Page 12 of Adore Me (The Keatyn Chronicles 4.5)
"Totally. Peyton has the best ass. I want to own it. Explore it's surrounding areas."
I laugh. "You need to stay out of that part of town." He laughs, although I'm pretty sure he's completely serious, so I say, "Damian, if you really like her, shouldn't you want to take it slow?"
"I am taking it slow because what I really want to do is wave one of your magic wands, make you disappear, and throw her across a chaise and fuck her until she can't move."
"Damian!"
"Come on, don't pretend like you don't want Aiden to do that to you. You two have so much chemistry if you don't do it pretty soon you may combust and kill us all."
That makes me laugh. "Maybe, but if she's really your future wife, you should wait a little. I mean, what would you tell your kids?"
"I'd tell them Mom's ass looked so good in her bikini I couldn't help myself. My sons will understand."
"And your daughters?"
"We're not having daughters if Inga's palm reading isn't total bullshit. But if we did, I'd tell them the love at first sight story. Perpetuate the future generation's obsession with fairy tales." He grins at me. "Maybe I'd even tell them she was a mermaid."
I smack him. "Very funny."
"Do you think your mom and Tommy waited?"
"Ha. No. I'm pretty sure they did it on their first date. But, then, if a guy as hot as Tommy took me and my daughter on a private jet to a Russian ballet, I wouldn't have waited either."
"You and Aiden remind me of them."
"What did you mean?"
"When you aren't obsessing about your lack of a future and let yourself have fun, you just glow. Hell, you both glow."
"Do you like him?"
"Yeah, Keats, I like him. But just as a forewarning, don't plan on us hanging out tonight. I'm taking Peyton on our first date."
"Where are you going?"
"We're gonna take the jeep, drive up the mountain, and look for shooting stars."
"In the words of your father, So you're taking her parking?"
He laughs out loud. "Oh my gosh. I about died when he said that to us in front of everyone. I'm sure I looked completely guilty."
"We both did. The funny thing is that never once crossed my mind."
"That's because you were hell bent on acting out some script you were writing. Where they laid on top of a mountain, held hands, and made wishes on shooting stars."
"That seems like a long time ago."
"Things were just simpler then."
"Yeah, they were," I say quietly, biting my lower lip.
"No. No. No. Don't start with the pout."
Aiden comes back, tosses Damian a bottle of water, and says to me, "Why are you pouting?"
"Because I'm taking your sister out tonight. She's jealous."
"Jealous?" Aiden says, looking a little confused.
"She loves looking at the stars."
"I'm sure we can find some stars of our own," Aiden says, kissing my cheek before running back out into the water with Damian.
Peyton comes wandering back out to our chaises with Sven in tow. She's carrying a laptop and Sven has two of his wickedly strong hurricane drinks on a tray. He sets them on a side table next to us and then heads back into the house.
"These drinks are really strong," I tell her.
"Perfect. I need to relax. I can't relax around him. It's like I'm strung out, waiting for the next hit. The next kiss."
"If you break into song about how his love is your drug, I may have to smack you."
She laughs, sipping and watching Damian on the wakeboard. "Wow, he's good on that thing. Almost as good as Aiden. I wouldn't think a guy that plays guitar would be so athletic."
"Damian is like Aiden. There isn't anything he can't do if he puts his mind to it." I laugh. "It pissed me off when we were younger. I was always trying to keep up with him. So what's the computer for?"
"Tell me that you have internet here and that you won't laugh at what I'm about to do."
"We have internet. The password is crabbypatties. And I'll try not to laugh."
She types on the laptop. "I'm about to match our horoscopes, so I need to know his birthday."
I laugh, not because I think it's funny but because I did the exact same thing when I was crushing on B. Horoscope matches. Magic Eight ball questions. Fortune cookies. Numerology. Anything to give me hope that we might be together someday.
"You're laughing," she says, scrunching up her nose at me.
"Only because I've done the same thing when obsessed with a boy."
"Okay," she says clicking away. "I'm a Virgo and he's a, what?"
"An Aquarius. Smart. Creative. A little bit temperamental."
"Hmm," she says. "This says that when Virgo and Aquarius team up they can either bring out the best or worst of each other. It seems I have a rigid and theoretical approach to life."
"Do you?"
"Yeah, I'm big on theory. And list making. And I need a certain order in my life to function."
I watch Damian out on the wakeboard, cutting as hard as he can across the wake and then racing up the side of the wave runner, trying to get ahead of Aiden. He's going balls out. Not once thinking about anything other than the rush. "Damian isn't that way at all. He's the anti-list maker."
