Adore Me

by Jillian Dodd

  "Don't be a show off. I wanna teach Aiden to surf."

  "Looks like you got the kiddie class, dude," Damian says, rolling his eye at Aiden. "You ride a snowboard?"

  "Absolutely. It's one of my favorite things to do."

  I turn my head at stare at him. "Really?"

  He shrugs his shoulders, like I should've known that, but gives my hand a reassuring caress, telling me he can handle it.

  "C'mon," Damian says, paddling out. "Live by the wave. Die by the wave."

  "I don't want to die by the wave," I tell him.

  "There are worse ways to die," he says pointedly.

  I swallow, thinking of Vincent. "Yeah, I guess."

  "You're totally slowing my roll with the death talk," Aiden says in a stoner voice, laughing.

  Which makes me giggle like I'm high too. High on being in the water with Aiden.

  Who would have thought?

  "Just follow my lead," Damian tells Aiden as he takes the first wave and slices through the water toward shore.

  "You don't have to do that curvy stuff. Just ride straight in."

  Aiden chooses a wave, quickly stands up--his foot placement looking like it belongs in a surfing textbook--and easily rides the small wave into the shore.

  I wait for a bigger one, eager to show off my skills, and feel the rush as I push up off the board . . . but then my hand slides off the edge of it, and I crash chin first into my board.

  Shit that hurt, I think as the wave crashes on top of me and a riptide pulls me under. I let my body go limp trying to make myself float back to the surface so I can tread water. When I get back to the top, I see that I'm a lot further away from shore than I expected. Damian and Aiden are both wading through the waves frantically searching for me.

  I try to yell that I'm okay, but end up coughing up water. So I just wave my hand and let the waves carry me back to shore.

  "What the hell was that?" Damian yells, pulling me out of the water and yanking the leash off my ankle.

  "I forgot to put wax on the side of the rail. I slipped. It's no big deal."

  "I couldn't find you," Damian says, still yelling at me.

  "I'm sorry. What do you want me to do? You're the one who said die by the wave. Maybe you jinxed me."

  Aiden touches my face gently. "You scared us both. And you have a little cut on your chin."

  Damian is still pissed. Full of adrenaline. I can see that I scared both of them. Aiden is just handling it better.

  I touch Damian's forearm. "It's okay. I'm fine. I've had way worse crashes than that. It was just a stupid thing made worse by the undertow. If you fall, be careful."

  Peyton, who had rushed into the shed, comes back with a band-aid for my chin. "Here."

  "Thanks. Do I need this?"

  "You're bleeding. I'd think so. We don't want you attracting a shark, too."

  I laugh. "No, we don't."

  "Here. Let me put it on you. Your hands are all wet." She tears the sides off the band-aid and places it on my chin. I'm sure I look like an even bigger loser than I did when I crashed.

  I push the band-aid in place, grab my board, add some wax to the rail, and head back out in the water. I know the best thing to do after a crash is get back out there.

  The next wave I catch is different. It loves me. Big, broad crest that I'm able to carve my way up and down.

  "That was amazing!" Aiden tells me, pulling me into his arms. "You're really good. I kinda thought after you crashed that you were maybe overstating your abilities."

  "You thought I was bragging?"

  He kisses my nose. "Maybe. Kinda."

  Then he kisses my lips. And my band-aid. "Life with you is never going to be boring."

  Meaning in everything.

  10am

  After surfing, we dry off and head in for breakfast.

  I'm sitting at the breakfast bar watching Inga make her special caramel sauce.

  "I've tried making that for Damian before, but I can never seem to get it right. The brown sugar always gets lumpy."

  "Are you mixing it in the right order?"

  "Yeah, kinda. Well, honestly, no, I sorta just put all the ingredients in at once and let them melt."

  "You can't do that. You have to mix the brown sugar and butter first before you can add the cream."

  I scowl. "Oh, yeah, I don't do it that way."

  "That's because you don't like to wait, Miss Keatyn. You want everything now. You need to stop being so impatient and let life come to you. You're young; you have a lot of life left."

