The Spirit of Love by Lauren Kate

Author:Lauren Kate [Kate, Lauren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2025-07-02T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

“Get out here now, bitch!” Aurora commands, pulling me by the arm out onto the oceanfront patio of Amy Reisenbach’s Malibu mansion.

“What’s wrong?” I ask as Aurora weaves me around a tuxedoed server, from whose tray I accept a glowing red zombitini. Jude could be here any minute, and I need to steel myself with triple sec.

“I need you to see this view,” Aurora says, spinning me away from the view to face her phone’s camera in selfie mode. “Now serve,” she commands, adjusting her black naked dress and striking her full-lipped smirk. She checks the photo. “Cute! What even is that in the background?”

“That’s Catalina. It’s the largest of the Channel Islands.” I turn to see the real thing, whose coastline some forty miles to the south of Malibu is bathed in pink-hued sunset light.

“Random.”

“Not really. I was just there last week.”

My voice must hold some intrigue because Aurora leans close, looks at me, and then looks at the island. “Is it dope?”

“I had fun,” I say. I hear the wistfulness in my voice as, in my mind, I see Sam on the porch of his cabin, binoculars to his eyes. He’s birdwatching, but what if he could look through those lenses and see all the way across the water, to me, right now, missing him?

But because it’s pointless and a little cuckoo to wonder that, I turn back to Aurora.

“Idea,” she says, pointing a long, silver, spear-shaped fingernail at Catalina. “What if I chartered a yacht to go play out there with some friends for my birthday? Is there a club scene?”

I wince at being asked to give away what I’d like to keep secret from her. She has the power to ruin the entire island in one fell yacht party. “There is a big ballroom you can rent called the Casino. The vibe is kind of Roaring Twenties Hollywood—”

“I love old-fashioned shit like that. Last month, I went to a 2015-themed foam party in Mallorca. Everyone had selfie sticks. I was so jealous of the host, I almost went down on him.” She gazes at the island, foam bubbles popping in her eyes. “This could top that. How do we get to the Casino?”

“Most people go by ferry. Catalina has two terminals, two very different experiences.” I feel the need to clarify, “Avalon is the main town, where the Casino and most of the tourist attractions are. But Two Harbors, that’s the part of the island you can see from here—that’s where I was last week. It’s rustic and remote.”

“You really know your shit, Fenny. You’re like my cute little LA emissary.” Aurora takes a sip from my drink. “Wait, I’m having an amazing idea—”

“Who’s having amazing ideas out here without me?” Rich says, stepping out onto the patio wearing this season’s douchebag couture: white jeans and a white shearling aviator jacket. He and Aurora take a beat to air-kiss and compliment each other’s ridiculous outfits, then turn to me and fall silent, even though

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