The silverware echoed in the cavernous dining room. As Aidan cut his steak, his gaze drifted to the vaulted ceiling. The windows went nearly to the rafters and he found himself wishing it were light out so he could see the beach beyond them.

Was Nicole out there now? How far away from him was she living? It couldn’t be too far, unless she’d driven to the beach the day before.

“So.” His dad’s clipped voice cut into Aidan’s thoughts. “I have some news.”

At the other end of the table, he steepled his fingers and grinned in pleasure. Aidan glanced at Mikey, who was in the middle of biting into a piece of broccoli.

Aidan raised his brows, and Mikey shrugged.

“First of all,” Rick said, looking at Mikey. “It’s too bad your dad passed on my movie idea. I’m telling you, there’s real gold there.”

Mikey nodded, his mouth too full for him to say anything. Aidan knew he didn’t agree one bit.

“But there are always other cards on the table,” Rick continued, turning his attention to Aidan.

“That’s true,” Aidan said slowly, already feeling like he was walking into some kind of trap.

“How would you like to do a television show?” Rick asked.

“Uh?” Aidan stared at him in confusion. “Acting?”

They’d discussed a lot of possibilities in the last year, and acting had been the one Aidan was the most against. His last adventure in theatrics had occurred in fourth grade, when he’d forgotten his one line in the Earth Day play.

“A reality show,” Rick clarified. “Following you.” Rick gestured excitedly at Aidan. “UsTV called me today. They’re ready to offer you a contract on the spot. A full season. Ten to fifteen episodes. What do you think about that? All you have to do is say yes.”

Aidan looked at Mikey again, but he didn’t know why. His best friend had been pretty mum ever since the accident, basically supporting whatever Aidan decided to do.

“I’ve never thought about reality,” Aidan answered.

“Which is why it’s so great,” his dad said right away. “No one will be expecting it. How many athletes have their own reality shows?”

Aidan didn’t know the answer to that. Before his accident, he hadn’t had much time for TV. After it, he’d found himself drawn more and more to activities that involved silence. Walks in nature. Listening to music. Reading. Sitting alone on his porch, contemplating on everything that had happened in his life.

All of those pursuits were solitary ones—or ones done with a friend. Living with a camera crew following him around, with the whole country seeing what he did day in and out, was the opposite kind of lifestyle.

“What do people want to see me for?” Aidan asked. “I’m boring.”

“They’ll figure that out. Half of what happens on reality isn’t real, anyway. They edit it to make it more exciting.”

Mikey quickly took a long drink of water, and Aidan could tell from the slight shaking of his shoulders that he was trying not to laugh.

“I don’t know, Dad.”

“What don’t you know?”

“If a reality show is for me.”

The silence in the house became heavy. For the first time, Aidan wondered why on Earth they’d rented such a huge home. They were only there for a week and it was just the three of them. When his dad had shown him a picture of it online, though, Aidan had shrugged and agreed. It was what he always did. Nodded while his father made all the decisions.

Aidan sighed and rubbed his eyes. “I’ve been thinking I might like to go a… different route.”

Rick frowned. “Like what?”

“I don’t know yet.”

His father’s laugh was abrupt and humorless. “You’re not making any sense, son.”

Running his fingers through his hair, Aidan leaned back in his chair and looked around. From his seat in the dining room, he could see the living room with its pool table. Downstairs was a movie theater and upstairs five bedrooms. The place was definitely too big for three people.

Not that Aidan’s house in Malibu was any smaller. Thinking about it now, he couldn’t remember why he’d bought that place. It had easy access to the beach, sure, and a pool, but other than that, why had he picked it?

“Aidan?”

He looked back at his dad and friend, finding them both wordlessly watching him.

“I’m not a reality star, Dad.”

Rick’s nostrils flared. “So then what is your plan, huh? Tell me that. You think you’re going to coast on the Fresh Wear Athletics money for the rest of your life? Because I can tell you this. They won’t be renewing your contract unless you’re keeping your face out there. Come next year, Aidan, and people won’t be talking about you anymore. They’ll be on to the next up and comer.”

“Maybe that’s good. Maybe I don’t want my face out there. It’s not that great getting recognized wherever I go, Dad.”

His father tilted his head, looking at Aidan like he was a stranger. “Being down and out is good?”

Aidan’s temperature climbed. “I’m never going to be broke, Dad. Not if I’m careful.”

“You’re going to be careful running that house? And taking private jets?”

Aidan shrugged. “Maybe I’ll sell the house.”

Rick’s jaw dropped. “And live where?”

“I don’t know. Someplace cheaper. In a smaller home.”

He hated to admit that he didn’t have everything figured out, but there was one thing Aidan knew: he didn’t want to be on TV. It didn’t matter what it meant for his image or his bank account.

“Where is this coming from?” Rick asked.

Aidan bit back a frustrated sigh. “I need a break, all right? Some time to figure things out.”

