This is why we can’t happen. He can’t be myboyfriend because he may turn into an ex-boyfriend, and I reallydon’t know if I can handle seeing another girl posting shirtlesspictures of him on Instagram while she snuggles up next to him andrests her hand against the sexy vein that pops in his arm.
This would be a lot easier to let go of ifhe wasn’t so incredibly beautiful. And educated. And freakishlytalented. And a good kisser.
“You know what?” Sloane says, pushing aplate of sliced watermelon toward me. “There’s a party at Will’sfriend’s house tomorrow night. You should come. It’ll be a funnight away from Dominic. You can spend the night with meafter.”
“Will there be drinks?” I ask.
She laughs. “Yes, there are alwaysdrinks.”
Dad makes a joke about how I have beenliving out of my beach bag lately, but it’s not that funny becauseit’s the truth. He probably knows better than the lie I fed himabout spending the night at Sloane’s to binge watch The RainwaterTrilogy on DVD. I’ve never been one for paranormal romance, but Ifigured he’d believe the werewolf movies over Sloane’s collectionof Kate Hudson films.
“Just be careful. Have fun. Don’t doanything you wouldn’t want a future employer to know about,” hesays before hugging me and retreating to his room for thenight.
I wait for my phone to fully charge beforetexting Sloane that I’ll meet her in the resort lobby. Once thegreen light pops up on my phone, I tuck the charger into the beachbag and do my best to slip out quietly. Funny how I’m more stealthytonight when I’m not actually sneaking out than I am when I’mliterally sneaking out the window at Dad’s house.
I pull the front door shut slowly. It clicksquietly, and I turn around to head down the pier.
“Where are you really going?” Dominic asks,causing me to jump out of my freaking skin.
“What the hell?” I snap back. “What are youdoing out here? Hiding in the shadows like some kind ofstalker?”
He pushes himself up from the dock, barelyvisible in the glow of just the tiki torches. “You’ve barely spokento me in a week,” he says. “You can’t just ignore me and pretendnothing happened.”
“Yes, I can,” I tell him.
He blocks my path before I can dash towardthe resort. “Kaia, seriously, this isn’t fair. If you don’t likeme, that’s fine, but have the nerve to say it to my face,” he says.“You’re brutal enough to do it, so do it.”
I can’t, though, because I do like him. Ilike him a freaking lot, and running from him is so much easier todo than admitting I care. I’m safer behind these walls I’ve built,even if I’m not happier in their captivity.
“Where are you really going tonight?” heasks again.
I don’t feel like arguing. “Will’s friend ishaving a party, so I’m going with Sloane. The whole purpose was toget away from here,” I say.
“To get away from me,” he corrects me.
I sigh. “Yeah, okay? To get away from youbecause I didn’t want to have to have this conversation, but sinceyou’re not letting it go, do you want to come too? Because I eitherneed you to back away and let me leave or c’mon because Sloane iswaiting.”
He has a surf session at dawn, so there’s noway he’ll think about partying. Even if he didn’t drink a sip, hewouldn’t want to stay up late. He needs his energy for the wavestomorrow. He has to be well-rested for the hours of training. Hissurf career is his main focus right now.
“I’m in,” he says. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Ten – Dominic
The hip-hop music thumping from the speakersrattles in my throat. I sit poolside, legs in the water, watchingidiots jump in fully-clothed. Kaia disappeared on me shortly afterwe arrived, and Will is too plastered right now to even try talkingto. I see a lot of myself in him – a lot of who I used to be. Heseems like a chill guy, but he’s determined to go againsteverything that’s expected of him. This spoiled rich kid lifestyledoesn’t seem to work for him. He’s rebellious in a way I wish Icould’ve been.
I like the safety net of my dad’s money,though. I like the reassurance that he can bail me out of troublewhen I fuck up and fail my classes and party too hard. Dad may be atough exterior of a guy, but he’s always provided for us – Cassie,myself, and my little sister Juliana. He makes sure we never wantfor anything. All of our needs have always been met. There’s astability there that I can’t bring myself to challenge.
Will challenges his parents’ authority everymorning when he wakes up. He’s a little bit of Theo – a wild andfree mess – and a little bit of Miles – determined beyond measure.And then there’s a piece of me, the spoiled rich kid part that Idetest.
“Hey,” a girl’s voice says, snapping me outof my California memories. “Are you the guy who’s here surfing? Thetraining guy or whatever?”
I skim the people around me, wondering ifmaybe she’s talking to someone else, but the brunette is focusedsolely on me.
“I’m here with my surf coach, yeah,” I say.Please don’t let this girl have Googled me.
“Awesome. I was hoping it was you,” shesays. “I know this is kind of weird, but my boyfriend is a hugesurf fan, and he wants to learn more about the technical stuff, soI told him I’d see if you would talk to him. Or if maybe he couldmessage you online sometime or something. He’s a little tipsy rightnow.”
A wave of relief rushes over me. I don’tknow why I thought this girl was about to hit on me. It’s rare thatgirls even approach me, much less make a move. Aside from Kaia, Idon’t think any girl has ever been that bold with me. I honestlydon’t even know how
