“I’ve actually only seen The Lion King,” he said, surprising me. “But I loved it.”
“How is that the only show you’ve seen?”
“Well, every time I’ve come to New York, it’s been for work. I’ve never gotten the chance to stay for any length of time, so catching a show has always been out. I’ve never really seen any of the city outside of a few restaurants, hotels and bars. I’ve never even been to the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty or even Central Park.”
“You’re not really missing out,” I told him honestly. “At least with the first two. The park’s amazing, though. You should go while you’re in town.”
He laughed. “So I’ve been told.”
“Well, you’re here now. Are you going to stay and do some sightseeing?”
He shrugged. “I wasn’t really planning on it.”
“Why not?”
“In truth, I hadn’t even thought about it,” he said, looking contemplative as he sat up. “I’ve gotten so used to seeing the insides of hotel rooms and arenas in cities I’ve been to that I never even think about doing anything else while I’m there. I figured I’d just get on a plane and head home to see my family tomorrow.”
My eyes got wide. “So you’re telling me that you’ve been around the world, but you’ve never seen the cities you’ve been to – at all?”
“Not entirely, but most of the time we’re just there for a night, and if we want to go anywhere, it has to be a highly coordinated endeavor with our security team or else we’ll get mobbed by fans. But I’ve seen some cool things. We went to Eiffel Tower in Paris and The Louvre, and we went to The Great Wall in China. I’ve seen the major stuff.”
“But not the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty?”
He shrugged. “Not yet.”
“And you’re honestly leaving tomorrow?”
“I guess.”
“Do you have to leave?” I asked him.
“No, but all the guys are peacing out, so there’s no point in me staying here alone. I hate being alone. It’s the only thing deterring me from taking off for the Caribbean and hiding out on some secluded island for a few days.”
“That sounds amazing. You should do that,” I said, jealous that he had that luxury. It would be warmer in Atlanta, but not even close to tropical, and I’d been missing the sun.
He laughed. “Maybe.”
“Well, how about this? Since you don’t have to leave, what would you think about seeing a show with me?”
I was surprised to hear myself ask him that, but his story just sounded so depressing. I couldn’t believe what an isolated life he lived when he’d been to so many places I’d only ever dreamed of seeing.
“Are you asking me out, Andi?” Cam asked playfully.
“No,” I said, smacking him lightly on the arm. “I just figured I could go with you so you wouldn’t have to go alone. I’ve never been to a Broadway show, but it sounds fun. Maybe we could do some cheesy sight-seeing afterward.”
A wide grin spread across Cam’s face. “That sounds awesome. I’m so in! Hey, so does that mean you believe that I’m not trying to get into your pants?”
I rolled my eyes playfully. “Yes, it does, okay? You seem like a nice guy. I hope I’m right.”
“You are,” he promised.
I laughed. “Okay then. It’s a date – but not really.”
“Just friends,” he promised. “So what show do you want to see?”
“No clue. You pick, but make it a matinee since I’m not exactly flush right now.”
He waved my comment away with his hand. “No way, this is on me, and since it’s your first Broadway experience, we’re doing it up right. I’ll even take you to dinner before, if you’ll let me – and yes, I understand that things will still be completely platonic. You have my word I’ll keep them that way.”
He really was a sweet guy.
“Dinner sounds great,” I told him, trusting that he would stay true to his word.
“Cool. I’ll figure out the details and let you know. Which means you’ll have to give me your number,” he said, grinning wickedly at me.
I smiled as I shook my head. “Fine, tell me yours, and I’ll text you so you have mine too.”
“We’ll do it at the end of the night,” he promised. “After I take you home.”
“Oh, you’re taking me home now?”
“It’s the least I can do, but don’t worry, Chris will be there too, so there won’t be any funny business.”
“I’d expect nothing less from you,” I told him honestly.
“I’m glad you’re learning.”
Chapter Six
Cam
“You’re up early,” Dillon commented when he came out of his room around ten, rubbing his eyes.
I was dressed and drinking a latte at the kitchen table. The suite was surprisingly clean after the party we’d had, but then again our guests were relatively polite and respectful, so they never trashed the place.
“I went to bed at a reasonable time,” I told him as I perused the news on my iPad.
I liked to keep up with what was going on in the rest of the world since mine could become fairly small very quickly if I let it. It was good to remind myself that Westside was not the only thing in existence, and there was a great big world out there where real things were happening.
“What time did you go to sleep?” Dillon asked me, having apparently not remembered offering me a slurred goodnight after I’d gotten back from dropping Andi off.
“Midnight,” I told him. “You guys were still partying.”
Dillon smiled as he slumped down across from me. “It was a good night.”
“Tonight will be even better,” I reminded him, since he was going to see Meredith in a few hours.
He grinned goofily. “I know. I have to rally so I don’t miss my flight.” Even as he said that, he didn’t move. “Hey, what happened to that chick Van was with?”
“Tory?” I asked, because that’s who I’d seen him with.
“Who?”
I rolled my eyes at his hangover induced slowness. “The cute blond who was all tongue-tied at the meet and greet. Her name’s Tory. I introduced you to her when I got here last night. She’s friends with Andi, the girl I was with most of the night.”
