Pull (Seaside #2)(47)

I did a little dance move as I jogged up to my door and belted out the last part of the song before spinning around in a circle.

The door opened wide, revealing a very stoic looking Bob.

“You high?”

“On life.” I nodded and lifted my hand for a high five.

Bob shook his head and shoved past me. “I’m going to run to the store. Think you can stay out of trouble for a few hours?”

I nodded. “My virtue will stay intact, this I swear. If any women scream and throw their bras at me, I promise to keep my pants on. If they touch me, I’ll scream rape.”

“Can’t rape the willing…” Bob smirked. “But I wasn’t talking about the women. Clearly you’ve been seeing Miss Alyssa again, if that giant smile is any indicator. I was talking about, you know… the stuff that came today.”

“Stuff? As in, presents? Clothes? Food? What stuff?”

The vein in Bob’s head twitched. “You don’t know? Haven’t you checked any of your messages on your cell?”

“No.” To be honest I forgot all about my cell. I reached into my back pocket and pulled it out. “Shit. How do I have thirty missed calls?”

“Yes, well, if you don’t mind stepping out of the clouds for a minute, I’ll explain.” Bob was the best security you could ask for, almost like a real human, if you ignored the fact that he looked like a really pissed off Navy Seal.

“Shoot.” I crossed my arms.

“Short version.” Bob cleared his throat. “You’re everywhere.”

“Dude, I’m famous, kind of goes with the territory.”

“No, you misunderstand me, you’re everywhere.”

“Care to explain?” My phone buzzed in my hand again. It was Alec. “Hold on. What’s up, bro?”

“Finally!” he yelled, and then whispered. “I got ahold of him.”

“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”

“Turn on the TV,” Alec grumbled. I looked to Bob. He followed me back in the house. The same house I had left not twenty-four hours earlier looked transformed. Bottles of champagne-filled baskets were everywhere. I ground my teeth and flipped on the entertainment channel.

“The big news today, Demetri Daniels! Singer turned reality star!”

“Am I getting punked?” I said into the phone.

Alec laughed. “I wish, man, I wish. Nope, it seems there were some ulterior motives with having us stay in Seaside for our break.”

“No shit.” I closed my eyes and counted to five as the woman on TV continued talking.

“It’s finally confirmed that the new reality show Seaside is in the works for Demetri! Who knew the kid could be so entertaining!

Cameras have been following him around for the past month.

Apparently, the studio had been planning on doing a reality show for some time, but since AD2 took a hiatus for some much needed emotional rest, it looked as if it would fall through. But recent sources say the show is back on!”

“I didn’t agree to this.” I sat on the couch and cursed again.

“Alec, you know I didn’t agree to this.”

“Neither did I. Doesn’t mean it isn’t gonna happen, bro. I’ve been on the phone with our publicist all day. Apparently it’s been in the works for a while. Somehow it was leaked to the media, and now, well, now that the clips of you walking around Seaside with Alyssa have gone viral, the record company is salivating.”

“Thus the champagne.” I groaned.

“You’re drinking?” Alec yelled into the phone.

“No. But there’s enough alcohol in this house to kill an elephant, that’s for sure. I’ll have Bob get rid of it.”

“Demetri…” Alec sounded worried.

“Bro, I can handle pressure okay? I’ve got taffy, and it’s possible I slept with Alyssa last night.”

“In a bed?”

“No dude, in the ocean. Yes, in a bed, not that anything happened. We—” I shrugged as a shit-eating grin spread across my face. “It was nice.”

“Are you sure you’re not drinking?”

“No, you ass, I’m not drinking.”

Alec laughed into the phone. “Sorry, but you have to understand that the day you choose cuddling over sex is the day I’m wearing a dress.”

“Better go shopping then…”

Alec laughed again and sighed. “Dude, I really am sorry about all this. Just keep doing what you’re doing. We’ll figure it out, okay? Until then, don’t go outside.”

“Trapped, just like before.” I cursed. “I won’t do it.”

“Come again?”

“Alec, dude, I can’t do it. I can’t just sit in my house all day. I really will go insane. I’ll start making bad choices. I mean, I honestly can’t get bored… I don’t want to think about what will happen if I do.”

Alec cursed into the phone and then was silent for a bit.

“Fine, just don’t do anything stupid in public, and when the media asks you about the show, don’t say a thing. Just… be normal.”

“Said the fish out of water,” I grumbled. “Fine, I’m guessing the local news won’t be showing up for another hour or so. Takes them a while to get their local celebrity gossip. After all there is only one Starbucks.”