by Matayo, Amy
“Hey, Dillon? Not to bother you again, but there was a message on voice mail for you from Daybreak America. They want to fly you in on Monday for an interview.” She glances out the window before looking at me again. “Apparently Liam already agreed, so they just need the go-ahead from you. What do you want me to tell them?”
“Tell them I’ll be there.” I say it with all the force I can muster, but sit looking at my feet. A change of attitude takes practice, and I just took a baby step. The tiniest of baby steps, though I suppose it’s something. I am woman, hear me roar…except my confidence fizzles on the carpet and disintegrates into a pile of ashes. I’ll be there, really?
Yes, I’ll be there. Resolve and I are best friends now. We practically live together and share a bedroom.
Except I like my own space.
I remain rooted to my spot, trying desperately to hold onto it.
CHAPTER 24
Liam
I feel like a twelve-year-old boy as I sit in the green room and wait to be called. My knee bounces when I sit, I pace when I stand, and I keep checking the time on my phone like it’s magically going to leap forward three days and get me out of this. Nervous about the show. Nervous about what to say. Nervous because I still haven’t seen my technical co-star and have absolutely no idea what to say when she does make an appearance.
I need to stop talking about our time on the island. It’s been ten days since I spoke those careless words to her, and even though she misunderstood me it doesn’t negate the fact that I was a moron. Who says that to the only person you do want to talk to? I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t show up at all today, although my lawyer has assured me she will each of the hundred times I’ve asked him.
My leg is a rubber ball. I press a hand to my knee to settle it.
“Five minutes to show time.” A woman clutching a clip board pokes her head around the door and alarms me.
“Five minutes? But Dillon isn’t here yet.”
“She’ll be here,” my lawyer says.
“She’s already here,” the woman at the door says at the same time. “She requested to wait in the room across the hall. Two minutes.” She announces the time check like someone who hasn’t just punched me in the gut and smiled about it. Waiting in the other room? If that isn’t a sign of someone angry with me, I don’t know what is. I stand up and brush the wrinkles from my shirt, forcing my nerves to settle. “Would you like some water? Coffee?”
“Got a beer?” I shake my head. “No, I’m fine. Just ready to get this over with.”
A tiny crease forms between the woman’s eyebrows. “You should be excited about this. You and that girl are all anyone is talking about. Stranded for days because a cruise ship left you behind.” She clucks her tongue. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. Play your cards right, and you could be a very wealthy man.” She pats me on the chest and turns around. “Okay, time to go. Follow me and we’ll get you on the stage and hooked up to a microphone.”
I swallow, reeling from her very wealthy man comment. What is she talking about? I don’t have any cards, and even if I did I wouldn’t play them.
I follow her, nerves multiplying like rabbits and jumping over one another. And then I see her up ahead and everything stops.
Dillon. Standing in high heels and a navy dress that fits every dip and curve like a second skin. I’ve seen almost all of her actual skin, and she somehow looks hotter today then she did in that bikini. Scratch that. She looked hot in that bikini. Today she looks…beautiful. More beautiful than a woman should be allowed to look in front of a man. Especially a man who loves—
I stop walking, my feet two blocks of concrete, my mind frozen on the major thing I almost just admitted. I feel a lump begin to squeeze my throat. Whether I admit it or don’t admit it, it doesn’t make the way I feel any less true. I don’t just miss Dillon. I don’t just like her. I don’t just have feelings for her or want to see her occasionally.
I love her. At some point on that island in the midst of survival and desperation and acute loneliness…I fell. I fell hard. That isn’t something I’ll walk away from. When you find it, you keep it no matter what. It’s something my brother told me only yesterday. Considering the source, it meant everything.
I have no idea how I’m supposed to sit through this interview without everyone figuring it out.
“Mr. Gamble, are you okay?”
I nod without taking my eyes off Dillon. There’s no other way to respond.
“I’m good. As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Taking a deep breath, I follow her onstage.
“So tell me Liam, was this at all planned?” The interviewer asks. If she told me her name, I don’t recall it. My brain is still stuck on what I realized in the hallway. “When you saw Dillon getting in that boat, did at least part of you hope to go away with her and get lucky? I mean, she’s a beautiful girl. Surely you noticed that.” I hear snickering from behind the camera. It’s all I can’t do not to shoot the room a look.
I shift in my seat and wish to be anywhere else. Nearly all the questions have been like this so far. What was it like walking around nearly naked all the time? What was your biggest fantasy on the island? Were the two of you ever…intimate? The truth? Uncomfortable, Dillon, and yes…but not as much as you’re implying. There is no way in hell I’ll admit that out loud, so I’ve lied my butt off answering every single question. At this point, I’m not sure if we’re being interviewed by Daybreak America or The National Inquirer.
“It wasn’t planned. I just didn’t want her to get hurt.”
