A Is for Abstinence

by Kelly Oram

  Val rolled her eyes and I couldn’t help kissing her again. “Thanks for coming.”

  . . . . .

  The first thing they did was sit Val and me down for an interview where we announced that we were officially dating. I explained that I’d given up sex for her and that I’d be teaming up with the V is for Virgin campaign and the Not Everybody’s Doing It Foundation. I showed off my bracelet, told them about the percentage of the album sales I’d be donating, and I even sang “Worth Waiting For” unplugged.

  Then there was a brief Q & A session. Most of the questions were directed at Val. What she thought of the new song. How we originally met. How she felt when we were reunited. How I’d managed to finally win her over.

  “Oh, that’s easy,” she said. “He won me over when I saw the photos four years ago after he was dubbed that year’s Sexiest Man Alive.”

  Val pretended to fan herself, and the entire room burst into laughter. I laughed along with them, but on the inside I was shocked. In all the years I’d known her, she’d never once flirted with me. I flirted—all I ever did was hit on her—but she’d never reciprocated. She’d never even once told me she thought I was good-looking. I knew she was attracted to me because she always responded to me on a physical level whether she wanted to or not, but she’d never admitted it out loud before.

  “Really, though,” she said when the laughter died down, “I’m not sure when he won me over.”

  She looked at me in contemplation and shook her head slightly as she said, “He drove me so crazy, but in a way I always liked him from the first time we met. Underneath the ego, he’s an amazing man. He’s passionate and driven. We’re the same that way; we’ve just always had our eyes on different prizes. He still drives me nuts sometimes, but now that the sex issue isn’t standing in our way”—she lifted a shoulder and blushed—“he’s kind of hard to resist.”

  Val smiled at me and I grinned back, trying my hardest to hide the fact that I was struggling with unexpected emotions. This was a side of her she’d never shown me before. I knew she cared about me, and I knew she was this way with others, but I’d personally never experienced the flirty, loving Val who was nice and thought highly of me and complimented me. Until now, she’d always been on her guard with me.

  “You’re awfully quiet, Kyle.”

  The statement was more of a question and came from someone sitting in the crowd. I wondered how long I’d been sitting there, spaced out.

  “I’m just a little shocked,” I joked. “I’m not sure who this incredible woman sitting next to me is, or what happened to the snarky, sarcastic, defensive girl I remember from four years ago.”

  Val squeezed my hand and, in a voice dripping with heartfelt sincerity, said, “She grew up.”

  Something thumped in my chest and made me feel like I couldn’t breathe. I had to wrap up the interview after that because Val was twisting me all up inside.

  They filmed me signing the official V is for Virgin abstinence pledge and I presented the certificate to Val herself. “Here,” I said, acting as if I had just signed my life away and was being tossed into a prison cell. “I am officially abstinent. You win.”

  She glowed in a way I’d never seen as she accepted the document with my signature on it. She smiled down at the paper, then threw her arms around my neck and kissed me. “And I’m officially yours,” she said, “so I guess you win, too.”

  . . . . .

  After the interview, they sent all the press away and took a series of couples photos of Val and me with Val wearing her V necklace and me showing off my A bracelet. I’d done a lot of photo shoots over the years, but I’d never had as much fun with one as I did with Val that day.

  I was used to crazy photographers, but she wasn’t. Every time the guy told her to gaze into my eyes and then jumped around us yelling directions like “We’re so happy! We’re so in love!” or “Now we’re sexy! Abstinence is sexy!”, Val would lose her composure. I think the poor photographer was ready to throttle her after like the sixth time she lost herself in a fit of giggles. Several hours in he gave up, declared her a hopeless case, and said if the pictures were terrible, it wasn’t his fault. I assured him they’d be perfect.

  It felt like a lifetime before we were finally done and I was able to have Val all to myself. It was too early for dinner, so we decided to leave our cars parked in the studio lot and go for a walk. Not that downtown Burbank is especially exciting, but it was always a good idea for me to stay away from the tourist spots, and it was a beautiful day.

