Documentary (39 page)

             
“Can you see the stage?” Dylan yelled over the noise as she positioned the phone to capture the scene behind her. “It’s crazy out here.” She grinned. “Kai killed his performance earlier! He got the whole crowd jumping. It was insane. Now we’re just waiting for the movie to start!”

             
“Wait…what is that smile?” Winslow asked, bumping Kate out of frame.

             
“What?” Dylan tried to stop smiling but she couldn’t. She finally lowered the phone until she was able to get her mouth under control. Winslow was still ranting when she brought it back up.

             
“Oh my God! Oh my God! I know that look! You brought your va-jay-jay out of retirement! I knew you would!” Winslow said, screaming. “Knew it.”

             
Kate twisted the camera toward herself. “You mean like you just did with that word?” Kate, giggling, asked Winslow, who was now out of frame. “You are seriously turning into an old lady, Low. Seriously. It’s disturbing.” She leaned in to the screen. “Did you, though? You guys had sex? ‘Cause if you did, I’m emailing Perez
right now
.”

             
“No comment.” They both screamed into the camera, spouting loud gibberish at her. “I hate you both,” Dylan said, pretending to be mad. “You just lost your Wintervention privileges. I gotta go. Love you guys. Miss you.”

             
She was still shaking her head and laughing as she made her way to the VIP A-frame tents near the main stage. VIP attendees were treated to private, enclosed, canopy-styled tents set up all over the beach. They were huge and stacked with all kinds of food and drink goodies. They even came with a cabana boy. Kai, Leko, Wes, Abel, Heath and Xavier were in the middle of toasting and doing shots when she stepped in. The front cover of the tent had been pulled up for easy entrance.

“
To another crazy ass Wintervention!” Wes yelled before they slammed their shot glasses together. “Let’s make it better than last year, boys!” They downed their shots, except Kai, who gave his to Wes. They all cheered when they saw her, and she went down the line, giving hugs, saving Leko for last.

             
“You probably don’t want to talk to me. I’m sorry, baby girl,” he whispered.

             
“I would’ve done the same thing. I would’ve told my friend,” she whispered back, squeezing him tighter. “I’m over it. I still love you.”

             
“So…when are you going to tell him?” Wes asked when she and Leko pulled apart. He made a face from the way the second shot had gone down then wiped his mouth on his arm.

             
“Tell who what?” she asked, frowning. She was preparing herself for a standard Wes comment.

             
Wes hooked his arm around her neck and whispered his words close to her ear. “Kai, about what happened between me and you in my hotel room.”

“Uh, you
mean, beating me in
Scrabble
?” She laughed when Kai smacked him on the back of the head and glared at him ominously.

“Hey!” Wes said defensively. “I just thought you should know she’s terrible at it!”

“You ready? You’re not nervous, are you?” she asked Kai, who couldn’t stop smiling at her, which only made her smile more. It was hard to believe that they were just in bed together a few hours ago.

             
Kai turned to her and squeezed her waist on both sides, pulling her to him. “You’re here right now, baby so…I’m on top of the world. No worries.” The voices in the tent abruptly went silent, and as cute as Dylan thought the moment was, she blushed. All of his friends probably knew that they were sort of together, but they had never really done anything so public.

             
“Because…I call…everyone…baby,” Kai faltered as he pulled away from her. “Isn’t that right, Wes?” Kai reached for Wes’ stomach in jest and winked.

             
“I’ll pass,” Wes said, and they all laughed.

             
Dylan rested her elbow on Wes’ shoulder. “Weren’t you just concerned about whether he was sexy and smoldering last night?”

             
Kai made an appreciative face and gasped. “You care about my smolder? You never told me how you felt, Wes…”

             
“Fine…fine…” Wes stepped out of the tent. “Attention everyone, I, Wesley Abraham Elliott, am in love with Kai White,” he shouted to the passing mass of people, cupping his hands around his mouth. A group of people hooted, and a woman turned and hollered, “Woo, marriage equality!”

