Ellie reached across the coffee table that separated us and smacked my chest. Hard too. She was surprisingly strong. “Shut the hell up,” she said. And then much to my enjoyment, she sat back down and started cracking up. She laughed so hard her shoulders shook.
I joined in. I couldn’t really help myself—she had a really great laugh. It was contagious. And it didn’t hurt that I found her insanely beautiful on top of everything. “What are we laughing at?” I asked between breaths.
“You. Life. The irony of things. I don’t even know.”
Once her fit of giggles died down, I made a move. Not hesitating in the least, I sat up straighter and reached cross the table to take her hand in mine. She interlocked her fingers with mine for a brief moment before her cheeks turned pink and she pulled away. The one truth I would never dare admit to another soul…was that when Kelly and I broke up, when I found her in bed with another man, it broke me. My heart had been ripped from my chest, thrown to the floor, and shattered into a million tiny pieces. I’d thought I loved Kelly. I’d even bought an engagement ring a few days prior, despite all logical odds against us given our professions, thinking we might be ready for that next step. Instead Kelly had proven me incredibly wrong.
In the weeks after our breakup, I’d had a binge period. I’d slept with more women than a normally monogamous guy like myself was comfortable with. Not one of those other women had made the pain go away or had brought any light to the situation. So I’d made a choice to harden my heart and had thrown myself into my acting instead. And somewhere during that time I’d spent essentially mucking through shit, I’d grown numb.
Ellie made me feel again. She gave me hope where it had previously been lost.
And that scared the piss out of me.
* * *
NOAH
The elevator was too damn slow. Repeatedly I pressed the button for floor five. Logically I knew this wouldn’t get me there any faster, but it was something I had to do to keep from going fucking insane. Hell, I was already going fucking insane. And the slowest elevator on the planet wasn’t helping my fragile mental state.
Finally, the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. I jogged across carpeted floor, down a long narrow hallway. My mind was spinning—finding out Ben Turner was still alive had been more than a surprise. It had opened old wounds.
Using my key-card, I unlocked the door to our room. Everything was quiet and calm on the other side. The smell of Georgie’s shampoo filled my nose, and my head, as I rushed into the room.
Georgie sat on her knees in front of a floor-length mirror. She had her makeup bag opened and was carefully applying color to her eyes. She turned to look at me as I came into the room. A smile came to her pink lips. “Hey, babe.”
God, she was beautiful. Most days she wouldn’t fuss much over her makeup, but for special occasions she could easily spend two hours in front of the mirror getting ready. Which was completely useless. She was so fucking gorgeous no matter what she did. The extra effort didn’t matter. She looked perfect to me either way.
But makeup or no makeup, I’d never found her more beautiful than this moment. After the shitty morning I’d been having, seeing her perfectly fine and sitting there content was a relief—like sunshine breaking through clouds on a rainy day. She was my everything. And in the months since we’d started dating, she’d quickly become my reason for living.
I dropped to my knees beside her.
“Noah,” she whispered. Whatever had been in her hand dropped to the floor and she wrapped her arms around my shoulders. She had this sixth sense when it came to me; she always knew when something wasn’t right. “What happened? Where did Ellie take you?”
Selfishly, I rested my head against her shoulder and breathed in the sweet scent of her. She held me tighter, digging her fingers into my skin. I shouldn’t be the one seeking comfort from her. Not in this moment. Not when I had the motherload of all secrets to drop on her. But I couldn’t help myself. I needed this…if only for a second.
As quickly as I lost my composure, I regained it. I loosened my arms from her body and inched back so that I could speak with her. “I’ve had an interesting morning...to say the least. Come.” Taking her hand in mine, I pulled her to her feet. Then I led her to the unmade bed we’d shared last night.
