Eternal: A Seaside/Ruin Crossover Novella (Seaside #6) (7 page)

“What?” I burst out laughing. “What in the world are you talking about?”

“Oh you’ll see.” He held out his hand. “Now, the party awaits.”

“Good luck,” Kiersten called behind her while Saylor winked in my direction. When they left the room, I turned my full attention to Demetri.

“Are you planning something?”

“Nope. In fact...” He twirled me in front of him. “Damn… why don’t we just stay here tonight? I’ll light some candles… order some pizza… put on a romance movie… I’ll even read a book to you. Ah, I saw that blush. Is that what my girl wants? I’ll read something dirty, swear.”

I smacked him in the chest. “Be mature, and no… I want to hang out with everyone. We’ll be alone tomorrow night.”

“And for the rest of our lives, until you pop out little Demetris.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Too soon.” He nodded with a wince. “It’s okay… just fair warning, though. Those Daniels’ sperm are strong swimmers, so don’t hate me for being athletic.”

“I have more athleticism in my pinky finger than you do in your entire body, Dem.”

“Not true. I ran the other day.”

“You thought a seagull was chasing you.”

He sniffed and looked away, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Whatever. Still ran.”

“You sprinted, screamed like a girl, then hid behind a trashcan.”

“Because I dropped my sunglasses.”

“Dem…” I grabbed his hand and pulled him into my body. “…be honest. Did you really drop the sunglasses?”

“Maybe…” He licked his lips. “…on purpose… to avoid getting pecked to death by the seagull.”

“They’re not known to attack people.”

“They like my blood. They’re attracted to sexy.”

“Hmm.” I cupped his face with my hands. Man, the guy was gorgeous. His dimples peeked out from his sexy smile. “Maybe don’t go around telling people seagulls find you sexy, yeah?”

“Hey, the truth hurts.”

“You do realize this is why people still think you’re on drugs, right?”

He kissed me hard against the lips. “You sure you don’t want to stay in tonight?”

“Yup.”

His hands cupped my butt as he pulled me roughly against his hips. “You’re
sure
sure? Like one hundred percent?”

“One hundred and ten.”

“Fine.” He released me and held out his hand. “Then your clambake awaits.”

“So romantic. Use your sexy voice.”

He mimicked Jaymeson’s British accent just as we rounded the corner and slammed into the devil himself.

“Mocking me again?” Jaymeson’s eyebrows shot up. “Or is it the only way you can turn her on now? Pretend to be foreign?”

“Ass.” Demetri pushed against him.

“You love me,” Jaymeson said in a singsong voice. “Oh, and everything’s ready for—”

Demetri punched him in the face.

Jaymeson crumpled to the ground. “What the hell?”

“Sorry!” Demetri helped him up. “I thought you were going to spill.”

“I was going to say everything’s ready for you… not… the other thing.” His eyes darted away from mine. “Thanks for the black eye before pictures, asshole.”

“Is that how you make friends, man? You just punch people? Sandbox rule number one: don’t throw sand and don’t throw the shovel. Just say hi. It’s as easy as that,” Gabe said from the hallway. “We doing this or no?”

“Yes.” Demetri seethed then kissed my hand. “Follow Jaymeson out. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“And if I want to stay with you?”

“Then...” Jaymeson lifted me into his arms. I started squealing. “…I’ve been instructed to take you by force.”

“Touch any part of her that hasn’t been cleared by me, “Demetri yelled. “And I’ll get the other eye.”

Jaymeson snorted and kept walking.

I fought him a bit more then finally relented as I leaned my elbows on his back. “So, where we going, Jay?”

“Oh, you know.” He hefted me up higher and smacked my leg. “Places.”

“Vague, Brit. Vague.”

“It’s part of my charm, next to my sexy accent and ability to make women’s clothes literally fall off in my presence. Seriously, last night, snapped my fingers and Pris’s shirt went—”

Pris walked around the corner and rolled her eyes. “The straps snapped, Jaymeson. For the last time, you aren’t magic.”