A guy shrouded i
n bodyguards walked over to the tent, and Dylan squealed when she recognized him. He smiled at her before he spoke to the guys. It was J.Kutch, the rapper.

             
“I guess there’s no intro needed on your end,” Kai said to him, laughing and looking slightly embarrassed. He swung his arm around Dylan, pulling her against him. “This is Dylan Carroll, and she films my web series.”

             
“Dylan.” J.Kutch furrowed his brow. “Oh, damn. I’ve been thinking this whole time you were a dude. You’re really good.”

             
“Thanks.” She laughed. “It’s the name; I get that a lot.”

             
“So, Kai, you’re still cool with hitting the stage with me later? Sorry we couldn’t get you on the tour, man. Would’ve been awesome.” J.Kutch turned to Dylan and whispered, “I rap about drinking and fucking, but my label thinks he’s
bad
for
my
image. Go figure.”

             
“Definitely, man,” Kai said, shaking his hand. After he agreed to being on camera for the web series and taking a picture with Dylan, J.Kutch disappeared into the crowd. A few minutes later, Ashley popped in and herded them all toward the movie screening.

             
“Ash, I gotta make a quick call, so I’ll catch up,” Kai said. Ashley gave him a disapproving look but she nodded. Dylan’s phone buzzed as she continued to walk, and there was a waiting text message.

             
Kai: Slow down ;)

Dylan slowed her pace to a stop, and within a few seconds, he was at her side. “Did you
want to walk with me?” she asked, when they started walking again.

“I did.” He gripped her shoulder and pressed her thumb between her shoulder blades. They slipped into one of their comfortable silences as they walked, but people were constantly coming up to him for a picture or autograph or just to say hello. Kai’s hand always returned to her shoulders until it fell away a final time when they reached their destination. Dylan walked to their group’s designated area on the
sand, and Kai continued up to the front of the screen. They hadn’t talked about things at all or where things were going. Every time she wanted to, that feeling, the one Winslow was always getting on her about, would surface; the feeling that she needed to stay focused only on becoming a filmmaker, and not dwelling on this whimsical idea of drifting deeper into her feelings for Kai. It was getting harder and harder not to, but she couldn’t escape the guilt of taking it for granted that Mac would never get to be a lawyer, that their parents would never get to see him go to his first day of law school.

             
“Excuse me, are you Dylan Carroll? I was told by Ms. Ashley Hart to look for a woman with a camera over here,” a man came up to her and said. He had to be in his early forties, and he was dressed far more conservatively than most of the people at the festival.

             
“I am,” she said cautiously as she shook his hand.

             
“I’m Dan Middleton, and I run a mid-size, but growing, production company for independent filmmakers, and we’re here checking out the films and directors. I’ve been following your web series, and I’m quite impressed with your work. Nina Sanchez, and a Professor Lizabeth Jordan, spoke very highly of you.”

             
Dylan’s heart hammered against her chest. “Thank you, thank you very much.” She felt herself slide into a stupid, doe-eyed stare at him. Dan plucked a business card out of his breast pocket and wrote something on the back.

             
“We’re looking to build up our documentary division, especially with up-and-comers, and especially young women who often don’t have access to the same financial backing as the guys do. It can be an Old Boys’ Club sometimes.” He handed her the card. “I want you to check out the website, read about our projects and let me know what you think. We’ve made our budget for the fiscal year, and we’re ready to hear ideas and give our filmmakers what they need. That’s my cell on the back, if you want to reach me directly with questions. Deadlines for proposals are due in March, and we approve in May. I highly suggest you think it over.” Dan flashed a parting smile and her head started spinning. Heck yeah, she was going to think it over! Dylan shot off a thank you email to Nina and Professor Jordan as Kai and Lava’s film team got on the microphones.

