“Oh, Keatyn, you’ve been gone for too long. Rodney grew this summer. He’s a hunky six foot two and has abs to die for. Wait until you see him. He’ll be one of the hottest guys at school this year. And if he’s dating me, well, we know what that will do for his popularity.”

“You should bring him then. Marcus is a jerk.” I turn toward RiAnne. “Who are you bringing, Ri?”

RiAnne lowers her head and shakes it. “I don’t have a date yet.”

“Just ask someone . . . ” I start to say, but Vanessa interrupts me.

“In case you can’t tell, she’s in a funk. I would be too if I’d put on six pounds this summer.”

RiAnne’s eyes get huge then she crosses her arms angrily and pouts.

Vanessa says to RiAnne, “What? Like she hasn’t already noticed on her own? You’re in a bikini.” Then she turns to me. “But you, girl, you’re looking fine. Tan. Fit. Thin. Living on sex, drugs, and rock and roll seems to suit you. Wait. Is that why you’re so happy? You and Damian finally hook up? I mean, I know he’s a director’s son and loaded and all, but he was just playing in dive bars, and now that song about some girl’s eyes is really getting popular. Having him as a boyfriend would be even bigger than Sander. Although, I will admit, when I dated the college guy last year, it kinda sucked not having a bf at school. There’s something to be said for having the hottest accessory of all on your arm.”

I think about the song. The song Damian wrote about how my eyes look when I’m with Brooklyn. Our song. The song he finished recently and quickly released as a single. I need to tell them about Brooklyn. About how I’m bringing him to my party. About how I want them to accept him. I open my mouth to speak.

Vanessa holds her hand up at me. “Hold that thought. RiAnne, take our picture. Get our hot bikini bodies, please.”

RiAnne backs up and takes a few pics and gets Vanessa’s approval. “Perfect. Post that to Facebook and Twitter. Be sure to tag us. Everyone loved our pajama party photos from last night.”

Of course they did. Vanessa was in a teeny black negligee, leaning forward, so that you could see most of her boobs, while I poured champagne into her mouth straight from the bottle. The guys had some specific comments about what kinds of pictures they’d like to see next.

RiAnne nods, fiddles with her phone, and uploads the pics. She’s still pouting, and I don’t blame her. Vanessa didn’t want her in the picture. She finishes with her phone, pops another strawberry in her mouth, and summons the waiter. “I want a burger, well-done, french fries, and a side of ranch.”

Vanessa shakes her head. “She’ll have the cottage cheese plate, please. You can bring the burger and fries to Miss I’m-Back-in-America-After-An-Amazing-Summer-Touring-With-a-Rock-Band.”

“I wasn’t with the band the whole time,” I admit. “I was with Brooklyn all summer. We’re, like, in love. It was the most amazing summer of my life.”

RiAnne says, “Aww, Keatyn, I’m so happy for—”

Vanessa cuts her off again. “Are we talking about the surfer?”

I nod my head.

“No.”

“What do you mean, no?”

“I mean, hell, no. Do you know how hard I worked this summer while you were off playing around? It’s fine if you want to play in the gutter. It’s fine to have a summer fling with the lifeguard. It’s expected. Everyone slums in the summer.”

“Brooklyn is hardly a lifeguard. For God’s sake, his dad is worth like a hundred million.”

Vanessa waves her hand at me. “Okay, whatever. But you're taking Cush to your party, right?”

“No, I’m not. I haven’t talked to him all summer. I don’t even know if he’s coming.”

“He needs to be your date. After what happened with Mandy, you need to show everyone that you’re still together.”

“But we’re not together.”

“You will be once he gets back. Everyone knows you broke up for the summer, because he had to go to his dad’s. But people still expect you to get back together. You’ll be an even bigger couple than you and Sander were. I mean, seriously, you can feel the chemistry you two have together. Use the party to lock that boy down.”

RiAnne is nodding her head in agreement.

