Westside Series Box Set

by Monica Alexander

  “That’s true. He could do that.”

  “I could even have my dad reach out to him if you’d like.”

  “No,” Cam said quickly. “I appreciate the offer, but I wouldn’t want your family to get involved. I’d rather no one know about this shit.”

  “I understand,” I told him, because I did. “I just wanted to offer.”

  “And I appreciate that,” Cam said, leaning up and pressing his lips to mine.

  I smiled before I turned and settled back against his chest. We were silent for several moments until he said, “Thanks for listening. I usually only talk to Dillon about this stuff because he’s the only one who really understands what my family situation is like, but I’d hate to tell him about this. I’m sure Callie doesn’t know, and if he knew he’d feel obligated to tell her. I’d be afraid she’d leave Preston, and she’d take Parker with her. That’s not what I want.”

  “I know.”

  “Let’s talk about something else,” he said, pushing to change the subject like he had earlier.

  I was starting to realize that he didn’t like to dwell on unpleasant things. I knew pushing the issue was the worst thing I could do, so I decided to let it go.

  “What do you want to talk about?”

  “Well, we’re staying at your parents’ house in Atlanta, right?”

  “Yup. I think they’re really excited to meet you,” I said, hoping that was still the case.

  My mom had called me earlier in the day to tell me she’d seen the pictures of Cam and me online. She hadn’t seemed overly excited about it. In fact, she’d sort of chastised me for letting the paparazzi get that close. I’d tried to explain that they were a little hard to avoid, but she didn’t seem to understand.

  “I’m sorry about the pictures,” Cam said, reading my mind as he again apologized for something he couldn’t control. I knew he felt responsible, and he’d heard my end of the conversation when my mom had called.

  “It’s okay,” I assured him again. “They’re just not used to their daughter being in the public eye. They’ll get over it, and when they meet you, I know they’ll love you. Who wouldn’t?”

  Cam smiled. “I am pretty lovable.”

  “You are,” I said, squeezing him around his waist.

  “Seriously though, I appreciate you being cool about the whole invasion of privacy thing,” he said as he gently grazed my arm with his fingertips in a rhythmic motion.

  “Well, the trade-off is not dating you, so I think I’ll suck it up and deal with my picture being taken from time to time.”

  “Good to know,” he said, his fingers continuing to graze my arm. “So, um, when we stay at your parents’ house, we’re going to be in separate bedrooms, right?”

  I looked up at him as I realized what he was insinuating. I hadn’t even thought about it before, but there was no way my conservative parents were going to be okay with me shacking up with my boyfriend of a few weeks in their house. It wasn’t going to happen.

  “I know it’s archaic, but my parents aren’t really cool with sleepovers. They’d never say anything, but I’m sure they’re shaking their heads at the fact that we’re staying here together. They’re of the mindset that sex before marriage is a sin.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Well, I obviously don’t believe that,” I assured him. “But yes. They’re conservative. It’s the way they’ve always been.”

  “Do people still do that?” he asked me.

  “What? Wait until marriage?”

  Cam nodded, the expression on his face showing me exactly what he thought of that notion.

  “I guess so. None of my friends are saving themselves, but I’m sure it happens,” I said as I rested my chin on Cam’s chest.

  “How long did you wait?” he asked me, a slightly devious smile on his face that he was trying to cover up.

  “I was nineteen. It was my college boyfriend.”

  “Oh yeah? And how old was he?”

  I smirked at his joke as I said, “He was twenty-three when we started dating. I didn’t start dating older guys until we broke up and I moved to New York.”

  “He didn’t want to move with you?”

  I shook my head. “Nope. He was going back home to Atlanta to do his residency, and he wanted me to come with him, but I didn’t see a future with him.”

  “So you started dating old men?” Cam teased.

  I smacked his arm. “Stop it. I never dated old men.”

  He laughed. “Point taken. So am I’m the youngest guy you’ve ever dated?”

