Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
“Funny,” I sass.
“So, dinner?”
I want to say yes, but at the same time I don’t know this guy. It’s one thing to hang out outside with him, but to get in a car and leave? I’m not sure that’s the best thing to do. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I admit. When he raises a single brow, I add, “I barely know you. I’m not sure I’m comfortable going out with you.”
His lips curl into a wide smile. “That’s okay, because I’m not taking you out. We’re staying in.”
“I’m not sure your room is any better!” I squeak out.
“Not my room.” He shakes his head, clearly trying not to laugh at me. “Just in my hotel. There are a few different restaurants.” He points over his shoulder.
“Oh, okay. That sounds good,” I tell him, slightly embarrassed that I jumped to conclusions.
We walk back to his hotel and enter the lobby. We’re both still in our dripping wet suits, and that’s when I remember I left all my stuff at the beach.
“Shoot! I need to go grab my stuff. My phone and everything is in my bag. Someone probably stole it all.”
“All right, how about you grab your stuff and get changed, and then meet me back here?”
“Okay, deal.”
We part ways, and I head back to the beach where I left everything when Keegan threw me over his shoulder earlier. Luckily, it’s all still there, untouched. I shake out my blanket, gather the rest of my things, and rush to the room. When I enter, Sierra and her friends are nowhere to be found. After showering and blow drying my hair so it’s not soaked, I throw on a black and white bandeau dress and some sandals.
When I exit the bathroom, I find Sierra and some guy I’ve never seen before making out on her bed. When she hears the door creak open, she pulls back and looks at me inquisitively. “I haven’t seen you all day,” she says, almost sounding as if she cares.
“You haven’t seen me since we got here,” I point out.
“Are you having fun?” She eyes my dress.
“Yeah.” I don’t tell her the specifics, though. The last thing I need is her throwing it in my face that I’m hanging out with a guy when I’ve said a million times I’m off dick. It’s not really like that, but she won’t believe me. “But if you wanted to maybe go for a walk down to the pier Mom and Dad used to bring us to, I could cancel my plans…”
Sierra’s eyes go soft for a quick moment, but then she shakes her head. “You need to stop living in the past, Blakely. There’s nothing there for us.” Then, without waiting for me to respond, she says to her guy friend, “I could really use a beer. Let’s go.” Getting up from the bed, she drags him out the door.
My mood instantly sours and I slam the door closed harder than intended on my way out. There was a time when Sierra and I told each other everything. When we would’ve spent this entire trip together. Once when I tripped over a kickball at school and scraped my knee, she refused to leave my side. The teacher told her she needed to go back to class, but she argued and told her she wouldn’t go anywhere until she knew I was okay. Now, she knows I’m in pain, but instead of being by my side, she’s running in the opposite direction. I’m terrified that once I move over five hundred miles away to go to school, it’s going to make it that much easier for her to push me away, and one day we’re both going to wake up and realize we have no family left. Not even each other.
“What’s the frown for?” Keegan asks when he sees me approach him.
“Just thinking about reality,” I tell him, using his words from earlier today.
“Well, then let me help you escape.” He smiles a boyish grin, and it’s then I notice he’s no longer in his suit. Like me, he must’ve showered. His hair is still wet and messy, but it’s shiny now. He’s sporting a pair of khaki shorts and a Billabong T-shirt. His feet are donning a pair of brown sandals. He looks like your typical surfer.
“You surf?”
“I do. I’ve lived near the beach my entire life. I was thinking I could teach you tomorrow.” He waggles his eyebrows.
“So sure I’m going to want to spend tomorrow with you, huh?” I joke.
Keegan laughs. “You came willingly just now, didn’t you?” His eyes twinkle with humor. “Didn’t even have to throw you over my shoulder.”
As we walk past the lobby and through the main area, I take in how gorgeous his hotel is compared to the one I’m staying in. Marble floors, restaurants peeking out of several corners. I even spot a Starbucks. My heart aches at the bit of nostalgia this place awakens. There was a time when staying at a luxurious hotel was the norm for my family. Dad would never stay anywhere but a five-star hotel, and even then, it had to be the Presidential Suite. Sierra and I grew up flying first class and traveling all over the world. Dad traveled for business, but Mom always brought us along to teach us about the world. And when we couldn’t go with them because of school, she would bring back books about the country and spend hours reading to us.