  I know she's talking about being patient in cooking but what she says touches me deeply.

  "Do you think that's true? That I will have a long life?"

  She looks surprised at me. "Has Inga never read your palm?"

  "Um, no. You always said I was too young."

  She grabs my hand and turns it over.

  Then a curious look crosses her face. "Very odd."

  She lets go of my hand and pulls the reading glasses she wears around her neck up to her face. Then she looks more closely, studying my hand and tracing the line. Grabbing my other hand and comparing the two, she says, "It is believed that your dominant hand shows what is and your non-dominant hand shows what could be."

  "So what do mine say?"

  She runs her finger next to a line. "This is your life line. See this? How it is a chain up here at the top?"

  "Yes."

  That means things have been difficult for you early in your life. You lost your father, no?"

  "Yes. When I was eight."

  "But this. This split. It is unusual to see in someone so young."

  "Why?"

  "It means death."

  "Death?"

  "Yes, you cheated death, somehow. Have you had a brush with death recently?"

  "She just about drowned," Peyton says, but Damian is looking at me with huge eyes and thinking the same thing I am. That if Vincent had actually kidnapped me, I'd be dead.

  "Maybe it means I'm going to die soon," I say softly, knowing it could happen.

  "No, it is in the past."

  "How do you know that?"

  "I just do."

  "Uh, okay."

  "But see how this strong thin line starts after the break?"

  "Yes."

  "It's a split or changed life. It often means the death of a spouse. A divorce. Something in your life has changed. This feels almost like a rebirth."

  I think about my changed name. My changed life. I know I'm not supposed to believe in this stuff, but still.

  "And after that?"

  "This line is extremely chained at the beginning, so you'll have a difficult struggle during this rebirth, but then it emerges as a strong long line."

  "What does that mean?"

  "You will have a long, happy life once you get through it."

  I put my head down, pretending to be inspecting my palm, but trying to hide my reaction.

  Inga has no idea the overwhelming feeling of hope she's just given me.

  "Do you want me to do the rest?"

  "Yes, please," I mutter out.

  "This is your heart line," she says, drawing her finger across it. "It's long, meaning you will be content in love. And this line is your head line. There are Xs in the middle. Here. That means you'll soon make a momentous decision. One that will affect the course of your life."

  "Okay," I nod, wondering if she's referring to the decision I've already made. Not going back to Eastbrooke and starting to wage war on Vincent.

  "See how these lines are connected at the top?"

  "Yes."

  "They mean you developed your aspirations early on in your life." She looks up at me. "Based on all the plays you and Damian have done here in the past, I'm assuming that means you belong in the entertainment industry."

  "Uh, that's interesting." I don't want to talk about that, so I try to get her to move on quickly. "What else do you see?"

  "Based on the shape and length of your palm
and fingers, I'd say you're very perceptive, sympathetic, and quite creative."

  I smile. I love being those things.

  "On the downside," she says, "you can be moody, emotional, and inhibited."

  Damian and Aiden both start laughing. Damian says, "Emotional is right. I never knew a person who could have so many emotions at once."

  Inga chastises Damian. "That's because she's perceptive, Damian. They go hand in hand."

  I give Damian a smug smile but then squint my eyes at Aiden. "Why were you laughing?"

  "Because you are the least inhibited person I know."

  Inga also gives him the eye then says, "Inhibited can have many meanings, young man. Possibly she is emotionally inhibited, as I would suspect is the case based on what I see."

  "Uh, oh. I didn't think of it that way," Aiden replies respectfully.

  "The universe is a mysterious place and there is meaning in everything," she says confidently. She lets go of my hand to stir the caramel sauce and then returns to the island and grins at me. "Now for the fun part."

  "What's the fun part?"

  "How many children you will have, of course. You know that your mother's hand was very clear on that. She didn't believe me when I told her she would have five more children after you."

  "Five?"

  "Six total. One, which is you, then a large space, which meant the age gap between you and her second child would be large, then five lines close together."

