Coastal Runaway (Coast to Coast #1)

Two

two

Keegan

I strolled through the front door of the Malibu house an hour later to the smell of fresh coffee and crispy bacon. Aiden was in the kitchen in only shorts and an apron.

“Dude, can you at least wear a shirt, so you don’t sweat all over the goods?” I scoffed, hopping up to sit on the kitchen island.

Aiden snapped the tongs in my direction, “There’s our pretty little gremlin, we missed you.”

I flipped him off as he handed me a steaming cup of coffee. I instantly smiled as the warm liquid soothed my soul. “Ugh, that is orgasmic.” I sighed into my mug.

He shivered, horrified, “Please never say orgasm in front of me again.”

I laughed, pausing when something in the corner of the room caught my eye. I watched Maeve peeking into the kitchen looking around to see if anyone could see her. When she noticed that she caught my attention, she put her finger to her lips in a silent shhhhh , glancing at Aiden’s who was turned away from her.

Confident that he wasn’t paying attention, she grabbed a very muscular arm and booked it to the side door. I stifled a giggle so I wouldn’t give her away as she shoved the mystery man out the door that we used strategically because it’s the one where the security cameras could be avoided.

You had to get creative when you lived with two overprotective wardens. Once the intruder was safely outside, she made her way into the kitchen and started pouring a cup of coffee.

Growing up with three older brothers— plus Luke —was a lot most of the time. They were overprotective and overbearing. One time Nolan knocked Brad Hayward out cold for implying that I had two left feet at a high school dance. It wasn’t even a good dig, but Nolan and Luke didn’t care. He was trying to offend me, so they were trying to rearrange his teeth.

Brad's words didn’t even bruise my ego, but they hit him so hard that I eventually heard through the grapevine that his parents forked out a hefty sum for a corrective nose job. It definitely explained why Brad came back to school with facial bandages that January. He claimed it was caused by a s kiing accident that he suffered over winter break ... but my family didn't see him when we visited Mohawk Mountain that year.

“Maevey, Maevey, Maevey , what are we going to do with you?” Aiden chastised without looking up from the frying pan .

“I simply don’t know what you’re talking about.” Maeve said with an innocent smirk.

Aiden turned slowly, looking annoyed. “Next time you want to sneak in an overnight guest behind our backs, don’t leave his shoes and clothes scattered in the living room.” Aiden made a gagging sound before turning back to his beloved bacon, “also, do a little research on the quality of men you sleep with. Michael Robinson has had a long-distance girlfriend since his freshman year.”

Maeve gasped, “what?!” She looked over at me for validation.

“Maybe they broke up?” I pondered with a pitying smile and shrug.

“Aw, how’s our little home wrecker this morning?” Nolan came sauntering into the kitchen, and looped an arm around Maeve who looked like she was going to burst into tears.

“Ugh, this is why I swore off men. They’re all liars and dirty cheats.” Maeve slammed her coffee mug down and stormed out of the kitchen.

“Hey!” Aiden and Nolan shouted in unison.

“Very much offense!” Maeve shouted back as she stormed up the stairs.

The entire exchange really lifted my spirits after waking up in the one place I swore I would avoid this year.

Maeve was going into her sophomore year at CCU and was on track to continue in my footsteps as captain of the CCU cheer team once I graduate in the spring. She was an iconic it-girl with bleach blonde hair, bright green eyes, and a killer body.

She was the epitome of every college boy's wet dream, and she never struggled to find male attention. It usually ended with her swearing off men every other weekend, but she always bounced back.

Maeve was the one who finally convinced me to embrace my inner influencer when I moved out west, convincing me to be more active on social media platforms and post about my life.

Over the course of that summer escape together, every night was like a sleepover. She taught me how to apply makeup and we highlighted my muted blonde hair, fully bringing it to life in the California sun.

She even convinced me to try out for the cheerleading team, and with my gymnastics background, I walked on as a flyer. I never thought I would see the day where I was voted head cheerleader, and became a cliché popular girl.

Oh, how things had changed.

Nolan was staring at me when I shook out of my deep thoughts.

“Don’t.” I hissed as I slid off the counter and placed my mug in the sink, “I am not in the mood for a lecture from the biggest man-whore on campus.”

Nolan had the audacity to look hurt as he held his wounded chest. “okay, fine , I won't say anything. But Sinclair is not invited to game night.” He said in a stern voice, “I am not having a repeat of the Dairy/Diary Pictionary fiasco.”

Nolan was referring to the time that we were playing Pictionary and Patrick read the word “Diary” as “Dairy”. He started drawing a cow and got very flustered when we lost the game. He and Nolan got into a screaming match about the rules, and I had to break up two hot-headed football players before they came to blows over a crappy party game.

