The Keatyn Chronicles: Adore Me (7 page)

I wander over to the veranda slowly, trying to compose myself. I see Aiden, Peyton, and Damian, all sitting around the big table, laughing and eating. Well, Peyton and Damian are laughing. Aiden seems to be lost in thought.
 

I feel bad about what I said about him walking away, because I know I would’ve done the exact same thing.

I give him a smile and sit down next to him. He puts his hand on my thigh under the table and gives it a squeeze. I know it’s supposed to be a sweet, reassuring squeeze, but it doesn’t comfort me.
 

It sends tingles across my body, causing me want to forget about tomorrow, drag him to my room, strip him naked, and dare him to say no to me again.

I eat a few fries and pick at my burger—two things I normally love—while carrying on polite table conversation. After Damian steals the last fry, he says, “Peyton, would you like to go for a walk on the beach?”

“I’d love to,” she says in an unusually high-pitched voice.
 

She follows Damian toward the screen door but then stops and turns around.
 

“You guys want to join us?” she asks nicely, but I can tell it’s the last thing she wants.
 

“Naw, you go,” I tell her as Aiden says, “We should go.”

“Why should we go?” I ask him as Peyton rushes to the beach without waiting for us.

“I can’t just let my sister go out there with him alone. She doesn’t even know him.”

“You don’t have to worry about her being safe, Aiden. He’s a great guy.”

He squints his eyes at me, judging. “What does he do? Is he in school? Have a job?”

“Um, he’s in a band called Twisted Dreams. They did a European tour this summer and then Japan this fall. And he got his GED so he could go on tour.”

“So, does he hook up with girls on tour?”

Uh, yeah, I think, but I can’t say that. “I don’t think so.”

Aiden rubs the side of his face. “You sure she’ll be okay?”

“I promise.”

“Fine. I’m really tired, anyway. I was hoping to head to bed soon.”

“Bed?”

“Yes, bed,” he says. “Come on, I’ll walk you to your room.”

“Um, are you tired?” I ask as we walk to the turret. Did he decide that he doesn’t want to sleep with me?

When we get to my door, he gives me a kiss on the cheek. “Good night, then.”

I nod at him, so he turns to walk away.
 

But I can’t let him go.
 

“Aiden, I don’t . . .”

“I don’t want to be alone either,” he says, quickly finishing my thought and hugging me tightly. “I know we have a lot to talk about, but when you came back from putting away your board, you seemed—I don’t know—distant.”

“We have all break to talk,” I say, avoiding the inevitable. “And I’m just tired.”

“It has been a really long day, Boots.”

“I know,” I reply as he opens the door and sees my room at night. The bedding is turned down and the candles in the hurricane lanterns on each side of the bed are lit. The screen door is pulled shut to keep out the bugs but allow the soothing ocean sounds in, and the sky is dotted with a million stars.

He looks around the room. “This is beautiful.” He laughs. “I think I say that about everything when I’m with you.” He pulls me onto the bed with him, kisses my shoulder, and then whispers in my ear, “You make every moment beautiful.”

We lie down on the bed and I snuggle into his shoulder.

He doesn’t talk, just gently strokes my hair.
 

I soak up his presence, trying to absorb everything that is Aiden into my memory. His dreamy scent. The way my head fits perfectly on his shoulder. How when I’m with him I feel like I’m in a bubble, safe and protected from the outside world.

Tears start sliding onto Aiden’s chest before I can stop them.

“Baby, why are you crying?”

“Because I didn't think I’d ever get to lie in this spot again.”

“You fit perfectly.”

“I’m sure other girls have fit just fine.”

“Maybe, but that was BK.”

“BK?”

“Yeah, Before Keatyn. Because since you came into my life, no one else fits.”

“Aiden, why did you write on the moon?”

“I was trying to be poetic and tell you how I feel.”

“So, you feel like the moon has been holding your dreams afar?”

“Lately, yes.”

“Me too.” I say, snuggling closer and quickly falling asleep.
 

Thursday, November 24th

Thanksgiving Day

What if bullshit.

5:50am

I wake up when I realize I forgot to close the curtains before we went to sleep. It’s dawn and there’s a soft breeze flowing through the windows.

I slip out of bed carefully so that I don’t wake Aiden. He makes a sleepy little moan, then rolls over onto his stomach as I hit the button to close the curtains so the sun won’t wake him.

I head to the bathroom, throw on a bikini, and then wrap myself in one of the long teal cashmere robes that is a fixture in every room. Peeking back at Aiden, who seems to be sleeping soundly again, I sneak out to enjoy one of my favorite parts of the day when I’m at the beach.

I wander down the pathway to the sand, curl up in one of the big daybeds, and stare out at the ocean.
 

A little later, I hear the toy shed opening. I turn around and see Damian walking out with a surfboard.
 

“You’re up early,” he says to me.
 

“I forgot to close the curtains.”

“My internal clock is on a different time zone. You wanna grab your board and go out with me?”

“Um, probably not,” I say in a sad, pathetic voice.
 

Damian jams his board into sand. “What's your problem?” he asks in pissed off tone.

“I have a whole lot of problems, Damian. Which one are you referring to?”

“Well, that’s one of them, right there. Last night you were crazy. Sometimes you seemed like you were ready to burst into tears. Other times you seemed pissed off at the world. Sometimes there were glimmers of a smile. And other times you acted like a big bitch, just like you are now.”

“He put a sticker on my board,” I say quietly.

“Aiden did?”
 

“No, B did. Sometime between when he told me he was leaving and my party.”
 

“What's that got to do with anything?”

