Page 3 of Gabriel's Album

“Nah. I don’t know. I’m just…drunk. I probably need to take a walk or something.”

“Good idea.” Hayden smiles at me. “I tell you what, I’ll go keep Seb out of trouble, and you go calm down.”

“Thanks, bro.”

I clap my friend on the back, take my empty cup back to the bar, and ask for another water. I’m going to find that girl and apologize for Sebastian’s behavior. I don’t want her left with the impression we’d originally made on her.

I walk off in the direction that I’d last seen her going in and stride out the big glass doors to head into the garden. There are some people making out on a bench, and I’m pleased to see that the woman here is blonde. For a second, I’d thought it might have been her.

Walking down a marble path, I look around a beautiful garden full of flowers but can’t see her anywhere. I’m about to give up and head back to the house when I see a figure sitting by the pool.

It’s her. She has her heels sitting next to her and is slowly kicking her legs back and forth in the water. She’s leaning back on her arms, and her face is turned up to the sky. The silver dress is catching the moonlight. She looks absolutely ethereal—an out of this world beauty that I long to hold.

She must be lost in her thoughts because I manage to walk all the way up to her and am standing over her, yet she still hasn’t opened her eyes.

“Do you mind if I join you?” I ask, and her eyes fly open immediately.

They’re emerald green, and I think at once that I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful than the woman before me.

“It’s a free country.” She shrugs her shoulders.

I stoop to pull off my shoes and socks, then roll up the legs of my jeans before sitting down beside her with my feet in the water. There’s silence for a few minutes, and I listen to her breathing. I’m sure that it's quickened since I sat down.

“I’m sorry,” I say simply, breaking the silence between us.

“It’s fine,” Ariana replies, but doesn’t say anything more, and I’m compelled to explain further.

“Sebastian can be a bit of a dickhead, sometimes.” I turn my head to smile at her. “Sorry about him. I like to think I’m a good guy, though, even when I’ve had a few.”

“Hey, it’s your life. You don’t have to answer to me,” Ariana tells me and shrugs her shoulders again.

The silver dress has spaghetti straps, and I ache to push them down those same shoulders, maybe push the whole dress down further. Shit, I need to focus; she’ll be expecting some reply.

“I know that. It’s just that I’ve sobered up a bit since we last spoke, and I’ve been trying to find you to apologize.” She nods her acknowledgment of what I’ve said, but again, she doesn’t say anything more. I rack my brain for something to say to continue the conversation. “So, what are you doing out here on your own? Were you not aware there’s a party going on in there?” I grin at her, trying to get my thoughts back on track, but I almost stop breathing when she smiles back at me.

“I’m not much of a party girl. What about you? Shouldn’t you be inside, chatting to some of your groupies?” She raises an eyebrow at me.

“Groupies? Hmmm, I’m not much for groupies. I prefer someone I can talk to.”

It slips out so easily, but now she isn’t saying anything, and I feel stupid.

“Or”—I pause for effect—“someone Ican’ttalk to.”

This time she laughs, and I breathe a mental sigh of relief as I laugh with her.

“I’m sorry, I have to be honest; I don’t quite know what to say to you.”

“Why is that, Ariana?” I ask her.

I love saying her name; there’s something melodic about it—a beautiful name for a beautiful woman.

“I’ve been a fan of Cruise Control since you guys first appeared online. It’s all well and good when you’re a fantasy, but it’s bizarre actually meeting you.”

Oh god, does she even realize what she just said?

“You fantasize about me?” I can’t resist asking her as I grin widely.

“Not like that, you know what I mean!” she protests.

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