  "I'd love to have another sister," I say happily. But then reality hits, and I want to cry at the thought of not being there.

  Just another reason to get my life back as fast as I can.

  "So how many kids will Keatyn have?" Aiden asks with a sparkle in his eye.

  "Hmmm. You will have four children very close together. See how these lines touch at the bottom?"

  "Yeah," Aiden says, studying my faint lines very intently.

  "Twins."

  "That's really cool," Aiden says. Then, turning to Peyton, "I always wished we had a bigger family."

  "Not me," Peyton says. "I only want one kid. And I want to spoil her rotten."

  "Rotten, is not good, Miss Peyton. Let me see your hand."

  Peyton hold her palm up.

  Inga shakes her head. "You should start mentally preparing. You are destined to have three boys."

  We all laugh as Inga stops the entertainment and pulls our waffles out of the oven.

  Obsession with fairy tales.

  11am

  After chowing down breakfast, we head back to the beach. We all play around on our surfboards and Peyton manages to get up on hers. She and Damian are constantly flirting and looking for any excuse to touch each other.

  Aiden says to Damian, "I noticed you have a wakeboard in the shed."

  "Yeah," Damian replies. "We can get the wave runner out and I'll pull you around."

  "That'd be awesome!"

  "I think that's my cue to put my board away and spend some time tanning," I announce.

  "That's what I want to do too," Peyton says. "I'm really wet."

  I see Damian lick his lips. He so just thought something naughty. He grabs her around the waist and pulls her in for a kiss. "I'll miss you," he says in a lovesick way.

  Oh, he's got it bad.

  Peyton giggles uncontrollably. In fact, she's still giggling when we lie on two of the cushioned chaises that line a small portion of the beach.

  "I don't think I've ever seen you giggle so much."

  She giggles again. "I'm, like, giddy and having so much fun. Damian is sweet." She stops and studies me. "Is he sweet? Please say he's sweet."

  "Yeah, he's super sweet."

  "It's silly isn't it? He's practically a rock star. Travels all over. I'm still in school. He's younger than me. And probably into groupies."

  "He looks really good in a suit," I say with a smirk.

  "He has pretty much everything on my list and the things he doesn't have I don't care about anymore. I'm falling way too fast. Hell, who am I kidding? I'm not falling, I've fallen. I need to stop it. Stuff like this only happens in the movies. But he's so hot. But in a different way. Like his face is beautiful but it's more classic. Have you ever noticed how perfectly proportioned it is?"

  "Uh, I don't think so."

  "He's just as hot as Cam, only I don't think he realizes how hot he is. Like Cam works it. Uses his looks."

  "Damian uses his words," I say softly. "His music. His voice, like when he whispers or sings you to sleep, it's completely dreamy."

  "Great. So everyone that he whispers to falls in love with him?"

  "I think anyone that hears him sing falls a little in love with him. With both his voice and his passion. He's also really mature. He never acted like a kid even when we were kids. He's always been, like, an old soul or something. He doesn't make the kind of mistakes I always seem to make."

  "So he is perfect." She sighs sadly. "And he'd probably hate me if he knew all the mistakes I've made."

  I know that I should tell her she's right. I know I should stop this relationship before it catches flight, but I can't do it. I can't crush this. I mean, Damian is the one who suggested Eastbrooke that night. Maybe fate sent me there for him. So that he could meet his dream girl. And if I'm not going back anyway . . .

  "Peyton, what was your plan when you met Mr. Dreamy?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "What was your plan? After your eyes met and you determined he was the one, then what?"

  She rolls her eyes. "We lived happily ever after, of course."

  "What else?"

  "You mean in between that? I guess I always imagined being courted in that old fashioned way. Wooed. Flowers. Romantic dates. Wondering when I'd get that next kiss."

  "Did you ever think you'd sit around trying to come up with excuses why you shouldn't be with him?"

  "Of course not." She smirks. "Oh, I see what you're doing there. You're right. I should enjoy it. Speaking of that, I'm gonna run in the house real quick. And you should watch my brother. I think he's showing off for you."

