Keep (Seaside Pictures Book 2)

by Rachel Van Dyken

  “Hey, Zane?”

  “What?”

  “Can you take off your pants so I can set them on fire?” She asked in a deadpan voice.

  “Do you want my boxers too? Maybe my shirt?”

  “All of them.” She pushed away from me and held out her hand while bracing herself against the floor of the limo.

  With a jerk, I grabbed my shirt and tossed it at her face followed by my jeans and finally my boxers. I’d already taken off my shoes earlier.

  With a naughty grin, she hit the privacy button while the window slowly went up, blanketing us in so much sexual tension my body felt heavy.

  “Sex before surgery,” she whispered. “The only way to go.”

  “Agreed.” Breathless. I tugged her into my arms.

  She met me halfway, her mouth colliding with mine in a hungry kiss while my hands peeled away her thin white shirt and tossed it to the floor. Desperation filled every touch, every heartbeat as I deepened the kiss, losing myself in her, forgetting everything but the warmth of her skin and the way she moaned when our tongues slid against one another.

  I rolled down her leggings as her arms snaked around my neck, lifting her ass off me so I could tug the remaining part of the leggings and kick them to the tan carpeting at our feet.

  We were at our best when we were together.

  My mind couldn’t comprehend what would happen—if we were apart.

  “This is exactly the type of behavior I thought you engaged in before meeting you.” Fallon laughed against my chest, her fingers making little circles across my abs.

  “Trust me, you’re the first girl I’ve ever gotten naked in a limo.”

  Her eyes brightened, “Let’s keep it that way.”

  “Agreed.” I kissed her mouth softly, then harder as reality crashed down around us.

  We weren’t on our way to a concert.

  We weren’t going on some crazy trip, jet-setting around the globe.

  We were going to a hospital.

  Where I’d get my skull cut into by a very sharp knife.

  We were marching toward what could easily be the end of us together.

  “Stop,” I whispered.

  “What?” She pulled back, her eyes hazy, her glasses somewhat askew.

  “I’m telling myself to stop thinking about it, to stop focusing on all of the bad. Before my grandma died, I would grab all the marshmallows I could, go into my closet, close the door, and listen to music.”

  Fallon was silent, her eyes filled with tears.

  “I made up stories about a life I never had, a life where I wasn’t starving, a life where my grandmother wasn’t sick, a life where I didn’t have to pretend to like being naked so grandma wouldn’t feel guilty about the holes in my shoes or the threadbare shirts I wore.” A tear slid down Fallon’s cheek. “Sometimes my anxiety got so bad, the anxiety that I was letting my family down, that it was like I couldn’t focus. So I’d say stop over and over again out loud to myself as I ate marshmallows and envisioned a better life.”

  “And look at you now,” Fallon whispered.

  “It’s not the money.” I kissed her forehead, “It’s not the new clothes, the houses I can afford to buy, the adoring fans, the Grammy’s—” My breath hitched. “Right now, in this moment, it’s you.”

  “Me.” Her lower lip quivered. “You hardly know me.”

  “And I was paying you,” I pointed out.

  Her gentle laughter washed over me like a healing balm. “I’m nothing special, Zane. I wish I could sit here and tell you I have something more to offer than any other girl, but the truth is, I’m just the first one to both reject and fascinate you.”

  “Wrong.” She really didn’t see it. “You defended me without knowing you could trust my word, you may be blind as a bat, Fallon, but I love that about you, because that’s how you walk through life, with this blind faith that people really are good, that life has something to offer us if we only try hard enough. You have more to offer than you could possibly imagine—because you’re one of the few people that still have hope that this life is good, that we can make something good out of the time we have. You’re good and I kind of love you for it.”

  “You love me for my goodness.”

  “Or maybe I just love you for seeing me.”

  “You deserve to be seen.”

  “And kept,” I finished.

  “Yes.” She wiped at some tears. “Mine.” She swallowed the words from my tongue and all talking stopped.