“The party is obviously going to be badass,” Vanessa continues, “but the after-party is key. I've been tweaking the guest list all summer.” She grabs her phone. “I’m emailing you the list now. You can forward it to your people.”

My people. As in Kym, who is practically part of the family. This is it. This is where I have to stand up to her. I have to set the right tone for this year. We can be friends, but she isn’t going to tell me what to do. Or who I can date.

“I already have the list of who I'm inviting. It's going to be all my favorite people. The party can be about being popular, but the after-party is gonna be different. The reason I was acting so weird last spring after I broke up with Sander is because I felt like I was living two separate lives. Like I have to act and look and be a certain way when I’m with you. And then I’m completely different with the surfers. I invited all my surfer friends to the after-party and all my best friends from school. I want you to get to know each other. It would mean a lot to me if you to get to know Brooklyn. And, who knows, you might just fall for a surfer yourself. Mark is really cute and so is—”

RiAnne’s face brightens at the thought of a new pool of boys.

Vanessa chomps down on her back teeth. I can tell she’s trying hard to control her temper. “It will never work. And did you not learn your lesson with Mandy? I know it’s been a long summer of surfing, sex, and weed. You relaxed, had fun. It messed with your brain.”

“It didn’t mess with my brain. I love him, and I don’t care what you or anyone else thinks.”

“So you’re going out with him? You’re in a relationship with him? Because I haven’t seen it on Facebook. No one has. Because it’s not there. It was a summer fling. Now, it’s back to reality.”

“Uh, well no, we’re not officially going out. And he told me last night that he’s sort of leaving for a year to go on the pro surfing tour, so I’m not sure what that means exactly as far as our relationship goes.”

Vanessa snorts out a laugh. “You don’t know what that means? Are you fucking blind? It means he already knows it’s over. You need to be with Cush. I didn’t tell you, because I was pissed at you, but you and Cush are good together. Like seriously. Popularity aside. He’s good for you. He wants to make you happy. You should let him.”

“I’m not blind, okay? I just don’t know what it all means.”

“Use your brain, Keatyn,” Vanessa says.

RiAnne agrees. “Yeah, we all know what it means when a guy doesn’t ask you out.”

“And you know what it means,” Vanessa continues. “It means he’s just not that into you.”

I sigh. This is what has been bothering me. “But he says he loves me. Like, all the time.”

Vanessa shakes her head and rolls her eyes big time. “You know how they say that guys think with their dicks?”

I nod tentatively.

“Well, girls have the same problem. Only they think with their hearts, instead of their heads. Your heart might be in love with him, but your brain knows it can’t be like true love, because why?”

RiAnne answers for me. “Because he hasn’t asked you out.”

Vanessa continues. “And he’s leaving you for a year.”

I mutter out, “And he might not come to my party.”

Shit. Nothing like a big fat slice of reality before lunch.

Sadly, everything they’re saying is true, and I didn’t even tell them how bad it was when we were on tour. My eyes start to tear up. I put my fingers into the corners of them under my sunglasses to try and keep them from falling. “I wasn’t happy with Sander. We were best friends, but you guys know there was no passion. No sex. I’ve always sort of scripted out my version of the perfect life. I thought Sander was it. Now I want a new script. One where both sets of my friends could all be friends. Like the surfers could maybe come to Cush’s parties sometimes and stuff.”

But then I think about that. Brooklyn wouldn’t like those parties. He’d get really pissed at me if he saw me dancing on the bar. My mind flashes back to doing shots off Cush’s abs. How he loved to watch me dance. How he told me I needed to be seen in the dress I wore to RiAnne’s party.

RiAnne sits up in her chaise and puts her arm around my shoulder. “We know, and we’re sorry we pushed you to stay with Sander. We’re not perfect.”

Vanessa doesn’t nod her head in agreement, but she says, “You need to go to the party with Cush.”

