Hidden Gem Short Story Collection (9781301405985) (4 page)

He hardly had to think about it.
“Beauford.”

“
But you spent fourteen
years in the city and four in Beauford.”

Gavin paused as he considered her reasoning.
“They were the most important four,” he decided. “I met my best
friends there. I got to hang out with Gemma again. And Aunt Mira –
she was busy as shit but she always made a point to be home at a
certain time to eat dinner with us. She brought me and Gem
together. I love my parents but I couldn’t say the same for
them.”

Zoe nodded, brushing Gavin’s wet hair back
and studying his gaze as it floated elsewhere, preoccupied with
thought. “So, Beauford was where you got to be a family,” she said
quietly, watching the flicker of realization in his eye once she
drew the conclusion for him.

“
Yeah,” he said with
knitted brows. He looked back at Zoe, his wet eyelashes adorably
framing the curiosity in his eyes. “Shit. I don’t even know where
you were from before L.A,” he murmured, shamefaced. “But… you don’t
talk about your parents much,” he frowned.

Zoe gave a little smile. “I don’t know one
of them.”

His brows instantly pinched. “Oh. I’m
sorry.”

“
Don’t care. Never knew
him. No loss.”

“
Damn, okay,” he grinned.
“What was Mom like?”

“
My mom? She was a broke,
little pregnant hitchhiker,” she said with a laugh because the
image her mind conjured up was always ridiculous, especially since
she knew the last piece of clothing that fit her mother in her
final trimester was a stretchy yellow maxi dress with thick, black,
horizontal stripes. She’d probably looked like a big, fat hornet.
“She was like, nineteen. From Louisiana. But she ran away to be
with a California boy right after high school. So I was actually
conceived in L.A, just not born there ‘cause my dad left her once
she got pregnant.”

Gavin made a face. “His loss.”

“
That’s what she always
said,” Zoe sang. “Anyway, she was hitchhiking her way back to
Louisiana when her water broke in Texas. And after she had me
there, she just kind of stayed.”

Gavin’s eyebrows lifted and the corners of
his lips turned slowly up. “You’re a Texas girl?”

Zoe grinned. “You bet’cha.”

“
Holy shit. Why haven’t I
seen you in a cowgirl outfit yet? I’m buying you one tomorrow, by
the way,” he said. “It’s gonna be one with assless
chaps.”

“
I can’t wait.”

Gavin laughed, kissing her forehead. “Where
in Texas?”

“
San Antonio. Go, Spurs,
go.”

He let go of her. “We’re breaking up.”

Zoe burst out laughing. “I’m just kidding, I
cheer for the Knicks now. The Knicks and the Orange. My baby’s
teams, my teams,” she said with a little grin, eyeing his lips
until he kissed her.

“
So, how’d you get to
L.A?” Gavin asked once he pulled away.

“
Pageants.”

“
Huh?”

“
I was one of those creepy
pageant babies.”

“
Oh Christ.”

Zoe grimaced but laughed. “My mom was a
receptionist somewhere and a coworker told her to enter me into
pageants when she brought me to work one day. So she did. I was
like, two years old. But I won the first one I entered. Grand
prize. Two hundred bones.”

“
Big time.”

Zoe splashed him. “That was a hundred
dollars for every year I was alive. That’s pretty impressive for a
baby.”

“
Were you one of those
babies who wore blue eyeshadow and had like, a bodybuilder spray
tan?”

“
Oh yeah,
buddy.”

Gavin shuddered. “So disturbed right
now.”

Zoe giggled. “Don’t worry. Once I got old
enough I started throwing shit fits about having to take like,
smiling lessons or walking lessons or whatever. And I turned into
the Hulk every time I saw a can of hairspray. I ended up sabotaging
myself at this one huge pageant. Got on stage and totally just
started trashing the place. Knocking over mic stands, taking my
shoes off and throwing them into the audience. I’m pretty sure I
ripped out my hair extensions too. I was five.”

Gavin howled. “You sound like you were a
rabid freaking five-year-old.”

“
I think I was possessed.
I weighed like forty pounds but I tore that stage
apart.”

“
Badass. Five-year-old me
would’ve wifed you in a heartbeat.”

