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Shockingly enough,the two days between the kiss and when social services is coming fly by. Probably because other than meals, Keegan and I haven’t seen much of each other. The weather improved by the following morning, and Fen and I spent most of our time outdoors swimming and exploring and testing out the waves. It exhausts him, and with that, he’s taken epic naps upward of two hours. It gives me time for myself and time to work on the script.

Keegan has stayed in her room or at her favorite table, umbrella, and chair in the garden. She’s been working on whatever it is she’s doing with her laptop nearly around the clock, and other than a meal here or there, she’s kept her distance.

I’ve tried to convince myself it’s for the best and easier this way, but it’s been rubbing at me instead.

“You’ll be fine, Loomis,” Tinsley tells me. She helped me work through a scene in the film even though she’s not in this one, but nerves about what today is have gotten the better of me and I can’t focus. “There’s no reason they won’t love you. It’s a formality. You’re essentially having to adopt your son since there’s no record of him, and with that, the state of Massachusetts, where you’re currently paying rent, is just being careful. They’re in the public spotlight with this too.”

Fen isn’t awake yet, and I woke before dawn thanks to the bastardly roosters who are more precise than an alarm clock.

“What if they decide to take him?”

“Why would they do that?”

“Because things have completely blown out of control.” Which they have. In addition to the leaked pictures—the ones we leaked—there has been nonstop speculation about who Fen’s mum is and where I met her and what I did to her as if I offed her myself to get my son. It hasn’t been flattering. Not even a bit.

Vander caught an online publication that was about to print my mug shot from when I was a punk twenty-year-old. Thankfully, he stopped it, and it has somehow magically disappeared, but you can’t just go and remove someone’s prison sentence. There are court documents and filings, so the fact that I was in prison for the possession and selling of drugs is out there, too.

It's been one thing after another, my worst nightmare and fears at the forefront while Keegan and I play a couple on the island. I heard her on the phone with her mum the other night, and I know she’s not happy that Keegan is here with me. I’m living up to my reputation as Hollywood’s bad boy when that’s the last thing I want to be. But because of that, I should go. I’m not helping Keegan. I’m not sure she ever needed me for anything, and being associated with me isn’t good for her.

Tinsley exhales a heavy breath. “I know they have. But Fenric belongs with you, and you just have to make them see that. Things will settle down soon. They will. It’s been less than a week since all this began, and Vander, your PR people, and attorneys are all over it.”

“I know. I’ve weathered worse, and I can weather this.”

“Exactly. Plus, the studio is on board. Does Tommy Hardgrave know you’re away? You could call him to work on some of these scenes.”

“I don’t know him that well, and I don’t want to call him for that with all of this going on. We don’t have table reads for another few weeks, so as far as I’m concerned, I don’t have to bother him until then.”

“Fine. I’m happy to work on them with you. Now tell me how things are with you and Keegan. She doesn’t give much away in our group text.”

“I kissed her.”

“You what?”

I sit on the edge of my bed and stare out toward the balcony and the sparkling water beyond it. “I kissed her. The other morning. I slept in her room during the storm, and when we woke up, we started talking about how beautiful I think she is and she didn’t believe me, and, well, I kissed her.”

Tinsley starts laughing, which is not the reaction I was expecting.

“Freaking finally.”

“No. Not finally. She told me it didn’t mean anything and that we’re just friends.”

“Ouch. Is that true, though?”

I rub my jaw. “I like her. A lot.”

She snorts. “What are you, five? You more than like her a lot. You always have, even when you pretended you didn’t. It’s why you stayed distant and didn’t sleep with her when she went out to LA. If you didn’t have feelings for her, you would have screwed her and moved on as you always do.”

The way she says that hits me square in the chest. Is that why I didn’t sleep with Keegan? Because I’ve had feelings for her all this time and pushed them away? It rattles me in the worst of ways. “I can’t like her like this, Tins. I just can’t.”

“Because she could be right for you, or you’re afraid you’re wrong for her?”

Good question. One I’m not sure I have the answer to. One I’m not sure Iwantthe answer to.

“Who the fuck knows at this point. Regardless, it doesn’t matter. Nothing can happen between us. I won’t let it.”

“Because you’re unwilling to act on your feelings or you’re afraid she won’t return them?”

I’m starting to sweat, and it’s far from hot in this room with the air conditioner blasting overhead. “Christ, you and the hard questions this morning. Like I won’t be getting enough of those later.”