“Not if you want to keep your head on your shoulders,” Alex coolly replies. “Don’t think you can hit on Viv just because Reeve will be leaving in a few months. I’ve already told him I’ve got his back.”
Audrey rolls her eyes and shakes her head. We share a “boys are ridiculous” look. I don’t know whether I should be insulted or pleased. “I don’t need a babysitter,” I mumble, dunking a spoon in the soup.
“And it’s not like Reeve has anything to worry about,” Audrey cryptically adds, as I sip my soup contemplating the same thing.
5
The months fly by, and I wish I could slow them down. We both submit our applications to UCLA, Christmas comes and goes, and before we know it, it’s mid-January and Reeve’s eighteenth birthday. I organize an epic party for him, and he surprises me with a weekend away on our own at Big Bear Lake. We take to the slopes, go sledding, and toast s’mores in front of the large open fire in the luxury cabin Reeve rented before making love for hours, getting lost in one another, pretending like we’re not going to be separated in six short weeks.
“It sucks you’ll miss graduation,” I say the week before Reeve is due to leave for Boston. It’s Friday evening, and we’re walking hand in hand through the gardens at the rear of my house.
Mom is an avid gardener, and even though we have a full-time gardener on the staff, she designed and planted our rose garden herself. There are over forty different species of roses. Large blooms and small blooms in an array of different colors. Pink, purple, peach, white, red, yellow, orange, ivory, multicolored, and she even has lavender roses. They are the prettiest shade, and they have a fresh floral fragrance with a hint of spice that I adore. I didn’t even know lavender roses were a thing until Mom planted them, and now they are my absolute favorite flower.
“You know I’d be there if I could, but the schedule is too tight.” His smile is wistful as we pass the large oak tree with the swing. As kids, we loved hanging out at this tree. Our initials are even carved in the bark, alongside my parents’ initials. Back then, we had this massive playground, treehouse, and obstacle course Mom had built specifically for us. I have many fond memories of summers spent outside, swimming and messing around in the pool, and countless hours spent playing on the swings, the monkey bars, slides, and the zipline.
Those were fun times.
I should have protested when Mom had it all removed. Insisted she keep it for our kids, but Mom is always remodeling the house and the gardens in between movies.
“Hey.” He tugs on my hand when I don’t respond. “You’re not mad, are you?” His brow puckers, and I shake my head.
“Not at all. I understand, Reeve, and it’s fine.” He doesn’t look convinced. “Honestly.” I give him my biggest, most reassuring smile, and his shoulders relax. While he has done enough to graduate early, I was still hoping he could make it back for the ceremony, but he can’t, and that’s that. Ironically, shooting wraps four days after graduation, which is a little frustrating. “I’m so glad you got time off for prom. I couldn’t attend without you.” I swing our conjoined hands as we walk the cream stone path through the massive rose garden.
“There’s no way I’d miss seeing you in that dress you’re making.” He flashes me a cheeky grin.
I slam to a halt, narrowing my eyes at him. “You’d better not have been peeking at it.” I’ve gone to great trouble designing my own gown for prom. I am making Audrey’s too, and we want to keep them a secret until then. I’m really looking forward to seeing the look on Reeve’s face when he sees me in my own creation.
“Babe, I value breathing.” He playfully swats my ass. “I even close my eyes and race past your studio door anytime I’m at your house.”
“I’ve trained you well,” I tease, tugging on his hand as we start walking again.
“I don’t need to see it to know you’re going to be the most beautiful girl there.”
Be still my heart. Stretching up, I kiss the underside of his jaw. “Thank you, but you know you’re probably biased.”
“I’m only speaking the truth.” He presses a kiss to my temple. “I hate that I can’t be here for your eighteenth birthday, but I will make it up to you this summer. I promise.”
I hate he’s missing my birthday too. It will be the first time ever that one of us has missed the other’s birthday. But I’m trying not to be selfish, so I’ve told him not to worry about it. I know Reeve would be there if he could. At least we’ll be able to make up for lost time during summer break.
Reeve’s shooting finishes at the end of May, and the movie isn’t scheduled to release until January, meaning he will have a few months off before we start college and before the promotional tour commences. I’m not sure how he’s going to juggle school with his promo duties, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. “I’m so happy we’ll have the entire summer together,” I say, drawing circles on the back of his hand with my finger.
“There may be some reshoots in August,” he warns, tightening his hand in mine. “But other than that, the summer is all ours.”
“I can’t wait.”
He stops at the lavender rose bush, removing a pair of pruning scissors from his back pocket. I beam at him as he examines the flowers, looking for the perfect rose. I study his gorgeous face, memorizing the light smattering of freckles along his strong nose, the angles of his high cheekbones, the beautiful curve of his tempting lips, and the endless depths of his stunning blue eyes. Reeve is beautiful, and he steals my breath every time I look at him. I trace my finger across the flat beauty mark over the right side of his lip. “Has Lipgate been resolved yet?” I inquire, arching a brow.
“Nope. Honestly, it’s ridiculous. They can cover it with makeup for filming, and I don’t see why it’s such a big deal.”
“I’m glad Bianca is fighting them on this.” I trace my finger back and forth across the mark I love as he continues scanning the roses. “Studios have too much say in actor’s lives as it is. So what if you have a beauty mark? It’s absolutely perfect on you, and it never did Enrique Iglesias or Cristiano Ronaldo any harm. Both have had amazing careers, and I’m sure they had asshole PR people demanding they get theirs removed too.”
He tweaks my nose, grinning. “You’ve really given this a lot of thought, huh?”
“I might have googled it after you told me they were making a big deal of it. I thought my research might help if they were still being stubborn about it.”
Turning around, he threads his fingers through my hair. “I love how you always wade into battle on my behalf. It’s sexy as hell.”
“You’re sexy as hell.” I press my lips to the small, neat mark. “And you’re perfect exactly the way you are. I don’t want any asshole director or ambitious publicist trying to force you to change.”
“I spoke with your mom, and she told me to stick to my guns. They can’t insist on it because it wasn’t part of the contract. She gave me some good advice.”
“I’m glad you have her. Even with what I know of the industry, it seems especially crazy right now.” The public interest in celebrities is extreme. They want to know every aspect of their personal lives, and privacy is a rare commodity. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about what that means for Reeve and me. I’m a private person, and I deplore the thought of anyone delving into my life just because I’m Reeve’s girlfriend, but my parents have warned me it’s going to happen.
He removes his fingers from my hair, glancing at the roses as he speaks. “Bianca wants me to hire my own publicist. She says things are going to get insane pretty fast.”
“I’d say the six million new followers you have on Insta and TikTok already attest to that fact. And that’s before you’ve even filmed this movie.”
“I know.” Sighing, he stares up at the darkening sky. “The level of interest is scaring me a little, to be honest.”