Back at college, Georgie and I were essentially living together. She had a dorm room on campus and I had an apartment off campus. And it didn’t matter how busy our schedules were or whether we were at my place or hers, one way or another we always stayed the night together. Usually at my place so we could have our privacy. I was used to getting that privacy with her. That meant last night had been the first night in a long time that I hadn’t had total privacy with her and hadn’t been buried deep inside my girl. I thought sharing a room, something we’d agreed upon with Ellie and Sydney to save a little bit of money before coming out to California, wouldn’t be that big of deal. Holding her was all I really needed at night anyway. But as I brought her to the bed and moved under the covers with her, I wished with all my might that I could be making love to her right now rather than telling her what I had to tell her. Because this was about to completely shake her world off its axis.
My mind spun around two words: wild card. I loved how unique Georgie was. I loved how unpredictable she could be. And I especially loved how the wildness in her brought something out in me. It brought me to life. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I still had my fears. Most had subsided in the months since we’d started dating, but they were resurfacing now. And I wanted to strangle her brother for it too. He was a selfish asshole for the things he’d put her family through.
Under the covers, her legs tangled with mine and her hands settled against my chest. I drew her in close to me. There was something about snuggling with Georgie—something safe about it. Cupping the sides of her face, I swallowed down the lump in my throat. “Something happened today,” I told her. “Well, technically somethingdidn’t happen nine months ago.”
“What do you meannine months?” she questioned. “Ben died nine months ago. Are you talking about Ben?”
“Yes,” I breathed. “I am.” I took a moment to gather my thoughts and then didn’t delay what needed to be said. “Ben didn’t die nine months ago. Ellie took me all the way out to Malibu this morning. She took me to see him. Ben’s still very alive.”
“What?” she gasped. “How?” She moved out of my embrace to lay flat on her back. Her chest rose and fell as she stared at the ceiling. “I…I don’t understand.”
My stomach knotted into a tight ball. Then as calmly as I could, I told her the few details Ellie had shared with me less than an hour earlier. I wasn’t good at keeping secrets from Georgie. In fact, I sucked at it and never hesitated to pour my heart out to this girl. With most others, I preferred staying in the shallow end. Georgina was my deep end. So I held nothing back and she never questioned the sincerity behind my words as I spoke. For a brief moment I feared she might not believe me and might assume I was telling her this as some sort of warped joke, but it seemed no such thought even crossed her mind as she listened. She remained quiet, emotionless even, as I spoke. Then she continued to remain quiet after I’d finished.
“Say something,” I whispered, her silence killing me. “Please, Georgie.”
“I’m happy,” she said in a soft voice, finally turning to look at me rather than the damn ceiling. A smile touched her lips. “No…I’m ecstatic. I want to be mad at him. I mean, seriously, what the hell was he thinking? And I still don’t understand why he joined the Coast Guard in the first place. That part has never made sense to me. Something bad must have happened, something really bad, something to make him want to leave and then keep him from coming home. But I’m too relieved and thankful that he’s alive to be mad at him. This is crazy…and amazing.”
She might have been ready to forgive her brother, but I wasn’t and likely never would be. Still, I blew out a breath of relief. Fuck her brother. I
only needed Georgie to be okay and she seemed to be. Better, actually. “Come here,” I grunted and drew her closer to me.
She pressed in against my body, nestling her face into my chest. My arms wrapped around her tightly like they’d done a million times before. In moments like this I saw my future. Georgina was my future.
“Did you speak with him?” she whispered, her voice growing a little rough with emotion.
“Um.”How did I put this without sounding like a dick? “Fuck no. Sorry, but I’m not going to be able to forgive Ben so easily. I don’t think I even said one word to him earlier. And we’re supposed to go back there for dinner…apparently…at least that’s what I overheard Ellie say.” I’d also overheard Ellie’s new celebrity friend say, and I quote, you saw me naked and we almost fucked. Which was random and shocking given the fact that my friend didn’t enjoy seeing men naked, or so I’d always thought, but I kept the rest to myself because that didn’t matter right now.
“Will you come me with to dinner?” Georgie asked.
“Yes, of course. I can’t promise I’ll be polite,” I confessed. “Maybe with time and once we have more answers—maybe then I might be able to forgive Ben. For now, I can’t. But I’ll be there with you at that dinner. Nothing could keep me from going with you.”
