“Fuck,” I mutter.
“D-does this mean it’s over?” Emma asks. She looks incredibly small, the blanket still wrapped around her.
Dean gives her a warm smile. “Yes, Miss Baldwin, it’s over.”
She nods and looks over at me. “I—”
But her thoughts are cut off as the door flies open and my mother comes into the room. “Oh, thank God! I was so worried,” she says as she pulls me into a hug. “I just…I can’t believe this.”
“I’m OK,” I assure her.
She pulls back and puts her hands on my face, searching my body for injury. I touch her cheek and she looks back at me.
“I’m OK.” I pull her back to me and we stand there hugging for a long time. I know she will soon learn of everything that happened, and I dread her finding out about Dad. But right now, at this moment, I have the two most important women in my life next to me and that’s all that matters.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Eight weeks later…
Emma
I stare at the screen, letting the video clip play again. It’s from my final interview with “the” Andy Westin and Blythe Daniels. They sat down together last week and gave me an hour-long interview that itself could be a documentary. I hit save on the final cut of my documentary.
Closing my laptop, I look over at the giant floor-to-ceiling window. Blythe insisted we take a few weeks at the Malibu house. I finished exams last week. I have three more weeks until my summer classes begin.
I smile as I watch Grady dive into the pool. Looking down, I cringe at the small scar on my wrist. It’s the only permanent reminder I have of the terrifying experience only two months ago. I trace the line, remembering the details of that night. As much as things have gotten back to normal, they’ve also changed.
I get up and walk over to the sliding door, watching as Grady swims laps in the pool. It’s hard to believe that it’s only been three months since we met. It feels like yesterday and a lifetime ago all at the same time.
I slide the door open and walk outside, sitting down on a chaise lounge, while watching my boyfriend. My boyfriend. I still pinch myself thinking about it. I never thought I’d love someone so much. He hasn’t said the words to me, but I know he loves me. He’s had so much to deal with since we met. It’s only been the past week or two that the paparazzi has started to back off and the articles about his brother have become more infrequent. Blythe has been a superstar, even more than normal. She gave one interview and only one interview about a month ago. Grady gave a brief statement and has not spoken anymore about it since then. I know he’s still reeling from all of this. I’m still reeling from it all. Blythe insisted that we both see her therapist. It’s helping, slowly. Kate, having been through trauma before, has been encouraging me to talk to her whenever I need to, which also helps. She’s flying us out to see her in a few weeks. Quinlan has been great at distracting me. She’s brought me to a number of events so that I can network. She’s not only been a great mentor, but I would also now consider her a friend.
The nightmares are less frequent, but I still have them. Grady’s had a few, too. I know things will get better as time goes on, but I’m not sure I can ever forget the vivid details of that night.
It’ll stay with me forever. It changed me forever.
Grady gets out of the pool and walks toward me. My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I see a text from my mom. My parents have checked in daily with me. They wanted me to take the rest of the semester off and come home, but I felt like that would make it worse. At least here, I’m distracted and busy.
“You OK?” Grady asks as he approaches me. A towel wrapped around his waist, revealing his perfectly sculpted abdominal muscles. I look up at him and smile.
“I’m alright,” I reply, and I mean that. I’m not fine, but not bad. But as long as I’m here with him, I know I’ll be alright. Our therapist thinks we are using each other as security blankets for our trauma, but I believe it just brought us closer in a way others will never understand. I can’t imagine my life without Grady in it, and I don’t want to.
“Shall we go for a walk?” he asks, motioning to the beach. I glance back in at Dean, who is sitting at a small desk off the kitchen.
“You think our keeper will let us?” I ask him.
Grady huffs, pulls out his phone, and types a text. A moment later, Dean is at the door.
“Seriously?” he asks.
I pull Grady’s phone from his grip and read the text.
Grady: Dad, can we go out and play on the beach? I promise that we’ll behave and won’t go far.
I giggle and slap Grady’s thigh. “You are such a—”
“Sexy boyfriend?” he suggests, cutting me off and grinning at Dean as he picks me up and tosses me over his shoulder.
I slap his ass. “No.”
“An amazing lover?”
I giggle. “Stop it.”
“I know, I’m a freakin’ rock star.”
Now my giggles are out of control as he walks us out to the beach and sets me down. “You’re something,” I retort.
He waggles his eyebrows, and I grin as we clasp hands and walk along the water. The salty air blows my hair around as the cold water laps at our feet. Everything seems a million miles away when we are here in our little bubble. I know we can’t stay here forever, but it gives me hope that as the weeks go on, we’ll continue to heal and get back to our lives. The scars may always be there, but the wounds are slowly closing.
Grady
I pull Emma down onto the soft warm sand, settling her between my legs. She leans her head back against my chest, and I wrap my arms around her shoulders, resting my head on top of hers.
“How are you, really?” I ask her as I plant a kiss on the top of her head.
She shrugs. “Better. Every day, I get a little better.” She pauses and I wait, because I know my girl now and I know she’ll say more if I give her a moment. “I haven’t had a nightmare in a few nights. And, studying for exams and working on the documentary have been good distractions. It helps to get back to a normal life.” She turns her head to look up at me. “Well, sort of normal.”
I poke her boob, and she nips at my hand. “Sort of normal?”
She kisses the spot she just nipped, and I feel my cock come to life at her touch. “What’s not normal about it?”
“Oh, I don’t know, living with a rock star and vacationing at a beach house in Malibu?” she says sarcastically.
“Sounds normal to me,” I quip, grinning down at her.
“You’re an ass, you know that?” she says to me.
“But, I’m your ass, now, baby,” I answer as I lean down and gently kiss her lips. She responds by turning around and wrapping her legs around me, deepening our kiss. God, I could make love to this woman forever.
“I think we should head back up to the house before the paps get photos of us making out on the beach,” I suggest, pulling back and pressing my forehead to hers.
“Do you think after your next tour ends, we could go somewhere with no paps for a while?” she asks as I help her stand.
“Yes, I think we can arrange that.”