“Wow, you must have been in some bad relationships to go there,” he shot back.
Yep, back to a commercial break.
This time, Harriet stormed off without the suit having to have a talk with her. She barely made it back. When she returned, she apparently had decided to play nice.
“Tell us about Devil May Care.”
David was prepared for that type of question, so he did his best to promote the film. They showed some clips, and the segment was done. When they’d removed their microphones and began to get up, he gave Harriet a smile.
“I’m only in town for a little while. I would love to have a tour guide.”
“Before I agree to that, why did that girl dump you?”
“Her parents moved, taking her with them.”
She shook her head.
“I forgot how young you are. I better go home to my older man.”
“Call him so he’s taken his pill before you get there,” David teased.
“You are a wanker,” was her parting shot.
He was glad that she was smiling as she left.
◊◊◊
Frank gave him mixed reviews for his performance tonight on the ride back to the hotel. He told David he would see him first thing tomorrow morning, the day of the premiere. They had a full schedule of interviews planned throughout the day.
When David got to his room, he found Tami Glade, his childhood friend, sitting on his bed, watching a movie. She’d just had a birthday, and as her present, he’d had her come along on this junket to witness all the shenanigans. During high school, Tami had spent a semester in London. She wanted to catch up with the family she’d stayed with.
He plopped down on the bed next to her. Tami turned off the movie so they could talk.
“How was your day?” David asked.
“Before I forget, your mom told me to get your American Express card. She said we’re going shopping tomorrow.”
David’s mom was a big James Bond fan, and in a moment of weakness, he had brought her along on the trip as well. Thinking back, it was more like she’d invited herself.
Hearing that his mom wanted his American Express card gave him a moment of worry. It had no limit on it. Then he remembered that she was taking care of his kids so he could go to college. He pulled it out and gave it to Tami.
Tami gave him an unreadable look as she pocketed the card.
“I was your first true love,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.
Growing up, Tami had been in and out of his house to the point David’s mother considered her one of the family; basically, the daughter she’d never had. He was convinced that his mom loved Tami more than him most days.
“And I still love you. Spend the night,” he said to watch her squirm.
When she didn’t say anything, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
“What would you do if we were fifteen again?” Tami asked.
David let his mind wander for a moment. It was the classic ‘what if’ game. No good ever came from that. Not that there weren’t a million and one things he would change. It was just that the past was the past, and there was nothing you could do about it.
“I wouldn’t change anything,” he finally admitted.
“Really?”
“If I did, we wouldn’t be the same people we are now, and I sort of like you the way you are.”
She lifted up from the bed so she could look David in the eyes.
“You mean that, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“But when we were that age, you were convinced that we were soul mates. That we would be together forever,” Tami pressed.
“Then we grew up,” he replied.
She lay back down and looked at the ceiling.
“But we hardly talk anymore,” she said softly.
“I don’t think that matters. What matters is that we’re still friends.”
“What about the soul-mate thing?” Tami asked.
David rolled onto his side, ignoring her question.
“Stay the night.”
“But that might be dangerous.”
“With the time change and everything, I’m exhausted. There’ll be no danger involved,” he promised.
“Okay.”
“Okay, what?”
“I’ll spend the night.”
◊◊◊
Chapter 2
Tami
Something woke her. As she became aware of her surroundings, Tami heard David laughing in the other room. She glanced at the clock and wondered what the boy was doing at three in the morning. Quietly, she got out of bed and cracked the door open to see who he was talking to.
“I’ll see you the Friday before classes start.”
“Thanks for inviting us. I’ll see you then,” a guy said, and then they dropped off video chat.
“What are you doing?” Tami asked.
David almost jumped out of his skin before he turned to her.
“Did I wake you?”
She gave him a slight nod.
“Sorry about that, but I’m contacting all the new football recruits and inviting them and their families to a welcome-to-campus party at my townhouse.”
“At three in the morning?”
“It’s seven p.m. in LA,” he reminded her.
She shrugged and yawned.
“I’m sleep-deprived, so cut me some slack.”
She looked at the table where his tablet was set up on a stand. Next to it was a pot of coffee and what looked like a chocolate croissant. Tami snatched it off David’s plate, shoving it in her mouth before he could object.
“I was saving that for you. You didn’t have to eat it like a starving dog,” he said with an amused look.
She grabbed his coffee to help wash it down.
“Anything else I can get you?” he asked.
“Keep it down. I need my beauty rest,” Tami said to give him a hard time.
“Tami, you know, you’re a unicorn. You actually look better close up,” David said and sounded sincere.
All her old feelings for her ‘stupid boy’ came flooding back. Why did he have to be so sweet to her? She gave him a mock roll of the eyes as if to say, You’re full of it, and beat a hasty retreat to his bed. There was no denying that she still had feelings for him. But too much had happened for her to drag him back to bed with her.
He went back to making his phone calls. Tami could hear how excited each guy and his family were to get a personal invitation to welcome them to campus. He made it clear that he expected their family to come to the party.
She thought back to when she first arrived at Stanford and what it would have meant to have her mom invited to something like this. She had to remember that he wasn’t a total jocktard like some people assumed. They saw a pretty-boy jock who was also an actor, and they presumed he got by on his looks alone. If they only knew how clever and crafty—and genuinely caring—her boy could be.
Tami had a feeling that David had some kind of agenda for making these calls when he should be sleeping. Not some nefarious plan for world domination; it had to have something to do with turning USC into a winning football program. And not just a winning program, but one that would challenge for national championships.
He’d done something similar in high school when he took his high school team to three straight state championships. David had taken a core group of boys and built them into something undeniably special.
Tami had no doubt that if he decided to do it again, he would succeed. He had no quit in him once he set a goal. She’d seen him do it time after time, whether it involved sports, schoolwork, modeling, or acting. He made it look easy. But the brutal truth was that he worked harder than anyone she knew.
When he finished his last call, David came back and joined her in bed. Tami waited until he got settled before she rolled over and put her head in the crook of his arm.
“I was halfway through my calls when I realized that I messed up,” he said.
“Why’s that?”
“I forgot that Lexi is in Paris this summer, so I don’t have a PA to organize everything.”
Sometimes he didn’t realize what a privileged douche he sounded like.