A Is for Abstinence (2 page)

“No kidding.”

A comfortable silence stretched out between us. Shane gave me fifteen minutes to drink in peace before he broke the silence. “So…maybe you should sing the song. I’ll play for you, if it would help.”

The offer was as huge as the request. I may have sung a song or two in the last year, but I don’t think Shane had played for an audience even once since we buried our friend.

“You think I should just give her what she wants after that?”

Shane took another sip of his drink. “You love her, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but—”

“Then you should do it.” When I looked at my friend, he shrugged.

“I shouldn’t have to. She has no reason to be jealous.”

Shane laughed. “Women don’t need a reason to be jealous. Hell, the only steady girlfriend I ever had besides Cara was Rebecca Carlisle back in high school. It only lasted about three months, but I lost my virginity to her and now Cara hates every woman in the world named ‘Rebecca.’ Her own niece is named Becca, and Cara got the whole family to start calling her by her middle name.”

I smiled at that. Shane’s fiancée Cara was a pistol of a woman. I couldn’t imagine what she’d do if Shane even dared to look at another female. Which he never did, of course. Shane was the most pathetically whipped sucker on the planet.

“Women are always insecure about their boyfriends’ past relationships,” he said. “With one as notorious as yours, well…I can’t blame Adrianna for being a little crazy about it. If you don’t want to lose her, you’re going to have to give her what she needs. Even if it means singing that song to prove you’re really over it.”

Singing that song again went against everything inside of me, but Shane was right.

“It’s just a song, man. You can do it.”

I sighed and then downed the rest of my drink. It wasn’t just a song and Shane knew that better than anyone, but I appreciated the BS pep talk anyway. “Fine.”

“That’s my boy.” Shane slapped me on the shoulder and got to his feet. “Let’s go get this over with.”

“Look, dude, this is my problem. I can handle it. You don’t have to play for me.”

“Don’t worry about it. You know I’ve got your back.”

I nodded, unable to tell Shane how grateful I was, but he didn’t need to hear the words. He knew.

We waited until the band finished their set before we climbed up on stage. They were actually a pretty sweet group. “Hey, you guys are awesome,” I said, shaking hands before I asked them to do me a favor.

“Especially you,” Shane agreed, singling out their lead guitarist. “You kill it on that thing. What’s your name?”

The guy’s eyes lit up at the compliment. “Thanks. I’m Embry Jacobs,” he answered, shaking both our hands with a little too much zeal. “I’m a big fan.”

“You’ve got excellent taste in guitars, dude. You mind if I borrow that for a minute?”

Embry’s eyes bulged. “You’re going to play?”

Shane hid his distress better than I did. No one would know by the smirk on his face how hard this was for him. “Kyle’s got a song to sing. Can’t let him go it alone.”

Embry happily handed the instrument over.

I took a deep breath as Shane pulled the strap over his head and slid his fingers over the strings. We looked at each other, our expressions identical: We were really about to do this.

Every member of Embry’s band gaped at us. “You’re really going to sing ‘Cryin’ Shame’?” Embry asked.

I glanced at him and then his bandmates. “You guys know it?”

They bobbed their heads, too stunned to reply vocally.

“Then I guess I’m going to sing it. Gotta give the woman what she wants.”

I was sick to my stomach, but I felt a thrill of excitement as strong as my nerves as I stepped up to the mic. I loved this song as much as I hated it. “Hey, everyone!” I shouted, getting the attention of the entire club. I cleared my throat even though there was nothing stuck in it. “The lady asked for a song. I haven’t sung this one in years, so, uh, bear with me if it’s a bit rusty.”

I waited for Adrianna to make her way to the stage but didn’t see her.

“Adrianna, get up here. If I’m going to sing this for you, then I want you front and center.”

The crowd fell silent when I got no response. “Adrianna? Babe?” A nervous laugh escaped me. “Has anyone seen my fiancée? I can’t do this without her.”

Heads twisted and turned, everyone searching for Adrianna, and I started to get a bad feeling. Shane must have felt the foreboding atmosphere too, because he stepped next to me just as we started hearing gasps.

The crowd parted like the Red Sea from the stage where I was to a booth in the back corner of the room where two people were locked in each other’s arms. It was too dark to see anything other than their silhouettes, but the shock of the crowd told me enough.

The two dark outlines pulled apart, and though I couldn’t make out her face, I could feel her stare burning into me. I knew I’d feel the sting of betrayal later, but right then I felt nothing. I was numb.

“Well, so much for that,” I said into the mic. “Glad I didn’t just make an ass of myself or anything.”

I felt a hand come down on my shoulder. “Dude, let’s just get out of here,” Shane whispered.

I shrugged his hand off. “In a minute. I owe the woman a song first.” I whirled around and looked at the nervous band behind me. “You guys know my song ‘Giving You The Middle Finger’?”

Embry was the first to respond. His lips quirked into a smile and he took his guitar back from Shane. “Hell yeah, man.”

When I woke up, I knew
I was in my own bed. Thousand-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets don’t lie. What I didn’t know was the identity of the bombshell brunette sleeping in my arms.

I was seriously hungover. I’d been worse off before, but not by much and not often. I tried to think back to the previous night’s activities, but things were a bit hazy. Something about a Lakers game and body shots with tequila.