  The music of our bodies joining, our breaths mingling, was more powerful than words, and when the moment was gone.

  When we slowly put our clothes back on.

  When the limo pulled up to the hospital.

  When it felt like my heart was going to stop beating out of fear.

  She reached for my hand and didn’t let go.

  When I stepped out of the limo, I wasn’t alone.

  Demetri, Alec, their wives, Lincoln, Dani, Jay, Pris, all joined us and just when I thought I couldn’t be more surprised.

  An old blue station wagon parked next to us.

  And out stepped Fallon’s parents.

  Her dad looked unsure, and then he shrugged. “Had to see for myself.”

  I didn’t cry.

  I was not a crier.

  It was a waste. Most emotion always had been for me.

  But something broke inside me, or maybe, for the first time since I lost my grandma, something started working again.

  Tears welled in my eyes as he gave me a stern nod and then folded his arms and addressed the rest of the crew. “I brought my guns just in case.”

  Lincoln burst out laughing while Jay looked one phone call away from making sure the police met us in the parking lot.

  “He’s harmless.” Fallon smiled.

  And together.

  We all walked into the hospital.

  A hodgepodge family of rock stars, actors, college students, new moms, newlyweds, a hunter, and a blind girl who used to stutter.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Fallon

  “I REFUSE TO BE the one who ruins his hair. Isn’t it insured for like ten million dollars?” Alec wondered aloud while Demetri silenced everyone with a loud hush.

  After arguing for a few minutes, Demetri decided he was the most qualified to shave part of Zane’s head; he referenced one time when he’d cut Alec’s hair in his sleep and said it was practically the same thing, only without scissors.

  Every time he got close to Zane, he backed up and tried a different angle.

  “Just do it!” Zane clenched his teeth while Demetri paled.

  “I’ll do it!” My dad offered.

  “No!” Everyone said in unison while he shrugged, his only experience was skinning animals, I highly doubted that Zane wanted my dad’s hands anywhere near his person.

  Demetri took a deep breath and then muttered a curse. “I can’t. His hair’s too silky.”

  “Come again?” Lyss, Demetri’s wife, rolled her eyes. “Did you just call his hair silky?”

  “Oh please, like you haven’t been thinking that this whole damn time!” Demetri fired back while Lyss shrugged.

  “Well.” Zane nodded toward me. “You’re up slugger.”

  “Yes, because shaving the side of your head is just like baseball.”

  “She was the team manager!” My mom said cheerfully, as if that was going to make him have more faith in my ability.

  “Thanks, Mom.” I grumbled.

  “I bet you served a mean Gatorade.” Demetri winked.

  My face flushed with embarrassment.

  “Oh, she did!” Mom crossed her arms as if she was proud that I knew how to put liquid into a cup. “And she always brought the best snacks.”

  “I want snacks,” Zane said under his breath in a voice that made me want to slam my mouth against his.

  “I bet if you get past third base she’ll give you a snack.” Demetri said in a completely bored tone, his wink toward Zane was th
e only indication he meant a different type of snack than my mom was referencing, more of the sexual snack not the carrots and peanut butter variety she was currently sharing with the group.

  “First base is always the hardest,” Jay piped up out of nowhere.

  “Really?” Alec joined in. “I always thought it was more rounding second.”

  “Hell, no.” Lincoln rolled his eyes. “It’s trying to slide into home.”

  Jay growled in his direction while Dani blew her brother-in-law a kiss.

  “What’s so hard about slamming a ball into the field and making it home?” My dad wondered aloud. “Son, if you need help with your bat, just ask, I used to be quite the slugger, right Stella?”

  My mom blushed.

  Demetri’s grin widened. “I would love to hear tales of your glory days.”

  “Okay!” I clapped my hands gaining everyone’s attention before my dad started drawing diagrams about baseball and the guys started deciphering it as sex advice. “So it looks like I’m going to shave Zane’s head.”

  “Not the whole head.” Zane jerked away from me. “Half the head, like a quarter of the hair.”

