He hangs up.
“What the hell is there to even think about?” I say out loud as I grab my wallet, toss a few clothes in a bag, and yell to my sister. “I’m going to Malibu. You wanna come?”
“Uh, yeah! When do you want to leave?”
“You’ve got five minutes,” I reply.
Now that I’ve decided to go, I can’t get there soon enough.
Peyton rushes out to the truck my parents bought yesterday to replace my car. It’s not exactly an even replacement, but I couldn’t care less what I’m driving as long as it gets me to the airport.
“Text Mom and Dad and let them know we left.”
“Why are you in such a hurry? Malibu isn’t going anywhere.”
I raise an eyebrow at her.
She bobs her head back and forth. “I mean, I know a bomb went off there recently and all, but everyone’s okay.”
“I need to see Keatyn,” I say.
I also need my sister to stop talking.
“How’s the shoulder?”
“It’s fine.”
“What the hell is up your butt? You talk to Keatyn like that and she’s going to send you back home.”
“I’m sorry. I’m nervous. No, I’m excited. I’m nervous and excited. Worried. Freaking out, mostly. I have no idea what I’ll say to her. She has no idea I’m coming.”
“Aiden, if Keatyn loves you the way I think she does, it will all work out. Damian told me about her promise to her ex-boyfriend. Are you sure you shouldn’t give her a little time? I mean, she just got her life back. Her family is finally together.”
“Damian is the one who suggested this trip.”
“Oh,” she says, glancing down and looking interested in her cuticles.
“What?”
“Uh, nothing.”
“Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I’m thinking if Damian made you come, it’s bad.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of. I know nothing about them. Why didn’t I ask more about him? About their relationship.”
“Probably because you didn’t want to know,” she says. “I know some. I know that he hurt her. I know that Damian didn’t like the way he treated her.”
“When she went to her little sister’s birthday, he was there. He’s probably practically part of the family.”
Damian meets us outside Keatyn’s house and gives my sister a kiss that’s too long for me to be able to wait until it’s finished.
I can’t wait any longer.
I ring the bell.
Keatyn opens the door, laughing. She looks more beautiful and happier than I've ever seen her.
But her smile turns into something else the second she sees me.
“Aiden!” She shakes her head. “I wasn’t expecting you tonight. Sorry, come in.”
I want to just scream at her.
Pick me.
Love me.
Tell me.
But before I can say anything, Brooklyn, who I immediately recognize from his Facebook page, walks into the hall with one of the triplets on his back, looking entirely too cozy here.
Why the fuck did I do this?
“Aiden! Aiden!” her little sisters chant.
At least someone is happy to see me.
Gracie stands in front of me and says, “Bad Kiki no bad no more. She’s Lucky now. My furry, good puppy saved Bwooklyn.”
“I think it was Keatyn who did the saving,” Brooklyn says, picking Gracie up and tickling her.
I watch as Keatyn and Brooklyn share a smile.
An intimate one.
Oh, god.
Did she sleep with him?
Already?
“We taking this action film star stuff a little too seriously?” I ask. It doesn’t come out in the funny way I mean it to.
She gives me a precious pout and says, “I killed fish.”
I want to reach out and touch her face. Say, Baby, it's okay, but she turns toward him.
“I’m sorry. Um, Aiden, this is Brooklyn. Brooklyn. Aiden.”
Brooklyn reaches out and shakes my hand. He’s confident.
I hate him.
Keatyn says, “Everyone is out on the deck. Come join us.”
Her mom and Tommy are polite as is everyone else who’s here and that I already know. Cooper, James, Kym, Millie and Deron, the Morans.
They are happily celebrating and chatting about stuff that I should probably be paying attention to.
Lots of details she hasn’t told me.
But I can’t focus on their conversations.
I can only focus on her.
She’s walking toward me, holding a glass of wine.
Her long blonde hair is blowing in the breeze. Her hips have that easy, sexy sway.
When she hands me the wine, her smell invades my senses.
She smells different here. There’s salt and something fruity mixed in with her normal sugar-sweet smell.
“The sun’s getting ready to set,” she whispers, sliding into the chair next to me. “I know when we watched sunsets together you were thinking about your mom surviving another day, but they touched me because it also meant that my family had survived another day. You helped me so many times when I was upset. I really appreciate it.”
Brooklyn sits down on the other side of me and says sincerely, “I appreciate all you did for Keats, too.”
He’s thanking me?
Fuck.