“A lot could have happened over the summer. His dad took his phone and his Facebook away. He could’ve met someone there. He could have a new girlfriend. And even though Brooklyn isn’t coming to the party, he’ll be at the after-party.”

“That’s perfect,” Vanessa says. “Leave him at home. Listen to me, and listen closely. While you’ve been off playing all summer, I’ve been safeguarding our future.”

“I know. I’m sorry that I didn’t appreciate that. Really, what you did to Mandy was pretty fucking brilliant. It upset me this summer—made me feel like a mean girl—but now I think she deserved it.”

Vanessa gives me a brilliant smile. “Thank you. I thought so myself. I know people always talk shit about me hooking up with a guy that has a girlfriend, but if I’m single, I can do whatever I want. They shouldn’t get mad at me. They should be mad at the guy. He’s the one who cheated. And what she did was pretty sick. I would never, ever stoop so low as to drug a guy. Who would want a guy that didn’t want them? Hell, all I usually have to do is smile at them.”

RiAnne and I giggle at Vanessa’s confidence, but the truth is, that is about all she has to do.

“You need to text Cush. Find out if he’s coming.”

“You think?”

“Hell, yeah.”

Our waiter interrupts us when he sets three bottles of beer on the little table between our chaises.

“Beer, gross,” Vanessa says haughtily. “Do I look like I drink beer?”

Vanessa prefers champagne.

“They aren’t really for you, miss,” he says to Vanessa. He leans down and says discreetly, “From the gentleman at the bar.”

I glance over at the bar and see Vincent holding up a beer and grinning at me.

“Excuse me,” I say to the girls. “I need to go thank someone for the drinks.”

I don’t bother to put on my cover-up. I mean, we’re at a pool, and he’s seen me in a bikini before.

“Long time no see,” he says, then he tilts his head and gives me a sexy grin.

“What, are you stalking me?” I laugh.

He leans forward and gives me one of those long cheek kisses. “Is it that obvious?” he says in a teasing voice.

“Seriously, it’s great to see you,” I say. Because it really, really is. Vincent looks gorgeous. “So, what are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing. Actually, what I should really ask is where the hell you’ve been? I haven’t seen you on the beach all summer.”

“I was in Europe.”

“You look good. And to answer your question from before, I’m here because I just finished up a lunch meeting. It went well, so I decided to take the rest of the day off. I walked out here to get a beer”—his eyes gaze out at all the women in bikinis—“and enjoy the scenery. Little did I know, you’d be the best part of it.”

I tilt my head at him. “Do you have a room here?”

His eyes trail down my bikini and he puts his hand on my hip. “Why, Miss Douglas, you’re being awfully forward.”

I roll my eyes. “I didn’t mean for me. I meant that’s why you’re really here, isn’t it? You’re looking to get lucky.”

“Like I said. I wanted to celebrate. I also have big news for you.”

“What’s that?”

“The script is done.”

“Really? That’s awesome! When do I get to read it? Can you, like, messenger it to my house? Have you started auditions yet?”

“Not yet. I want to get you locked in first.”

“You wanna lock me in, huh? Then what would you do with me?” I tease.

A look crosses his face. I’m pretty sure he just pictured me in handcuffs. And after reading that hot S&M novel on the plane ride home, I have to admit that thought kinda turns me on. I could play the young, naive girl, and he could play the older, dominant man.

He’s still staring at me, but then he finally chuckles. “I’ve missed you.”

“You’re just saying that because you want me to do your movie.”

“Well, maybe. What did you say before? I need to seduce you?” The words roll off his tongue like silk.

I visibly melt and look at him dreamily.

“The way you said that was pretty sexy. I bet you won’t have any trouble finding company this afternoon. So, hey, thanks for the beers. I better get back to my friends.” Then I remember the house he was trying to buy. “Did you get the house yet?”

“That’s my other good news. We signed a deal and I close next month.”

“Very cool.”