Serendipity // Camren

Chapter 27

It was around midday on Sunday when Lauren just couldn't take it anymore. Staying inside all day Saturday hadn't been too much of an inconvenience because, between the bed and Camila learning lines, they'd kept relatively busy, but today they didn't have those distractions. Camila had already learned her lines for the week and, annoyingly enough, chafing was beginning to become an issue.

She was standing in front of the windows that stretched across the back of the great room, looking at the beach with an almost wistful expression on her face. Today the sand was devoid of the cameras she's spied yesterday, and her muscles twitched with the urge to get out. To do something. The hubbub over hers and Camila's relationship had made her miss her morning surf the day before, which was incredibly disappointing because she had been looking forward to teaching Camila and with the shooting schedule lined up for them she won't have the opportunity until after their trip to Miami; while the threat of a horde of paparazzi following them out into public had ruined her plans for dinner. She was a quiet girl, really, she liked her solitude and enjoyed nothing more than spending the day reading a book – but she was also physical and surfing, running, biking, and hiking were activities she usually used to fill her days, and being cooped up like they had been just put her on edge.

The day looked nice, bright blue skies and only a smattering of wispy white clouds. The outside thermometer she had set up off to the side of the patio showed that it was cool outside, by LA standards, with temperatures at the beach barely topping sixty, but that would work in their favor. She just needed out of the house for a bit, and the cooler temperatures would keep the crowds to a minimum.

She turned and smiled at Camila who was scowling adorably at Lauren's iPad. The brunette had become determined to beat Lauren's score at Fruit Ninja but couldn't get past the 400 mark. "Hey, Camz?"

"Hmm?" Camila replied as she started a new game.

"You wanna get out of here for a bit? Go outside?"

The game was instantly forgotten as Camila looked up at Lauren with a confused expression. "I thought we couldn't go out?"

Lauren smiled and shook her head. "Baby, we can leave the house. Restaurants and stuff are bad because you're sitting in them for a while and that gives the paps time to get set up outside for pictures and cause a general mess, but I just want to go outside. Maybe a bike ride on the boardwalk?"

"I thought you said there were paparazzi out there yesterday?"

"Sweetie, there are going to be paparazzi everywhere we go – but I don't see any out there right now and I really need to get out of the house. I'm going crazy. Please come on a bike ride with me?"

Camila looked down at the sweats she was wearing and nodded. "That sounds like fun, but I need to change."

"Can I help?" Lauren asked hopefully.

Camila laughed and shook her head, as she slipped the iPad she'd been monopolizing onto the coffee table. "Sweetie, I love you, but I'm still a little sore."

"Well, damn," Lauren muttered playfully. "Fine. You go on up and change then and I'll get the bikes down."

"Right. You do that," she said with an affected air, smiling as she waved at Lauren and made her way upstairs.

"Damn," Lauren muttered, grinning like an idiot as she watched the petite brunette go.

Lauren was just finishing filling the tires on her backup bike when Camila meandered into the garage in a pair of jeans and a lightweight sweatshirt, with a pair of black Toms on her feet. Lauren smiled as she set the pump back into its cupboard and closed the door. "You look great. Ready?"