Laguna Nights Read Online Free Page B

brought back a rush of feelings, most of them good.
    “I’ve gotten used to them. I’ve gotten used to a lot, I suppose,” Madison said, thinking about all of the rules and hierarchies her corporate job embodied. She was the model corporate employee – dependable, adaptable, eager to please, patiently waiting for the next promotion. “How’s Hollywood?”
    She saw Josh’s smile flatten. “It’s great. I go on auditions and call-backs all week it seems, but I don’t book any jobs. We’re almost at the end of pilot season, again, and nothing. I trained hard, took classes from all the right acting coaches. I have a brand. I’m SAG/AFTRA. But I can’t book a stupid cereal commercial,” he said as his hand covered his mouth. “Oh, god, please don’t repeat that to anyone. Shit.”
    “I won’t,” Madison said and started walking towards the ocean.
    “I know, I always could trust you,” Josh said matching her pace as they weaved in and out of the crowd thickening as sunset drew near.
    “Wish I could say the same about you,” Madison said, before impulsively reaching for his hand and pulling him behind her down the ramp to the beach. She didn’t know why, but she wanted to watch this sunset, one last sunset with Josh, no matter their past. The rock formations had taken on a purple hue as they reached the warm, soft sand. Madison had tried to drop his hand, but he had held on, squeezing it tight. It felt good, but it was wrong.
    “Remember our picnic? The one they filmed when I forgot the beach blanket and you and I had to sit on my shirt? And those stupid microphone power packs were huge and awkward, especially with you in that white bikini,” Josh said as Madison dropped to her knees in the sand. She felt her face flush remembering the bikini. That was probably one of the last times she’d worn it, she realized, one of the last times it fit. She lifted a handful of sand and watched as it sifted through her fingers.
    “It was a great night, especially when the sun set and they hadn’t brought lights,” Madison said, smiling at the memory. The darkness had forced a wrap, for the camera crew. Madison and Josh had stayed on the Diver’s Cove beach, making out for another hour. The picnic had been in the middle of season one, their junior year, when Madison thought they’d be together forever, when she still believed in him and what they’d had. Nothing bad had happened yet, and she had just joined the cast. It was her “introductory” scene.
    “You were a hit the moment the cameras showed your face,” Josh said quietly. “You have that star quality that I seem to be lacking. I need action vehicles, they keep telling me. Bullshit.”
    Madison looked at the man next to her and, for a moment, saw the lonely, vulnerable surfer boy she’d fallen in love with all those years ago. The boy who was his wealthy family’s outcast because he wouldn’t follow his dad’s dreams, but instead was following his own. Her heart ached for him like it had all those years ago. But then, he pulled on his sunglasses and straightened his shoulders, flexing his well-toned biceps, and she watched the hard shell return.
    “Don’t worry though, I’m going to prove them wrong. This stupid comeback is just a first step. I’m not a travel show host. I’m a well-trained actor, with lots of experience,” he said, brushing his hands together as the sun sank to touch the ocean. “And, I’m back sitting on the beach beside my first true love. What could be better than this?”
    Madison thought of a lot of things that could be better than this. Sharing a sunset with a man who was true and faithful, one who wouldn’t be scared off by her past, one who hadn’t created the past she was hiding from in the first place. All of those scenarios would be preferable. She stood up, brushing the sand from her dress as a smattering of applause worked its way through the tourists on the beach. The sunset had been a spectacular show, she