“Brook,” she admitted.
“Brook! How did she … never mind,” David said as he gave up.
Nothing he could do would stop the girls from meeting Adrienne, so why try? There would be payback, though.
Well … maybe that was a hollow thought.
“Have fun today,” Cassidy said as she gave him a wave and scampered off.
That wasn’t weird at all.
◊◊◊
David dropped off Tracy’s coffee and food and hurried to get ready. Today, Coach Merritt was their guest, so he ran through all the questions he planned to ask in his head.
And the carrot cake was a good call. David made a mental note to tell Doreen she should start serving cake.
When he got on set, he noticed the place was packed.
Professor Blum allowed USC film students to volunteer or watch the taping. He wondered if one of the professors had assigned a class to attend as a project.
“We’re live in three … two …”
“Welcome to Trojan Inquirer. Do us a favor and hit the like or follow button to show your support of our vodcast,”
David said, and then Tracy jumped in.
“Today, we were supposed to have Coach Merritt as our guest, but he had something to do. I was able to get two guests who aren’t sports related: film and TV star Bec Carson and Sports Illustrated cover girl Adrienne.”
Between the three women, David couldn’t get a word in edgewise. Of course, there were photos and video clips to promote the soap. It was a good thing he didn’t embarrass easily. At the end, he finally interrupted their gabfest.
In all honesty, David would have interjected himself if it hadn’t been flowing well or wasn’t interesting to the audience. But he did want to say a few words before they went off the air.
“Before we sign off, I thought I might get a chance to talk.”
The audience laughed at that, which made Tracy blush.
Bec and Adrienne weren’t fazed.
“First, I want to thank Bec for agreeing to play my girlfriend on The Young and The Wild. I’ve been a fan of her work, and I have to say she was one of the easiest people to do a scene with. She is a professional that any director would be lucky to work with.”
“Back at you,” Bec said.
“And Adrienne. What can I say but you’re the best. Many of you don’t know that she was one of my first mentors when I was fourteen, and she took the time to teach me how to present myself to a camera and avoid the pitfalls in the business. Almost all of my success can in some way be attributed to you taking the time to help a kid out. From the bottom of my heart … Thank you.”
Adrienne bit her bottom lip and just nodded.
“And cut!”
◊◊◊
When David finally got home that night, he walked in, and Alex said, “You have a visitor.”
David went to his room and found Crystal on his computer, writing a paper.
“Go study or whatever you need to do. When I finish this paper, we need to talk.”
He gave her high marks. Crystal would make a good mom someday. The wait for the talking bit was almost as strong as his mom’s ‘wait until your father gets home’
threat. He gave her a knowing smile and pulled out his management book.
An hour later, Crystal was printing her paper.
“You ready?” she asked.
David marked where he was in his reading and looked up at her.
“Before you say anything, Cassidy told me what a terrible mistake I made at Zak’s party with Little Timmy.
That girl can be scary when you get on her wrong side, and I can see why you think of her as such a good friend.
“Cassidy said that I likely ruined my chances with you. If that’s the case, I should probably leave,” Crystal said.
David took a moment to think about it. Seeing her with the porn star had been intended as a slap in the face, and
the old David would have written her off for it. But he understood why she’d done it. She was trying to get his attention and show him that his idea of opening up their relationship had consequences. One of those was that she would find other men to spend time with.
He’d decided to take a step back because he didn’t see Crystal as his forever soulmate. But that didn’t mean he didn’t like her. At a minimum, he wanted to keep her as a friend because she was the kind of person he liked to surround himself with. Ideally, a friend with benefits. Mr.
Happy reminded him that she was also H. O. T. hot.
Besides, Crystal had grown on him like E. coli on room-temperature Canadian beef.
Crystal clearly didn’t know the rule that he who talked first in a negotiation lost because she continued.
“I know your tryst with Wren and Emily was because of what I did. I heard you didn’t do anything at the party, even though you had opportunities.”
Tryst was interesting phrasing. It seemed to imply that Crystal expected it to be a onetime event.
“Ask your dad. What’s his biggest headache PR-wise with his clients? It’s when they get caught having sex at parties like that. The buzz is that Sasha, Nolan, and Taylor Lautner had a bi-threesome. Taylor is busy trying to recover his image as a werewolf who likes ladies and not boys,” David said.
“What about Nolan?” Crystal asked.
“Would it really surprise you if he were bi?”
Crystal thought about it for a moment and then shook her head ‘no.’
David thought the whole issue was stupid because how people were wasn’t supposed to matter. But the Internet sure loved to get all indignant about stuff that was none of their business.
“My point is that if I had hooked up with anyone, I would be dealing with that right now. When I was younger, it was
no big deal. Now, I have kids, and the last thing I need is to give my youngest a reason to sock some other little toddler for repeating what he or she heard at home.”
“Who do you think leaked that about Taylor Lautner and Nolan?” Crystal asked.
David’s shoulders rose into a shrug.
“It could have been someone else who walked through the living room. Or I’m becoming jaded enough that I could make a case for any of the three of them doing it.”
“My dad does complain about stuff like that all the time.
I see why you didn’t hook up with anyone at the party but did when you got home.”
“Before you read too much into that, I was in my bedroom getting ready to go to bed alone when Wren and Emily barged in. I’ll be the first to admit that there is only so much temptation I can withstand,” David overshared.
“I hadn’t heard that part,” Crystal acknowledged.
“And full disclosure: I slept with Adrienne.”
“I thought she liked girls,” Crystal said and then blushed.
David sensed something, so he didn’t let that go.
“Did she come on to you? I could call and see if she’s free tonight. I would volunteer to run the camera, fetch water, and provide towels.”
Crystal laughed for the first time.
“Perv.”
“Do you blame me?”
“I really don’t. If I were to do something like that, Adrienne would be at the top of my list.”
David nodded his agreement and then got serious.
“Let’s cut to the chase. What is it that you want to know?”
“Do you still want me?” Crystal said, sounding vulnerable.
“Absolutely. Without a doubt, I want you,” David said as he stood up and pulled her into his arms.
“But …”
“No buts. If you’re worried you’re not enough, that’s not it. Right now, I just want to be single before I settle down.
I’ve been in some kind of relationship since I was a freshman in high school until now. This has nothing to do with how desirable I think you are. It has everything to do with me alone. I need to figure myself out. Who am I, and what kind of guy do I want to become without having a girl to prop me up?” David asked.