  “Well, my high school boyfriend was only sixteen when we started dating, but so was I,” I teased. “And you’re the only younger guy I’ve ever dated, so yes, but to be honest, your age isn’t really something I focus on anymore.”

  Cam smiled. “Good, because I’m more of a man than any of those older guys you were with anyway.”

  I laughed. “This is true. I’ll give you that. So, how old were you when you gave it up?” I asked, turning the tables on him. “Let me guess. You were sixteen and it was in the basement of someone’s house.”

  He laughed. “Do I seem like a cliché to you?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just how most people lose their virginity, so I figured it was the same for you.”

  “It wasn’t. Like I told you before, I was really into theater, and I didn’t really date much. I was more focused on my plan to make it famous. Girls didn’t really factor into that equation, but there was one girl. It was a few weeks before I auditioned for Westside. She was twenty-two, and we were starring opposite each other in Westside Story. One day after rehearsals, we stayed late to work on a scene, and things got heated.”

  “Ah, so your first time was with an older woman. I had no idea that was a thing for you.”

  He rolled his eyes. “It’s not. I’ve honestly never thought about a girl’s age. If I like someone, I like them. It’s that simple. I’ve been with girls who were older than me, the same age, and younger. It’s not a thing at all.”

  “But you make fun of me for dating older guys.”

  “Yeah, well, I might have done that because I was jealous of your ex when he showed up at your apartment that night.”

  I shook my head. “He wasn’t the right guy for me. If you remember correctly, I invited you over after he left.”

  “I remember. That was one of the single best nights of my life.”

  Hearing him say that made the things I’d been feeling all week flare up again. My feelings for him had been growing stronger the more I was around him, and even though I told myself it was too soon, I couldn’t deny what was right in front of me. I just wasn't sure I was ready to admit that I might actually love Cam.

  “So did that night beat your night with your Maria?” I asked Cam, pushing what I was feeling aside. It was definitely too soon to say anything to him. I didn’t want to freak him out.

  Cam laughed. “That night wasn't as special as you might think. We ended up in the prop closet. It was dusty and cramped, and the whole thing lasted about two minutes. I just wanted to not be a virgin anymore, and the opportunity presented itself. I took it, but it definitely wasn’t special.”

  “I think that’s a common goal for most guys. Girls want sex to be special, but guys just want to say they’ve done it.”

  “I’ll agree with that, because I was absolutely relieved that I wasn’t a virgin when the whole Westside thing started. There’s something odd about being a sex symbol to millions of girls when you haven’t ever had sex.”

  “Is it still weird for you?” I asked him. “Being a sex symbol? Having millions of girls drool all over you, think they love you, and tell you they want to marry you?”

  Cam looked thoughtful for a few seconds. “I don’t know. I’ve gotten used to it, so it’s not exactly weird. And in the beginning it was the coolest thing ever. I went from being a theater geek to a guy who girls went nuts over. I was still the same geeky guy, but with the right hai
rcut, the right clothes, and a ton of marketing, the world saw me as a sex symbol. I can’t explain what it felt like the first time a group of girls screamed my name. It was weird and cool and a little puzzling all at once, but I loved it. I absolutely loved the attention.”

  “And you still love it?”

  “Now I love that we’re relevant,” he amended. “I love that people like our music, and the buzz of an amped up crowd still makes me feel like I’m vibrating, but I don’t need the validation of the screaming girls. I’ve since found it in other places – like the first time you looked at me and I knew you felt something for me.”

  Hearing him say that surprised me, since I wasn’t even sure when that was. My feelings for Cam had sort of come out of nowhere the day we’d run from the paparazzi. I’d kissed him, and that was it. I had a feeling they were there before that though. I just hadn’t been fully aware.

  “Yeah? When was that?”

  “The night I came over to your apartment. We were talking, and I knew you wanted me to kiss you, but I wasn’t sure it was for the right reasons, so I didn’t do it. And then over the next few days, there were times when I’d catch you looking at me when you thought I couldn’t see you. It was an awesome feeling, and it became more important than ten thousand girls screaming my name. I just wanted one girl to say it.”

