Page 87 of Damaged Prince
“Wanna build a sand castle?” he asks the question, like I might think it’s stupid.
My smile grows. “Fuck yeah. A big one.”
“Yeah?” he asks, smile growing.
“I bet we can make it way bigger than that one,” I say, pointing to the castle three little girls were making down the beach.
“Kai. They’re kids,” he laughs.
“So what. Ours will be better.” I get to my feet. “Here.” I hand him something from my bag.
“You brought shovels and pails?” he asks in disbelief.
“Listen, I was hoping you wanted to build castles,” I chuckle.
It also might have been because I remembered he said he used to love to come to the beach with his brothers and dad, and his favorite thing to do was make sand castles with them.
He takes them with a soft laugh. “You surprise me, Kai.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“No.” He shakes his head, happiness dancing in his eyes. “Not at all.”
***
“I can’t feel my fingers.” Eli groans, laughing as we fall to the blanket. We gave up using the shovels and just used our hands. Better control. But that also meant the tips of our fingers were rubbed raw from the damn sand.
“Worth it. Look at that thing,” I say, nodding my head towards the massive castle we built. In case you were wondering, ours is way better than those little girls.
Yes, but also, their’s fell over and they all started to cry, so Eli, being the damn fucking sweetheart he is, went over to help.
Me? I stayed back and watched him with the kids, falling more and more in love with him by the second.
“Yeah,” he laughs. “It was.”
“I’m starving.” I use a bottle of water to wash off my hands before digging into my bag to pull out some containers of fruit. “Want some?”
“Thanks.” He cleans his hands the same way I did before taking a piece of watermelon.
We sit in silence as we eat, just watching the waves as they crash against the shoreline.
“What are you thinking about?” I ask Eli when I see he’s starting to look sad.
“Nothing.” He blinks, shaking his head. “Just stuff.”
“Liiike?” I tease.
He lets out a heavy sigh, like whatever it is is causing him distress. I already don’t like it.
“I found out that the building I’ve had my eye on for my dance studio was sold.” He mumbles, playing with the sand between his legs. “I thought because the listing was up for a while, that no one was interested, and I had time to save. I was wrong.” He sighs, looking out at the water. “I should have just asked dad for the money, at least the down payment and paid him back.” He shakes his head. “Me and my damn independence,” he mutters, then looks at me. “I really wanted that spot. It was perfect.” I hate how disappointed he looks. “I took all the shifts I could to be able to save up for it. It was exactly what I wanted.”
My heart hurts for him, and all I wish is that I could fix it for him.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “But if it means anything, I can help you find another spot. I’m sure there’s something just as good. Maybe even better. I know some people, let me see if there’s any spots that haven't been listed yet.”
“You would do that for me?” he asks, eyes wide with gratitude.
“Oh, baby boy.” I chuckle softly. “There isn’t a whole lot I wouldn’t do for you.”
