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, fairytales-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?”