“Oh,” he said, recognition slowly dawning on him. “Yeah, that’s the chick I’m talking about. I remember now. I did meet her.”
“You sure did. Why are you asking about her?”
“Because she was good and drunk the last time I saw her, and I remember wondering to myself who let the random fangirl in.”
“Yeah, that was me,” I said begrudgingly since I hadn’t really thought much about Tory after getting to the party. My attention had been completely on Andi. “Sorry. How bad was she?”
I felt a surge of panic on Andi’s behalf since she’d been worried about leaving Tory at the party. But she’d been yawning, and I knew she wanted to head home, so I’d assured her Tory would be fine and convinced her to let me take her back to her apartment. I really hoped that doing that wasn’t going to come back to bite me. The last thing I wanted was for Andi to lose the small amount of trust I felt I’d gained in the short amount of time we’d spent together.
I liked her. I liked her a whole lot, and I’d spent the better part of the night staring at her lips while I’d listened to her talk, wondering what it would be like to kiss her. I hadn’t done it, because I’d realized fairly quickly that it wasn't what she wanted. She wasn't a one-night stand kind of girl, and in all honesty, I respected that about her.
But she was fun to hang out with, and we got along well. I was excited to spend the day with her playing tourist before our non-date that I was actually considering a date. I figured I’d treat her to a nice dinner, take her to see Les Mis, since it was one of the best shows out there, and then I’d take her home.
I’d kiss her before I said goodbye, only because I doubted I’d ever see h
er again, and I’d thought about little else besides kissing her since I’d dropped her off. I had to do it at least once. But if something happened to Tory, Andi might nix the whole day before it even started.
“She wasn’t that bad,” Dillon told me. “Van had a handle on her. I think he was annoyed that she was so drunk, because he’d really been hoping to sleep with Gabriella, but she didn’t show up until later, and Van had already slept with the fangirl, so he kind of screwed himself. He tried to send her home with Bruce, but she wouldn’t have it and sort of made a scene, so he pulled her back into his room, and they never came out again.”
“What a dumbass,” I said, shaking my head since Van was always doing things like that. He had no impulse control when it came to hot girls, especially when there was a promise of sex.
“Morning boys,” I heard a few seconds later when Van’s bedroom door opened.
I turned to see him walking out with Tory trailing behind him. She looked appropriately contrite as she did the walk of shame past us. Van looked spry and chipper, though, which meant he’d probably gotten laid a few minutes earlier. He didn’t have girls stay the night often, but when he did, he capitalized on his time with them.
“Morning,” I called out to them and watched Tory’s cheeks flush as Van hurried her to the door.
“Do you want to get breakfast?” she asked him.
“Nah, I can’t. My flight’s in a few hours. I have to pack and get to the airport.”
He was totally lying. He wasn’t flying out until later that night, opting to take the redeye so he could sleep the whole way.
“Oh,” Tory said, sounding crestfallen. “Well, you’ll call me, right?”
“Absolutely,” he said, lying again. I could hear it in his tone. He’d never call her.
“Okay,” she said, smiling brightly at him, but I could see it was a little forced. She knew he wasn’t going to call.
He kissed her once, smacked her lightly on the butt and then opened the door. Bruce was most likely waiting on the other side to take her home. I thought it was a dick move for Van to send her off alone, but he wasn’t one to keep connections with girls going any longer than was necessary. Commitment of any kind was pretty much a four-letter word to him since he’d gotten burned by Elisa, the only girl he’d ever had real feelings for.
In truth he’d burned himself because he’d slept with someone else while he’d been seeing her, and she didn’t want anything to do with him after that. I wasn’t sure Van had ever bounced back from that, and since he and Elisa had broken up, he’d taken to sleeping with anything that moved. A psychologist would probably say he was trying to replicate what he’d felt for her, but I think he was just trying to numb the pain, which was why he slept with girls he didn’t even like. There was no way he could fall for them if he didn’t even respect them.
As soon as the door to the suite closed, he sauntered over to the coffeemaker and pressed a few buttons to brew a cup. I got up to head to my room since I knew his next move was to go into detail about the night before, and I didn’t want to hear it. I had a brunch ‘date’ with a pretty girl, and I didn’t want to be late.
* * *
“So what do you think so far?” Andi asked me as we drank milkshakes at some place she swore had the best desserts. She was one hundred percent right.
“This city is really awesome,” I said honestly, pulling my baseball cap further down on my forehead just in case anyone looked in our direction. I was trying to stay incognito, and so far it was working. “It feels so alive. It’s like the city has a pulse or something.”
Andi grinned at me. “I know. That’s why I love living here. But you know we really haven’t done New York right, the way I’d want to do it. The touristy stuff isn’t what makes the city great.
I smiled. “Well, for a kid who never left Michigan before he was eighteen, I kind of like the touristy stuff. I remember reading about these places when I was growing up, and I always wanted to see them. It’s kind of cool to be doing it now.”
Andi smirked adorably at me.