Zoe could feel her eyes crinkling with her
wide smile. “Can you imagine if you and I ever had kids?”

“
Oh, Jesus,” Gavin
responded before she could even feel weird about the fact that
she’d just mentioned having kids when the thought had never
previously crossed her mind in any form. “They’d be insane. We’d
need to keep horse tranquilizers around the house.”

“
Scratching
posts.”

Gavin coughed on his laughter. As it wound
down, he tilted his head to the side. “Hold on a second. You didn’t
tell me how you landed in L.A.”

“
Oh.” Zoe cleared her
throat. “Well, my mom saw the kind of money that pageants earned
and since I basically got myself blacklisted from that world, she
started bringing me to these open calls for modeling agencies. And
signing with those led to a few commercials, some TV episodes and
then suddenly, we had enough money to move to L.A. My mom knew
there were better jobs for me there and when I was ten, she brought
me to the ‘Outta This World’ audition. And the rest is
history.”

“
Ah.” Gavin nodded.
“Ten-year-old breadwinner.”

“
Yup.”

“
And here I am, twenty-two
and living off his parents’ credit cards.”

“
Shut up.”

“
So, where’s your mom at
now?”

“
Oh. Um. She has her own
place in Santa Monica but she’s living with a boyfriend right now.
Outside of Vegas.” She nodded, stretching her lips into a “yeah, I
know” type smile. “Kind of wonder why I bought her her own house
sometimes when she’d rather live in some dude’s crappy apartment in
Vegas or Phoenix or wherever the boyfriend-of-the-moment’s from.”
Clearing her throat again, Zoe gathered herself before she could
get too riled up. “Basically, we’re best friends when she’s single.
And when she’s not, I don’t hear much from her. I get to find out
what she’s been up to through her credit card bills.”

“
Which you pay,” Gavin
deducted with a squint.

“
Yes.”

“
You’re always going
to?”

“
If I can afford it, why
not? She’s family. I wouldn’t be here without her. I love her. I
just question a lot of her decisions.”

Gavin nodded as he studied her. She found
the frown between his brows so incredibly handsome that she could
hardly pay attention to how serious he looked. “You… “ He tried to
find his phrasing. “You’re a fucking woman, you know that?”

She burst into a giggle. “I mean I know that
but what the hell do you mean by it?”

Awe glimmered in Gavin’s
green eyes. “You’re strong as shit. You’re independent. You’re
beautiful inside and out. You’re a fucking woman.” He blinked the
water out of his eyes. “And I’m gonna make sure I’m a fucking man
for you,” he laughed, a hint of sheepishness in it. “I’m gonna get
my ass an internship at Klein Sports and I’m gonna rake in the big
bucks – my
own
big bucks – and I’m gonna buy you a fucking house and we’re
going to fill it with crazy, rabid kids ‘cause you are a fucking
amazing, inspirational woman and I love you.”

Zoe stared, suddenly breathless. She hadn’t
heard the words from him yet but there they were, full of zeal,
laced with profanity and exactly as she would’ve expected them from
Gavin. Biting her lower lip, she tried to suppress the absolutely
massive grin spreading her face. She couldn’t.

“
Love me?” Gavin asked,
breathless as he held her in the water, his eyes bright, his own
face lit with a sudden and brilliant energy.

“
I love you so much,” Zoe
breathed, suddenly filled to the brim with that love – to the point
where she was having crazy thoughts. Eloping. Going back in the
house and starting on those kids.

Yeah. The sex was crazy
that night
, Zoe recalled as she applied
Tyler’s words to her memory. The conversation had in fact been
foreplay to their foreplay. It hadn’t been her only meaningful
conversation with Gavin but it was certainly the most memorable,
probably because she’d finally heard a boy mean it when he said
that he loved her. She actually hadn’t seen anyone mean any words
more than Gavin had with those. And for once, she’d meant the words
herself. The only other time she’d spoken them were to Marco
Donovan but she had been sixteen and blind to the fact that Marco
actually treated her like shit, that she’d merely idealized him for
years, having crushed hard on him since he’d been cast as her love
interest on the show.

“
Thinking about
Gavin?”