“You’ve had a year. If you wait any longer, no one will remember who you are.”

“Maybe I don’t want anyone to.”

“That’s enough. What’s with all these maybes, huh? You either want something or you don’t.” Rick pushed his chair back and stepped away from the table. Halfway to the living room, he turned back around and pointed angrily at Aidan. “You’re not making sense right now. Talk to me when you come back down to Earth.”

With that, he stormed away. Aidan stayed in his seat as the front door slammed.

“Man,” Mikey breathed. “I’m sorry.”

Aidan scowled. “Don’t be. It’s his problem.”

“Yeah, but he was harsh.”

“Again. It’s his problem.” Aidan avoided Mikey’s gaze, not wanting his pity.

“Okay,” Mikey said quietly.

“Let’s get out of here.” Tossing his napkin on the table, Aidan stood as well. His vision was blurring. He needed to get his feet moving, to clear his head.

“I knew I couldn’t talk to him about this,” he muttered a few minutes later as he and Mikey walked down the dark sidewalk, passing houses just like the one they were staying in.

“He wants the best for you.”

Aidan’s lips drew tight against his teeth. “Yeah, I know. But he doesn’t know what’s best for me. Not anymore, anyway.”

When Aidan had started playing tennis, way back in first grade, it had been the thing that drew him and his dad together. His two older brothers hadn’t had much of an interest in sports, which meant Aidan had been the one to pick up their ex-footballer dad’s torch.

Aidan could still remember what those early days felt like. His father shaking him awake early in the morning so they could rush to the tennis court and get thirty minutes worth of practice in before school. Aidan had loved the game, but he loved the look on his dad’s face even more. The admiration. The love.

His father loved him no matter what, he knew that. But before tennis, things had been…gray. That was the best way to put it.

Aidan couldn’t remember his mom. Cancer had taken her not long after he turned two. He did have a secondary source for information, though. Jake and Kyle, who’d been seven and nine when their family imploded, remembered life before.

According to Aidan’s brothers, their father used to be sunny. Nothing could get him down. Every weekend, almost without fail, he’d load the family into the van and take off on a road trip. Mom, dad, two little boys, and baby Aidan would soar away from their Pasadena, California home, finding adventure wherever the road took them.

And then things had changed. Life smacked the young family in the face. Or, more specifically, death smacked them in the face.

Jake and Kyle didn’t share much about those early days, but as a kid, Aidan relished any tidbits they did give him. He wanted that light-hearted, life-loving father his siblings talked about.

As it turned out, when Aidan played tennis, he got him. When he won games, he got him. When he made goals and stuck to them, he got him.

And what now? Now Aidan didn’t have any goals, had no concrete plans for the future. He knew that probably made him look awful in his father’s eyes, but what could he do about it?

“Are you really going to sell the house?” Mikey asked.

Aidan looked at him. They were leaving the residential area behind and entering the little downtown section. Street light pooled on his friend’s face.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I haven’t really thought about it.”

Mikey nodded. “It is kind of big.”

The house Mikey had grown up in, thanks to his movie producer parents, was even bigger. These days he lived in a studio apartment in Hollywood, worked random copy editing jobs to pay the rent, and came along whenever Aidan had a trip. He was the opposite of the other rich kids Aidan had met in Hollywood, wanting nothing more than space to do his own thing.

Aidan jammed his hands into his jeans’ pockets and twisted his lips around. He’d had a few parties at his place after buying it five years ago, but since then he hadn’t used most of it. The place had been relegated to being used for sleeping, eating, and swimming—something that had helped his knee a lot. It had especially been this way over the last year, during which Mikey and Aidan’s father had been the only regular visitors.

“Looks like a real throw down.” Mikey stopped walking and nodded at a restaurant down the street a bit. It sat with its back to the ocean. From the side, they could see the far patio, lit up with strings of white lights. A band played a lively tune, and even above the music, laughter could be heard. “Let’s check it out.”

Before Aidan could tell him he wasn’t in the mood to be around people, Mikey was walking for the patio. Aidan followed behind at a slower pace.

“I don’t know, man,” he called after Mikey.

“One drink,” Mikey tossed over his shoulder. “You need to blow off some steam, anyway.”

The patio brimmed with activity, people of all ages dancing to the music. Waitresses scurried between tables, dropping off seafood baskets and cocktails with umbrellas in them. It seemed that Aidan and Mikey had stumbled into the middle of Haven Sound’s nightlife.

“I’ll get drinks,” Mikey said.

Aidan stayed where he was, lingering at the top of the steps, as Mikey made a beeline for the bar in the middle of the patio. Despite the mood he’d climbed the steps with, it was now hard not to bob his head along to the music. Seeing all the people in a good mood had already made him feel a bit better.

Feeling a smile cresting on his face, he swept his gaze across the crowd. A flash of yellow caught his eye and he did a double take. A girl in a bright, sunflower-colored dress spun around, dancing to the music, her arms raised high above her head.

Nicole.