  I glance out at the ocean and see Aiden doing a flip on the wakeboard.

  He tries another one, crashes, then gets pulled back up. He jumps the waves, getting a ton of air, and doing tricks. Turning around backwards, grabbing his board as he jumps, kicking his board up behind his butt, and doing more flips.

  After showing off for a long time, he strides out of the water, plops his wet, glistening body on top of me, and gives me a steamy kiss.

  "What's that's for?"

  "I want you to know how I feel. And right now, I feel exhilarated."

  "Showing off exhilarates you?"

  He grins. "Jumping the wakes and getting all that air is kinda a rush."

  "Is there anything you can't do?"

  "Speak French."

  "Besides that?"

  "I can't read your mind. You need to start telling me what you're thinking. Even if you think I can't handle it."

  "I think you could handle anything," I say dreamily.

  Although the feel of his hard, wet body on top of mine makes me want to pretend to be an evil queen and banish him to my turret room.

  Forever.

  "So tell me what you're thinking right now," he says, killing my daydream of him tied to the bed.

  "I don't think you want to know what I'm thinking."

  "But I do."

  "Don't say I didn't warn you. What I'm thinking is that I hate you."

  He kisses my neck, his mouth feeling cool from the ocean. "I'm lying on top of you, practically attacking you, and that's what you're thinking?"

  "Yeah. Do you know how many freaking times it took me before I could ride into shore? I don't think I ever would've gotten it right if B hadn't come out and helped me," I stupidly blurt out.

  "Who's B?"

  "Oh. Um, he's the Keats guy. My stepdad gave me my first board, a few pointers, and then told me the best way to learn was just go out and do it. He was wrong, by t
he way. It's much easier to learn what to do on shore first. Anyway, that's how B became my first big crush."

  "And you're first big love."

  "Yeah."

  "Do you still love him?"

  "Sometimes I think I do."

  "And other times?" he says, his eyes holding mine.

  "I think I'm falling for someone else," I say breathlessly.

  Ohmigawd! I can't believe I just said that.

  Why did I say that?

  Why would I do that to him?

  Give him hope just to crush him in a few days.

  God, I suck.

  "So is there anything you've ever wanted do that you haven't been able to do?" I ask, steering the conversation back to his athletic abilities.

  He rolls over, positioning himself next to me, and looks at me with fiery eyes.

  "There are a lot of things I want to do that I haven't done yet."

  "Like what?" I reply, praying it's something like skydiving or mountain climbing.

  "I've been dreaming of slowly undressing you."

  I stop breathing for a second as my heart jumps into my throat. "Is that something you'd like to do soon?"

  He rolls me to face him, while gliding his hand downward over my hip and thigh. Then he parts my legs with his knee, putting it in the spot he does when we dance, intertwining our bodies. Then he grabs my ass and guides it even closer, my crotch now firmly pushing on his thigh.

  "Yes, very soon. And I want to be just like this," he says, placing his mouth on my neck. "Only naked."

  I grab the hair at the back of his head and push his face toward me so I can kiss him.

  When his tongue takes possession of my mouth, I groan, my body purposefully pressing into his.

  Damian yells from the water, "Dude, it's my turn on the wakeboard. Come drive for me."

  Aiden ignores him, choosing instead to slide his tongue across my lips.

  Then he says, "I suppose I better go."

  I'm too breathless from the kiss to even reply. I just sort of nod.

  God, he is hot.

  And I don't just mean the way he looks.

  It's that strong, almost alpha male, possessiveness that I feel when he's determined. An electrical charge backed by godly powers.

  Like he's a human version of Poseidon's triton.

  Aiden gets up and yells at Damian. "I'm gonna grab some water. I'll be right back."

  "Grab me one too," Damian says.

  As Aiden runs up to the pool bar, Damian pulls the wave runner up into the sand, hops off it, and then plops down next to me.

  "Jeez, when I said you should have some fun, I didn't mean you should accost the poor boy on the beach."

  "Jealous?"