Zoe narrowed her eyes at Tyler’s question.
She put on a sassy look. “You think you’re so smart, Tyler Chase,”
she said, though she couldn’t keep a straight face for the majority
of the sentence. She swallowed, trying to suppress her memory of
that night at the lake in order to breathe somewhat normally again.
“Well. You are.” She shook her head at his satisfied expression.
“You smug asshole.”

“
You should try it again
with him,” Tyler said with a shrug as he finished his
coffee.

“
Yeah, don’t think so. He
dumped me and I’m presently promoting a film while technically
homeless, so I’m not sure if now is the best time to have a
relationship with anyone.”

Tyler leaned back in his chair and smirked.
“Fair enough.” He crossed his arms. “But now that I’ve forced you
to remember how rewarding an actual relationship can be, will you
at least tell me I’m right about the quick fix guys? That they’re
not worth it?”

“
And you’re not some
freakshow for not tapping every piece of cute ass that throws
itself at you? Fine,” Zoe said, crossing her own arms. “You are so
super right, Tyler Chase, and you’re the smartest man
alive.”

He grinned. “That felt insincere but I’ll
take it.”

“
You should.”

He tossed his empty coffee cup into the
trashcan from ten feet away. “And you should try turning your phone
off tonight. Chilling in your hotel room with a movie. Glass of
wine, maybe. No quick fix tonight. Swear ‘em off for a bit.”

“
Aw man, what?” Zoe gave
an exaggerated groan and an incredulous look. “What’s it to you,
anyway, Tyler? A girl has her needs.”

“
Yeah. I have a feeling
you’ve indulged them all thus far.”

“
Hey. Screw
you.”

Tyler laughed. “I’m just saying. Let
yourself be alone for a night and remember things. What you really
like in a guy. What’s actually important to you beyond the physical
stuff. See if it changes the way you think about relationships.
And, you know. Love.”

Zoe heaved a sigh and shook her head. “No
wonder you have all those crazy fangirls.” She snorted. “Remember
how your people used to set up fake dates with actresses like me so
the girls would go crazier for you once they found out you were
still single? You should’ve skipped those stunts and just told
everyone that you’re the kind of guy who’ll sit with his ex’s
obnoxious best friend and give her a free therapy session on love
and happiness.” Glancing at her phone, Zoe rose from her chair,
laughing with disbelief. “You were good enough that I turned this
thing on silent at some point and now I’m realizing that I’m late
for an interview.”

“
Oh shit,
sorry.”

“
No, don’t apologize,” Zoe
said, still laughing. “I’m late for hair and makeup, not the actual
interview,” she explained as they headed out the doors of the
coffee bar together, Tyler walking Zoe to her car. “But thank you.
For catching up with me and picking my brain.”

“
Anytime.”

Tyler opened the driver side door for Zoe,
closing it once she was seated behind the wheel. She rolled her
window down before pulling out of her space, grinning at Tyler as
he watched her, his hands in his pockets. “What’s that face?” she
asked.

“
Try it tonight,” he said.
“No quick fix.”

“
Ugh.”

“
Seriously.”

“
Alright, dad.” Zoe rolled
her eyes with mock attitude before pulling slowly out of her spot.
But just before she drove off, she slowed the car, blowing a kiss
out the window at a waving Tyler, letting him take the brunt of the
paparazzi flashes as he stood there seeing her off.

~

Sitting on her hotel bed with a movie picked
out for the night, Zoe held onto her cell phone. She stared down at
it, wondering if she really wanted to turn it off or not. That was
kind of extreme. What if one of her friends had an emergency?
Neither Gemma nor Harper was prone to dramatic episodes anymore but
still.

I’m keeping it on. Whatever. I just won’t
touch it.

And she kept her promise to herself – at
least for the first half of the movie. The temptation to pick up
her phone only happened when she realized that she hadn’t processed
a single minute of the film in front of her. She barely remembered
what she had even chosen to watch.

She was too busy thinking about Gavin.

It was hard to imagine that they could go
wrong anywhere down the line when a night like the last one at the
lake existed in their history. They were supposed to work. She’d
never been with someone for more than a year and they were
approaching a year-and-a-half. And she loved him.