LAURIE

“Take me to bed or lose me forever,” I cried, slinging my arms around Kyle’s neck. He caught me, pulling me flush with his body.

“Is that a threat, babe?” His husky voice sent shivers rippling down my spine.

“Scared?” I replied, brushing my lips over his.

“Seriously, best friend and cousin standing right here.”

We turned our heads together to meet Lo’s scowl. “Sorry.” I pouted.

“Can you take me home?” she said to Kyle, and I felt him tense.

“To the pool house, you mean?”

“No, I mean home. My house, where I live.”

“Does Maverick know about this?”

“I don’t need his permission, Kyle!”

“Geez, chill, Cous, I know you don’t need his permission. I just meant did he know that you planned on running home and sulking?”

“I am not sulking.” Her eyes narrowed at him and I ducked my head, not wanting to get in the middle of whatever this was.

“He’s with his mom and Macey, they probably just lost track of time.”

“Whatever. Kyle, are you going to take me home or not?”

“Lo, come on,” I said. “I’m sure everything—”

“Not you too, Laurie.”

“Fine, fine.” My hands went up in an apology. “Of course, we’ll take you home. Right, babe?”

I elbowed the brooding guy beside me and he flinched, muttering “Sure.”

The mood in the Jeep was tense and I wondered if there was more to the story than Lo was telling us. Knowing the Stone-Princes the way I did, there probably was. When Kyle pulled to a stop outside Lo’s house, he twisted around to the back seat. “Are you sure you don’t want to come back with us? Maverick is probably—”

“Goodnight, Kyle,” she cut him off. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Night, Lo.” I offered her a reassuring smile, but her expression was still like thunder as she climbed out and made her way up to her door.

“What was that all about?” I said to Kyle.

He blew out a long breath and focused his eyes on me. “Promise not to tell?”

“Come on, you know I’d never—”

His gaze narrowed, and I rolled my eyes. “Fine, sometimes I slip up.”

“Sometimes?” Kyle chuckled. “Babe, I love you for many reasons. Your ability to keep things on the down low is not one of them.”

My mouth dropped open as I reached over and pinched his nipple. Kyle shrieked, and I tilted my head with a little smirk. “I can keep the important stuff a secret.”

“Fine. But you can’t tell Lo, you have to promise me.”

“Okay.”

“Uncle Rob is going to move Stella and Bethany into the house, he just hasn’t found the right time to tell her.”

This was bad.

Very bad.

“Lo will lose her shit.”

“It gets worse.” He ran a brisk hand over his head. “Rick’s known for a while.”

“But I don’t get it. Why hasn’t he just told her?”

“Uncle Rob asked him not to. He wants to do it properly, and he doesn’t want to ruin her summer. She’s already finding it hard enough.”

“Because Maverick’s leaving for college soon?”

“Yeah. Look, if Uncle Rob doesn’t tell her soon, we’re going to. Well, Rick’s going to. I’ll just help run damage control.”

I glanced back at Lo’s house. She’d already gone inside. My heart felt sad for her. She’d had such a rough year. Losing her mom. Moving to a new country, landing herself in the middle of the Stone-Prince drama; not to mention learning her dad had moved on with a new woman.

“Babe?” Kyle’s voice pulled me back to him.

“Yeah?” It came out softly.

“Everything will be fine. She’s strong. She’s a Stone.” He grinned, but his attempt at lightening the mood didn’t have its usual impact.

“I hope so.”

One minute he was sitting in his seat, staring at me with warmth and love, the next his hands were cupping my face. The air shifted around us as he leaned closer and touched his head to mine. “Everything’s going to be fine,” he said again.

“Kyle, I—”

His lips slanted over mine, slow and unhurried. My fingers twisted into his t-shirt, anchoring closer. “Come with me.” His words were so quiet I barely heard them as they evaporated in our kiss. “Come to USC with me, babe. Say yes.”

Tearing myself away from him, I stared at him. Kyle was a walking talking joker. It’s what he lived for, but I found no hint of that guy as I looked into his eyes. All I saw was unspoken promises and devotion.

“Come with me. I know we still have to get through senior year. I know anything could happen from now until then. But I know what I want, Laurie, and I want you. Right there, by my side. I can’t do this without you.”

My heart hammered against my ribcage. I’d been waiting for him to bring it up again, to give me an ultimatum. I hadn’t expected for him to beg.

“Kyle, I—”

“Wait.” He cut me off. “I know your parents want you to choose Berkeley. I know they don’t think I’m good enough for you, that football isn’t a good enough career choice, but you will never find another guy who will love you the way I do, Laurie Davison, that I promise you.”

Tears pricked behind my eyes. Of all the things he could have said to me. I wanted to believe his words more than anything, to believe he needed me the way he made out.