“Awfully chauvinistic of you, but surely you don’t expect us to believe—”
“Liam wasn’t manipulating the situation. He is nothing if not honorable. In fact, at first he tried to get his brother to go with me. When that didn’t work out, he jumped on the boat. Thank God he did, or I don’t know where I would be now.” Her words lessen my indignation, and without thinking, I reach out and take her hand. The interviewer doesn’t miss the gesture.
“Well no matter how it started, it seems you did eventually grow close. What’s next for you? Any plans to keep seeing each other now that you’re back in civilization? I mean, there are talks of book deals and a movie in the works, not to mention insurance settlements and press tours. It isn’t like you’ll be able to go too far away from each other. At least not for long.” She laughs. Dillon and I just sit there. Clearly this is news to her as well. Is it normal that everyone knows about what’s in the works except us? “I’m sure all of it has been a lot to wrap your head around.”
I shake my head. “Especially considering this is the first I’m hearing of it.”
“Me as well. I guess we’ll just take it as it comes.”
Take it as it comes.
I had a talk with my brother a few days ago, finally laid everything bare. He knows how I feel about Dillon, that I never intended to let anything happen between us. He knows that had it not been for our time on the island, I never would have allowed myself to get close enough to her for our relationship to be anything more than friendship. He knows I respect him more than that. In all my life, my relationship with my brother has been one I’ve never allowed to be compromised. Even with our frequent competitiveness and occasional fights, he’s family. The closest family I have. To me, he trumps all else.
Which is why Chad understood. He told me there was nothing to forgive. He gave me his blessing to seek out whatever the future might hold for Dillon and me. His last words were, “One thing I’ve learned in life is that you take it as it comes. This wasn’t part of the plan, but no one consulted either one of us. I’ll take life as is comes if you will, as long as whatever lies ahead doesn’t negatively affect our relationship.” I told him nothing would.
Take it as it comes.
If this isn’t a sign, I don’t know the meaning of one.
“You know what, Dillon’s right. We’ll take it as it comes. So far, that seems to have worked pretty well for us.
”
She looks at her lap and smiles. I guess it was the right thing to say.
“Well, all right,” the interviewer says. “It appears our time is up. I hope you’ll both promise to come back and see us when that movie comes out.”
“We will.” I squeeze Dillon’s hand and pull it to my lap.
“We promise,” Dillon says, and I look at her. From now on, we’re a team. If she’s okay with it, where she goes I go. All I need is her in this life. It was that way on the island, and from now on it’s that way here.
It’s time that I make sure she knows it.
“Date me.”
It’s direct and not nearly as romantic as I planned back while the cameras were still rolling, but I don’t feel like easing into it. You never know what might happen tomorrow, so I’d rather take advantage of today and not waste time with sad attempts at poetic turns of phrase.
“Is that a command?” Dillon asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes, unless you don’t like commands. In which case it’s a request. I’m nothing if not adaptable.”
She smiles. “I’ve seen your ability to adapt, and it’s quite impressive. Not many men will eat vegetarian for days and live to tell about it. But I’m not sure. I’m not sure how I feel about forceful Liam.”
“He only appears every so often, but don’t knock it. Forceful Liam can be fun if placed in the right circumstance.”
She blushes at my innuendo, and I like the color on her. Dillon is sweet to her core, but it’s intriguing to know that—at least in her mind—she might not be that innocent. Still, her innocence is a non-issue if she wants to have nothing to do with me.
“Now date me. Forceful or not, I would really like it if you’d say yes.”
We’re sharing a cab back to the hotel in the name of saving money, considering we’re staying in the same place. New York City is bustling with activity, but all I care about is what’s happening right now in this car. I want her to be my girlfriend and only mine; I have no idea what happens if she turns me down flat. The car makes a right turn and heads down Lexington. We’ll be to the hotel in less than five minutes. If I exit the car with no answer, this entire trip would be a colossal failure.
“What about Chad? I’m not interested in driving a wedge between you two. How would he handle it?”
I smile, because this time I have an answer. “He’s the one who told me I should ask you. Chad will handle it just fine. Is that your only hesitation?”
She picks at a loose thread on her skirt, on her way to making things worse. I reach for her hand and hold it, reminded of that night in the ocean when the only thing I wanted was to keep us together…to keep her safe. Even on dry land, nothing much has changed.
“Not my only hesitation.,” she says. “I mean, you’ve shown me you know how to make a fire with your bare hands, but can you hunt using nothing but a spoon? Can you build a house with only spit and mud? Can you will it to rain using only the powers of your mind? These things are important, Liam. What if we get stuck on another island someday? I need to know what you would do in that situation.”
She’s insane, but I laugh. “Ah yes, because getting stuck on a deserted island is more common thatn most people believe. But if that happened…I can’t speak for mind control, but I’m pretty sure I can manage the other things.”
She gives me a disbelieving look. “You can build a house with spit? Wow, arrogant much?”
“Funny, I thought the spoon part was the real deal-breaker.” I bring her hand to my lap. “So is that a yes?” Despite our lighthearted banter, my heart is pounding. One thing I’ve discovered about myself is that I’m capable of handling just about anything life throws at me.
