She laughs out loud. “Ha. Gotcha!”
“Ohmigawd. You about gave me a heart attack.”
“What's wrong? You don't want me to marry him?”
“I’m fine with you marrying him. Just not yet.”
Not until I’ve dealt with Vincent.
I’d die if something happened to either Damian or Peyton because of me.
The secret party.
10pm
Same routine as last night.
Katie and I immediately drop onto our beds, exhausted.
“Hey, did you get texted the name of your dorm Secret Santa?” she asks, looking up from her phone.
“Let me look.” I check my phone. “I did. I know it’s supposed to be a secret, but who did you get?”
“I got Sabrina.”
“Cool. I got Molly.”
“When we get a break, we’ll have to go buy candy and stuff for them while we’re in New York.”
“Yeah. So, we need something for every day next week and then we give them their bigger gift at Winter Formal, right?”
She nods. “Don’t you think that will be fun?”
“I think it will be very—”
She interrupts me. “Did you get the text about a secret party tonight?”
I scroll to a text from Dallas.
Dallas: Stockton’s. 12:30. We’re going to party and say screw this secret Santa bullshit. Like any of us guys want to hide candy for other dudes. We’re doing Naughty Santas. Drawing’s tonight.
I look up at Katie. “Yeah, I did. That sounds fun, huh?”
“Naughty Santa sounds like something the guys thought up.”
I laugh with her. “It does.”
We take quick showers, set our alarms, and get a little sleep.
At 12:30, we go to the meet-up place Katie’s message indicated. Aiden greets me with a kiss, then throws pillowcases over most people’s heads and leads them to the party room.
Once they all get over the shock of the room and do shots, Riley and Dallas share the Naughty Secret Santa rules.
“So, the rules are: you will draw a member of the opposite sex. You will buy them fun, sexy, smutty gifts that they would be ashamed to show their mothers. One gift a day. Sometime during Winter Formal, you will give your last gift in person and reveal who you are,” Dallas explains.
“And you’re not to tell anyone who you get,” Riley emphasizes. “We want it to be a complete surprise.”
“All right. I’m writing down the girls’ names,” Dallas says. “We’ve got Maggie, Keatyn, Annie, Kassidy, Ariela, and Katie.” He tears each name apart, folds it in half, and drops it into the stocking hat Riley holds out.
He takes it around the room, letting the guys draw.
Then they do the same with the boys.
I smile when I draw Riley. He’ll be fun to shop for.
Dallas hands out shots then says seriously, “Memorize your names. Down your shots. Put the names back into the hat.”
We all sit on the beanbags, smoke a little, and I ask Aiden to tell me more about his game. He texted me some, but was busy studying for French.
“They were a really good team. Won state last year. But I don’t want to talk about that. I think you owe me a whole bunch of dances.”
He pops his phone into a speaker, hits a dance mix, pulls me close, and grinds against me.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7TH
Eager to sell.
9am
The dance team is up early once again, only this time we’re taking the train into the city for our competition.
I check my email, finding a message from Grandpa.
-All is well. We have representatives meeting with two of the investors this week. Both seem eager to sell.
I write back:
-That’s so awesome! I hope they do! Thank you, Grandpa. You’re amazing!
Then I email Tommy, giving him the idea that I’ve been kicking around for his proposal.
He replies immediately.
-That’s perfect. She’ll love it! Love having the girls involved. Hey, any chance you could do a screen test this Friday in NYC at 2:30?
-I’m headed to NYC right now for a dance competition. I absolutely will be there. Text me the address on Friday.
-Will do.
Naughty puppy.
Noon
My mom calls me as I’m getting settled in my hotel room. Maggie went to get downstairs to get some snacks, so she couldn’t have called at a better time.
“Mom! Hi! How are you? Are you all settled?”
“We are. Besides Malibu, this is my favorite place in the world. Plenty of room for the girls to play and no cameras anywhere. We've been to the beach, the market, everywhere, and no one even notices us. And the food is to die for. I've had croissants and coffee every morning and not once thought about the calories.”
I want to cry, I’m so happy.
“I’m so glad, Mom.”
“How are you?”
“I’m good.”
“Remember that game we used to play at dinner after your dad died. We were both so sad, but we tried to find something good that happened each day?”
“The sweet and the suck?”
“Yeah. If I was there with you now, what would you tell me?”
“The sweet is that Aiden asked me to Winter Formal. The suck is that I’m lying to him, and I feel bad about it.”
“Sweetie, you can’t help it.”
“I trust him. I would tell him in a heartbeat. I’m just afraid of putting him in danger. Did you hear about what B got?”
“Yes. It sounds just like the photo I got of Tommy. It was horrific.”
“Mom, when you met Tommy, how was your personal life?”
“Hmm. My career was great. You and I were doing well. But . . . I missed being with someone. Having someone take care of me sometimes. Being a single parent isn’t easy.”
“I was kind of a brat, wasn’t I?”
“You were never a brat. You’ve just always known exactly what you want.”
“What happened to me?”
“What do you mean?”
“I think it was high school. I got sucked into fitting in.”
“When you were used to standing out.”
“Yeah. I’m doing better with all that. I feel like I’m me again, if that makes sense. Oh, and guess what? Grandpa is helping me with the hostile takeover.”
“He told me. He’s pretty excited about it.”
“Me too. I can’t wait to walk into Vincent’s board room and fire him.”
“You're not going to do that, Keatyn Elizabeth.”
“Oooh, pulling out the middle name,” I laugh. “I don’t mean me. I just can’t wait for someone to do it.” Actually, that’s I lie. I totally want to be the one to do it.
I hear Gracie yell, “Mommy!”
Mom says, “Gracie, do you want to talk to Kiki?”
Gracie screams, “Yes!”
She does a little cough then says, “Ruff ruff. Has Kiki been a naughty puppy for Daddy?”
“Gracie, it’s Keatyn, not Bad Kiki.”
“Oh! Good Kiki! We got a tree for Santa and made cookies! Is Kiki going to open presents with us?”
“I can’t. I have to stay at school.”
“School dumb. I hate school.”
“I’m going to send you a lot of presents.”
“Can Kiki open presents on the ’puter?”
“That’s a great idea, Gracie. We’ll open presents together over the computer. Can I talk to Mommy now?”
“No! My Kiki!”
Mom says to Gracie, “Give Mommy her phone if you want to go to the beach tomorrow.” That must have worked because then she says to me. “I think you should come to France for Christmas. We have a lot of security.”