“Tell me you know it,” he went on. “Tell me you haven’t imagined our future.” His hand slid up my neck and along my jaw and he drew me close again. “Say yes.”

“Yes.” I breathed out.

The surprise in Kyle’s eyes was nothing compared to what I felt. My body hummed with nervous energy and I felt a little nauseous, but then he was peppering my face with tiny kisses, whispering sweet nothings as if I’d just made all his dreams come true.

USC.

With Kyle.

Deep down, it’s what I wanted. But a year was a long time for everything to go wrong. For hearts to get broken and secrets to come out. For Mom and Dad to remind me what a dreadful mistake I was making. For Kyle to become an even bigger football star than he already was. So while I should have been relieved the choice was made, all I could think was: what had I done?

~

“LAURIE, WE’RE ALMOST ready to leave.” Mom’s voice filtered up to my room, and I clambered off the bed to go say bye.

“When do you get back?” I said as I entered the kitchen. Their matching luggage was stacked neatly by the door.

“We should get in on the twentieth.”

“Should?” My brow quirked up, but she was too busy checking her purse to notice.

“Your father has friends flying in, we’re hoping to see them before we leave.”

“But you’ll be home, right?”

“Of course, of course.” She waved me off as if I was making a fuss about nothing. As if them staying longer than the two weeks they already had planned was no big deal.

“We’ve left money in the safe and your father has transferred next month’s allowance into your account, just in case.”

Just in case you decide not to come home, I swallowed back the words. It wasn’t like I missed them. They were absent too much for that. And when they were around, Mom smothered me with shopping trips and spa days. But I still couldn’t get over the fact they treated me like an adult when really, I was still a child.

Most kids couldn’t wait to be granted their freedom. Getting their license. Being allowed to stay home while their parents went out of town. But when it became a regular thing, the novelty kind of wore off.

“Mrs. Grant’s number is on the refrigerator. Call her if there are any problems. She knows we’re out of town.”

“Sure, Mom.”

“And please refrain from using the house like a hotel. Lo can stay over. Autumn too, but no boys, darling.”

“Okay, Mom.”

“And no parties. Last time—”

“It was one time, Mom, and it was Lo’s birthday. I wanted to do something nice for her. We cleaned up. Nothing got broken. And we didn’t even stay up late.”

She paused, her wrinkle-free eyes settling on my face and for a second, I thought she might have something nice to say but instead, “No boys,” came out again. My shoulders sagged. How foolish of me to think she might actually tell me she was going to miss me.

“Fine.”

“All set, Gabi?” My father entered the kitchen, dressed for a business dinner, not two weeks in Cabo.

“I think so, the driver should be here any second.”

“Your mother explained we might be home a little lat—”

“I explained, Mike.” Mom levelled him with a look that told me they weren’t playing it safe by preparing me for them to be home late—it was already decided. They just didn’t want to deal with my reaction.

“Have a great trip. I’ll see you whenever you decide to come home.” I stormed out of there, not stopping when Dad’s stern voice followed me. Or when Mom’s softer voice begged me to return. I didn’t even stop when I heard the doorbell ring. They were leaving... and they had no plans to be home when they said they would.

My door slammed behind me and I flopped down on my bed. Part of me—the hopeful, foolish part—wanted Mom to follow me up here and make amends. But no footsteps came and then I heard the faint sound of the trolley wheels against the floor. The front door clicked shut and silence echoed throughout the house. I almost went to the window to watch them drive away but that would have meant I cared.

And I didn’t.

Not much, anyway.

Was I so insignificant that I didn’t deserve the truth? Or their time? They hadn’t even given me the choice to go with them. It was just a given that I’d stay behind, at home, like I had ever since I turned fifteen. Until then, I’d been dragged from vacation to vacation, business meeting to business meeting. When I was younger, I thought it was great. Seeing all these new places, meeting new people. But as I grew up, I realized I spent most of my time alone, exploring or making friends with other kids in our resort. And when I did get invited to dinner with Mom and Dad, I was expected to sit quietly and look pretty.

I wasn’t a lucky child, I was a burden.

The first time they said I could stay home alone, I was relieved. But what I didn’t realize was, my parents would gradually spend less and less time at the house.

Rolling onto my stomach, I leaned over and grabbed my cell phone off the nightstand.

“Hey, babe, what’s up?” Kyle answered on the first ring.

“What are you up to?” I asked.

“Watching Macey and Maverick go at it.”

“Sounds... interesting. Want to come over? My parents just left.”

“Didn’t they give you shit last time? I don’t want to—”

“Thirty minutes, be here. I’ll leave the back door unlocked. Don’t make me wait.” I hit end call and smiled to myself. My parents were gone. They didn’t give a shit about me. So maybe it was time I didn’t give a shit about their rules.