A Is for Abstinence (26 page)

My mom beamed with pride over the fact that Val already knew his name.

I wandered a few feet away back to the hors d’oeuvres table and let them have their introductions.

“My son finally snagged himself a keeper. Valerie is a Stanford graduate,” my mother bragged. “She double majored in both economics and political science with honors and is starting her graduate work in a couple of weeks. You’d better keep your eye on her or she might just steal your job in a couple of years.”

“Oh, I think Mr. Mayor is safe,” Val teased. “I’ve got my eyes set on a different office.”

“It wouldn’t be oval-shaped, would it?”

Val shrugged. “Well, rectangle is just so boring.”

The three of them erupted into polite laughter.

Sadly, Val seemed to be having a great time. Watching her standing there next to my mother schmoozing with the hoity-toity crowd as if she completely belonged, I realized something disturbing. Aside from the snootiness that my mother had from being raised as a girl with money and privilege that Val didn’t have, the two women were actually a lot alike. They were even wearing similar sundresses and strappy sandals.

Shane moseyed up next to me and followed my gaze. “She actually seems to be enjoying herself,” he mused.

I sighed. “I’m dating my mother.”

Shane snorted. “There’s a sort of poetic justice in that that I find amusing.”

Val snuck a quick glance around, looking for me. When her eyes met mine, she smiled and rolled her eyes as if she were only humoring my mom. I have to admit, it lightened my mood a lot.

“Okay, so she’s not exactly like your mom. You should go rescue her.”

“Yeah right. My mother would kill me.”

“I’ll do it.”

Shane and I turned to the new voice and found Brody standing behind us, licking barbecue sauce off his fingers. “I’d be happy to interrupt them and steal that woman’s precious show pony from her.” He frowned at me and added, “No offense.”

“Absolutely none taken,” I said with a laugh.

I wasn’t offended by Brody’s hostility toward my parents. I actually admired the kid for having the guts to stand up to them. My parents had been polite to Val Sr. and Brody, but their disdain for the once-pregnant teen and now-single mom and her son was thinly veiled. I’d wanted to strangle them both a few times today for their subtle snubs.

“If you know a way, please, by all means, go for it. I’d love to see the look on her face.”

Brody handed me his empty plate. “Watch and learn, dude.”

He licked his fingers one last time and strode over to my mother, stepping between her and the mayor and tugging on Val’s arm. “Excuse me, Mrs. Hamilton,” he said with all the false politeness she’d given him today. “Do you mind if I steal my sister for a little while? She promised me a game of volleyball and I have to leave soon.” He turned his big, fake smile on the mayor. “Did you know she plays for her college? She’s a strong-side hitter.”

“And a college-level athlete, too!” the mayor said, his eyebrows rising in surprise. “That is very impressive, Miss Jensen.”

“We’ll see how impressive it is,” Brody said. “What do you say, sis, you and Kyle against me and Mom? Losers have to jump in the ocean fully clothed.”

I snickered at the completely aghast look on my mom’s face, then burst out laughing when the mayor loved the idea. Val smiled at her brother with genuine excitement and affection. “I say it’s going to be a long, uncomfortable ride home for you and your mom,” she taunted.

She smiled at my mom and the mayor as if everything were completely normal. “If you guys will excuse me, it appears I need to go settle a little family dispute.”

She left before my mom had the chance to argue.

“Good luck!” the mayor called out.

Brody was my new hero until Val kissed my cheek and said, “I hope you’re prepared to get dirty. You and I have been challenged. Smack-talk was involved and my honor is now at stake, so we can’t back out.”

I frowned, so she kissed my lips, hoping to win me over. It worked. “Please?”

“Are you batting your eyelashes at me?” I asked, trying as hard as I could not to grin.

She batted those beauties again and looked up at me from beneath them as she stuck her bottom lip into a pout. “Is it working?”

If her intent was to get herself ravished by me in front of God, her parents, and the Huntington Beach Yacht Club, then yes, it was definitely working. “You had me at ‘let’s get dirty.’”

She rolled her eyes and pulled me down the patio steps to the sand where a couple of volleyball nets were set up.

. . . . .

“We got hustled,” Val whined forty-five minutes later as we stood on the sand, looking out at the waves.

“You got hustled,” I corrected. “I could have guessed Val Sr. was an athlete, seeing as how it runs in the family and all, and Brody knew full well I suck at sports.”

She sighed, defeated. “How was I supposed to know there was something you aren’t good at?”

Brody laughed and slapped Val and me on the shoulders. “Take a walk, losers.”

Val grimaced. “I suppose now is a bad time to mention I’m scared of the ocean?”

“What?” Brody asked, astonished. “You grew up less than two miles from the beach and you’re afraid to get in the ocean?”

“There could be sharks,” Val said. “And lots of slimy things. What if a fish touches my leg?”

I’d never seen her act like more of a girl.

“Don’t worry, Val, I’ll fight off the fish for you.” I pulled her toward the water and she dug her feet into the sand. “You made the bet, babe, and you lost. Time to take your defeat like a man.”

“Rematch!” she shouted to Brody. “Just you and me. Without the handicap, I’d have killed you and you know it!”

“Handicap?” I scoffed. “I wasn’t
that
bad.”

Val gave me a flat look. Apparently, stress took away her sense of humor. “Kyle,
Robin
could have played better than you, and she’s two days overdue.”

“Robin?”

There was no way she was going to get away with that, no matter how adorable she was when she was suffering from an anxiety attack. I scooped her into my arms and walked into the waves. I laughed when she started shrieking and had to hold on tight as she flailed in my arms. “Would you look at that?” I taunted. “I guess all my muscles are good for more than just looking at, after all.”

