The Carlyles Read Online Free Page A

Ray-Bans as they made their way out of the town house and toward the park. On the way, they stopped at a deli for bagels and beers.
    Breakfast of champions!
    They crossed Madison and then Fifth, and when they entered the park Rhys guided them through several winding paths, heading farther and farther west. Finally they stopped at some castlelike stone structure sitting regally behind a small pond. It was about three stories high and looked like a medieval fortress.
    “This is one of my favorite places in the city,” Rhys said. “Belvedere Castle. When I was younger, I thought the castle was real and wanted to live in it. My mom has her own TV show, Tea with Lady Sterling ?” He looked at Owen questioningly.
    “Yeah, she mentioned that.” Owen kicked at a pebble on the pathway. Girls in Malia Mills bikinis were tanning themselves in some big field, pretending they were in the Hamptons, and stoner guys were playing Hacky Sack or Frisbee. It was kind of sad: New Yorkers were so fucking starved for nature, they had to pretend a patch of grass was the beach.
    “Since she’s English, I figured we should have our own castle.” Rhys shrugged sheepishly.
    Owen laughed, settling onto the rock as Rhys cracked open a can of Olde English, careful to keep it concealed inside a paper bag. He passed the brown bag over to Owen. Owen took a sip and surveyed their surroundings. The pond’s surface was covered with old leaves and greenish scum, but an endless array of girls with perfect late-summer tans were picnicking on the grass beside the imposing stone castle. Despite the flock of hot girls in loosely tied bikini tops, Owen found himself searching for a flash of butterscotch candy–colored hair. He sighed in frustration.
    For the past few months, no matter where he was, all he’d been able to think about was Kat, the girl he’d hooked up with at a bonfire on Surfside Beach at the beginning of summer. He’d spotted the curvy girl with dancing blue eyes and hair the color of their golden retriever, Chance, and hadn’t been able to tear his gaze from her. By the time she wandered up to him and asked for help opening her Corona Light, Owen was practically in love. And when she asked if he’d show her the lighthouse a few minutes later, they both knew what they wanted to do. There, in the sand in the dark, they’d lost their virginity to each other. It had been the wildest, most irresponsible and amazing thing Owen had ever done.
    “What’s your name?” he’d asked afterward, tracing his fingers down the curve of her shoulder. He’d felt like an asshole then. Sure, he was a player, but losing it to a girl without exchanging names was too much, even for him.
    “Here’s a clue.” She’d pulled out a delicate silver bracelet that spelled KAT in loopy, careful letters.
    They’d spent the rest of the night fooling around on the beach and running into the water whenever they got too sweaty. She was from New York, only visiting Nantucket for the day, she said, and knowing she’d be gone tomorrow somehow made it even more special, like it was his last night on earth. The next morning, Owen had woken up alone on the beach. It might have been a dream, except he had the silver bracelet as proof. Owen pulled the bracelet out of his cargo shorts now and ran his thumb over the uneven scratches on its surface. He held it up to his nose to see if he could somehow smell her.
    “What is that?” Rhys asked curiously, snapping Owen out of his romantic reverie.
    “Just . . . a good luck charm,” Owen lied, slipping the bracelet quickly back into the pocket of his Adidas shorts. He wanted to ask Rhys if he knew Kat, but there were millions of people in the city and he didn’t want to seem like some lovesick freak.
    Too late.
    “Oh,” Rhys said, losing interest. “So, Nantucket, huh? What was that like?” he asked.
    “It was cool,” Owen said. “Small.” There was no way he was going to tell the first person he’d met in