But I’m not sure I can handle much at all without Dillon by my side.
She twists at the waist to face me, then leans in.
“It’s a yes. Of course, it’s a yes. But I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into, because I’m in it for the long haul.”
A heavy confession wrapped in flowery colors designed to scare away most men, but they don’t faze me. “Good to hear, because I love you and I’m in it for the long haul, too. Probably longer than you.”
She bites her lip on a smile. “Everything’s a competition. I love you too. Have since you jumped on that boat, Birkenstocks and all.”
Our faces are an inch apart. “I’m still bitter that I lost those shoes.”
She shrugs. “At least you found me.”
At least I found her. It’s all anyone wants in life, isn’t it? To be found. I bring my hand up to her jaw and slowly bring her forward, telling her just what I think about the words she just spoke.
I’m not going anywhere. Not when I’ve just been rescued all over again.
CHAPTER 25
Two months later
Dillon
I’m floating. Not literally, of course. To be literally floating I would have to figuratively pull my head and spoon out of this carton of Cherry Garcia and head for the bath, and I have no intention of doing that anytime soon. Maybe later.
A line of melted ice cream slides from my lip to my chin, so I stick my tongue out and swipe left to lick it off. The rest comes off with the heel of my hand. I wipe a chocolate smudge on my shirt and push off the sofa with a groan.
The carton is empty. So much of this feels like déjà vu, but I have no idea why.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m getting more ice cream. We’re celebrating. Everyone knows you can’t celebrate without ice cream.”
“Every day is a reason for ice cream with you, whether we’re celebrating or not. But I beg to differ. I’d rather celebrate with wine and Netflix.” Liam says, stretching his legs across my coffee table like he owns the place. I would tell him to take his feet off and show some manners, except he does practically own the place. Definitely owns me. And based on the news we both received only three hours ago, he could eventually own half of Nashville, or at least half of his own law firm.
He passed his exams. Next month, he takes the bar. My money is on him passing that. And considering how much I stand to be collecting, it’s an impressive bet.
A two-million-dollar bet, to be exact. And coupled with Liam’s share, we’re set to be standing in the middle of quite an outpouring of cash in the not-so-distant future.
No, we didn’t sue. But we did settle for a small amount.
And then we sold our story to the biggest publishing house in the county.
The book: The Waves. I came up with the title myself thank you very much. When you spend a full night of your life bobbing in the middle of the ocean and then endure two weeks of the sensation you’re still floating even while trying to sleep on a firm and solid mattress back home, The Waves seemed appropriate. The book is set to release next year.
A movie is still up in the air, but our agents—We have agents!—think the prospects are good.
Turns out disaster not only bonds people, but it also changes their lives.
It even changed Oscar/Oliver’s life. They eventually found him in a little town south of Mexico City using—get this—my credit card to buy a lottery ticket. It’s poetic justice at its finest considering his luck had finally run out. He’s now in jail awaiting sentencing. Last week I wrote a letter on his behalf asking for leniency; apparently Oscar/Oliver had a clean record. The letter is in the possession of my attorney while the legal channels for delivery are figured out. I don’t necessarily want the man to suffer, but I also don’t want him to attempt something that careless again. Sure, people can fall in love on deserted islands. But they can also get hurt.
“Get Neapolitan this time,” Liam calls.
“Gross no, you’re the only one who likes that. I’m getting Chunky Monkey.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to say anything but…”
I narrow my eyes to slits, slam the refrigerator door, and stomp straight toward him, catapulting myself onto his lap.
“Are you calling me fat?”
I bounce a little just to be annoying. He laughs and tries to scoot out from under me. I swing around and plant both legs on either side of his thighs, locking him firmly in place. He grips my hips and no longer attempts to flee, his eyes growing lidded and heavy as he gazes up at me.
His hands slide up my legs. “Hardly. I think you still have a little weight to gain back.” He’s right. I lost more than ten pounds on the island, and so far I’ve gained back six.
“Is that a complaint?” I spoon some ice cream into his mouth. He tastes it for a long moment and swallows.
“Never. I think you’re perfect.” Those hands. They haven’t stopped moving and I’m beginning to shiver. He pulls me toward him, and I go willingly.
On cue, the doorbell rings. I jump, knowing exactly who is on the other side. My mother still hasn’t mastered the art of good timing, though I suppose I can’t blame her for this. I called her and my father forty-five minutes ago to tell them the news. I’m surprised she waited this long to show up at all.
I quickly climb off Liam’s lap and reach for a spoon.
“Come in!” Liam slides over to put some space between us, but I slide with him. He’ll never get rid of me that easily.
Both my parents burst through the door and rush straight toward the sofa. I’ve never seen such a big smile on either of their faces, but I might have known this would be the reaction. You would think the good news had happened to them. In a way, I suppose it has.
“Let me see it! Let me see it!” My mother squeals, reaching for my hand. Her excitement is contagious, so I sit up tall and shove my hand in her face.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” I say, bouncing up and down. I’m not ashamed to say I squeal a bit too.
