“Hey, Evie.” Shep lifted his chin in a half-nod. “Thanks for the drinks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Evie.
Matthew’s Damien-focused thoughts crumbled, and he plunged into a memory from a year ago. In it, his father gestured at the television screen while aHeaven, Lockedcommercial aired. “I know her, you know. I’m friends with her father.”
At the time, Matthew had shrugged and gone about his day. Who his father did and didn’t know wouldn’t affect him, and he figured it never would. But here he was on a private island with his father’s friends where someone named Evie was calling out to him and Shep.
Not sure what to believe, Matthew looked up from his hill of sand and spotted Evelyn Warwick, star of the hit television showHeaven, Lockedand recent leading lady of the blockbuster hitThrough the Weekend, approaching. She sat next to Shep and smoothed the skirt of her white lace dress to better cover her thighs. In one hand she held a cardboard carrier in which were balanced three frozen drinks. Two were yellow, one was white.
“Alright, so, drinks.” Evie freed one of the yellow drinks from the holder and held it out to Matthew, who could only stare. What was she doing? A famous Hollywood actress who was worth millions of dollars hadn’t just plonked herself down in the sand next to him, she wasservinghim. It had to be a mistake. “This one’s pineapple. That’s what you wanted, right? If I got it wrong, you can take my coconut drink. I don’t mind.”
“Yeah, he said pineapple.” Shep nudged the side of Matthew’s leg with the toe of his shoe. “Take the drink, dude. Don’t make it weird. Evie’s just a person.”
Evie shrugged. “I mean, some people think I’m a reptile person, and that I’m actively trying to overthrow the government, but you’ve gotta give a girl a break. I can only cause so much anarchy at one time.”
“You’re a dork.” Shep elbowed Evelyn in the side.
Evelyn snorted and elbowed him back. “You’re a bigger dork, you dork. So, um,” she turned her attention back on Matthew, “are you going to take the drink, or should I put it back in the caddy? I know we kind of sprang it on you from out of nowhere.”
“No, no, it’s, um, it’s fine. Thanks.” Matthew cleared his throat and took the drink, feeling like an idiot. “I’m Matthew—Gwynn’s son. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Oh!” Evie’s expression brightened. She took the white drink from its holder, then passed the last drink, cardboard and all, to Shep. “Gwynn! That’s cool. My dad is really fond of your dad. I’m Evie, by the way. Harlow’s daughter. Sorry I didn’t introduce myself before.”
“It’s Harley,” Shep corrected. “LoveHarley. That’s how we know him.”
“Ugh. So weird.” Evie scrunched her nose, causing her sunglasses to slip a little farther down. “I guess I can consider myself lucky that his friends aren’t running around calling him Knot. I would actually die of embarrassment.”
KnotMyProblem—Damien. That had to be who he was. Knot didn’t live in Aurora, and he’d never been to any of the Single Dad Babysitting Ring nights. Matthew would have remembered him if he had.
Why did they think he was embarrassing? Matthew glanced at Evie, then at Shep, and buried his gaze in his drink. The yellow slush inside was starting to melt. Condensation beaded on the clear plastic and clustered on the bottom rim. A drop of it fell and hit his shorts and was quickly absorbed into the fabric.
“Um, Matthew? Are you okay?” Evie leaned forward, looking concerned. “You’re spacing out really bad right now. Is it heat stroke? Do you need some water?”
“I think he’s starstruck.” Shep grinned at Evie, exposing the peaks of his pearly white teeth. The expression was so uncharacteristic of him that it was jarring. Matthew blinked back to reality, shaking his head to get rid of his brain fog.
“Oh.” Evie sighed and waved a hand. “Look, celebrities are just like normal people. Or, I mean, some of them are. You get bad eggs every now and then who are way too full of themselves,especiallyif they happen to be the kid of someone who’s already famous, but the truth is you’re going to meet elite douches no matter what walk of life you’re from. I’m a normal person. The only thing that’s different between you and me is that my job puts me in front of a whole bunch of people. That’s all.”
“For the record, Evie isn’t a douche.” Shep’s grin lingered. “She’s a dork sometimes, but a douche? Nah. Not unless she hasn’t had her coffee.”
“Oh my god.” Evie rolled her eyes and pushed Shep’s shoulder. Shep played it up, exaggerating the force behind her push by collapsing into the sand. His drink remained upright, not an ice crystal spilled.
The Shep Matthew knew didn’t joke around like this—hell, he barely smiled. The transformation was baffling. Attraction, Matthew guessed, could do crazy things to a person. Things like make a guy like Shep light up… or convince a young, responsible father like himself that there was no harm in having a little fun, even if it was with someone forbidden.
“I’m okay,” Matthew promised. He looked between Shep and Evie. Shep was picking himself up with great fanfare while Evie rolled her eyes so hard, Matthew got eye strain by proxy. “I, um, I guess Iama little starstruck. I’m not used to meeting the people I see on TV.”
Matthew was not an excellent liar. However, with Shep and Evie distracted with each other, he figured he could take their out and run with it. Any weirdness on his part could be explained away by his celebrity shock.
“It’s bizarre, isn’t it?” Evie diverted her attention from Shep, rewarding Matthew with a dazzling smile. Shep’s behavior immediately changed. The easygoing person he became when Evie was around ebbed away, and for a second, Matthew got a peek at the surly, guarded teen Shep really was. “I can’t deal with it, either. At ninety years old I’llstillbe geeking out when I meet other actors. I almost had a heart attack meeting Hanson Marlow on our first day on set forThrough the Weekend.Seriously.” Evie scrunched her nose, disrupting her sunglasses yet again. “I’m physically unable to watch myself on screen, too. It’s too weird. Going to advanced screenings makes me want to claw my eyes out. If my dad wasn’t there smuggling me out for emergency popcorn binges, I’m not sure I’d still be sane.”
Not sure what to say, Matthew took a sip from his drink. Sweet pineapple flavor spilled across his tongue. Shep glared at him, but his sour expression melted the second Evie looked his way.
“I’m making this worse, aren’t I?” Evie asked Shep, a hint of misery in her voice. “I’m not good at this whole ‘I’m a normal person, don’t be afraid of me’ thing. You wanna take over? I promise I won’t push you this time.”
“I think you did fine.”
“You’re the sweetest.” Evie beamed at him, then leaned over and checked his shoulder with her own. The more they talked and interacted, the more Matthew got the impression that there was something more between them. Feeling like a third wheel, he glanced aside to give them some privacy. It was nice of them to sit with him, especially since Evie was who she was, but Matthew didn’t want to hold them back. If they were secretly together, they deserved some time alone.