             
When the film ended, the crowd cheered, even though Kai had endured some booing at the beginning. It was a documentary about Kai, a skateboarder named Nino Gregory, and a skier named Georgina Wicks, which covered their ambitions to excel in their particular industry. An American rock band called Dinner Bell had the next timeslot on the main stage, so the group migrated. Kai had to stay behind for a Q&A session with some fans and reporters and for promo pictures, and Dylan’s heart squeezed as she watched Odette and Ribsy hold hands and kiss each other every few steps. She walked over with Leko as the crowd went crazy once Dinner Bell hit the stage. Dylan danced with Odette, then Ribsy for a few songs before Leko became her permanent dance partner, but she cut him loose when he started eyeing a girl a few feet away from them.

By herself, Dylan swayed to the beat until a pair of hands slipped over her waist during one of Dinner Bell’s slower songs, and a body was soon pressed up against her.
Dylan hated when guys she didn’t know simply decided that it was cool to dance with her without introducing themselves or showing her who they were, at least. She was peeling the arms from around her when a voice suddenly hit her ear.

“Yeah, that’s not gonna work, bro.” The arms quickly slid
away and another set replaced them. A set she knew. Kai rocked slowly to the rhythm snuggled against her, and Dylan closed her eyes and sighed.

“I know what you’re thinking, but it’s dark, we’re in a crowd full of drunk people, I changed and I’m wearing a hat. No one knows it’s me. Ashley’s off making calls where she can actually hear herself so she’s nowhere near here. We’re good,” Kai whispered before he pressed his lips to her neck, kissing down to her shoulder, as Dylan reached back and grabbed his hips. She could get used to this, she thought, as her body warmed. She didn’t know how much she believed that no one knew it was him, but it really didn’t seem to matter for some reason.

Dylan swung around to face him, and taking hold of one of her hands, he twirled her once. His baseball cap was incredibly low over his face. He smiled at her from beneath it. She let go of his hand and swayed alone to the music, rolling her hips seductively to the beat with a tiny smile on her lips as she slid the hem of her dress up a centimeter or two on her thighs. Kai’s head tilted up the length of her body, and he liked her little show so much he yanked her against him.

“Lava’s going to sell every can of Fire by tomorrow. The movie was amazing. You’re amazing.” Dylan draped her arms around his neck, and they moved slowly to the music. Kai pulled down one of her straps, and his warm tongue coasted along her shoulder as she squeezed the back of his neck.

“Was it? ‘Cause I kept thinking about how fucking gorgeous you look in this dress…and this morning.” She had thought about the morning the entire bus ride over. He had changed his mind about the shirt he wanted to wear and had simply changed as they were traveling. The flash of his bare stomach had taken her right back to his room, and the two of them together in his bed. She couldn’t focus on anything else, to the point where she had made an excuse about having some editing work to do, so she could go sit in the back lounge by herself to stop staring.

“What was that in the tent earlier?” she asked, frowning playfully. “The ‘baby’ thing?”

Kai kissed her neck and there was a goofy grin on his face when he looked up. “Can’t help it if I want everyone to know. And I
do
want everyone to know...
baby.
But don’t worry, they won’t tell.
”
Kai looked up at the stage and started singing along with Dinner Bell
. “When there’s nothing but you/ When there’s nothing but
you/
When there’s nothing, nothing to get me through/ I know I’ll still have you.”

Something came over her in the moment as she looked at him. Exhilaration, feeling crazy, feeling like all was right in the world. Like it was okay to let go and allow herself to be happy without guilt. To not care. To think only of herself. To fall. She twisted the bill of his cap to the side, held his face and kissed him. Kai reciprocated by kissing her harder, cupping the back of her neck and holding the small of her back before his hand dipped down to her butt. Dylan hugged her arms tighter around his neck, forgetting that there was an entire concert going on around her. She blocked all of it out to enjoy the softness of his lips, and the way his tongue played with hers. The hand on her butt crept up higher before Dylan laughed as Kai dipped her backward and kissed her again.