Page 13 of Dream (Fighting Fate)

The microwave screamed out a beep from the depths of the kitchen.

“We won’t keep you,” Amy said. “Hopefully we’ll see you around. It was nice to meet you, Olivia.”

/> As they stepped away from the door, a little voice in my head was yelling at me to ask them what the other boy’s name was, but I knew I’d left the question way too late for that. “Thank you for coming to say hi. I really appreciate it,” I said instead.

Daniel nodded. “No problem, Olivia. See you around.”

I watched them disappear up the drive before closing the door and smiling. If I had a chance of talking to the guy on the beach more from now on, my summer just got a hell of a lot better.

Chapter 10

Josh

The rain started not long after I made it back up to the deck. It was the first thunderstorm I’d experienced here at the beach house, and I had to say, it was the best damn light show I’d seen in Cali so far.

As I sat, feet up on a lounger and beer in hand, I stared out at the flashing sky, losing myself in thought. I was only here for another five weeks before I’d be making a quick trip home to Sacramento for Mom’s birthday, and then I was off to Florida. Ian, my manager, had already planned a few things for me to do while I was in Florida, but if I managed to get any free time, I really wanted to go surfing. There were a number of spots I’d yet to try along the East Coast, and I thought it was time I gave them a workout.

Tipping the beer up, I sipped as I wondered, yet again, about the girl on the beach. I was almost positive she had no idea who I was. Her carefree attitude and easy smile were just too calm and relaxed to indicate otherwise. So, either she really didn’t know who I was, or her acting skills surpassed mine.

A wave of discomfort went through me at the thought. It definitely wouldn’t be the first time a girl had tried to use me to get her acting career underway. I’d been through a couple of rather public break-ups because of it. These days, I was less inclined to date any girl with acting aspirations. Even the more established ones were more of a headache than it was worth.

This girl, though . . . I probably wouldn’t mind playing opposite her. I’d never been more intrigued by a girl in all my life, and I had no idea why that was. What the hell was it about her that made me want to risk exposure, just to talk to her? I thought it might’ve been the fact that here, away from the spotlight, I almost felt like a normal person, and I knew without a doubt that if I was a normal person, I’d be doing a whole lot more to get to know her.

Taking a sip of my beer, I tried to work out how I could get her to have a proper conversation with me, then I laughed at the thought. Who would’ve thought I’d ever have to worry about how to get a girl to talk to me? It seemed so ridiculous that it was funny.

As the sound of the front door slamming closed pierced the air, I paused my thoughts, waiting. A second later, Daniel and Amy appeared.

“Oh my God,” Amy said. “We seriously only just made it back in time.”

I was confused. Where did they go?

Daniel sat down and met my gaze. “We met the girl.”

That’s all it took for him to have my complete attention. I hoped he wasn’t going to give me any bad news. “And?”

He rubbed his chin, worry creasing his brow. “She’s here for at least a month.”

I tried to feel the disappointment his words should bring, but it was overshadowed by the happiness singing in my veins. I was a glutton for punishment, apparently.

“Jesus,” Amy said, rolling her eyes. “You have no sense of self-preservation, do you?”

“What do you mean?” I said, doing my best to look innocent.

She narrowed her eyes at me. “I mean, you’re not going to be so excited when the street is crawling with hundreds of screaming girls, and you can’t go out surfing because there’ll be a dozen creeps with telescopic cameras clicking away at your every move.”

I knew she was right, and I should be concerned about the possibility of that happening, but that was my everyday life. I was used to it.

“Do you want to know what Mom always says to me?” I said softly. “If I stressed about every moment being destroyed by the public, then every moment would be destroyed by the public—regardless of whether they were there to see it or not.”

Her gaze searched mine as she allowed my words to sink in. “Your mom’s pretty smart.”

I smirked. “She has her moments. But don’t tell her I said that.”

Daniel sighed. “So, what do you want to do?”

Dropping my feet to the floor, I sat forward and rested my elbows on my knees. “I don’t know, man. I really don’t think she’s going to be a problem. Call it a gut feeling if you want, but there’s just something about her that makes me think it’ll work out.” I shrugged. “Let’s just take it a day at a time, all right? I know we’ve all been looking forward to this vacation, but this is just a part of my life. I can either let it piss me off, or I can go with it.”

I watched him press his lips together. I knew he didn’t like not having a plan in place, but this wasn’t something I wanted to label and categorize. I wanted to experience spontaneity for a change. It just felt like the right thing to do.

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