Shatter

“What?”

“Stop stalling. I’m yours. All yours.”

“Forever?”

“For always.” Nat pulled away from me and sat on the bed crooking her finger in my direction.

I wasn’t an idiot. I didn’t need to be told twice. I almost tripped as I moved to hover over her. I easily scooted her further back on the bed and began kissing the bottom of her feet, slowly making my way up her perfect body. She moaned when I reached her inner thighs, and gasped when I licked my way further up. Cupping her br**sts, I closed my eyes and relished the moment. The moment that she was giving everything to me — and only me.

“Alec!” Nat ran toward me arms flailing. “Tell your brother to stop pushing me into the waves!”

Jolted out of my erotic daydream, I laughed as Demetri chased her, arguing his case. “I didn’t push you! She fell, Alec, we both know how clumsy she is!”

“Am not!” This from Nat, as she literally tripped into my arms.

“Right,” Demetri and I said in unison.

Nat flipped Demetri the bird.

“She’s just so damn classy.” Demetri laughed. “Alright, I’m off to find a jellyfish to put in Angelica’s bed.”

“Good luck!” I yelled.

“What’s wrong?” Nat squeezed the water from her hair.

I shrugged. “What do you mean?”

“You seem…” She grabbed a bottled water and sat down in the chair next to mine. “Elsewhere. Like preoccupied or something. You just don’t seem like yourself. Is everything okay?”

“It’s…” I watched in a trance as she lifted the water to her lips, some of it spilled over her mouth, making me think about sex all over again. “I miss you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah.” I reached for her hand. “Let’s go… inside.”

“And do what? There are cameras everywhere!” She swatted me on the chest.

“Not everywhere.” I grabbed her hand. “Don’t you trust me?”

“Always.”

“Forever.” I kissed her forehead and jogged with her back to the house, knowing full well that what I was asking she give me was very different than the first time we’d had sex. I already had her heart… and for the last few weeks all I’d wanted from her… had been her body. All I wanted now was her body, because at least in those moments I could numb myself to the guilt I felt every single time I looked at her.

She had trusted me to keep her heart safe.

And I had failed.

Chapter Three

Demetri

If my brother didn’t lay off the drama soon I was going to put my fist through a wall. Everything seemed off. Either that or I was developing diabetes or something. Or possibly it was too much estrogen, considering I’d been surrounded by so many chicks lately, Alyssa being one of them, but still. My spider senses were off. I knew when something was up, and something was up with Alec. I mean, he was walking around smiling.

That should have been my first clue. He never tried to be anything. He just was. So when he tried in the emotions department, it literally meant he didn’t have his shit together.

I knocked on his door and waited for him to answer. His impromptu idea with the late night swim interrupted what was supposed to be our man talk. I was going to take him aside, pretend to get in a fight with him, punch him in the face, and then ask what the hell was wrong with him. Then he had conveniently left with Nat, and I didn’t see him until later that night. By then everyone was lurking around so I couldn’t very well call him out on his shit.

But now I was out of time. He and Nat were going to hang out since it was Sunday, the one day we got off from filming. It was the only way Alec and I agreed to do it. We needed our privacy for one day. I mean, I could swallow a whale and bribe Jaymeson to hump a mermaid and we’d still be camera-free.

I knocked again, this time harder. We needed to have a chat before he disappeared again.

Dude, the guy needed hearing aids.

I swear he was turning senile.

“Alec! Hurry up, Nat’s going to be here…” I pushed open the door to his room in the Seaside Beach House expecting to see him pacing the room trying to get ready.

Instead the shower was still on.

I walked over to the door with every intention of pulling out my camera and getting some good stuff for bribery purposes, when I heard his voice.

“No, that doesn’t make me feel better!” He cursed violently. “Are you kidding me? Two million? For what? For her to maybe keep her mouth shut? For her to possibly back down? You’ve got to be shitting me. I’m not handing out a penny until you get it in writing. Do you hear me? In writing. She can’t say a word. Not one damn word. If she does, I’ll sue her. She will never work in Hollywood again.”

Whoa. Someone’s been watching way too much daytime television and clearly needs to lay off the caffeine. I slowly backed up and walked over to the bed.

I knew in our business it was typical to get blackmailed, and I knew that Alec had his own share of crap this last month with some groupie claiming he got her pregnant. I wondered if that was what the conversation was about.

At any rate, brothers stick together, and I needed to help him out. It was the least I could do after everything he’d done for me.

Wait. When I thought about it, he didn’t really do much except for steal my girlfriend, get me addicted to drugs… On second thought…