“Ha.” I smacked him in the back. “Now put me down.”

“No can do, love.” He laughed as Pris fell into step beside us.

The boardwalk came into view and then the beach, though my view was more of Jaymeson’s ass and a retreating Demetri and Gabe. What the heck were they doing? And why was Demetri running around in circles? I looked up, you know, for the seagulls, but saw nothing. Huh.

“Clams,” Jaymeson chanted. “Barbaric little ritual. Who the hell has a clambake for their rehearsal dinner? And why does nobody believe in bachelor parties anymore?”

Pris rolled her eyes next to us. “It’s cute when you pretend like you aren’t a trained house cat. Hurry, Jay. Jump!”

“How high.” He laughed out loud and bumped his wife with his shoulder.

“You guys are pathetic,” I grumbled

“You just keep telling yourself that.” Pris tilted her head and me and winked. “Oh, and by the way…. enjoy tonight.”

“I do love shellfish,” I said, slowly trying to figure out why everyone was acting so weird.

By the time Jaymeson set me down, I was sore from being carried on his shoulders the entire way down to the beach. We couldn’t technically rent public space, but the mayor had been nice enough to rope off an area for us to have our dinner without having to deal with paparazzi, though I still saw a few cameras flash. I knew it was just part of the life I was signing on to.

Speakers were set up on either side of the white tent, and there were a few tables decorated with plain white linen. My parents were already sitting down, having a glass of wine along with my grandparents and a few aunts and uncles. All in all, it seemed… normal, not at all protein-bar-or-coffee-worthy.

When I turned back around to glance at the boardwalk, Gabe and Demetri were making their way slowly toward us.

And they had a crowd of around one-hundred people behind them.

Holy crap, they were going to get mobbed!

I opened my mouth to scream just as Wes wrapped his arm around me and whispered, “Enjoy it. I’m pretty blood was spilled between the two of them.”

“Enjoy what?” I whispered once he removed his hand.

But Wes merely smiled, offered a wink, then jogged off toward Kiersten and pulled her into his arms.

Saylor giggled and pointed at the boardwalk again.

Just as music started blaring over the speakers.

It was “Steal my Girl” by One Direction… and Demetri was singing it. With a huge grin, he waved and sang.

“She be my queen since we be sixteen…”

Gabe gave him a high five and sang the next verse in his smooth caramel voice.

“I know.
I know for sure… Everybody wanna steal my girl! Everybody wanna take her heart away, couple billion in the whole wide world find another one because she belongs to me!”

Jaw open, I stared in complete shock.

Demetri wasn’t just singing with Ashton Hyde. He was singing One Direction with Ashton Hyde. Hell had officially frozen over in front of my very eyes.

“Every jaw drop when she’s in those jeans, alright.”

Demetri crooned as Ashton harmonized, and then they stopped walking.

The group behind them froze in slow motion.

Then jumped into the air in unison as the chorus picked up.

Holy crap.

Holy freaking crap.

It was a flash mob.

He was flash-mobbing me!

The song continued and then abruptly stopped as they were about halfway across the beach.

The beat changed into something slower.

“I’m in love with that girl…
so don’t be mad at me.”

And Justin Timberlake. Demetri was singing and then rapping while Ashton did backup.

The song changed for a third time as the group moved forward.

“Every time
that you get undressed I hear symphonies in my head. I wrote this song, just, looking at you, uh oh yeah the drums they swing low and the trumpets they go…”

Honest-to-God trumpets sounded, and when the crowd parted, an entire band walked through the sand, trumpets going from right to left with trombones.

“Is it weird that I hear violins whenever
you’re
gone?”

Violins appeared behind the people playing trumpets, while Gabe pulled a guitar from someone next to him and started playing.

Demetri didn’t take his eyes off me as he sang the bridge.

The trumpets kept sounding.

“They go…”

He smiled, and then he and Gabe started marching toward us. Someone tossed a conductor stick into the air. Demetri grabbed it, along with a top hat, and they marched, freaking marched toward us still singing, the band still playing.

