of her bright blue bathing suit. This was by far the most revealing thing she’d ever worn, and what she was wearing tonight would make Jason forget all about what had happened last weekend with Mark. She’d paired the obscenely priced strapless designer bikini with a matching sheer miniskirt and a pair of fierce bejeweled heels. The stylist had come to the house to shape her hair into a cascade of intricate curls and
to
use heavy eye makeup in blues and greens to go with Ava’s beach theme.

“Girl, you are looking hot tonight!” Chelsea high
fived Dani.

“You’re not looking so beastly yourself, Chelsea!” Dani said with another high-five. “You work black like nobody’s business.” Chelsea had on a bathing suit with elaborate crisscrossing strips of shiny material. She hadn’t bothered to wear anything else over her suit, so Dani relaxed about only having the sheer skirt over her own. “And Violet, I love your hair!” Dani admired the mass of colorful flowers that had been woven into Violet’s blonde hair.

“Thank you, my dear. It took three hours
.
I was sure they would all be dead by the time I got here. Spritz me down if they start to dry up, will you? Have you seen Kayla yet?”

“I think she’s trying to get the band to tone it down a bit. Ava thinks they’re too loud. Speaking of the birthday girl, I can’t wait to see her entrance. Kayla said that big men in Speedos are going to carry her?”

“Yup, on a golden surfboard,” Chelsea said excitedly. “Not that Ava actually surfs.”

“So, Dani, where is your father?” Violet asked. “I thought he was coming with you tonight?”

“No, he decided to stay home.” She shrugged. The truth was that Mark had been so mopey since he and Olivia had broken up that he hadn’t done much of anything except continuing the preparations for Dani’s party. He’d even stormed into her room one day and grabbed her dress out of her closet, claiming it was completely wrong for the party and that he was getting her another one.

“Come on, let’s go look around. This party is outrageous.” Chelsea grabbed a freshly blended smoothie from one of the servers
,
and the girls went to explore.

The party tonight took over every available inch of space at Waves. At the entrance to the club, a series of huge pink beach balls had been pushed together to create a tunnel for the guests to pass through. Inside the main dining room were dinner tables, each decorated with green linens, seashells, sand castles, tropical flowers, and candles. Models dressed in mermaid costumes lay across glowing tables, holding still so as not disrupt the sushi displays that balanced on their bodies.

Chelsea laughed. “Human canapés! Come on. Let’s go outside.”

“Wow,” Dani said in awe. She pointed to the middle of the pool
,
where the band was stationed on a small stage that had been decorated to look like an island. The entire surface of the pool had been covered with plexiglass so guests could literally walk on water. And there was a surf machine overlooking the ocean. A constant current of water rushed through the pool-sized contraption, providing wave after artificial wave for bo
a
rders and surfers.

“Oh, cool, they have a body painter. Look at Pete.” Violet pointed to Ava’s boyfriend
,
Pete, who strode past them in a tight bathing suit. His entire back was covered in a detailed underwater scene that included an alarmingly realistic shark.

“Look at that.” Dani pointed to a twenty-foot
-
high water screen that was flashing footage of the party. “You know Kayla will be loving that!”

“Wait, come check this out.” Violet pulled them over to the railing that overlooked the beach.

In between flaming torches were sand sculptures o
f
Atlantis surrounded by sea turtles, dolphins, whales, crabs, and shells. It was breathtaking. A number of classic cars were parked on raised lifts on the beach below them.

“That’s a ’54 Corvette. My dad has one parked in our garage,” Chelsea said, sucking on the straw from her drink. “And that’s a ’62 Cobra and a DeSoto. Whoa, and a ’41 Ford Deluxe.”

“Speaking of cars, did you see the white Mercedes convertible out front with the big red bow? Ava is going to be furious. She wanted a BMW.”

Dani frowned. “Evan seems like such a down-to-earth guy. I’m surprised he puts up with Ava’s attitude.”

Chelsea shrugged. “Evan is surprisingly normal. His wife is the one who makes them cater to Ava. We have to make sure Kayla doesn’t turn into her sister,” she joked.

“Hey, where did your boy Jason take off to?” Violet asked Dani. “I haven’t seen him since I first got here?”

Dani surveyed the party, checking out the tiki huts where guests sat talking. “I’m not sure.” She was hoping to find Jason and apologize for the other evening. “I’m going to go look for him. I’ll be back.”

“Once he gets a look at you, I don’t think he’s going to let you go. Have fun!” Chelsea said.

Dani laughed and jumped as she made her way past a flamethrower who got a bit too close for her taste. She couldn’t find Jason, but she did spot Nathan doing pretty well balancing on a board in the surf machine. He was shirtless, like every other guy at the party, and had on red trunks.

