“And that, I do not have to answer until after homework. You promised.”

“Fine.” I sighed then grabbed the paper. He folded his hands behind his head and leaned back in the chair.

His work took him a long time, and I could see why. His hand writing was meticulous, every word formed perfectly. He wrote how he talked. It was impressive, to say the least. Usually it was impossible to read guys’ handwriting. The work was perfect except for one.

“This one.” I pointed it out. “You used the wrong formula.”

“I know.” He shrugged.

“Not following, Demetri.” I smacked his arm with my pencil.

“I’m just tired of being perfect, so I figured I would create a small flaw in my homework. Adds character I hear.”

I nodded my head. “And you’re officially impossible. All right, if you want imperfection who am I to disagree?”

“Come on!” He jolted from his chair and grabbed my hand before I could say anything except a slur of “Huh?” The guy was bipolar! How did we go from discussing math to running to my door like there was a fire?

I nearly tripped over my North Face as I pulled it off the coat rack. I was beginning to suspect that the guys were on drugs. Why else would they be so all over the place? Almost erratic in their behavior?

“Come on.” He nodded to the North Face in my hand. “Put it on. It’s kinda chilly.”

I bit my lip in frustration, but did it anyways because it really was starting to get cold and windy. “Where are we going?”

“To the beach. To talk.” And that was the only explanation I got as he led me down our dock onto the large white sand beach.

Seaside would be the perfect vacation spot if the weather could decide what it wanted to be. One day it could be a hundred degrees outside, the next day you could see your breath. That was The Pacific Coast for you, though. The beaches were amazing, but you were lucky if you had a few sunny days in a row. That didn’t hinder tourism; it just meant that during the fall months, like October, there weren’t nearly as many people around.

The beach was abandoned. It was eerily quiet. The only sound came from the waves as they rolled across the sand. Demetri held my hand in his as we ventured closer to the waves.

“Wanna skinny dip?”

“Yes,” I answered enthusiastically. “I would love to die at eighteen. Do you have any idea how cold that water is?”

“I don’t remember it being that bad.” He shrugged and threw off his shoes and socks, with not so much as a glance in my direction he ran into the water.

Curses exploded into the stillness of the night.

I laughed as he came running back.

“Told ya.” I held out his socks and shoes.

“Remind me to listen to you from here on out, on everything.” He shuddered and took his stuff but threw it on the beach and sat.

“Join me?” He patted the sand next to him. Something about his impulsiveness called to me. Demetri seemed to have no plan, no agenda. It was all about being in the moment. I kind of envied him, even if he was a little into himself. But I guess I would be too if I had people stripping in front of me and telling me I was some sort of rock god.

“So, Seaside.” I played with the sand in front of me.

“Seaside.” He drew his knees up and leaned his head against them. “It’s not really my story to tell.”

“Oh, so there’s a whole story?”

Demetri laughed. I could see the outline of his mouth, because his teeth were so white. “Yeah, you could say that. Or really there are two stories. The first story is the cover, the second is the truth.”

“Which one do I get?”

“I’m still deciding.” The laughter left his face as his eyes met mine. Those clear blue eyes focused on my lips as he leaned closer.

I was frozen in place. I couldn’t pull away even if I wanted to. And the closer he came to touching my lips, the more I wanted his kiss.

My tongue slipped out to wet my lips as he closed the final distance between us. The minute his mouth met mine, I gasped.

His mouth was so different than the air around us. Where everything was cold, he was hot, so warm and inviting. His hands reached to cup my face as his tongue slipped beyond the barrier of my lips. He didn’t attack me, nor did he aggressively push me down. I was almost disappointed when he pulled back.

Demetri’s eyes were hooded; he leaned back in and kissed my lips briefly before again pulling back and cursing. “Sorry.”

Sorry? He’s sorry? He just gave me the best kiss of my life, my first kiss, and he’s sorry.

Embarrassed, I quickly got to my feet and brushed off the sand.

“Wait.” His hand jetted out and grabbed mine. “I didn’t mean I’m sorry about the kiss. I’ve never been less sorry in my life about a kiss. I’m just sorry I used it as a way to get you to stop asking about why we’re here.”

“Okay,” I said trying to wrap my mind around his explanation. Our hands were still intertwined. The memory of his lips burned across mine. I fought to keep my attitude indifferent when all I wanted to do was jump on top of him and beg him to kiss me again.

He rose from his seat and sighed. “We’re on a break from touring and making music. We’ve been told quite plainly that we need to back off for a while, let things calm down in our personal lives before we ruin our careers.”

“Okay,” I said, mentally going through all the stuff I had read on the news for the past few weeks. None of it even hinted towards them pulling a stunt like this. And then it hit me. “That’s what’s going to be on the news tomorrow, huh?”