Page 75 of On the Beat

My heart cracks. Just a little bit. “I have to go back to Los Angeles, buddy.”

“Take me with you,” he says. “Look, I even fit in your bag.”

He pulls the flap of the duffel bag over his head and acts like he’s zipping it up around him. I get off the bed and crouch down next to it. “Paulo, where did Eddie go? Have you seen him?”

Paulo looks like he’s trying to keep from laughing, as he claps his hand over his mouth. “Nope. No idea. He was just here a moment ago.”

Inside the duffel bag, Eddie starts laughing. “I’m not here! I’m in California!”

“Did you hear that? He’s already in California. I guess we have to fly to Los Angeles to rescue him.” I zip up the bag for real, leaving a gap in it for Eddie to breathe out of. “Paulo, let’s go to the airport!”

“I’ll bring the car around,” Paulo says, pretending to walk away.

“Ryder?” Eddie says through the bag.

I pretend to jump out of my skin, gasping. “Who said that? Who’s there?”

“It’s me, Eddie.” he laughs again, the top of the duffel bag undulating like the waves outside. “I’m gonna miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too, buddy.” I spy my guitar in the corner of the room and an idea strikes me. “You know, if you come out, I’ll give you a gift.”

“What kind of gift?” The zipper opens slightly with azztnoise.

“You’ll have to come out of the bag to see.” I smile as I cross my room to pick up the guitar I bought with Skye’s money all those years ago.

When I turn around with the guitar, he’s sitting upright, cross-legged and expectant. “What is it?”

“I want you to have my guitar,” I say, a lump forming in my throat. I can’t tell whether it’s at the thought of parting with the guitar or with all the people I’ve met here, but I’d put my money on the latter. Eddie reminds me of the little brother I never had. “Write a song for me while I’m gone, okay?”

He climbs out of the duffel, crushing one of my shoes as he does so. It doesn’t even make me flinch.

“I can’t take this,” he says softly. “It’s yours.”

“You’ve played it, too.” I strum a dramatic chord. “You learned how to play on this guitar. I don’t want anyone else to have it. I know you’re going to take good care of it… and that you’re going to write a great Christmas song for me the next time I’m here, okay?”

“Are you going to visit me for Christmas?” He takes the guitar from me and fiddles with the strings.

“I’d like that. And hey, you guys are always welcome to come visit me too. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“Yeah.” He leans against the doorjamb, staring at his cousin as he strums the guitar. “That would be.”

Chapter 34: Isla Romero

“I can’t believe you’re leaving already.” Gloria lies on the cabana opposite mine. Her arm hangs over the edge, her orange-nailed fingers trailing through the sand. “We barely got time to bond, and now you’re flying back to L.A.”

I stare at the top of the cabana, the faint outline of the sun dimly visible through the fabric, and blink away tears. “I know. It’s crazy. So much has happened here.”

“I’m going to fly to L.A. one day,” Gloria declares. “Then I can come stay with you, right?”

I laugh at her bold declaration, wondering if her mother would allow it. “You and Paulo can come stay with me, sure.” Or maybe Ryder. Who knows if I’ll still be in contact with him then?

“We can go shopping on Sunset Boulevard,” she suggests. “And attend a Ryder Black concert. I still can’t believe you’re datingRyder Blackand your parents didn’t know about it.”

“I mean, I think they’ve guessed who he is.” I say, though my parents didn’t say anything about it when they left, shortly after we went kayaking and island-hopping together.

“Still,” she says with a sigh. “A real life celebrity.”

He is that. But he’s also… Ryder. The guy who promised to help me with my career when he didn’t need to. The guy who’s loyal to his friends and family to a fault. “We can go to Venice Beach and Malibu. We’ll go take one of those bus tours where you drive past all the celebrities’ houses.”

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