Why I brought this woman home was beyond me. Don’t get me wrong, I know exactly why I’d gone to bed with her—now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure she was a Lakers cheerleader, which, hello, yes, please—but why had we come back
here
? The rule was: always take women back to their place. It’s easier to escape that way and seriously reduces the risk of psychotic stalkers breaking into your house.

Oh well, what was done, was done. Now I needed to figure out how to kick her out without seeming like a total douche. Maybe I’d offer to take her to breakfast before driving her home. First things first, though—coffee, Aspirin, and a nice, hot shower.

Gently, so as not to wake her up, I picked up her hand from my chest and slid away from her. My back bumped into something warm and solid. A soft moan sounded behind me and an arm slid around my waist. I wasn’t alone in this bed. I mean, aside from the brunette.

I looked over my shoulder and was met with a sultry smile. Apparently, I had a hot blonde accessory to match the brunette. Two women at once wasn’t a first for me, but it was rare.

“Morning, gorgeous,” Blondie said, snuggling up to me.

Brunette stirred at the noise and snuggled in as well, placing a soft trail of kisses on my bare shoulder. One was bad enough. How the hell was I supposed to get rid of two of them?

“That was a wild night, huh?”

“Mmm,” I agreed. It must have been, considering the significant lapse in memory. Maybe one or two less shots last night would have been better. “You two ladies sure know how to show a guy a great time.”

“Just the two of them?” a third sleepy voice asked.

Three?
Seriously?

A sexy redhead sat up and gave me a seductive pout.

Damn. That was new even for me. “I feel like I’m starring in my own personal joke. A blonde, a brunette, and a redhead wake up in your bed…”

The women all giggled, and the blonde tried to start a reenactment of whatever had happened last night, but I wasn’t feeling it. My head hurt, I was cranky, I was pissed at myself for bringing them back home—and even with all three of them here, I couldn’t shake the hurt from Adrianna. I just wanted these women to leave.

My prayers were answered in the most ironic way when my ex-fiancée burst into the room. “Playtime’s over, sluts. You have thirty seconds to get out of my boyfriend’s bed before I throw you out.”

My guests weren’t thrilled with the threat, and I really didn’t want to indulge Adrianna’s tantrum, but at least she’d solved my problem. “Sorry, ladies, it looks like the ex and I need to have a talk.”

I got out of bed and pulled on a robe. As I tied it shut, I met Adrianna’s heated glare with a bored look. “Apparently someone needs to go over proper breakup rules with her. For instance, not barging into my house uninvited, and minding her own damn business about my playtime.”

I smiled at the women again and pointed to the master bathroom. “Shower’s in there. Feel free to take your time. I’ll get a pot of coffee going.”

I followed Adrianna into the kitchen and started up the coffee machine. Adrianna waited until after I swallowed a handful of painkillers before she started in on me. “Three women at once, Kyle?”

It was hard to keep my temper in check. She shouldn’t even be here, much less acting like a jilted lover. “Not just any women,” I said, opening the fridge. “Professional cheerleaders. Gymnasts.”

Hmm…leftover Chinese takeout. Cold chow mien would do for now.

“How many women have you slept with this week?”

I shoved a forkful of noodles in my mouth and shrugged. “I haven’t really kept count, why? How many men have you screwed? Aside from the one you left me for on my birthday, of course. I already know about him.
Celebrity Gossip
got a great money shot of you guys going back to his place after you broke my heart and humiliated me in front of half of L.A.”

I pointed to the tabloid magazine cover of my fiancée cheating on me that I’d stuck to my fridge with magnets. I’m not sure why I’d displayed it like a Christmas card.

Adrianna looked at the picture and her face fell. Her big brown eyes misted over and her bottom lip quivered.

I had to look away. I hated her, but my love for her had been real. I was trying very hard to bury those feelings. If she cried, she was going to set me back.

The coffee was ready so I poured myself a steaming cup, dumped a little sugar in it, and took my breakfast out onto my back deck. I needed some air.

It was a beautiful Southern California day, and my Malibu estate was perched on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I took a deep breath, letting the smell of seawater, the cool ocean breeze, and the sound of the waves calm both my head and my nerves.

Adrianna joined me, cringing as she looked around. Her pain was as obvious as my own. Last week, sitting out on this deck together had been just part of our morning routine. We’d sip coffee, I’d update her on the Lakers or something I’d read in
SPIN
magazine, and she’d bore me to death with wedding details. Sounds dreadful, but I hadn’t minded it. We were happy.

Adrianna broke the silence first. “I made a mistake.”

Her voice shook as she wrestled with her emotions. It was a fight to control my own as well. “Vindictively ripping my heart out of my chest in front of all of our friends, and throwing away a two-and-a-half year long relationship because of a song was a
mistake
?”

“It wasn’t about a
song
, Kyle!” Her eyes finally spilled over with tears. “It was about the fact that you couldn’t sing it. It’s been more than three years and you’re still not over what happened.”

“But
nothing
happened. You’re jealous of a girl I never even dated.”

Adrianna hit me with a hard stare. “You don’t have to be in a relationship to be in love with someone.”

“In
love
with…” I couldn’t believe I was having this conversation. I’d buried every memory of the girl in question as deep as was possible. “Babe, how can you think I’m in love with her? I didn’t even love her back then. Yeah, I hate singing the song, but I haven’t thought about her in years.”