“And your daughters?”
“We’re not having daughters if Inga’s palm reading isn’t total bullshit. But if we did, I’d tell them the love at first sight story. Perpetuate the future generation’s obsession with fairy tales.” He grins at me. “Maybe I’d even tell them she was a mermaid.”
I smack him. “Very funny.”
“Do you think your mom and Tommy waited?”
“Ha. No. I’m pretty sure they did it on their first date. But, then, if a guy as hot as Tommy took me and my daughter on a private jet to a Russian ballet, I wouldn’t have waited either.”
“You and Aiden remind me of them.”
“What did you mean?”
“When you aren’t obsessing about your lack of a future and let yourself have fun, you just glow. Hell, you both glow.”
“Do you like him?”
“Yeah, Keats, I like him. But just as a forewarning, don’t plan on us hanging out tonight. I’m taking Peyton on our first date.”
“Where are you going?”
“We’re gonna take the jeep, drive up the mountain, and look for shooting stars.”
“In the words of your father, So you’re taking her parking?”
He laughs out loud. “Oh my gosh. I about died when he said that to us in front of everyone. I’m sure I looked completely guilty.”
“We both did. The funny thing is that never once crossed my mind.”
“That’s because you were hell bent on acting out some script you were writing. Where they laid on top of a mountain, held hands, and made wishes on shooting stars.”
“That seems like a long time ago.”
“Things were just simpler then.”
“Yeah, they were,” I say quietly, biting my lower lip.
“No. No. No. Don’t start with the pout.”
Aiden comes back, tosses Damian a bottle of water, and says to me, “Why are you pouting?”
“Because I’m taking your sister out tonight. She’s jealous.”
“Jealous?” Aiden says, looking a little confused.
“She loves looking at the stars.”
“I’m sure we can find some stars of our own,” Aiden says, kissing my cheek before running back out into the water with Damian.
Peyton comes wandering back out to our chaises with Sven in tow. She’s carrying a laptop and Sven has two of his wickedly strong hurricane drinks on a tray. He sets them on a side table next to us and then heads back into the house.
“These drinks are really strong,” I tell her.
“Perfect. I need to relax. I can’t relax around him. It’s like I’m strung out, waiting for the next hit. The next kiss.”
“If you break into song about how his love is your drug, I may have to smack you.”
She laughs, sipping and watching Damian on the wakeboard. “Wow, he’s good on that thing. Almost as good as Aiden. I wouldn’t think a guy that plays guitar would be so athletic.”
“Damian is like Aiden. There isn’t anything he can’t do if he puts his mind to it.” I laugh. “It pissed me off when we were younger. I was always trying to keep up with him. So what’s the computer for?”
“Tell me that you have internet here and that you won’t laugh at what I’m about to do.”
“We have internet. The password is crabbypatties. And I’ll try not to laugh.”
She types on the laptop. “I’m about to match our horoscopes, so I need to know his birthday.”
I laugh, not because I think it’s funny but because I did the exact same thing when I was crushing on B. Horoscope matches. Magic Eight ball questions. Fortune cookies. Numerology. Anything to give me hope that we might be together someday.
“You’re laughing,” she says, scrunching up her nose at me.
“Only because I’ve done the same thing when obsessed with a boy.”
“Okay,” she says clicking away. “I’m a Virgo and he’s a, what?”
“An Aquarius. Smart. Creative. A little bit temperamental.”
“Hmm,” she says. “This says that when Virgo and Aquarius team up they can either bring out the best or worst of each other. It seems I have a rigid and theoretical approach to life.”
“Do you?”
“Yeah, I’m big on theory. And list making. And I need a certain order in my life to function.”
I watch Damian out on the wakeboard, cutting as hard as he can across the wake and then racing up the side of the wave runner, trying to get ahead of Aiden. He’s going balls out. Not once thinking about anything other than the rush. “Damian isn’t that way at all. He’s the anti-list maker.”
“This says that Aquarians are poetic.” She pauses. “I guess that would fit since songs are basically poetry. Oh, here. It says that we can thrive on our differences and grow together as we learn about each other. That’s romantic, right?”
“Yes, it’s romantic. What else does it say?”
“It says he’s passionate, modern, hates routine, and seeks spiritual enlightenment, but that he can be opinionated and stubborn.”