by Kelly Oram
I chuckled and didn’t bother to lower my voice. “I wish. I’m a singer, not a baller. I genuinely suck that badly at all sports. What’s worse is your sister said I’ll have to play volleyball with her at that beach barbecue we’ve got coming up in a couple weeks—you are coming to that, right?”
My parents had decided it was time to meet Val. They could never do anything simple without having the chance to show off, so they decided to invite Val’s family—birth and adopted—to their country club in Huntington Beach for a barbecue. I could tell from the guilty look on Brody’s face that he’d been planning to skip it until now.
“Yeah, I think my mom said we were going.”
“Good. Then you can play Val for me and spare me the humiliation of getting schooled by my own girlfriend.”
Brody laughed and nodded his head. “I suppose I could do that. I’m pretty decent at sand volleyball.”
I waited a moment and louder than necessary said, “So, Mr. Basketball, are you a Lakers fan?”
Brody raised a brow at me. “Is my sister a virgin?”
I chuckled. He actually wasn’t too bad when he wasn’t being a whiny brat. “It just so happens that I am also a huge Lakers fan. I happen to be a season ticket holder, and I’m not talking the nosebleeds. My seats are spitball distance from Jack Nicholson’s.”
“No freaking way!” Brody shouted. He shook his head with a small measure of disgust. “It pays to be rich and famous.”
I threw my arm over Brody’s shoulder. “It also pays to know the rich and famous. I’m going to miss a lot of the games next season because I’ll be on tour. I thought maybe you could keep my seats warm for me while I’m gone.”
Brody’s jaw fell open, and for a moment he was completely speechless. After the shock wore off, he shouted again. “Are you freaking serious?”
“I don’t joke about the Lakers, kid,” I said solemnly. “You should take your mom sometimes, or maybe your girlfriend…”
Brody ducked his head a little to hide his blushing cheeks. “I don’t have a girlfriend,” he mumbled.
“What? No girlfriend?” I practically shouted it, and I glanced around, making eye contact with several cute girls. “Well, we’ll have to fix that, and soon. Are you coming to my album release party?”
“Uh…yeah?”
He glanced at the crowd and blushed again. There must have been thirty or forty kids standing around listening to our conversation and all of them were now gaping at Brody in shock.
“Awesome. Anyone you want me to add to the guest list? Any particular starlet you’d like to meet?”
Brody looked up at me with eyes that seemed to ask if I was serious. “Uh…”
“I’ve got A-list access, dude. Take advantage.”
“Um.” He thought for a moment and said, “Miley?”
I couldn’t help bursting into laughter. “Aiming high, huh? I like it. I always say go big or go home.”
I got to my feet and held out a hand to help Brody up. “Miley’s already RSVP’d,” I said as I brushed some grass off my pants. I snatched the ball from Brody’s hands. “She’ll be there. Unfortunately for you, your sister would kill me if I hooked you up with her. How do you feel about Bella Thorne, though? I’ve heard she’s a sweetheart.”
Brody’s pout melted into a hopeful grin. “Bella Thorne? Hell yeah.”
“Done.” I shook my head. “And speaking of your scary sister who holds the leash to my invisible collar, we should go find her before I get in trouble for ditching her all night.”
I grumbled as I tugged at my shirt collar, and secretly cursed the people who’d made it necessary for me to wear a tie. My album release party was a little too swanky for my taste. My managers had chosen to have it at this new hipster sushi restaurant, so while it wasn’t a black-tie event, it was all cocktails and raw fish. I’d have killed for a cheeseburger, but I couldn’t complain about the night too much because the little black dress Valerie wore made it worth it.
The décor of the place was pretty cool; I’d give them that. Aquariums throughout the building gave it a very under the sea, mysterious, romantic feel. They’d even gotten some fog machines going along the floors, so we were all walking around in a sea of clouds. The atmosphere was great, they were pumping my new album through the speakers, and I’d had final say over the guest list, so the company was great. If not for the stupid tie, uncomfortable shoes, and fancy food, the party would have been perfect.