Dani walked closer and smiled tentatively, causing him to break his concentration and wipe out. She rushed toward him. She couldn’t believe she had just made him fall, but it
was
flattering. Nathan surfaced quickly, and as he climbed out, a hand reached out to him. He bounded out of the water and joined a group of his friends. Dani watched as he toweled his hair and said something that
made
the group laugh. She smiled. Dani liked watching him with his friends and seeing him have such a good time. In fact, she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

But when Dani finally turned away, she came face-to-face with his shimmering, floating image on the giant water screen. She stood frozen, transfixed
by
his picture, and she had to force herself to breathe. She needed to find a bathroom where she could splash some cold water on her face. Dani went down the covered walkway past piles of big, puffy pillows lying under sheets of sheer netting that created cozy, romantic nests.

And there was Jason, lying completely intertwined with a girl on a futon. As much as she willed herself to run, Dani couldn’t move.

“Hey, you. What’s up?” Nathan tapped Dani on the shoulder but she couldn’t respond. “Dani?” He followed her stare.

Without warning, Nathan flew over to the futon and hauled Jason off of the startled girl. Nathan shoved him hard.

“Nathan, what the hell?” Jason snarled.

“Yeah, what the hell, Jason? Huh?” Nathan shoved him again.

Jason finally noticed Dani. “Dani. Wait, Dani, this isn’t what you think.” He took a step in her direction, but Nathan stopped him.

“I knew I never liked you,” Nathan said as he grabbed Jason by the back of the shirt and pulled him away from Dani.

“I never liked you either,” Jason sneered and swung at him, but Nathan ducked and then stepped back.

“Let’s go,” Nathan ordered Dani.

“You scared? Huh?” Jason said.

“I’m not scared. You’re just not worth it,” Nathan shot back
before
turned away.

Dani numbly followed him away from the party, down a steep set of stairs that led to the beach. “I can’t believe you just did that. Thank you.”

“I should have knocked him out,” he muttered.

Dani hurried to keep up with him. “Slow down! Are you all right?”

Nathan dropped to the sand. He sat facing the ocean, not looking at Dani. “As long as you’re fine, that’s what matters.”

Dani moved to sit in front of him. She took him in, how it felt to be so close to him. It was so obvious now. Until tonight, until this moment, Dani’s stupid infatuation with Jason had left her blind to how she felt about Nathan. Was it too late?

“Nathan.” She pressed her hand to his cheek, but he refused to meet her eyes. “
You’re
the one what matters. I didn’t see it before, but I do now.”

“Dani, no,” he said, sighing, looking back out at the water again.

She kissed his cheek and then his lips. He hesitated, then kissed her back, and Dani felt her cheeks flush as she savored the flood of emotion that took over. This felt right. It was perfect and caring
,
and she didn’t want it to end.

Then Nathan pulled away. “Stop. Stop it. You can’t do this to me.” He stood up. “No.”

“I thought…I thought… I’m so sorry. Please don’t go.”

“Look at yourself, Dani. You spent the entire summer running around with that idiot, and that was your choice. But don’t coming running to me now that you finally see Jason for the user that he is.” He shook his head. “Don’t do this to me.”

Dani watched helplessly as Nathan walked away, unable to think of anything to say that would bring him back to her.

Chapter 43

It was Friday morning
.
Dani had two days until she would fly home. Just two more days of suffering and then she could get away from Nathan, Jason, Olivia, and
,
most importantly, Mark. None of them cared about her. Dani had managed to avoid Nathan since the fiasco at Ava’s party. Mark was depressed about his breakup with Olivia, so it hadn’t been tough to keep away from him. She would go back to Michigan and pretend this summer had never happened. Of course, Sam was back there, but it felt like their friendship was over. At least Dani could look forward to helping Leila plan her wedding.

The extravagance of living with Mark had lost its appeal, and now that she understood that her father was using her, it was impossible to enjoy much of anything. She dove into the pool and began swimming laps. Maybe she could tire herself out enough to sleep straight through the dreaded going
-
away
-
party. It was no wonder he was throwing such a huge celebration—the guy had faked a relationship with her all summer for the sake of his career
,
and now he would finally be free of her.
Congratulations, Mark.

Dani pulled herself up on the edge of the pool and sat with her legs dangling in the water. She cursed her stupid string bikini and she started to re-tie it, but something caught her eye in the bushes. She squinted, trying to get a better look. She finished tying her suit and squeezed the water from her hair. Her body ached from her swim
.
S
he stretched her arms over her head.

Just as she lay down on the lounge chair, hoping to fall asleep, Mark came tearing across the lawn. He ran past the pool, shouting at Dani, “Get in the house!”

What was he doing
? She sat up and watched Mark
let loose a slew of obscenities as he ran down the driveway. He hit a button to open the main gate, slipped through, and raced away.

She pulled on her sundress and went quickly to the driveway. She heard Mark before she saw him.

“I swear to God, I will rip you apart!” Outside the gates, Dani now saw that Mark had a photographer pinned on the ground. “She’s fifteen, you sick—”

“Dad! What are you doing?” Dani stared at her father and took a few steps closer.

“I told you to get in the house, Dani! Go!”