“He was telling me the truth. He did want to throw me in his suitcase and take me with him. And if I hadn’t almost gotten kidnapped and left for Eastbrooke, the next time I surfed I would’ve seen the sticker and known. And I would have gone to wherever he was.”

Damian grabs my wrists tightly. “This has to stop. All this
what if
bullshit. It's not your fault you were almost kidnapped by some psycho dude. You can only control
now
. The present. And
if
in the future you get your life back,
then
you can decide if you want to give B a chance. But until then, you need to live in the now. It's not every guy that gives you dirt, ya know.”

“I only have 79 hours left.”

“Until what? Are you dying?” he says in a panic.

“No, although it feels like part of me is. I have 79 hours left until I end it with Aiden. I’m not going back to Eastbrooke.”

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know yet. Somewhere I can hide out while I try to take over Vincent's company.”

“You need to go back. You’re safe there.”

“I have a feeling that when this all goes down it will not be pretty. Seriously, Damian, it might all blow up in my face. That’s why Peyton needs to be
just
a fling.”

“But, if you’re not going back, I could date her.”

“If he found out you were together and that I went to Eastbrooke, neither one of you would be safe. Don’t do that to her, Damian. Don’t put her in that kind of danger.”

“I have a better idea. You go back and I’ll keep our relationship a secret.”

“Your
relationship
? Damian, you've known her for less than twenty-four hours.”

“And it only took about two seconds of those hours for me to know. All of a sudden, I’m a fate loving, love-at-first-sight believing, fairy-tales-can-happen kind of guy.”
 

“That sounds like a song.”

“Speaking of songs, I'm writing one. I've never felt more inspired. Everything looks prettier with her in the picture.”

“Aren’t you going on tour again?”

He gives me a smart-ass grin. “Studio time. Recording a new album, then touring the good ole U.S. of A. And I was thinking this morning, Dad's got a sweet apartment in New York City that I've never taken advantage of, and with my stepmom pregnant, they won't be using it any time soon.”

“Your dad and Tommy start filming the third
Trinity
movie there in December.”

“Shit. Well, it's a big place. Or maybe I'll just get a little apartment near your school.”

I raise an eyebrow at him.
 

“Fine. I'm being impetuous and crazy. But come on, Keats, you've known me forever. Have you ever seen me like this?”

“No. But maybe you're just sick of groupies and craving a girlfriend. It doesn’t mean she’s the one. You’re barely eighteen.”

He shakes his head and squints his eyes at me. “No, don't say that.
You
of all people. Maybe Vincent changed your life, but don't you dare let him change who you are. You should be clapping and jumping with excitement. You should have a huge smile on your face and that dreamy look in your eyes.” He pulls me up off the daybed and twirls us around in a circle. “Be happy for me. Be excited. Be your usual hopeless romantic self. Write me a script where I'm the prince and not the frog. Make a wish on the moon. Or a shooting star. Or at 11:11. Throw a penny in the fountain. Tell me you saw the green flash.”

Tears flow from my eyes as I remember my old self. The girl who saw possibilities instead of roadblocks. The girl who believed in fairy tales and wishes.

We stop spinning and both drop dizzily back onto the daybed.
 

“I’ve been trying not to, Damian,” I say, wiping my tears. “But I can’t pretend. This is my reality. Vincent was there when I went to see B surf. When I saw my mom in New York. When I went to Vancouver. My drama teacher almost invited him to my school so I could audition for his movie. You don’t understand. I can
never
let my guard down. I have to monitor
every
word I say. Think about
every
move I make. I
can't
live in the moment anymore.”

“Maybe you can’t at school, but you can here.”

I shake my head. “I wish I could, but when Peyton told me some guy was walking up the beach, my first thought was that it was him.”

Damian nods. “Okay. I get it. But I’m here now. So I want you to let go and at least enjoy your next 79 hours. Stop holding Aiden at arm’s length and let him in.”

“What about B?”

Damian frowns and furrows his eyebrows. “Fine. You want reality? Here’s reality. B cares about you. But he chose his dream over you.”

“That sounds so harsh.”

“It’s supposed to be harsh. It’s the truth.”

“But he said . . .”

“What he said doesn’t matter right now because you can’t be with him. So, move on. Besides, it’s Thanksgiving. You should be thinking about what you’re thankful for.”

“I’m thankful for you, Damian.” I get tears in my eyes again. “I’m sorry. I swear, all I do anymore is cry. But I really am glad you’re here. And I’m glad you met Peyton. So, if after this weekend you still want to see her, you can have my loft.”

“Yeah, what’s that all about? You bought a loft and didn’t tell me?”

“I didn’t tell anyone from my old life; not even my mom. I needed somewhere safe to go.” I smile. “It’s a really awesome place. You’ll love it.”

“So, is that where you’re gonna fight Vincent from?”
 

“Oh, no. I can’t go back. I took Aiden there and he . . . well, he infused it with love potion.”

“Love potion?”
 

“He has special powers.”

Damian doesn’t look convinced. “Like what?”
 

“When he’s around, my head feels like it’s filled with cotton candy and I can’t think. His smile is as bright as the sun. He knows what I’m thinking even before I can think it. I’m almost positive his tongue is infused with love potion. You should be careful because I think his sister might have . . .”

“Her tongue is definitely infused with love potion,” he says dreamily.

“Damian, how do you know that?”

“We hung out last night.”

“Did you sleep with her?”

“No, I was a gentleman and dropped her off at her door, where I kissed the hell out of her. And then I couldn't sleep. Which is why I'm up so fucking early. I wish she'd just wake up already. Shouldn't she be dying to see me?”