A Is for Abstinence (21 page)

“When you texted me the location, I thought it was a joke. A rock star and a TV star dining at
Coco’s
at four o’clock in the evening?” Robin said as she plopped down into a chair. “Not that I’m complaining. I do like their pie.”

I laughed. Val had once had the same reaction. “There aren’t many places a rock star and a TV star can go without being recognized,” I explained. “The sixty-five and up crowd aren’t really our demographic. Well, they’re not mine, anyway. Miss Daytime over there is probably at risk of getting mobbed by the old ladies.”

“Jealous of my old ladies, Kyle? I didn’t realize you had a thing for false teeth and rose-scented perfume.”

Val cleared her throat, pulling Cara and me from our banter. “Guys, you’ve all met Robin, but this is her husband, Alan. Alan, this is Kyle, Cara, and Shane.”

Val was still acting weird, so I decided to put on my best manners. I stood and held out a hand to Alan. As he shook our hands and said hello to us all, his greeting was polite, but he was definitely wary of our group. I couldn’t blame him. He looked very much like the suburbia American dream. His hairline was slightly receding, he had a few extra pounds around the middle, and I’d bet money that he wore a white shirt and tie to the office every day. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it was just so completely opposite from the world that Cara, Shane, and I lived in. The difference between us was painfully obvious, and I tried to ignore the fact that Val seemed to have a lot more in common with him and Robin than with any of the rest of us.

Things were slightly awkward but at least the waitress came to take our orders fairly quickly, breaking the tension a little. When she got to Robin, I was shocked to hear the pregnant woman say, “Nothing for me, thanks.”

“Nothing for you?” I blurted. I hadn’t seen the woman without food in her hand since we met.

She laughed and said, “My stomach’s feeling a little off. I’m not that hungry, so I’ll just have a few bites of Alan’s spaghetti.”

“No, you won’t,” Alan said. He glanced up at the waitress and said, “Bring us two plates of spaghetti.”

Robin frowned. “Hon, I don’t need my own plate.”

“Yes, you do, because I would like to eat my dinner and if you don’t order your own, you will eat all of mine.”

“No, I won’t.”

“You always do.” He looked at the waitress again and held up two fingers. “Two plates of spaghetti.”

“And the chocolate crème pie.”

“No pie,” Alan said sternly, earning another frown from his wife. The sour look didn’t change his mind. “You know what the doctor said. You’re borderline gestational diabetic. No more sweets.”

“‘Borderline’ is not diabetic,” Robin grumbled.

Alan shook his head at the waitress. “No pie, thank you. Just the spaghetti.”

“Two plates,” the woman replied with a smile.

I don’t know what she was smiling about. Observing Robin and Alan was like watching a dizzying ping-pong match. If they stayed like this all night, I’d get a headache. I couldn’t help wondering if Shane and Cara would end up like that.

“So,” Robin said cheerfully after the server retreated to the kitchen. She smiled as if the argument with her husband had never taken place. “How are you enjoying your vacation, Val?” She snickered as if she’d just made a funny joke. I didn’t understand.

Val groaned. “You know me.”

Robin laughed, but my face fell into a pout. Whatever they were joking about, I was missing the punch line. Another person who knew Val a lot better than me. That wasn’t a good feeling.

“You guys want to explain to the rest of us?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Val leaned into my shoulder and squeezed my hand, making me relax a little. “I just get restless sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” Robin laughed. “The woman can’t do vacation. She’s completely incapable. She’s been down here for four whole days, which means she’s going out of her mind already not having anything to do.”

I’m pretty sure I was frowning again. “What do you mean nothing to do?” I asked Val. “Your schedule’s been so packed I had to wait three days for you to come back and see me.”

“Visiting family and catching up with old friends is great but it still feels very…idle. Plus, I’ve finished seeing everyone, so my schedule is completely empty now. I can only sit around for so long. Without a job or school, I’ll need something to do this summer.”

“I thought
I
was your something to do this summer.”

When Cara and Shane both snickered and Val gave me a flat look, I had to think back on what I said. I smirked at the innuendo, unintentional as it had been. “That’s not even what I meant.”

“For once,” Cara quipped.

I glared at her and brought Val’s hand to my lips. “I thought you came down here to spend time with me.”

Val smiled at me as if she found me completely adorable. It wasn’t condescending, but it still pissed me off a little. It made me feel as though she were indulging a whiny kid.

“I did,” she promised. “We’ll have lots of time to spend together, but you’re going to be busy during the days. Your tour rehearsals are starting soon and you’ll have a ton of press appearances for your album.”

“But you can come with me to all of those things. It’ll be fun. Like today.”

Val’s smile faded. “You thought today was fun?” she asked quietly.

“You didn’t?” I was so confused.

My question made the blood drain from Val’s face but, for the life of me, I didn’t know what the problem was. Today hadn’t just been fun; it’d been amazing. One of the best days I’d had in a long time.

“Kyle, today was—” She bit her lip as if she didn’t want to say what she was thinking and then changed her sentence. “I can’t just follow you around all summer sitting on the sidelines for hours while you do your thing. I’d be bored to tears.”

She wasn’t being mean, but I still felt like I’d been slapped, and I forgot all about the fact that she’d completely skirted the question I’d asked her. “You think what I do—my music—is boring?”

“Of course not,” she said quickly. She pinched up her face as if I were making her head hurt. “I just meant that I couldn’t help you with anything while I was there. I couldn’t participate. You’d be busy and I’d just be sitting there. Going to a dress rehearsal or the occasional interview is one thing, but watching your practices and workouts all summer? I couldn’t do that any more than I could sit on a beach reading and sipping margaritas all summer.”

She squeezed my hand again when I frowned. “It’s okay that you work, Kyle. I don’t need to be with you every second of the day. I’ll be fine. I just need to find something to do. I need a project or something.”