  “Camden,” I whispered in awe, because I was practically speechless after hearing him dissect what I’d been feeling for him in such a neat and orderly way.

  “See,” he said softly, “that’s worth more to me than any accolades I could receive for what I do in Westside. And I never knew it was something I wanted. I had no idea how being with someone like you could make me feel.”

  I smiled, feeling my cheeks heat as he poured his heart out to me. “I feel the same way,” I said softly, my words sounding strained as I tried to speak them.

  We’d made so many declarations during this trip, and it was a lot to take in, but I wanted everything he was telling me.

  I rested my head on his chest again. “I want this to work between us, Cam,” I said softly.

  “Me too,” he said, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

  “Do you think your fans are going to be mad that you have a girlfriend?”

  “I don’t know. Some of them probably will be, and I’m sure you’ll see some hate comments on Twitter when everyone finds out we’re together, but it’s not like I would have been with one of them anyway. Dating fans has always been a hard no for me. I want a girl who’s willing to get to know me and not the guy she perceives me to be.”

  “That’s why you liked me,” I said with a satisfied smile.

  “Exactly. You and your stupid texting during the concert pissed me off, but that was before I knew you. If it hadn’t been for that, I never would have made the effort I did, but the fact that you weren’t a fan intrigued me.”

  “I’m sort of wishing I would have paid more attention to the concert. I’ve watched a lot of your performances since then, but it’s so different now that I know you. I had front row seats to watch you do your thing, and I ignored the opportunity.”

  Cam’s fingers slid up and down my arm in a steady, rhythmic pattern. “Well, come March you can have backstage access to any show you want. It’s sort of a perk of dating me.”

  “I might become a fan,” I warned him. “Will you break up with me if I do?”

  He laughed. “Hell no. That I’ll think is sexy, because you picked me first and then you picked the band. I’m alright with that.”

  “I did pick you,” I said, echoing his sentiments as I turned and looked up at him. “And I can’t wait to see you perform live again. I promise to pay attention the whole time.”

  Cam leaned forward and kissed me as his arms wrapped around me and pulled me on top of him. “I can’t wait for that either,” he said softly.

  * * *

  Who is Andrea Cutler?

  That was the headline Cam found in his email when we woke up. Apparently the media had decided I was newsworthy, and they were trying to figure out exactly who I was and how I knew Cam. The initial story that we were old friends wasn't exactly holding weight anymore.

  “This is weird,” I said to Cam when he got out of the shower.

  I was perched on the edge of the garden tub in our suite re-reading the article on his iPad.

  “What’s weird?” he asked as he wrapped a towel around his slim waist.

  “That people know who I am, that the website that wrote this article dug up this much information on me. It’s odd to think that anyone would care.”

  Cam smirked at me. “Who did you have a crush on when you were thirteen?”

  “Justin Timberlake,” I said automatically. “Post ‘Nsync, of course.”

  “Obviously,” Cam said, grinning at my teasing reference to my former loathing of boy bands. “And weren’t you curious when he started dating Jessica Biel?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe, but I knew who she was. I watched 7th Heaven.”

  “That is adorable,” Cam teased as he stepped closer to me. “You were so pure once upon a time.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “Whatever.”

  “Here’s the deal,” Cam said. “I know you think I’m just a normal guy, but I’m not. I mean, I am when I’m around you, but in general my life isn’t normal.”

  “Hence the bodyguard who is your shadow.”

  “Exactly. And to the rest of the world – especially those who really like Westside – there’s a curiosity about who I date, mostly because I’ve never had a girlfriend before. Interest in me equates to interest in you.”

  “Right, and I get that. I now have a ridiculous number of Twitter followers thanks to you, but for an entertainment website to research where I grew up and what sorority I was in when I was at Duke, it’s a little much.”