She nodded. “Good.” Gripping the back of my neck, she brought my face down to hers. Her lips were warm and soft as they pressed against mine. “I love you, Noah,” she said firmly as she remained close. “This changes nothing. The past happened, it’s done, and I moved on from it long before today. So, yeah…let’s get up.” She pulled away and hopped out of bed. She found my duffle bag on the floor and tossed it on the bed beside me. “Get dressed. Disneyland is waiting.”
“You still want to go?”
“Yes. We aren’t seeing Ben until dinner, so why not?” A wicked smile filled her face. “Get changed already. And move slowly, I want to watch.” She winked at me, her blue eyes vibrant.
I did as told. She was right. Just because Ben was alive that didn’t mean anything between us had to change. We would end today just as we began it—together. I was proud and inspired by how well she took this news. I was a lucky man. And hell yes, we were still going to Disneyland.
CHAPTER 9:
NATHANIAL
Ellie and I were in the middle of a heated Dragon Wars debate when her friend and her sister made their grand appearance. “No way,” I argued. “There’s no a chance in hell. Lucian and Sisiline are not siblings. How would you know that and I wouldn’t? Did you read some bullshit conspiracy theory fan site?”
Sisiline was another character on the show. As in turned out, we’d never once shot a single scene together. Several different storylines happening simultaneously made up the show. I figured in the future our characters would eventually meet, unless one of us were to get killed off before then, but as the show was incredibly complex—I had no idea what to expect for the future. But Sisiline and Lucian as siblings? That was absurd.
“Have you read the books?” Ellie asked.
“Yes. Sort of. I don’t study them though. Do you?”
Narrowing her eyes, she crossed her arms over her chest. She was trying to look tough and maybe even intimidate me, but all she managed to do was look sexy as hell as she glared daggers at me. “Let’s make a bet,” she decided.
My eyebrows went up. “Yeah, what are the terms?”
Dammit. I wanted to come up with some naughty terms—something that involved Ellie naked and under me, but as it happened, we were interrupted at that very moment.
“Hi, Ellie,” the girl who I assumed was Georgie exclaimed. She had Ellie’s same chocolate colored hair and same ocean blue eyes. Also like her sister, she was equally beautiful. Only she let it show, while Ellie seemed to hide it behind baggy clothes and layers of sarcasm. In the past, Georgie’s more obvious beauty was the type I typically went balls to the walls after. But I found something about Ellie’ssubtle beauty so much more intriguing. In fact, I don’t think I’d ever felt something this deep this fast for a woman. Maybe dating Kelly and then getting my heart smashed had somehow changed me.
Maybe the mistakes of our past opened doors we never would have considered in our future.
“How’s everything?” Ellie asked them, the meaning behind her question obvious. She wanted to know how Georgie was taking the news about Ben.
“Fine,” Noah answered. “Better than fine. She’s fine. Neither of us needed to worry. And…you’re still here,” Noah said, turning his attention to me. His voice was much lighter than it previously had been. His eyes were kinder too. Actually, his whole demeanor had changed in the short time he’d been upstairs.
“I’m still here,” I responded.
He took the seat Rhett had been sitting in. Then he tugged on his girlfriend’s hand until she plopped down on the sofa beside him. His arm wrapped around her shoulders. Whatever giant burden Noah had carried before had somehow disappeared. I saw a whole new person before me and I liked this version much better than the previous one. “Georgie, this is Nate West,” he told her. “Nate, this is Georgina.”
“He prefers Nathanial,” Ellie piped in to say.
Georgie smiled widely at me. “Hi, Nathanial. Good to meet you. Are you from around here?”
“Yes, Malibu,” I said warily, unsure if she recognized me. It seemed like maybe she didn’t. “I’m a transplant though. Grew up in Florida. I’ve been living here about five years now.”
Georgie’s eyes shifted between me and Ellie. We weren’t sitting anywhere near each other, but she was looking at us like sheknew. She knew more than the start of a platonic friendship had happened between us.