  “So,” I asked as we strolled down the street hand in hand, “you’re going to stay with your parents while you’re here? Are they still in Huntington Beach?”

  Val nodded absently. “It’s home.”

  I sighed, and Val cast me a sideways glance. “Why? Where do you live these days, Mulholland Drive?”

  I pretended to be offended by the assumption, but it was hardly believable when I had to answer, “On the PCH up in Malibu.”

  Val snorted softly and shook her head. “Of course you do.”

  “What? It’s a nice place.”

  She laughed again. “I’m sure it is.”

  “It’s also a really long drive from Huntington Beach.”

  Val sighed a little as she conceded to my point. She countered with, “It’s better than Sunnyvale.”

  “True.” I lifted Val’s hand to my lips. “I’m glad you’re here. Thanks for coming down.”

  We came across a farmer’s market and took our time wandering through the different vendor booths. Val was interesting to watch. I pulled my cap low over my eyes and stayed pretty quiet, happy to blend into the crowd, but Val interacted with almost everyone she crossed paths with.

  She’d stop to coo at a baby or pet a dog, always engaging the strangers she talked to with questions or compliments that sounded sincere. She talked to all the different vendors, complimenting them on their prize-winning tomatoes or asking how their crops had been this year. She was a ray of sunshine that left a trail of smiles in her wake wherever she went. I’d never known someone like her.

  “You should stay with me,” I blurted randomly as she bought a glass of lemonade from a young girl who was selling them out of a little red wagon alongside her parents’ fruit stand.

  She was still crouched down in front of the little girl, but she glanced up at me and arched one of her eyebrows.

  “Sometimes at least,” I insisted.

  I waited while Val paid the little girl, complimented her on her excellent lemonade, and told her to keep the change. She stood back up and met my gaze with a serious look. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Kyle.”

  I tugged her along to the next booth and away from little ears before I whispered, “It’s not like you’d have to get naked with me. You could even have your own room. It would just cut out so much driving time.”

  She was quiet a minute. When she finally shook her head, my heart sank in disappointment.

  “I’m sorry, Kyle.”

  “You don’t trust me?”

  “Not in the least.” Val laughed at my frown. “I have no doubt you would do things like strut around the house shirtless, looking all hot and tempting, trying to drive me crazy on purpose. You’re not the only one I don’t trust here, mister. I may be the stronger of the two of us, but my restraint only goes so far. Me staying at your house would be a train wreck waiting to happen, and you know it.”

  I was taken aback by the sudden turn of this conversation, and the weakness she’d just admitted to. It’s sad how excited her confession made me. I stopped walking and pulled her to me, slipping my arms around her waist. “I’m sorry. All I heard there was that you find the idea of me shirtless to be completely hot and tempting.”

  She rolled her eyes but still laughed. “Like that’s front page news?”

  “It is to me. I didn’t realize you had any hormones.”

  She laughed again. “I’m a virgin, but I’m still human, and a female at that.
There’s not a straight woman in the world that wouldn’t find a shirtless you hot and tempting.”

  “True.” My trademark egotistical smirk made an appearance. “I do put the ‘abs’ in ‘abstinence,’ don’t I?”

  Val stared up at me, completely speechless for a moment, then slapped a hand over her face and shook her head. She tried really hard not to laugh, but she couldn’t manage it.

  “You never cease to astound me,” she said as she gave me another look that suggested I was ridiculous and started walking again.

  I laced our hands together and felt her still shaking with laughter.

  “I have an idea,” I said. “Let’s go to the beach.”

  She gave me another look. “The beach? Really? So you can peacock around in nothing but your swim trunks? Do you really need to feed your ego that badly?”

  “Are you kidding?” I grinned. “Now that I know taking my shirt off will get you all hot and bothered? I’m tempted to strip down right here and now.”

  “And that is exactly why I will not be staying the night at your place. Ever.”

