“You’ll see,” she says mysteriously.
We make our way around the giant parking lot to the back of the building, coming upon a kiddie park. As in, it’s a fenced-off area filled with all those plastic houses and slides we used to play on when we were little. There’s also a tall, faded yellow and blue plastic jungle gym with slides coming out on either side and a fake rock wall in the front. Hayden stops in front of it, drops my hand and calls, “Follow me!”
Then she proceeds to scramble her way up the slide, her sandaled feet scrambling, her skirt flapping up and showing off a fair amount of her perfect ass.
I just stare and laugh. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Come up here with me!” She’s standing in the fort part in the center of the structure, a domed blue roof over her head.
I cup my hands around my mouth and yell, “I’m too tall.”
She rests her hands on her hips and rolls her eyes. “No, you’re not. Get up here.”
Giving in, I climb up the other slide that isn’t as steep, my brand-new Gucci shoes slipping on the surface. I send myself sprawling, almost faceplanting into the slide as Hayden just laughs.
“You can do it!” she encourages.
I glare at her and, with all my strength, shoot myself up the kiddie slide, duck through the tunnel and find myself in the fort with Hayden. I rise to my feet slowly, worried I’ll hurt myself, but the roof clears my head.
“See? Not so tall.” She grins up at me, reaching out to touch my cheek. Her fingers burn my skin, rendering my mouth dry. “Look that way.” She curls her fingers around my chin, gently turning my head and my breath catches in my throat at the view.
The entire city of San Francisco is spread out before us, a twinkling, glittery cityscape view from behind an unassuming old church in a neighborhood in Oakland. “I would charge money for this view,” I breathe as I take it all in.
“Right? We used to come to this church when I was really small, when we lived nearby,” she explains.
I glance over at her. “You used to live in Oakland?”
“Berkeley. A long, long time ago, when I was little, before my dad made all his money.” Her smile is small. Even a little sad. “He told us he used to go to this church when he was a kid, so he brought us all here a lot. Said it made him feel young again, going to church here. I found out later this was right around the time my mom caught him cheating with his assistant. She told me he went to repent, though it’s not a Catholic church, so whatever. I was so young, I didn’t understand. I had no idea what she was talking about. I only figured it all out when I got older.” A sigh leaves her and she takes a step forward, her hands gripping the waist-high wall in front of her, her gaze for the view only. “My parents’ marriage was really fucked-up.”
I go to stand next to her, my arm brushing hers. Sparks catch at first touch, warming my skin, but I try to play it cool. “My parents’ marriage was fucked-up too. They fought a lot.”
“Same with mine. A couple of years ago, I had a flash of a memory of this church and Palmer and I drove all over this neighborhood, searching for it. We got so lost.” She laughs, and shakes her head. “I found it by accident.”
“Why didn’t you ask Siri?” I’m teasing her, and she smiles.
“I didn’t even know what the church was called. Plus, it was kind of fun, driving aimlessly, no one telling us where to go or what to do. Getting lost together. Palmer and I laughed and laughed the entire time. She got so mad at me, because she had to pee, and there was nowhere she could go. No bathrooms anywhere, no stores to go into, or open fast-food places around. She ended up squatting behind that tree over there.” She points to a giant oak nearby. “And she admitted to me later that seeing the view was worth her nearly peeing her pants.”
I rest my hands on the wall in front of us, my right hand close to her left one. I could hear the warm affection Hayden has for her sister, and I’m a little jealous. There’s no one I care about like that beyond my friends, and if I were ever to admit that to any one of those assholes, they’d probably make fun of me. I mean, I took my mom’s cat with me when I moved out of the house, and I love that little fucker too, but come on. It’s a cat.
“You really love your sister,” I say.
The barest smile curves her lips. “I do.”
“I have no siblings.” I pause, realization dawning. “Wait. I’m lying. Helena and my dad have twin girls.”
“London and Paris.” Hayden glances up at me to find I’m already looking at her. I don’t know how she can keep a straight face, saying those names out loud. Together. “They’re adorable.”
“Those are the stupidest fucking names I’ve ever heard in my life,” I mutter.
She bursts out laughing, the tinkling sound making my gut twist, and not unpleasantly. “They really are adorable, though.”
“They are pretty cute,” I agree. “But their names?”
“Ridiculous.”
“They’re not even Italian,” I say with light disgust. How did Helena convince my dad to go along with that? Because I know he didn’t come up with those names. No way. That’s all Helena’s doing.
“Oh, so if you have kids, their names have to be Italian? Like Rocco and Lorenzo and Rosa?”
“More like Claudia and Francesca and Vincent,” I say, thinking of my cousins with those exact names. “Not going to worry about it though, because I’m never having kids.”
“You’re not?” Funny how she doesn’t sound surprised.
I shake my head. “I don’t want to be a father. Don’t plan on ever getting married either. Love is for pussies, remember?” I smile down at her.
She scoots a little closer, and I can feel the heat from her body emanating toward me. “You know I feel the same way about love. And I don’t ever want to get married either.”
“Being married is like being in prison,” I say, my voice fierce because I mean it. Look at what marriage did to my parents. Now they hate each other. Dad’s all in love with Helena, but that’ll fall apart eventually. Look at how easily she’s pursuing me when she’s barely been married to my dad for two years.
Fuck love. Fuck marriage. Fuck it all.
“Being in a relationship is basically like prison too,” she adds. “Friends come and go. Family is forever, even if you want to shoot most of them.” I laugh at that. “Why put yourself in a long-term relationship when you know, eventually, you’ll just be miserable? It’s too much pressure. Too many expectations.”
Damn, it’s like this girl set up shop and is now residing in my brain. She’s saying all of the things I feel, and I’ve never met a girl before who thinks like this.
Thinks like me.
“Totally agree. I’d rather be alone than in a relationship.” I slide my hand closer to hers, settling two of my fingers over two of hers. “I like you, Channing.”
“I like you too, Sorrento.” She hip checks me, and I stumble like a dumbass, my hand slipping away from hers. “But we’re not about to embark on anything, you know what I mean?”
I’m frowning. “No. Explain.”