A slightly awkward moment passed and then Georgie continued to drill me with more questions, wanting to know how Ellie and I met, and wanting to know what my plans for the rest of the day were. She asked if I’d ever been to Disneyland. I’d lived here five years and, no, I’d never been.
“Then you’re going with us,” she decided. “Where is everyone else?”
Okay then. I guess I was going with them.
Ellie explained to the others about Rhett’s overreaction and disappearing act, while my mind wandered. A big part of me wanted to go with them to Disneyland—the kid inside me who had never been. But going somewhere public like that wasn’t possible for me. I’d probably be mauled before reaching the front entrance.
“I can’t go with,” I told Ellie, pulling her aside as we were leaving the hotel. Rhett and Sydney had been found and were now with us. The only person missing was Luce, but she’d already made it to her uncle’s place so she wasn’t coming.
“Why?” Ellie demanded, seeming almosthurt by my sudden decision not to go. “You’ve never been. Are you busy today? Because I kind of got the opposite impression in the parking lot. Or is an amusement park too childish for Nate West?” Most people would have politely accepted a declined invitation without prying. Ellie wasn’t most people. I liked how ballsy she was, but her questioning pissed me off a little. “Or…are you embarrassed to be seen with me? Because if that’s the case then you can get the hell away from me right now.”
Shit. My anger dissipated as fast as it had come. I didn’t want her to think that was why I wanted to back out of this.
“Well?” Her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes fiercely glared at me, and her cheeks changed to a nice pink shade. “Which is it?”
“Nothing, I would love to go.”
She didn’t believe me, that much was obvious, but we rejoined the others and she said nothing else.
* * *
Two hours later, and I was in a giant blue genie costume. No joke. My pants were baggy and blue. My shoes curled at the toes. And my head was sweating under the weight of the full mask I wore. This had been Ellie’s plan—dress me up like a costumed character and no one would recognize me. Three seconds into the park, she’d found an employee and demanded they take us to their manager. Now here we were.
The manager had been a Dragon Wars fan and had practically bent over backward to help us. Ellie’s plan was a good idea…in theory. In reality, dressed as a loveable Disney character in the middle of Disneyland had turned me into a bigger celebrity than even I was. On the bright side, getting hugs from little kids was much better than getting hugs from sweaty men in airport baggage claims. It didn’t hurt that Ellie seemed really happy.
Watching her watch me in my costume was cute. She took a million photos to document what she kept referring to as ‘my best acting role yet’ and stuck with me—even when the others left to go ride rides. I’d never seen someone have so much fun over something so trivial.
After a couple hours, the costume had to go. Any amount of recognition had to be better than this. It was hot and heavy and surprisingly hard work. We returned the costume, thanked the manager, and then spent the rest of the afternoon riding rides. A few people stopped me for pictures, but the attention wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d feared.
“The fame thing really gets to you, huh?” Ellie asked, once again with no filter whatsoever. We were in a souvenir shop, trying on various hats. Each hat crazier than the last. She looked ridiculously good in all of them. While I just looked ridiculous in all of them.
“Not really.” I shrugged off her question, because who was I to complain when I was so fortunate, even though she happened to be right. Luckily for me, she didn’t call me on my lie.
Instead she found a wizard hat and squealed. “This is the hat! I’m getting this one.”
I laughed because leave it to Ellie to get excited about a hat. I picked a random one and followed her to the checkout line. After, both of us wearing our new hats, we went for some ice cream. Kelly wouldn’t have dared eaten a double scoop of triple chocolate fudge like Ellie did. In fact, Ellie didn’t care anything about her hair or her shoes or retouching her makeup or the amount of calories she ate. She was the most laid back, easy-going woman I’d ever met. It was refreshing and fun. But I was having a hard time figuring her out. Sure, we’d made out twice now and both times I’d felt like she’d been really into it. But right now…I couldn’t tell if she was trying to put off a friend vibe andonly a friend vibe.
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