On that note he turned and sauntered off; back to whatever girl he was probably stowing in his room. I made my way upstairs and found Maeve sitting on her bed viciously typing on her phone; no doubt ripping Mike Robinson a new one and sending his supposed girlfriend a “hey girly” text as icing on the cake.

That’s the thing about Maeve, she was dramatic and emotional, but she was not to be fucked with. I saw her take down grown men with one look, and a few with a swift kick to the balls.

“Hey girl, let's leave for practice in forty five?” I asked lingering in her doorway.

Exasperated, she threw herself back on her bed and sighed, “Yeah, I’ll be ready. I just have to dig out my practice uniforms that I have yet to unpack.”

Laughing at my sister’s usual antics, I headed to my room. I walked out to my balcony and stared at the ocean like I did every morning. Remembering the promise that I made to myself all those years ago, and reminding myself who I was supposed to be.

Forty five minutes later, I glanced at myself once more in the mirror. I wore a maroon Lululemon sports bra with the iconic CCU block-letter logo across the chest, paired with our white pleated practice skirt that had a maroon and gold striped hemline.

My hair was French-braided in the front and gathered with a maroon bow into a curled ponytail. I wore light makeup when we had practice and today was no exception. I rubbed my lips together to spread the light pink gloss I always wore.

I looked like the girls I aspired to be in high school—effortlessly beautiful and confident. Pleased with how I looked, I set up my phone on the tripod in the corner of my room, hitting record.

“Hey everyone!” I waved, “wish me luck today. First practice of the year! I have a feeling that this is gonna be a good one. I hope you have a great day, and don't forget to reflect and be grateful.” I blew a kiss to the camera, “Love you, bitches. Kisses, talk soon.”

I posted the video to my socials and then grabbed my cheer bag and pom-poms, and headed out to Baby Blue to find an identically dressed Maeve already blasting music in the front passenger seat.

When I came to college, I was unsure what I wanted to study, but after Maeve encouraged me to start using social media more often, people started paying attention. My TikTok alone had a few million followers who liked to keep up with my daily vlogs.

Over the last few years, I had the opportunity to promote brands and products that I personally identified with. Something that started as a hobby quickly spread into my college major and a potential business.

The first practice back was always easy, but also grueling. We often overindulged through the summer… and also last night. Once the final whistle blew on the field, the cheer team breathed a sigh of relief. Fo otball practice ended around the same time and the boys headed towards us on the field.

I could hear Nolan from downfield when he shouted, “Pool party at the Malibu house! All Athlete Week trainees invited!”

Everyone cheered and pulled out their phones to spread the word. Typical Nolan; life was always a party.

“Well, I guess we’re having a party.” Maeve groaned next to me as we stretched out. “This is probably related to the surprise Nolan keeps talking about.”

I looked at my sister as if she had four heads, “what surprise?”

“What do you mean, ‘what surprise?’ Nolan hasn’t stopped skipping around cheering about it since he moved back in two weeks ago.”

I shrugged off her comment, assuming Nolan was cooking up some plan for a new shot ski, or a custom beer pong table that he just had to get.

Boy was I wrong .

Later that afternoon, every athlete from training camp was scattered across our pool deck. The Malibu house had a stunning outdoor space featuring an infinity pool, elevated hot tub, fireplace feature, and a beach front view. It was often the place to go for a party during the year.

I was sitting at the edge of the pool with Maeve and my best friend, Maggie, as we sipped on pineapple High Noons and soaked in the sun. Maggie held her phone up to take a selfie of us when I felt eyes on me.

Across the pool, Sinclair threw me a wink— he’d been eyeing me shamelessly and definitely wanted a repeat of last night. I was sporting a tiny black bikini with dainty gold chains for straps that left very little to the imagination. My hair fell on my shoulders in loose curls, and my trendy black Prada sunglasses were propped on my nose.

“That boy wants to literally eat you for dinner.” Maggie said, taking another sip of her drink and wiggling her eyebrows with a giggle.

“He needs to give it up already. Set his sights on some—holy fucking shit.” Maeve stopped mid-sentence, staring past Sinclair to the balcony.

“What? Is Nolan streaking again?” I turned, wondering what had Maeve looking like she’d seen a ghost, only to have the air leave my lungs when I caught sight of a very familiar shade of blue.

Luke had the most piercing icy blue eyes that I had ever seen in real life. He had always turned heads. Even when we were seventeen years old, the boy's jawline could cut glass. He was gorgeous. He was 6’3” and a wall of walking muscle. Every single girl within a 30-mile radius made it their mission to learn his name.

“ Who is that hot piece of ass?” Maggie asked, peering over her sunglasses with a flirtatious smirk.

I felt panic rising in me.

Why was he here?

This was supposed to be my safe haven.

This couldn’t be happening.

I jumped up as fast as I possibly could and ran. I could distantly hear Maeve yelling for me, but I ignored her. The moment I saw those stormy eyes locked onto me I knew I needed to get out.