“Let me guess,” Val whispered as she finally found her way back to my side. The woman was a born mingler and had been a very popular guest tonight. “Right now, you’re wondering how rude it would be if you took off your tie and ordered some pizzas.”
She won. I smiled. She watched my pout disappear and bent forward to kiss my grin. “That’s a much better look on you,” she teased.
I wrapped my arms around her before she could pull away. “If you want it to stay, then you can’t keep wandering off on me.”
“I’m just being a good hostess. You’re the one who keeps hiding from your own guests.”
“I’m not hiding from my guests. I was just trying to lure you into this dark corner. And look! My evil plan has finally worked. It took a while, but the wait was worth it.”
I adjusted Val so that she was sitting on my lap. She gave me a look that I ignored, and I kissed her again. The blessed woman indulged me more than I thought she would and for a minute we made out like a couple of teenagers.
Energy renewed, I finally got up and dragged Val back into the foray. I had a surprise for Val, and he had just texted me that he’d arrived. “Congressman Richards is that guy you like, right?”
Val blinked and gave me an odd look. “Random. How did you know that?”
I grinned. “My good friend Google seems to know you pretty well.”
“You Googled me?”
I was hoping to find some nude pictures but—”
“Kyle!”
I laughed. She was just too easy. “Anyway,” I said, lacing her hand in mine. “Did you know that our wonderful congressman’s youngest daughter is fifteen years old and happens to be a big Kyle Hamilton fan?”
“I did know that Congressman Richards had a teenage daughter, and I could have guessed she was a fan—most teenage girls are—though I’m wondering how you know that.”
I led Val through the crowd where I saw the congressman and his starry-eyed daughter walk through the front door. “I know that because when I called to invite her father to this thing tonight he told me I take up more space on his daughter’s bedroom walls than One Direction.”
Val gasped mockingly. “More than One Direction? That’s impressive—wait, did you just say when you called to invite him here tonight?”
I laughed and turned her toward the man standing in front of us. “Val, I’d like you to meet—”
“Congressman Richards!” she gasped. Her face flushed as she gingerly shook his hand. “Wow! I’m sorry—I’m just so surprised. It’s so good to meet you.”
The congressman chuckled. “I didn’t expect to be recognized at an event like this.”
“No, it’s an honor. I’ve followed your career since you were elected Mayor of Huntington Beach.”
The congressman’s eyebrows shot way up. “You couldn’t have been more than ten.”
Val blushed again. “I was nine. My dad did a lot of volunteer work on your election campaign. He took me to one of the debates and let me hand out buttons. I’ve been hooked on politics ever since. I just received my degree in political science at Stanford, and I wrote a paper on your congressional platform for my final in one of my poly-psy classes.”
I finally couldn’t hold back my laughter anymore. It was just so strange seeing Val like this. When I gained the attention of both Val and Congressman Richards, I shook my head and sighed. “I have international superstar status and she goes fangirly over you.”
Val blushed again. Congressman Richards and I both laughed as we shook hands. �
�Congressman, this is my brainiac, future-first-female-president girlfriend, Valerie Jensen. I was trying really hard to impress her tonight, and the Hollywood A-list doesn’t seem to do that, so I owe you a big thank-you for coming.”
“It was my pleasure, and it was really kind of you to invite Monica as well.”
He pulled his daughter in front of him, his smile suddenly transforming him from politician to proud father.
“Thanks for coming tonight, Monica,” I said. The girl bit back a squeal when I said her name and trembled as she shook my hand. “You’re doing me a huge favor. I have a friend here tonight who was worried that there wouldn’t be anyone his age to talk to.”
I pointed toward Val’s brother. He wasn’t hard to spot, towering over most of the people in the room. I gave Monica a second to check him out, then nudged her lightly with my elbow. “Good-looking guy, isn’t he?” She blushed and didn’t say anything, but her eyes drifted back to him again. “He’s nice. Kid of shy, though.” I looked at Monica again and added, “Like you, I suspect.”