  Cam shrugged. “People want to know the intimate details of your life. It’s not that odd. The same thing happened to Mere when she and Dillon went public. When you’re in a relationship with a celebrity, you have one of two choices – ignore the press and live your life, knowing that they’re still going to write things about you that may or may not be true, or come out and be a couple in the public eye, which would mean doing interviews about your relationship and possibly magazine shoots, appearances, etcetera – which for the record I’m thinking is not your style.”

  I shook my head and made a face. “Not at all. I choose laying low.”

  “Good,” he said, grinning at me. “Me too. But people are still going to be curious. Our picture will be taken whether we want it to be or not, articles will be written, and assumptions will be made about us. You’ll hear things that you don’t like, but you can’t let them get to you.”

  “What sorts of things?”

  Cam took a deep breath. “Well, there might be assumptions made that I’m seeing other people, that I’m being unfaithful because I talked to another woman in public. There might be concerns about us being on the rocks because we’re in a long distance relationship. Stuff like that, but Andi, I need you to ignore it if you hear that.”

  I nodded, blinking a few times as I mulled over his words. “Okay.”

  I hoped it wouldn’t come to what he was describing, but I had a feeling we wouldn’t get that lucky. I was just going to have to develop a thicker skin.

  “If you do hear anything,” Cam continued, “if you’re feeling apprehensive about us, or if you want to ask me about anything you hear, do it. Don’t hold back. I will always be honest with you. I promise.”

  “Okay, I will.”

  He smiled. “The paparazzi are going to approach you at the most inconvenient times. You might even have fans come up to you while you’re shopping on a random Saturday. It might not be fun, but I’m sort of hoping that you’ll feel like being with me outweighs the hassle.”

  I returned his smile. “I think it is.”

  He looked relieved as he said, “Good.”

  “So, are you talking about W
estside fans approaching me?” I clarified.

  “Yup. People will do all sorts of things to gain access when they want it bad enough, and you’re basically an extension of me. Look at Tory and how desperate she was to meet Van.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, okay. I get it.”

  “And you might have your own fans too.”

  “Seriously? That’s weird.”

  “It’s the world we live in,” Cam said, like this whole conversation was normal. It so wasn’t, and having it just brought back the reality that Cam wasn’t the boy next door I saw him as. He was a real live celebrity. It was just hard for me to remember when it was just us. “And for the record, I’m assigning Bruce to you permanently.”

  “No,” I groaned, since just the idea of being trailed all the time sounded less than appealing.

  “Yes. And don’t even try to argue because it won’t work. If I can’t be there with you, Bruce will. I’m not going to be across the country or on another continent and not know if you’re safe.”

  I sighed, knowing he was right. And his concern was kind of adorable. “Fine.”

  He reached out and took the iPad from my hands and set it on the edge of the tub. “Don’t read this stuff. I’m telling you, it’ll drive you crazy.”

  I nodded. “I know.”

  “Good,” he said, taking my hands as he pulled me to standing. Then he kissed me. “Now, I believe we have a plane to catch, and I have some parents to meet. I hope they like me, because I’m nervous as shit.”

  I looked up at his adorable face knowing that despite the fact that dating him had given me a public persona, and my parents weren’t fans of that, they were going to see the same things in Cam that I saw in him. They were going to love him.

  “You’re going to win them over with that cute smile of yours and your sweet and caring nature that I love so much. Trust me.”

  His mouth twisted into the exact smile I was talking about. “I hope so.”

  I leaned up and kissed him. “I know so.”

  * * *

  “Welcome to Georgia,” I said as we stepped onto the tarmac.

  Cam smiled at me, and I was glad to see his good mood had followed us to Atlanta. We’d spent most of the plane ride kissing and cuddling like teenagers with Cam trying to push things further than I wanted with Chris and the pilots in such close proximity. He kept laughing at me as I pushed his hands away, arguing playfully that he was about to be cut off for four days, and he’d never be able to stand it. I told him to suck it up, which only made him laugh harder.