Stranded with the Rockstar (Rockstar #1)

15. Sunny

I'm looking at the notches on our 'calendar' when I see Harry emerge from the trees. His hair is wet from showering.

"Are you still staring at that? Don't trust your counting skills?"

I shake my head as if coming out of trance. "I'm just tired." He nods in understanding.

"And I, um, realized that today is my birthday." I turn toward him and see a small smirk on his face.

"Today? You turn twenty-one today?" I nod. "Isn't that a big deal for Americans?"

"Yeah, I guess so. But it doesn't matter anyway, right? I'm still...here. One more thing that we've missed."

He sits down on one of the logs lying next to the fire pit, resting his forearms on his knees. "What would you do today if you were home?"

"Honestly, probably nothing much. Just regular birthday stuff: cake, cards, presents. Brett doesn't drink, neither does my dad." I hear myself. "I mean...neither did my dad."

I glance at him and see him smirking. "I'm going to get you so drunk when we get home." I laugh, shaking my head, and he continues. "You'd be so hilarious. I can picture it already."

I move to sit next to him. It's warm today, and he's not wearing a shirt, just my cut up sweat pants. He smells good, although I'm sure we would both stink to anyone other than each other.

He's staring at the small flames coming from the pit, and I can see the wheels turning in his brain. "What are you thinking, Styles?"

"First, I was thinking of you in some of the nightclubs in London, and believe me, it was fish-out-of-water to the extreme." I punch his shoulder lightly, and he rubs it like it actually hurt. "And now I'm thinking of what we can do here to celebrate."

I'm intrigued. "Come up with anything?"

His eyes light up as he moves into a standing position. "Yep. Follow me."

"Hold on," I tell him. "Let me braid my hair real quick."

"Don't." He grabs my hand, pulling it away from my hair. "I like it down."

My first instinct is to stop mid-braid, but then I continue working the strands until it's completed. I want my hair up, so I'm going to put it up. I glance at Harry, expecting him to be annoyed with having to wait, but he's giving me a small smile, like he saw the internal argument I just had and is proud of me, in a way.

Which is ridiculous. It's just hair.

When I finish, he grabs my hand and begins leading me down the trail that leads to our pond. Instead of continuing forward, he takes a sharp right turn a few yards in. "Care to share where we're going?"

He shakes his head, still holding my hand even though he knows I'm going to follow him. We start up a hill and he looks back to make sure I have my footing. His smile is taking over his face. Where could he taking me?

I know without a doubt that I haven't seen every nook and cranny on this island, tending to stick to the areas that I know have something edible growing there. However, I wasn't aware Harry had been doing some exploring without me. When we had first arrived, he'd been more than content to simply sit at camp all day. I had noticed a more adventurous side to him as of late, but this is still unexpected.

Reflecting on our time here, it's true that Harry never fails to surprise me. Once I think I have him figured out, he shows me something new, something I never would have guessed. It's so unlike what I've grown up around. I knew my dad, and Brett, and the ranch, like the back of my hand. Nothing shocked me because nothing in my life had ever truly been shocking—until that night, of course.