She bit her lip and nodded. I let go of Val and took Monica’s hand. “Come on, I’ll introduce you while we let the grown-ups talk boring politics.”
Val was still talking to Congressman Richards when I returned minus one shy teenage girl. “Don’t worry, Congressman. I promise I left her in good hands. He’s Val’s brother. He’ll look after her.”
We all turned back to look at the kids. There had been a whole group of girls surrounding Brody, but when I’d mentioned Monica was shy and a little nervous to be there, he’d pulled out a chair for her and given her his full attention. He was introducing her to several girls she clearly recognized.
“Exactly how many famous teenage girls did you invite tonight?” Val asked.
The suspicion in her voice made me laugh. “A few,” I admitted.
“And how many teenage boys are here—famous or otherwise?”
I laughed again. “One.”
Val rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face was grateful. “You worked a miracle on him. Valerie’s called me in tears several times this week. She says he’s like a whole new kid.”
I shrugged. “He just needed a little attention. You’re a hard woman to compete with, Val.”
“It’s more than that,” Val said. “You’re really good with him. You should think about mentoring. You’d be great for the Big Brother program. Or, you know, we could even start our own program if you wanted.”
She was getting that scary gleam in her eyes, so I stomped out that conversation before it really got started. “Oh, no. No way. No more starting programs for you.”
“But that’s one you and I could do together.”
That was an interesting thought, and not the most horrible one I’d ever heard. “Maybe I’ll think about it,” I said, “in a few years. Right now you have enough on your plate with your L.A. F is for Families office.”
Congressman Richards perked up. “Are you doing that?” he asked Val, surprised.
“I’m trying,” she said. “Still waiting on grant approval and a few permits. You know how it is.”
Congressman Richards laughed. “Yes, I do. Why don’t you send me the proposal? I’ll see what I can do to help move things along faster.”
Val was overwhelmed. “I—I—that would incredible,” she muttered, shocked. “Thank you.”
“I would be happy to help. I’ve actually heard a lot about your V is for Virgin efforts from my daughter this week. She’s been nonstop chattering about Kyle since he invited us to come tonight. She showed me the recent article about you doing the abstinence challenge together. I’m the father of a teenage girl, Miss Jensen. There’s not a woman on the planet I’d be happier to support than you. In fact, you should call my office and set up a meeting with me sometime. We’re going to be interviewing soon to fill a few open positions on my reelection campaign staff. We could sure use someone like you.”
Val gasped again. I had to slip my arm around her waist because I was afraid her knees were going to give out. “That’s very kind of you,” she said once she could speak. “It would be a dream to work with you, but I start grad school in a couple of weeks.”
If it was possible, the congressman’s opinion of Val went up even higher. “That’s unfortunate for me. Still, you should keep my card and give me a buzz after you finish.”
Val accepted the business card he handed her and then I made a polite escape, explaining to the congressman that he’d sent my girlfriend into shock and she needed to sit down before she passed out. It wasn’t much of a lie. She didn’t even notice it when I dragged her to a table and sat her down.
“Did that really just happen?”
I chuckled and was then attacked by my very giddy girlfriend. Her arms came around my neck and her lips found mine. I was more than happy to let her kiss me over and over again as long as she needed to.
“I can’t believe you did that for me,” she said as she squeezed the breath out of me.
When she pulled back, her eyes were glossy with a sheen layer of tears. The expression on her face did me in completely. Hundreds of women have gazed at me with stars in their eyes, but this was the first time Val had ever given me that look. There was something different about it coming from Val, though. Her infatuation wasn’t hollow. There was real emotion in her face. Emotion that meant something. Emotion that had me swallowing back a dry lump in my throat.
“Val,” I whispered, bringing my mouth back to hers for a soft kiss. “Let’s get out of here. Let’s go somewhere, just you and me.” She laughed as if she thought I’d made a funny joke. “I’m serious.”
“Kyle, we can’t leave.”
