Keep (Seaside Pictures 2)

We were ninety minutes away from Portland.

In ninety minutes, my life would change.

I’d called Will, and he was already in Portland picking up one of his clients for filming, so it worked out.

Yeah, let’s focus on that, how easy it was for everyone’s schedules.

I groaned. At least my headache was gone.

That had been caused by dehydration—the migraine was just what I needed to get my ass to the hospital though—both migraines I’d had in my life had shown symptoms of stroke. Lucky me.

“Tell me the craziest thing a fan has ever done.”

“Well, that came out of nowhere.” I chuckled, grateful for the distraction. As I turned to pull her into my lap, she straddled me, her dark hair kissing her chin and shoulders, taunting the living hell out of me. “Let’s see, the craziest thing was when a fan broke into my trailer and stole just my jeans and black boxers, nothing else.”

Fallon squinted behind her black-rimmed glasses, I was thankful she’d decided against contacts in favor of her trendy new frames. I liked her this way. The way I met her, the way she blinked up at me with thick black eyelashes, blind as a bat and cute as hell. “That’s not very crazy.”

“Story’s not over.” I tapped her chin with my fingers. “So, a week or so later pictures surface of this chick on Instagram, modeling my clothes, singing my songs, and writing in her own words about her undying love. At the end of each song, she would strip.” I laughed at the memory. “And light the clothes on fire then dance around it naked.”

“No!” Fallon gasped with a smile, covering her face with her hands. “Was there a reason for the dancing?”

“Well, after they arrested her for petty theft, the police questioned her and she said she was convinced that our spirits were one, and that all she needed to do was conjure my animal spirit through her own little spell and I’d find my way to her house and apparently to my burning clothes.”

Fallon nodded a few times, pressing her lips together. “Wow, that’s…very special.”

“Yes. That’s what I thought, how special that this strange girl is chanting and setting my clothes on fire. Special. Totally special. My heart might just burst with all of the specialness of it.”

Fallon smacked me on the chest. “Don’t piss off your spirit animal.”

“Or hers.” I shuddered. “Anyway, she apologized and deleted her account, and I didn’t press charges. Had she stolen my marshmallows though—”

“—life sentence.” Fallon nodded seriously.

“Death row.”

“Absolutely.”

“I mean who would do that?”

“A madman.”

“You get me.” I dug my hands into her ass pulling her closer to my body as I stole a kiss. “I love that you get me.”

“I get your weird obsession.”

“It makes sense if you know me.”

“You use them as a comfort.”

I frowned. “Well, yeah, but also, they’re marshmallows.”

“I’m not following.”

“A basic food group.”

“They are not!”

“Aw, did you even pass your senior year?” I patted her head. “Humans need sugar to survive, don’t judge me for wanting to live.”

“Now who’s crazy?”

“Still the dancing chick.”

“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.