  I tried to make her feel guilty with my most convincing pout, but she only laughed and turned us around in the direction we’d originally come from. “Come on, let’s head back. I promised my parents I’d have dinner with them tonight.”

  Val spent the next couple of days in Huntington Beach with her parents, and met her half-brother for the first time on Friday, but she came up to L.A. on Saturday to watch me film the video for “Worth Waiting For.”

  I was really excited for this video. The song was sick, we had Carlos Gutierrez directing—who’d done the most number-one videos of any director in the music industry—and we had the sexiest, award-winning (daytime) actress starring opposite me. Since Cara had done the “Cryin’ Shame” video, I’d talked her into doing this one as well. She was an excellent actress and gorgeous to boot. This video was going to be killer, and the enthusiasm on set was high.

  When I got there, Cara was already shooting her solo shots. They had her standing in front of a wind machine, looking beyond hot in a man’s dress shirt. I’d be joining her as soon as they had me dressed and in makeup.

  Shane was standing just off to the side, watching her as he sipped a cup of coffee. I walked over and slapped him playfully on the back. I leered at Cara for a moment and said, “Man, I love my job.”

  Shane cut me a sideways glance. “Prick. Could you at least try to pretend you’re not excited to spend the day in bed with my wife?”

  For the video, they’d gone with the concept of me alone in bed with my fantasies. My girl would be there, haunting me in my dreams, and then I’d wake up alone. Artistically, it fit the song perfectly and would be amazing. Realistically it meant that I was about to spend the day in bed—shirtless—with Cara hanging all over me and kissing me, while wearing nothing but my dress shirt.

  “It’s going to be a horrible day’s work,” I deadpanned.

  Shane shook his head, but his lips quirked up into a smile. “She is sexy, though, isn’t she? Do you think I can get one of those wind machines to take home with me?”

  I laughed and looked at my phone. Val said she’d come up sometime before lunch, but I was ready to see her now. Who knew going three days without seeing her would be so hard? It was worse knowing that she was close and we just hadn’t been able to get together.

  “I wonder how long this will take today. Val wants us to go to dinner with you guys after, but I need some alone time with her tonight too, and the woman refuses to stay with me at my place. Can you believe that? I even offered her the spare bedroom. She flat-out told me she didn’t trust me.”

  Shane snorted. “That’s what you get for dating a smart woman. She sees through all your bull.”

  “Hey. I could keep my hands to myself.”

  Shane took another sip of his coffee, then said, “I’m counting on that today, dude.” He slapped my stomach with the back of his hand, hard enough to knock the wind from me. “Don’t do anything that I’ll have to punch you in the face for.”

  “What the hell! Does nobody trust me?”

  “I trust you,” Cara said, coming up to us. She jumped into Shane’s arms, wrapping her bare legs around his waist. “Hey, lover. Don’t be jealous. Kyle only gets to have me in his dreams. You get to have me for real.” She kissed him, then turned to me with a wicked grin. “I’m finished with my solo shots. You ready to get your fantasy freak on?”

  I looked down at the jeans and T-shirt I had on and gave her a big, cheesy grin. “Sure. Just let me slip into something more comfortable.”

  “Please tell me you don’t actually use that line for real.”

  “He wouldn’t be the great Cheerleader Seducer if he didn’t have better material than that,” Shane offered helpfully.

  I laughed all the way to wardrobe, where I was handed a pair of silk pajama pants and shoved into a changing room. Next, I was attacked by hair and makeup. You wouldn’t believe how much product it takes to give you a “sexy bedhead” look. At least they went light on the makeup. I’ll admit I go a little heavy on the eyeliner for a show, but I’d look like a giant douche with it caked on when I was supposed to be sleeping.

  The morning went by quickly. Everybody was in a great mood, Cara was a great actress, and Carlos said Cara and I had great chemistry—enough that Shane was threatening to have my face replace Rico’s on his dartboard.

  Everything was running smoothly and we were moving through the shots quickly. We’d moved through the lighter shots and had finally gotten to some of the heavier scenes. For this one, Cara had to crawl up the bed until she was straddling my lap. She’d kiss my chest and eventually make her way to my lips. Everything was slow and sensual and so, so, so hot.

