Pull (Seaside #2)(49)

“Shit.” I pushed Connor into the room and slammed the door behind me.

Everyone came into the entryway to see my freak-out, including Alyssa. “What’s going on?” she asked.

I groaned and banged the back of my head against the door.

“I swear I had no idea, you guys. I didn’t even find out until I got home this afternoon. Nothing’s bugged in here, like I said. But the minute you leave the house, your faces are going to be everywhere.

I’ll do my best to sneak you out the back. I guess we could call the cops and put hoods over your heads.”

Alyssa burst out laughing. “Seriously? Hoods over our heads? What’s going on?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out except for air. I began to sweat.

Sam spoke for me. “The media seems to think Demetri is going to be doing a reality show about Seaside. Some pictures of you guys were leaked to the media as well as the information that a show had been in the works and, voila, you’re caught up. Hey, where’s the popcorn?”

Wordlessly, I pointed to the kitchen and put my head in my hands and groaned. “Guys, you have to believe me. I really didn’t know.”

Alyssa shrugged. “Demetri, it’s fine. Let’s just get on with the session and then we can figure out how to get everyone out of here.”

She made it sound so easy. As if I could just snap my fingers and all the nightmares would disappear. I sighed and hung my head. Instantly I felt her warm body pressed against mine and then her lips were pressed against my cheek. I missed everything about her — the way she smelled, the way her lips felt against my skin.

Hell, I would move heaven and earth for this girl. She had to know what I felt for her, what I would do for her.

“Thanks,” I mumbled as she pulled away.

She shrugged and blushed. Damn, it was hot when she blushed. “For what?”

“Making me feel better.”

“It’s the least I can do.”

“And what’s the most?” I pulled her back into my body and slowly walked backwards until we were against the wall and out of earshot of the rest of the crowd.

“T-the what?” she stuttered.

“The most.” I leaned in and smelt her hair, then trailed my nose against the outside of her jaw, as my lips nibbled down toward her mouth.

Alyssa closed her eyes and then tilted her head back. I kissed her exposed neck. She gasped. My fingers bunched her shirt as I started to lift it.

Someone cleared his throat.

She pushed me away.

I wanted to kill whoever just interrupted us. I turned slowly and came face to face with Bob. Yeah, I’d lose in a fight with him.

He lifted an eyebrow and peered at both of us while crossing his arms. Why did I suddenly feel like I just got caught doing something wrong? I mumbled a curse and stepped around him, grabbing Alyssa’s hand in the process.

Bob’s chuckle followed us into the living room. It irritated the hell out of me. My body was hot and cold all at once. I just wanted to be with Alyssa, not lead the stupid group or have to worry about all the paparazzi outside.

“Look…” I took a deep breath and sat down. Everyone was drinking soda and munching on popcorn. “I had no idea about this whole reality show thing. Just so we’re clear. We can still meet, but I think it might be smart for us to start meeting at someone else’s house, considering the circumstances.”

“We can meet at mine,” Alyssa piped up and winked.

Man, I loved her.

What the hell?

I felt my mouth drop open at the realization. No. No way.

No way did I just say that in my head. I ran my fingers through my hair and cleared my throat. “Um, okay. Thanks, Alyssa. That’s really cool of you.” Deep breaths, Demetri, deep breaths. “So today I want to talk about regret.”

Mrs. Murray had reminded me in our last counseling session that it was important for people to voice something they regretted not doing or saying to the person they lost. It had taken me three months to finally go through with the process of writing my ex-girlfriend a letter. I bawled for days and ate more taffy than I cared to admit.

“What do you mean?” Aaron asked, grabbing a piece of paper and pencil.

I hated opening up, but it seemed like the only way to get them to understand things was to use myself as a guinea pig. Great.

Hopefully, I don’t cry like a girl. “I lost my dad when I was little.

He had cancer. But we knew he was sick. I have to admit I suck around sick people. I think I’m traumatized from being around the hospital so much, but the point is we knew it was coming. We knew he was terminally ill. Therefore, my brother and I were able to say goodbye, we were able to have no regrets with him.” I blew out a shaky breath and continued. “I mean, I still regret that he didn’t get to see my brother and me grow up, but that was beyond my control. My dad didn’t get stolen from me. I didn’t wake up one day to find him missing from my life. When you go through the type of grief where a person is suddenly ripped away from you, it feels like a part of your soul is missing. You look back and wonder what you could have said or done, did they know how you felt?

Were they aware that you cared for them? Did you just get into a fight? Those are the type of regrets I’m talking about. I know this sounds like a lot of psychological bullshit, but Mrs. Murray’s awesome at this stuff, and I know it really helped me.”