  “Here.” I shoved a bag of marshmallows against his chest and laughed while he bit down hard on one of the mallows like I was about to perform a surgical procedure. “Remember, you can’t swallow.”

  Demetri choked on a laugh. I ignored him.

  The razor buzzed loudly as I quickly ran it above his left ear.

  Zane kept his eyes closed.

  Demetri had his phone out, documenting the entire thing.

  Wavy black hair fell against Zane’s shoulder, and some of it floated to the floor. My heart sank a little.

  But it wasn’t about the hair.

  It was about the man.

  “Very brave,” Demetri teased. “You do realize she’s legally blind.”

  “Hey, I’m wearing my glasses. At least I think they’re mine.” I squinted around the room, enjoying the looks of abject horror on some of the faces. I settled my gaze on Zane and smiled. “And I think I did a good job!”

  Alec whistled. “I’m trying to figure out how he looks better with half his hair gone, asshole.”

  Zane smirked while Linc and Alec shared confused looks, it was true though. Somehow, he’d gone from looking just sexy to dangerous sexy all because I cut off a bit of his hair.

  “Now trending on Zane watch,” Demetri said in a low voice. “Saint cuts off his hair like Samson. The question is, has he lost his strength or gained it? Details to follow.”

  “You clearly missed your calling as a newscaster.” Lincoln laughed. “If you ever lose the ability to sing you could work for TMZ!”

  “I have many callings. Many talents.” Demetri high fived Lincoln while my mom knelt down by Zane’s feet and picked up the hair stuffing it in a napkin.

  “Uh, mom?” I frowned. “What are you doing?”

  “Please tell me you’re selling it on eBay.” Demetri pleaded.

  “Oh.” She shrugged and patted Zane on the shoulder. “I just thought, you could keep it as a memento. You’ll look at this hair, well I mean not all of it, but the part you keep, and you’ll remember the day you and your friends courageously faced scary circumstances together, as a family, and came out on top.”

  Mom was simple like that, she didn’t think before speaking, she wasn’t passive aggressive or meticulous in her thoughts, she said what was on her mind which roughly translated into her being proud of Zane.

  I wasn’t sure if I needed to tell him that or if he gathered it from the way she beamed at him as though he was about to save the world.

  “Knock-knock.” A feminine voice interrupted the moment. A tall woman in her mid-forties walked into the room. She had a beautiful smile, and long, dark hair that was pulled back into a tight braid. And pink fingernail polish. I don’t know why that was important, but it brought me an odd sense of comfort when she introduced herself. “I’m Dr. Thomas, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Zane.” She was looking at him, not through him, I liked her already.

  He held out his hand.

  When she took it, she flipped it over and frowned at his calluses. “Guitar player, and here I thought you favored the piano.”

  He grinned. “I like both.”

  “Well.” She pulled her hand back. “Then we’d better remove that pesky aneurysm so you can get back to it.” She went over the protocol for surgery. All in all, it wasn’t a very long procedure. I mean, it wasn’t the safest surgery, but she made it seem like she could do it in her sleep. Small incision, insert metal clip across the bulge where it rose from the blood vessel, sew him up, and ride off into the sunset.

  “Alright.” She rubbed her hands together. “My staff will be by in ten minutes to prep you for surgery. Let me know if you have any more questions.” She breezed out of the room.

  Ten minutes.

  That’s all I had with him.

  It took two more minutes for him to hug everyone else in the room and an added three minutes where he and my dad talked in low, hushed voices.

  My dad pulled him in for a hug slapped him so hard on the back that I winced, and then walked out with my mom.

  Leaving us alone.

  By my calculations, we would have maybe five minutes before nurses came back in and took him from me.

  “So.” I forced a grin. “You and my dad are best friends now?”

  “We both like meat.” Zane nodded seriously. “So basically we’re soul mates. Don’t even get me started on his love of s’mores. From what I can tell, it borders on indecent, and I can’t have you picturing your father in that way, Fallon.”

  I burst out laughing. “Noted.”

  “Come here.”