  After a particularly steamy take, Carlson yelled “Cut!” and people cheered. “That’s definitely the one!” Carlos announced. “We’ve got what we need there. We just need to get the second angle now. Can you two stay put for a minute while we frame it, then you can take ten?”

  I glanced at Cara and smirked. “Twist my arm.”

  “How about you, Cara?” Carlos asked. “You going to be all right like that for a few minutes? Legs not going to fall asleep?”

  “Legs are good,” she called. She winked at me and added, “I can think of worse positions to be stuck in.”

  Across the room, Shane groaned. “That’s it. Cara’s never allowed to do another video for you again, you ass!”

  Cara and I both laughed. We knew it was mean, but Shane was just too easy. “Don’t worry, baby,” Cara called to him. “We’ll take a break in a minute and I’ll let you show Carlos what real chemistry is. Kyle’s cute and all, but he’s nothing compared to you, shnookums.”

  “That’s right, baby!” Shane called back. “You better recognize, Kyle. You may be the front man, but I’m the one with all the real skills.”

  He went there. I couldn’t let that stand. “Hey, Shane, you ever hear the one about the lead guitarist who was in tune?”

  “No.”

  “Yeah, neither did I.”

  Cara smacked my chest. “That was lame,” she said, but she was still laughing.

  From across the room, Shane flipped me the bird. “How do you know when a lead singer’s knocking at your door?” he asked. “He can’t find the key and doesn’t know when to come in.”

  “Thanks, douche.”

  I’m not sure if it was my brilliant comeback or the joke that made everyone on set laugh, but at least Shane was laughing. Cara and I liked to give him a hard time, but I didn’t want to push him too far.

  “Sounds like a party in here!”

  I grinned like an idiot at the sound of Val’s voice. “Finally.”

  I scanned the room and saw Val carefully making her way through the studio, escorted by a PA. She was dressed in another nice suit—a pants suit this time instead of a skirt—and she was having a hard time navigating the sea of electrical chords in her heels. The spike of her shoe ca
ught on a chord and she stumbled. I laughed to myself. If I hadn’t seen Baseball Val, I’d wonder if she even owned a pair of jeans anymore.

  Cara made a surprised choking noise. “You invited Val to this today?”

  “Why wouldn’t I? She said she wanted to come.”

  Cara looked at me as if I were the biggest idiot on the planet. “And you couldn’t have invited her to the shoot yesterday when it was just you and the band on a soundstage?”

  “I did invite her to that, but she had something with her birth family yesterday. She was so bummed about missing the shoot that I told her we were filming today, too. I didn’t even think about it. I just said to come.”

  Cara shook her head. “Well, I wish you luck, moron. You’re so getting dumped.”

  “Yeah right. Val will understand. It’s the job. She knows that.”

  Cara didn’t seem convinced. “I guess we’re about to find out.” She forced a big smile on her face and said, “Val! You came! I’m a little surprised to see you here.” She sent me another look that suggested I was completely obtuse. “But I’m glad you could make it.”

  Val finally spotted us and came to a stumbling stop. The PA had to reach out to steady her this time so that she wouldn’t fall.

  “Hey, honey. You could have worn tennis shoes,” I teased. “Hollywood generally keeps the work environment pretty casual.”

  Val blinked back and forth between Cara and me and breathed, “I guess so.”

  I sighed when her face paled. “I guess I should have given you some warning, huh?”

  Val swallowed, and her voice was still faint when she said, “Probably would have been a good thing.”

  “You didn’t even warn her?” Cara hissed under her breath.

  “I didn’t think about it.”

  “Idiot.”

  I glared at Cara and turned my attention back to Val. It was hard to see her face because flashes had started going off in my face as a couple of people buzzed around Cara and me, testing the new lighting set up. “Sorry,” I said. “They’ll be done here in just a second, then I’ll have a few minutes to show you around. Sound good?”