“I know. I’m so sorry, Evvie.”
I nod once, rub my palms down my thighs, take a deep breath and stand to begin packing up my life. “Me too.”
Chapter 5
Everly
Present Day
We fly into Van Nuys Airport, where a car and driver wait to drive us the twenty miles to Ashley’s home office in Malibu, CA. Thirty minutes after we land, the driver turns off Malibu Canyon Road onto a private gated road leading to Canyon Crest, Ashley’s estate. The sprawling grounds of his estate are nestled into the hills above Pepperdine University and boast ocean and canyon views.
Allie and Ashley greet us at the door, while paid staff whisk our luggage away to our rooms. Yes, rooms, plural. Allie knows Julian and I are together,living as a couple in her house back on Blue Lake, but maybe she just needed to give me my own room to feel like she’s being a responsible guardian. I’m technically an adult now, so I don’t see the need. But I’m not prepared to have that conversation in the foyer of Luke Ashley’s jaw-dropping home two minutes after arriving.
After shaking hands and small talk greetings, I can sense Ashley is anxious to get down to business. But formality prevents him from saying it straight out. Instead, he asks, “Would you guys like to take some time to rest, get settled?”
“Uh . . .” Julian looks at me before answering. I just smile at him, then at Luke and Allie. “The flight was pretty restful. No airport hassle. Quick. Smooth,” he says to our host.
I nod in agreement.
“Yeah, thanks for that,” I chime in. “I thought about exploring the Pepperdine campus and maybe the beach if you guys don’t need me for the meetings.”
“Of course. It’s a perfect day for it. Sean can take you wherever you’d like to go,” Ashley says, referring to the driver who picked us up and brought us here. He introduced himself as Sean and disappeared as soon as he opened our doors and set our luggage inside.
A woman, who Ashley introduced as Clara and one of the people who took our luggage, appears and offers to show me to my room to change and grab anything I might need for my exploits.
As I turn to follow her, Julian snakes his hand out and clasps mine, lacing our fingers. He pulls me to him and kisses me sweetly on the cheek. “Have fun today. Text me if you need anything.” He speaks quietly but not like he doesn’t want anyone to hear. Then he bookends it with another kiss just in front of my ear.
The little puff of breath sends shivers down my arms and heat to my lower region. I can feel my face go crimson. I squeeze his hand quickly as I turn and release it to follow Clara up the stairs. “You guys have fun too. Don’t work too hard.” I add a wink to all three of them over my shoulder, which earns polite chuckles all around.
***
Pepperdine’s Malibu campus takes my breath away. The location alone would be enough, but from one of the libraries you can hear the waves crashing in the distance. I could live here. Okay, maybe not here exactly. As far as the curriculum went, it wouldn’t be my first choice, but the daily exposure to salty negative ions would make up for that. While I could’ve explored the campus all day, the beach calls to me. I’ve only been to the beach a handful of times in my life, and they were all before I turned twelve, when my dad was still alive.
Sean dropped me off at the guard shack at the entrance to Pepperdine, where I collected a map and learned I could walk to the beach. The walk back to campus up the steep hill is another thing. After thoroughly wandering the campus, I’d text Sean when I was ready to leave, his idea, and ask him to pick me up at the beach instead. I don’t know when Julian, Allie and Ashley will be done with their meetings, and they didn’t suggest a time for me to return. The campus security guard told me the mile walk to the beach would take fifteen to twenty minutes and warned me to use caution crossing the Pacific Coast Highway. I jog part of the way there and love the burn in my legs and lungs and the salt in the air. I miss running outside.
Once I cross PCH, I nab a spicy fruit cup and a bottle of water from the vendor parked strategically next to the crosswalk. Taking my snack, I find a quiet stretch of shoreline and plop down in the warm sand. I dig my toes in while I eat the tangy, chili-seasoned fruit and watch the surf crash into the shore. The sun kisses my face as it begins its slow descent into the ocean. The salty air teases my hair, the moistbreeze waving the locks. I don’t know how long I sit there watching the powerful ebb and flow when I hear the familiar bass of his voice.
“Hi, pretty girl.”
I turn my head and squint up into his beaming face, shielding my eyes from the glare of the sun. “Hi, Julie.” I can’t stop the smile from spreading into my cheeks and crinkling the corners of my eyes. He’s so beautiful. And he calls me “pretty girl.”
My heart flutters when he dips down next to me and leans over to press a kiss to my cheek. He looks so sexy in his thin athletic shorts and sleeveless tee. His tan, rippled torso, exposed by the gaping armholes, makes my mouth go dry. I unconsciously wet my bottom lip with my tongue, drawing his gaze down. His blue eyes, so bright in the sinking sunlight, darken. He reaches out and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear and dips his head to claim my lips, softly at first. But it never stays soft, not with us.
I part my lips, and he does too. I meet his tongue. He tastes sweet and I wonder if he can taste the Tajín on mine. If he does, it must not offend him because he sucks mine a little before he ends the kiss.
“I missed you.” We say it together, then laugh at our timing.
Julian adds, “Hey, so, it’s Taco Tuesday.”
I arch one eyebrow in question, grinning.
Taco Tuesday is apparently a regular thing for Ashley, and now Allie. Julian asked Sean to take him to me when he finished his meetings. With my location in his phone, he found me at the beach to tell me Ashley wanted to make us dinner tonight—his Tuesday tradition apparently.
We spend a few minutes watching the waves crash and pound the sand. I share my fruit with him, feeding him bites off my fork andkissing him between bites. I’m low-key intrigued to see Ashley in a casual setting like dinner. And I’m completely hyped to observe him with Allie. I know they’re together. They aren’t trying to hide it. I’ve just never seen Allie in a relationship, and I want to see for myself if he is good enough for her. Billionaire, fitness celebrity aside, I want to know if he is a good person. Yes, he is unselfishly teaching Julian everything he knows.
“How’s Ashley?”
“What do you mean?”