“Sure, we can. It’s just a party.”
“It’s your party.”
She was right, but I couldn’t help wondering if she was making excuses. My good mood deflated and I slumped back in my chair. I was so tired of this. It wasn’t even about the sex. It was as if she didn’t want to be alone with me at all. Like she had some kind of personal rule against it. We’d been dating for six weeks now and the only time it was ever just the two of us, we were out on a date and it was always someplace nice and public. She’d only even been to my house twice, and Shane and Cara had been there with us both times. It was never just Val and me.
I’d known this relationship wasn’t going to be easy, but I was starting to get bitter. I’d expected more somehow. I didn’t want to screw this up. Val was the most amazing, perfect woman. She was everything I wanted. I was falling for her, but something wasn’t working and I couldn’t figure out what it was. If we didn’t fix it soon, we weren’t going to last.
Val noticed my disappointment. Her worried brow and apologetic smile confirmed to me that her not wanting to leave had nothing to do with offending anyone at this party. I couldn’t take it anymore. “What’s going on, Val?”
She seemed surprised by the question. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, what’s going on with us? Are you in this relationship because you want to be, or because you don’t know how to get rid of me?”
Startled, Val leaned over and pulled my hand into hers again. She watched me for a minute, searching my eyes with a concerned frown on her face. “Do you really not know the answer to that?” she asked in a whisper.
I was embarrassed that I didn’t. We were to the point where I should have had no doubt. I hated that I needed her to confirm it. I looked down at my lap and shrugged. “I did kind of bully you into it.”
All summer I’d felt that this relationship was off balance. I felt as if I cared more about her than she did me. I definitely needed her more than she needed me. No one who knew us would argue that. At first I’d just been thrilled that she was with me at all. Now that my heart was invested, that wasn’t good enough. I needed more from her. I needed her to be invested with me, and I wasn’t sure she was.
“Kyle.” Her hand on my face forced me to meet her eyes. “You of all people should know that I don’t d
o things I don’t want to.” She smiled a rare, cocky smirk. “I could have told you no. It is possible to resist the great Kyle Hamilton, no matter how much you think it isn’t.”
I wasn’t in the mood to laugh, but my lips curved up at the ends. Val’s eyes brightened at my smile. “I’m here in L.A. because I want to be,” she said. “I’m with you because I want to be. I couldn’t ask for a better boyfriend than you.”
It was the answer I wanted to hear, but it didn’t get rid of the bad feeling in my gut. Words didn’t mean much without actions backing them up.
“Okay?” she asked when I didn’t say anything.
I wasn’t sure we were really okay, but I nodded anyway. She didn’t buy it. Sometimes I hated that she was so smart.
She sighed. “Right now is not a good time for this kind of conversation, but it’s clear we need to talk. We’re going to your parents’ barbecue tomorrow, but we don’t have anything planned tomorrow evening. Can you wait until then?”
She waited for me to answer, but I didn’t know what to say. The phrase “we need to talk” was never good. I couldn’t help wondering if we were about to come to another tragic end like we had four years ago. I didn’t want that, but sometimes it felt inevitable. It had always felt a little hopeless between us.
“Kyle, whatever is bothering you, I want to fix it. I don’t like seeing you upset.”
At least she wasn’t planning to dump me. That didn’t mean it wasn’t going to happen, but it helped to know that wasn’t her intention. I took a deep breath and tried to pull myself together. I kissed the backs of her fingers and forced a convincing smile. “Okay,” I said. “Just you and me tomorrow after the barbecue.”
Val roved her eyes over me again from head to toe, as if making sure I wasn’t going to break. When I passed her inspection, she smiled and said, “Just you and me. I promise.”
My parents had their “little summer barbecue” catered. It was so typical of them. They’d expressed an interest in meeting Val’s parents so I’d suggested a barbecue on the beach, and they ended up hosting an event at their yacht club. Aside from the fact that there was sand and water—meaning I could wear swim shorts and flip-flops—it was a swankier event than the album release party the night before.