Tears of laughter and excitement poured down my cheeks.

Finally, Demetri was almost close enough for me to reach out.

Instead, he fell to his knees and started singing the high part in his falsetto voice.

“Every time that you get undressed I hear symphonies in my head…”

He reached for my hand and kissed it, continuing with the song.

“The drums they swing low and the trumpets they go…”

The trumpets played a little longer, and then the song shifted again.

“One hundred and five is the number that comes to my head when I think of the years I want to spend with you…”

“
Marry Me” by Jason Derulo crooned from Demetri’s lips.

He hated singing other people’s songs.

But he was singing some of my favorites, the ones that I’d picked out for some of our after-party wedding music — the ones he’d denied and said he’d rather be run over by a car.

As if on cue with my thoughts, Gabe held up his finger while Demetri sang and then pulled out a toy car and ran it in front of Demetri’s face.

“You’re the love of my life.”

He pressed his hands against his chest. The words flowing from him sounded like perfection.

“Will you marry me?”

The song faded into something softer as he rose from his knees and grabbed my fingers in his hands.

“I have you…
To get down on bended knee nothing else would be better…
the day when I say will you marry me?”

The song ended, and Demetri whispered, “The day you said yes… the day you’ll walk down the aisle, the day you’ll be mine. The day we have our first child, the day we have our third, perhaps fourth fight and get to spend the rest of the evening making it up to each other. Lyss, I can think of nothing more important right now than making sure you realize, making sure you comprehend that there is nothing I won’t do for you.”

“Even sing with Ashton Hyde,” I whispered through a hoarse voice as more tears streamed down my voice.

“One Direction with Ashton Hyde,” Demetri corrected.

“Yeah, that.” I sniffled. “I love you so much I—”

His mouth covered mine as he lifted me into the air and twirled me around. The trumpets started up again and everyone clapped.

I couldn’t believe he would do something like that for me. All the songs he’d rejected, aligning with one of my favorite singers, and making a giant fool out of himself in front of my entire family.

That was my future husband.

That was Demetri Daniels in full force.

“I can’t wait to marry you tomorrow.”

“I can’t wait to dream of you tonight,” he whispered in my ear then kissed down my neck. “And now! We feast!”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Alec

“
I
’M IN SHOCK.”
I put the phone back in my pocket and laughed. “Boy grew up, made friends, found his balls, and did something remarkable.”

“Oh my gosh, he pet a seagull?” Nat asked.

I shook my head. “No… that would take an insane amount of drugs, and since he’s drug-free, I’m pretty sure that’s never going to happen.”

Nat tilted her head. “So?”

“So, he sang with Gabe.”

Nat’s eyes widened. “And girls everywhere simultaneously passed out from the hot factor?”

“Hey!” I nudged her and kissed her cheek. “I wasn’t there.”

“Right, so only half the world was fan-girling.”

Rolling my eyes, I pulled out my cell and showed her the small video. When we were done watching, she had tears in her eyes. “I can’t believe he did that for her.”

“Well, it is Demetri. He doesn’t do anything half-ass.”

“I know but… he hates boy bands, and I know firsthand that those were some of the songs Lyss wanted for the wedding reception dance.”

“Yeah, well, it seems he found some romance.”

“It’s like watching your child grow up and sink the Cheerios in the toilet all by himself.” Nat sighed.

“Please don’t reference my brother sinking anything with his… parts.”

She giggled. “Are you sad you aren’t there?”

“I’m exactly…” I kissed her forehead. “…where I want to be.”

She looked down at Ella and smiled. “Yeah, me too. I just feel bad that I can’t be there tomorrow.”

“It’s too much, babe.” I sighed. “I mean, I know you’re fine and healthy, but you did just give birth to my child. I’m not so sure I want you running around twenty-four hours later… around germs… people…”

“I get the point.” She laughed. “And I’ll stay like a good girl.”