"This says that Aquarians are poetic." She pauses. "I guess that would fit since songs are basically poetry. Oh, here. It says that we can thrive on our differences and grow together as we learn about each other. That's romantic, right?"
"Yes, it's romantic. What else does it say?"
"It says he's passionate, modern, hates routine, and seeks spiritual enlightenment, but that he can be opinionated and stubborn."
"Wow. That's pretty much on target, except it makes it sound like he's kind of a slacker. And he's not. He's highly motivated."
"Oh, my gosh. Listen to the end. The most positive aspect of their union is that their combined ambition can drive them to do miraculous things together. Their relationship is enlightening and full of pleasure."
"I think the pleasure is referring to the mental kind," I say as I watch Peyton lick her lips.
"He's got amazing arms, don't you think?" she asks dreamily.
I look at his biceps flexing to hold the rope. "Yeah, he's got great arms. All that guitar playing, I suppose. And he loves to golf."
"Really?" she says, her eyes getting big. "Me too. Well, I like to drive the beer cart." She stops staring dreamily at him and says, "Okay, let's match you and Aiden."
"Oh, no. That's okay. I don't even know his sign."
"Luckily, I do. Did you know on his birthday he'll be 18? And that I'm already 19?"
"No, I didn't know that."
"We don't really tell people."
"Why? Were you held back?"
"In a way. We missed a year of school when my mom got cancer. It was the worst year of my life for lots of reasons. I was scared she'd die. Pissed I had to leave my friends and move to California. Although the worst part was watching her lose her hair. She had the most beautiful hair. Anyway, we're both a year behind and part of what made me put Go to boarding school on my bucket list. I couldn't handle it like Aiden could."
I look at Aiden driving the wave runner, laughing, and having a great time. He now appears to be on a mission to make Damian crash. He's driving in tight circles and trying to whip him around like you would to get someone off an innertube.
"He didn't tell me."
"I know. He doesn't like to talk about it either. Alright, so what's your sign?"
"I'm a Leo."
"L-e-o," she says as she types. "And he's a Sag-it-tar-ius."
"He is?" I say in shock. I seriously never would have guessed that. And I know every single Sagittarius quality by heart, because I've studied B's horoscope more than I have my own.
"Oh, wow. Listen to this! When you get together the result is usually fireworks. You are both dynamic and like to enjoy life to the fullest. As a couple, you are lots of fun to be around. And you encourage each other. And
even though the Sagittarius' philosophical ways can compete with Leo's love of all things material and bigger than life, they can still get along. They admire and respect each other and together they radiate energy."
"That's okay, you don't have to keep reading," I say. "I get it. We're a good match."
"But there's so much more," she says excitedly. "It says the Sagittarius' sign is an archer, meaning he goes slowly and likes to take his time surveying his target. Oh, and he's a flirt. It says you might be bothered by that though because you like to be admired. It also says it will be a relationship full of passion and heat. So you're a good match horoscopically."
"Is that a word?"
"Ha. I have no idea. But you know what I mean. It also says here that Leo's sometimes pout to get their way. Do you do that?"
"Of course not," I say, shaking my head.
"She's lying," Damian says, suddenly standing in front of me. "What are you two doing?"
"Nothing!" Peyton says, her eyes big as she slams the laptop shut. "Just girl talk."
"Did you girls realize it's 2:30 already and almost time for Thanksgiving dinner?"
"Uh, no," Peyton says. "What time is dinner?"
"It's at three. And we can't be late."
"Oh, I better go get ready. What are you wearing, Keatyn?"
I grab her arm. "Come with me. I have the perfect dress for you to wear."
"Meet us in the great room, boys," I say with a wave to Damian and Aiden.
I pretend to be just taking her up to get a dress, but internally I am freaking out.
I assumed because B and I were so perfectly matched it meant he was my destiny. I mean, we fell in love at first sight, and we were perfectly cosmically matched. We were made for each other.
But so is Aiden?
I drag Peyton up to my room trying to focus on clothing.
I take her into my closet and pull out the gorgeous red slip dress I bought back when my goal was to seduce Aiden. "Here, wear this."
I hand her a strapless bra and the dress.
When she puts it on, she goes, "Wow. Just the way this dress glides over my skin feels sexy."
"You look amazing, but the bra looks bad. You may have to take it off."
"I can't go braless."
"Just try it." She undoes the bra and pulls it out from underneath the dress. "Now, look."