I truly didn’t understand this woman. “You think I asked you to come to my rehearsals because I’m worried about having to entertain you?”

“What other reason would there be for you to drag me to work with you?” she asked, baffled.

We clearly didn’t speak the same language. She was just as confused as I was. “Um…how about that I just like your company and want you there?”

She blinked up at me as if I were insane.

“Kyle, she’s not a
groupie
.”

Val and I both turned to see Cara biting back laughter. “You’ll have to forgive him,” she said to Val. “His last girlfriend actually
was
a groupie and was fused to his side 24/7 the entire time they were a couple. He’s not used to a girlfriend who has a life of her own that doesn’t revolve around him.”

Everyone had a good laugh at my expense. I tried to be a good sport about it, but I wasn’t very happy. Now Cara had me thinking about Adrianna, and that was never a good thing. I could see all the reasons she wasn’t right for me now, but the one thing I’d always loved the most about her was how much my music meant to her. She’d been my biggest supporter for years. She was always by my side—loving me, encouraging me, and appreciating what I did.

Val was different. She wasn’t even a fan. From the first time I’d met her, she’d never been impressed with my job. In fact, Cara told me on many occasions not to take it personally because Val simply didn’t care much about music in general. If it was on, she’d listen, bounce her head along to a catchy beat or hum with the songs she knew, but she didn’t connect with it the way Cara, Shane, and I did.

I knew Val respected my job and what I’d accomplished. She was happy for me and glad that I loved it. She understood how much it meant to me, but she didn’t really care about it personally. I knew that about her, and I’d accepted it, but it still depressed me. I wished there were a way I could make her love it, too.

I’d hoped my new song would do that for her—give her a real connection to music. She said she’d loved it, and she’d agreed to date me, so maybe it had helped a little, but she’d clearly hated the video shoot today.

I was shaken from my thoughts when our food arrived—a welcomed distraction. I dug right in, and after my first bite Val laughed softly next to me. The quiet sound lifted my spirits a little. She hadn’t laughed much today. Something was bothering her.

“What’s so amusing?” I whispered.

Her eyes sparkled as she smirked up at me. “Your sweet tooth,” she said, swiping some of the whipped cream on top of my French toast.

My mouth went dry when she sucked the cream off her finger. She was teasing me, but not in the way she meant to. She was clueless about the effect she had on me. I decided her naïvety was dangerous for us both and needed to be expunged.

“You never steal a man’s whipped cream, Val.” I gave her a warning look that she promptly laughed at. “Do it again,” I challenged. “See what happens.”

She considered my threat and reached for my plate. I snatched her hand away and smeared whipped cream across her mouth. Before she could wipe it off, I leaned forward and kissed her, gently sucking the sugary cream from her lips.

The move shocked her. Clearly she’d never played with her food before. She was so surprised she’d probably never even realized it could be done. And that it could be sexy.

This was definitely sexy—so incredibly sexy that I couldn’t control myself. Her startled gasp lit me on fire. I took advantage of her open mouth and deepened the kiss.

She pushed me back and shook her head, her cheeks flushed. “Can you please not do that in public?” she whispered.

I pulled her closer and nearly growled my reply. “Fine. Then let’s go someplace not public.” I needed her. I needed her right then. As much of her as she’d let me have.

She surprised me with a severe glare, but she quickly checked her anger as if she hadn’t meant to let her emotions slip. Her face smoothed out into an unreadable expression and she didn’t explain when I questioned her.

“No mauling me in public,” she warned with a laugh I was fairly sure was fake.

Robin snorted a laugh. “Yes, definitely no more of that. You’re nauseating, Kyle, and if I lose my appetite you’ll be in big trouble.”

No doubt that would have been a very bad thing, but there was no danger of her failing to eat. She saw the smirk on my face and rolled her eyes.

“Fine. What were we talking about before I so rudely attempted to get some hot, sweet lovin’ from my wickedly irresistible girlfriend?”

Val rolled her eyes, not amused, but at least the rest of the group laughed and the last of the awkwardness disappeared.

“We were discussing Val’s need for a summer project,” Cara said.

Alan hadn’t said much so far tonight, but he cleared his throat and spoke up. “You should come work with Robin at the foundation. They’ve been a little swamped since Christina took that job out East.”

Robin loved that idea. “Yeah, you totally should! You could help me get so much done before this little nightmare arrives. We’re going to have to get a
temp
while I’m on maternity leave.” She shuddered at the thought.

Val sighed and sat back, not touching her plate of food. She was still upset about something and trying to hide it. Was it because I kissed her? I didn’t think so, but I couldn’t figure out what else it could have been.

“I’m sure I can do that sometimes,” she said, answering Robin’s question. “It’s just such a drive from Huntington to come up every day.”

“Like I said, my door’s always open.”

My joke did nothing to cheer her mood. If anything, it made things worse. “We’ve talked about that and it’s not happening,” she said, exasperated. “Besides, Malibu is just as far from Pasadena as Huntington Beach.”

While we were busy frowning at one another, Shane threw his arm over Cara and said, “Pasadena to Laurel Canyon isn’t a bad drive. We’ve got a spare room or two if you want to stay with us.”

Cara’s eyes went wide and she squeaked. “Really? You wouldn’t mind?”

Shane shrugged. “Why not?”

I had to give the man props. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was trying to help repair Cara and Val’s relationship. I wanted that too, so I nudged Val and said, “That’s a great idea.”

“V, you have to!” Cara squealed.

I smiled at the nickname. Cara was the only person who ever called Val “V” and I hadn’t heard her do it since they were reunited. Val liked hearing it too and finally smiled the tiniest smile. “All right. I suppose it would be nice to spend some more time together.”