The Heir's Pretend Girlfriend

14 ✮ Beach House Blues PART ONE [W i l l]

-Will’s Point of View-

“Dammit!” I swore under my breath, when I sat up on the couch I was trying to sleep on. I really wanted to grab the alarm clock off the coffee table and throw it out the window for letting the time move so quickly. No matter what, I couldn’t sleep at all.

It was already 7 in the morning and every time I closed my eyes, my mind refused to let me sleep. It wasn’t because Derick and Cory decided to watch football reruns last night, or that Charlotte kept bugging Derick to sleep at his beach house, or even that I really wanted to punch Scott in his sleep.

It was because Shannon Richelieu kept appearing in my head.

‘Why the hell do I keep thinking about her?’ I thought, angrily throwing off the blanket wrapped around me and paced the floor without trying to wake up Cory -who was sleeping on the couch beside me, snoring like a goat.

More importantly, I couldn’t stop thinking about why Shannon was so fidgety last night. She wouldn’t even look me in the eye when I talked to her and I felt as if she was trying to avoid me. I knew she didn’t want me to notice, but I did. And it pissed me off.

Why was she acting so strange around me lately? Or better yet, why the hell was I so mad?

 With nothing better to do, I grabbed my yellow surfboard which was leaned against the wall next to me and stormed outside Derick’s beach house. I needed to cool off. I needed to stop thinking about her.

I walked past the gates and the stairs that led to the shore. I dodged things with my surfboard so nothing would fall over and finally came up to the ocean ahead of me. Breathing in the morning mist and the rocky waves of the ocean, I sighed satisfyingly. The sun was barely up and it was the perfect time to not think about anything and surf. 

I pinned the surfboard in the sand and took off my gray shirt so it wouldn’t get wet in the water. The waves started rising as I climbed onto my board and paddled into the ocean. Then, on cue, I jumped on and started riding the waves. The wind was blowing with every stride I took and I could feel the peaceful serenity of riding.

I rode on for a while before I saw Derick waving at me from the shore. I paddled to him and tossed my surfboard carefully on the sand once I got out of the water.

“Hey bro,” He patted my shoulders as I approached him near the coastline, “Your phone has been ringing nonstop. Business dealings and what not.” He smiled faintly like he knew exactly how I felt.

After the business convention with my uncle, people from all over the world had been contacting me to try to get a partnership with the Prescott Industries. I’ve been tending to them since my uncle had been stressed out with other things –marriage and all.

“Yeah, that’s why I left it.” I explained, removing the hair away from my eyes with the swish of my hand.  

“That’s why I turned it off,” Derick laughed. I could feel him conspicuously looking at me for a moment, “You okay?” He asked with a concern tone.  

“Never better.” I replied. He laughed again like he didn’t believe me.

I found myself asking him something that had been one of the things that was refusing me from a peaceful sleep.  “What did you and Richelieu talk about last night?”

He didn’t turn his head and kept his face straight on the ocean. “Nothing really.” He put his hands into his cargo shorts, “I told her who I liked.”

I nodded, knowing who he liked already. “Did she say anything?”

“No.”

“Did she say anything about me?” I dawdled on with curiosity.