“Kyle, I’m serious! Don’t you dare drop—”

I threw her into an approaching wave and she screamed. The water was only up to her waist and she came up sputtering seconds later. “Kyle!” she shouted. “You jerk!”

She tried to run for the shore, but I snagged her around the waist and held on tight. “You’re not funny,” she said as she struggled to break free of my grip.

“You made a bet, woman. That’s serious business.”

When she realized she couldn’t get out of my grip, she wrapped her arms around my neck and clung for dear life. “Fine. I am officially all wet now, so can you please take me back to shore? I really, really hate being in the ocean.”

“No way. Swim with me.”

I started dragging her out just a little bit further. “Kyle, no. I’m serious. I want to get out.”

“I’ve got you, Val. I’m not going to let go. Just stay here with me for a minute. Please? It’s the only place we’re safe from my mother.”

Val pinched her eyes shut and said, “Fine. Just for a minute, and don’t you dare let go of me.”

“Never again,” I teased.

I picked her up and wrapped her legs around my waist as I waded us into the waves up to my shoulders. I had to push the skirt of her dress way up on her thighs to accomplish it. She gasped and started to protest, but then a large swell came at us that I had to jump in order to keep our heads above water. She glued herself to me like an octopus, clinging for dear life.

“You’re okay, Val,” I whispered, pushing her wet hair off her forehead with one hand while holding her tightly against me with the other. “I’ve got you.”

She took a deep breath and let her head fall to my shoulder. “Kyle, if something slimy touches me, I swear to you I am going to lose it.”

“All right. I’ll take you back soon. Just let me hold you a few minutes longer.”

Val pulled her head off my shoulder and gave me a searching look. “Are you really this desperate for my attention that you have to hold me hostage in the ocean?”

She’d asked the question seriously, self-consciously even, so I decided to be honest with her. “Yes.”

Her eyes fell shut and she sighed as she leaned her forehead to mine. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m a terrible girlfriend.”

“If that were true I wouldn’t be so desperate for you, would I?”

She answered me with a kiss that started out soft and quickly turned scorching. As my hands fell down her back, searching for bare skin and finding none, I cursed the bet she made that required she be in the water fully clothed.

“You should lose the dress,” I murmured. She curled her hands deep in my hair, and it was getting hard to think. “I’ve been waiting for your bikini to make an appearance all day.”

I expected her to protest, but instead her body tensed and she deepened the kiss. When she let me up for air, her hands fell from my hair to the material clinging to my chest. She yanked on it and said, “Only if you’ll lose the T-shirt, Mr.
Abs
tinence.”

I managed to let go of her only long enough to help her rip my shirt over my head.

“You’re going to lose that,” she breathed when I tossed it away.

“I don’t care.” My words came out in a growl and I crashed my lips back on hers, slamming our bodies together.

My hands rounded the curve of her butt and finally found bare thighs. I pushed the material of her dress further up until my hands were at her bare waist. I paused, waiting to be slapped away, only no resistance came. I was confused, but definitely not complaining.

“Val! Kyle! Come back!”

The shouts sounded distant, second to the sound of my blood pumping in my ears and our ragged breaths. Both of us ignored them.

“You guys! Robin’s having her baby!”

“Good for her!” Val shouted, raising her arms above her head, waiting for me to lift her dress off. Before I could, the word
baby
broke through to my brain.

“Did he say Robin’s having a baby?”

“KYLE! VALERIE!”

We stopped kissing and turned to the shore where several people were jumping around wildly, trying to get our attention. My mom was frowning at us. “Your friend has gone into labor. She says you drove her here. You need to take her to the hospital.”

When it finally sank in, I cursed. “Robin’s having her
baby
!”

Val and I hurried back to shore where my mom was waiting for us with towels. I wasn’t sure if the disapproving look on her face was because I’d been making out with my girlfriend in the ocean, or because I’d invited a pregnant woman to her party and she’d dared to go into labor in the middle of it.

“Where is your shirt?” she hissed as we hurried up the beach back to the clubhouse.

I couldn’t even remember what had happened to it. My mom sighed. “You may take the towels with you. I’ll speak to the club owner. The valet has already brought your car around. Your friends are waiting for you.”

We hurried across the patio, shouting quick apologies and good-byes over our shoulders. After a fast-paced and dripping walk through the clubhouse, we found Cara and Shane out front standing next to my Escalade.

“That’s going to be fun,” Cara said flatly as she pointed toward the couple yelling at one another in the backseat.

Shane smirked and held open the driver’s door for me. “Better hope you don’t hit traffic.”

“Traffic?” Alan shouted, slightly panicked. “This is Southern California! There’s always traffic! I warned you, Robin! I told you we needed to stay home today!”

“And
I
told
you
I couldn’t spend one more minute in that house with your mother there breathing down my neck! That woman is insufferable! I told you not to invite her!”

“She’s my
mother
! I didn’t invite her! She just showed up! What was I supposed to do?”

“Lock the doors and point her toward a hotel!”

Wow. I turned back to Shane and his smirk turned grave. “Good luck, man. I’m glad I’m not you.”

I took a breath and climbed in the car.

Val kissed my mom’s cheek and muttered a quick apology before joining me in the car.

We looked at each other, and then I stepped on the gas.

“You should take her to the hospital here in Huntington,” Alan said from the backseat as I pulled out of the county club’s driveway.

“No,” Robin said.

“Robin, it’s a long drive to Pasadena.”

“We’ll be fine. I was in labor with Asher for ten hours. The contractions are still six minutes apart.”