  “Here.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I’m right here.”

  “You will never be close enough.”

  I frowned.

  “I always want you closer, I always crave more closeness than what’s physically possible without merging our bodies together in some sort of weird twin way—that frankly, sounds a bit extreme if you ask me.”

  Laughing I touched my forehead to his. “Don’t be weird.”

  “You do know me, right? Anxiety, a bit anti-social, runs when girls chase him, has this weird obsession with marshmallows, likes to be naked, hates crowds, thinks that cheese is stupid.”

  I gasped. “You hate cheese?”

  “All cheese.”

  “Zane!”

  “Oh shit, is that a deal breaker?” I loved his smile, the way it made his eyes crinkle at the sides, the way his lips curved over a perfect row of straight white teeth.

  “How can you think cheese is stupid?”

  “I figured our first fight would be over something more serious like my need to constantly be naked or the weird habit I have of watching you while you sleep.”

  My jaw dropped open. “You watch me sleep?”

  “No.” His headshake morphed into a nod. “I mean, watch is such a creepy word. I like to stare adoringly down at your cute little nose and sexy-as-hell mouth.”

  “You think cheese is stupid, and you watch me while I snore.”

  “You snore like half the time, and are we still stuck on this whole cheese thing? Shit, I’d hate to see your expression once I tell you I used to be afraid of Giraffes.”

  “WHAT?” I yelled. “They’re God’s most gentle creatures and one of the few animals that doesn’t terrify me!”

  “Nothing should have a neck that long. Also, I don’t buy this whole belief that they only eat plants.” Zane shuddered. “Have you seen the size of their tongues?”

  “Hmm.”

  “What?” He tugged me closer to him.

  “Nothing, you’re just a lot weirder than I thought.”

  “Says the girl who’s afraid of antelope.” His chuckle was warm against my neck, and then he sighed. “Tell me that despite all my weird quirks you’ll still be waiting for me after surgery.”

  “Always.” I forced myself
to paste a smile on my face, to be the strong one when I wanted to sob against his chest and beg him not to go in. But then again, what was the alternative? Death?

  Nurses shuffled into the room.

  And it started.

  That numb, cold feeling went from my head all the way down to my toes, my chest felt heavy with dread as I kissed him on the mouth. “I’m keeping you, Zane.”

  “Good.” He cupped my face, his fingers grazing my lips. “I’ve always wanted to be kept.”

  It was turning into our thing.

  And I loved every minute of it.

  “Fallon?”

  “What?”

  “Keep the marshmallows safe.” He handed me an entire bag of marshmallows, it wasn’t open which was rare if you knew him at all, but I figured he just hadn’t jumped into his stash yet.

  “I’ll guard them with my life.” I smiled through my tears.

  “I knew I could count on you the minute you tripped over your own feet and nearly humped a trash can.” He winked while one of the nurses frowned over at me.

  “Very funny.” With a heavy sigh, I backed out of the room and numbly allowed my legs to carry me down the hall to the waiting room.

  Surgery was fast.

  He would be in surgery within minutes.

  And then the clock would start.

  “Please let him be okay,” I whispered to myself as my mom and dad flanked me on both sides and held my hands.

  “He’s lucky to have you,” Jaymeson said quietly from his spot across the room. “We all are.”

  “Are you being nice to me?”

  He smiled. “I’m the nicest out of all the guys, I thought you knew?”

  “Bullshit,” Lincoln coughed out loudly.

  Jay sighed. “Okay well not to you, but you’re banging my sister-in-law, so forgive me for forgetting to be decent when I hear your shenanigans in the middle of the night!”

  “SHENANIGANS!” Demetri shouted so loud I nearly fell out of my chair.

  Everyone stared at him like he’d just lost his mind.

  “Sorry, I get excited when Jay uses big words. He isn’t the best speller.”

  “You’re”—Jay pointed at Demetri—“a jackass.”

  “I think we need to invest in a swear jar,” My dad muttered under his breath to my mom. “I need a new gun.”