“What?” I asked her, needing to know what she was thinking in that moment. I’d been slowly peeling back her layers all day, but I wasn’t all the way there yet.
She shook her head. “You’ve been around the world, seen cities and countries that I’ve only dreamed of, and you think the Empire State Building, a building I’ve walked by daily for the past three years, is cool. I find that kind of endearing. Aren’t you supposed to be some jaded celebrity by now, acting all cool and aloof and pretending that nothing affects you?”
I laughed, because I’d met quite a few people who were just like that since I’d been in Westside. But I wasn’t one of them.
“That’s just not my style, Andi,” I said, smiling at her. “And you shouldn’t make assumptions about people. You might end up being wrong.”
She returned my smile. “Well, in this case, I’m glad I’m wrong.”
“Good to know,” I said, letting my words linger out there in a semi-flirtatious way before executing an intentional subject change. I’d been doing that all day, testing her out to see how she’d react, and so far it seemed to be working out in my favor. “So tell me why you decided to come here after college? And where was college anyway? You never told me that.”
As she’d been revealing bits and pieces of herself all day, I’d become fascinated with Andi’s life. It was so simple yet so holistic at the same time. She’d told me all about her friends and their crappy apartments and what they did for fun since they were all mostly broke. And I’d tried to imagine myself as just another twenty-something guy living that life – crammed into a studio apartment, working an entry-level job, and nervously watching my bank account and praying I’d have enough money to make it to the next payday. It honestly wasn't hard to do.
It was definitely out of the realm of what I’d become accustomed to, but before Westside, that had been my reality. My whole life my family had lived paycheck to paycheck, so I was no stranger to scrimping. Then I’d auditioned for Westside the summer after high school, and my life changed in an instant. Living paycheck to paycheck wasn’t something I ever had to do again.
And neither did my family. I made sure of that.
It was an awesome feeling, since I knew my nephew would never want for anything. My brother Preston was fairly successful with the money he pulled from owning his own gym, but he was just making ends meet when I’d started helping him out. With the extra money I gave him, he was able to do some much needed renovations on the gym, purchase state of the art equipment, and in turn, attract a larger client base. His gym was now one of the most popular for MMA training in Detroit, and I loved that I’d helped him achieve that.
But because of my success and good fortune, I had no idea what it was like to live like a normal twenty-one year-old, and for the first time since I’d been swept into the tornado that was my life, I realized that. But I also didn’t feel like a normal twenty-one year-old. I’d been exposed to too much, given too much responsibility at a young age that I had to grow up. I had to be mature and responsible or I could lose everything I loved about my life.
But as I’d listened to Andi talk about going to dive bars with her friends or shopping on a Saturday in broad daylight or going to the movies on a Tuesday night, I found myself feeling envious of her freedom. I hadn’t been able to do any of those things for a long time. Not only did my life feel insane most of the time because I was so busy, but anything I wanted to do in public was a highly coordinated security effort that usually felt like too much work to bother with.
It was why I typically went to clubs in L.A. with heightened security where I could go in a back entrance and straight to the VIP room, I shopped online, and I watched movies at home in our giant theater. I wasn’t hurting for anything, but freedom to do what I wanted when I wanted was something I didn’t have.
Even today, Andi and I weren’t alone. Chris and Bruce had been trailing us all day and were
now at a nearby table drinking water and keeping an eye out for anyone who might want to bother me. I’d worn a hat and sunglasses to keep my profile low, and I was wearing nondescript clothes, but the fact that I could be recognized and bombarded by fans or photographers at any time was a little unsettling.
Chris and Bruce had tried to talk me out of walking around the city and had suggested taking a car, but I’d vetoed that idea right quick. I spent my whole life in cars, and the past twelve times I’d been in New York, I’d been shuttled from place to place. I had yet to walk around the city, which was why I was loving today so much. I felt like I was finally experiencing New York the way it should be experienced. And I was with a girl who was making the day better than I’d ever imagined.
“I went to Duke,” Andi said, answering my question.
“Duke,” I said, nodding thoughtfully. “So you’re a southern girl through and through. Although you don’t have the accent I expected. It only comes out when you say some words.”
Andi blushed, which I found to be freaking adorable. She was tough, but when her cheeks were flushed, it completely took the edge off.
“Yeah, well, I worked hard to shed my accent. I’m afraid I’m not as southern as I used to be. It’s why I’m single and living here instead of in Atlanta, married with kids.”
“Married with kids?” I questioned as I took another sip of my peanut butter and chocolate shake. It was seriously delicious.
“Yeah. Most people I knew in high school are settled down and starting families. I knew I didn’t want that to be my life – at least not right after college – so I moved here. Thankfully I had my best friend Hannah or it would have been a tough transition. She made it easier. Then I met people like Tory through work. Most of my friends here are single, but some are starting to pair off,” she said with a shrug. “None of them are having kids yet, though.”
“Not one of my friends is married,” I told her.
Some of the guys I knew in high school had kids, but they weren’t exactly with the mothers of their children. It was sort of a different situation, but I had a feeling from the way Andi had described her childhood that she and I had grown up very differently.
Westside Series Box Set Page 9