A Billion Stars

Chapter 24

"Do you do this with all of your girls? Take them to the beach at 4 in the morning?" I ask as he and I walk on the quiet, deserted beach. He begins to choke on his coffee and I blush as I realize what I said, referring to myself as his girl and I laugh nervously as he attempts to get the coffee out of his throat. "Sorry!" He says, clearing his throat repeatedly and I smile, patting his back gently as he recovers. "All good." I laugh and he turns to me, smiling wide. "To answer your question, yes, when I had a hamster I brought her here." He says proudly and I laugh, bumping my hips against his before moving back away. He seems to miss the contact though because he snakes his arm around my waist and pulls me tight against him. He doesn't say anything, just wiggles his fingers gently on my waist and I turn to hide my smile. "So uh, how... are you?" Ricky asks, crinkling his eyebrows as he tries to figure out if that was the best thing to ask me. I smile, picking up on his nerves and I snake my own arm around his waist. "I'm good. Dramatic start to the day, but otherwise I'm really good." I say and he laughs. "Sometimes that's good, it really mixes it up." I smile and nod as he leads me over to sit on a large rock. "I'm done with my coffee, I'm just gonna toss the bottle away." I announce before I sit down, placing my stuff on the rock anyway. "Trying to get away from me already? Damn okay, and how did you... I didn't even see you drink that!" He says and I laugh, smiling proud. "It's a talent I can down coffee in a minutes." I say proudly. "And chill out, I'll be right back." I say with a laugh and as I walk away I hear Ricky call after me. "You're phone's ringing, better come back here!" He shouts and I turn around to smile at him. "If my phone is annoying you that much, pick it up or chill because it's a ten second walk. I'll be right back." I laugh at his ridiculousness and after I've thrown my bottle away and I'm headed towards the rock, I see Ricky on the phone. My phone. I jog up to him and throw him a glare. "What, are you insane?" I ask laughing as I steal it away from him and press my ear to it. "Hello?" I ask and I hear a gasp. "Girl who the fuck just answered your phone at four in the morning? Because he has this sexy deep voice and OH MY LORD did you find yourself a man?" My jaw drops as I turn to see Ricky grinning wildly at me, obviously conveying the fact that he heard every word Kourtney just spoke. I glare at him as I speak into the phone. "Sorry I told Ricky to answer my phone, I didn't think he'd ACTUALLY DO IT." I say aggressively towards him and his grins only widens. "Wait, the same Ricky you said you wouldn't give a chance to because you're scared he'd turn into EJ and murder your heart?" My mouth opens and I make eye contact with Ricky who, once again, heard Kourtney's words through the phone. "Um can we possibly not talk about this right now?" I ask and she laughs. "Oh sorry, is he like right next to you?" Ricky nods slowly and I huff out. "Why are you calling at four in the morning babe?" I can practically hear everything click back into Kourtney's brain. "OH! Okay so I just got a call from Ashlyn who said she's on the way back to Salt Lake with EJ so um, he was in LA? Are you okay?" I bite the inside of my cheek and I nod even though she can't see me. "I'm all good Kourt, handled everything." I say with slight pride in my voice. She breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank god, just making sure. Anyway, I have to run hon. I'll call you later?" She asks and I nod, thanking her for the call.

"Sooo" I say, blushing fiercely at Ricky's determined facial expression. "Look, the sun is coming up." I say, pointing to the lighter sky. Ricky quirks his eyebrows up. "Are we just going to pretend like I didn't hear everything I just heard?" He asks and I nod sheepishly. "I'd love that actually." I joke and he smiles, scooting a little closer to me. "I think we have something to talk about though." My eyes widen a little, knowing he's not going to drop the subject and I bite my lip as I wait fo him to continue to talk. "You think I might turn into EJ?" Ricky asks quietly, his voice holds a little disbelief but mostly concern. "It's not that, it's just... yeah." I say, giving up and frowning at the rock. "Why?" he breathes out carefully and I shrug. "He started out great too. I was so blindsided." I say and Ricky tilts my chin up gently so that I can make eye contact with him. "I know you can't possibly believe me, and I know that you're scared, but I'm not him and I won't ever be." I feel tears press at the back of my eyes but I don't let them fall, determined to show him how strong I am. "Okay." I answer quietly and he smiles, moving forward to embrace me. I feel his fingertips running across my back before he pulls back. "I'm sorry, but sexy, deep voice?" Ricky asks with a bright laugh and my face feels like it's on fire.