Read Online Eternal: A Seaside/Ruin Crossover Novella (Seaside #6) by Rachel van Dyken - Free Book Online Page B

now.”
    “You’ll be fine.”
    “I’ll die, but thanks for your concern.” I groaned into my hands. “I guess I’ll just have to get really good at cuddling.”
    “And helping me feed Ella.” Nat scrunched up her nose. “I know I say it all the time, but I mean it. I love you, Alec Daniels.”
    “I love you too, Nat.” I kissed her again and sighed as I looked at our little girl. Life was perfect.
    Not always good.
    But even when life was bad, even when you had hard times, you could still find perfection. And I was staring at it.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
     
    Demetri
    I COULDN’T SLEEP WORTH shit. I was officially the little kid who goes to bed only to dream of Disneyland all night long. She was my Disneyland… I freaking wanted to jump into the bed, pull the covers over my head, and just… be with her. Like a crazy person.
    Gabe had joked that he was going to put a lock on my door. Ha ha. I’d told him where he could shove it. But he hadn’t seemed fazed. Apparently, our duets had cemented our bond as bros.
    Meaning, I had to find a new nemesis.
    Something flashed by my window.
    Awesome, the night before I’m going to get married a freaking bird was going to break into my room and kill me.
    Well, I’d had a good run with her.
    Something else flew by.
    Holy shit, why were seagulls out this late?
    Didn’t they have a curfew? Like all spawns of Satan?
    I wasn’t making it up. Something else flew by and then landed on the windowsill.
    Slowly, as to not scare it into attacking me, I turned on my side.
    A bat.
    A freaking bat.
    Great. Another animal to add to my hate list.
    “Shoo!” I waved my hand at it.
    It stayed put.
    Seaside had bats. Who knew? Or maybe this one had flown all the way up from South America just to haunt me. No really. If it could happen, it would happen to me.
    “Yo,” I called. “You need to go.”
    The bat stayed.
    I needed a gun.
    Or a giant-ass Tonka trunk to throw at it.
    “Seriously…” I held my hands in front of my face. “…this is the moneymaker, all I got. Well, that and the voice. You ruin this, you disappoint women everywhere.”
    The bat was unfazed. Maybe it was friendly? Like Dracula from Sesame Street?
    I reached forward.
    It lurched back just far enough for me to pull the window shut.
    “Sucker!” I pointed at it and stuck my tongue out just as it took a dive toward the window.
    Cursing, I fell backward on my ass.
    My door jerked open. “Hey, you okay in here? I could have sworn I heard yelling… and why… are you on the floor?” Jaymeson cocked his head to the side.
    “Why are you at my house?”
    Jaymeson shrugged. “I live next door in that giant-ass beach house during filming, remember?”
    “Which still doesn’t explain why you’re in my bedroom.”
    “I watch you while you sleep then eat chocolate over your quiet body and take Polaroids to stash under my pillow. Why else would I be here? We’re out of popcorn.”
    “Oh good, because that first explanation sounded way too detailed to be a lie.” I pushed up to my feet. “Now go home.”
    “The girls are hanging out… watching movies. By the way, why are you in bed so early? It’s ten.”
    “Easy. I’m so sexually frustrated and keyed-up. I figured a Nyquil-induced state would be the only thing to keep me from breaking down Lyss’s door across the hall.”
    “It’s open.”
    “Not helping.”
    “No, seriously. She said she trusts you so much she’s leaving it open all night long…” Jaymeson did a little jig in front of me. “…all night long. All night.”
    “Go be British elsewhere.”
    “Aw, mate.”
    “Not your mate.”
    “Cheers.”
    “Stop that!”
    “Blimey.”
    “Okay, now you’re just being annoying and saying words that people don’t even use in real life anymore.”
    “Not true.” Jaymeson thrust his hand into the air. “One time—”
    “Go home, Jaymeson.”
    “I have an idea, though.” He shrugged. “Let’s have a bro night while the girls watch