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 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. 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,” David 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 also 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 be 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 football 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 David 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 to 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 I messed up,” he said.

“Why’s that?”

“I forgot Lexi’s 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.

“What about that new girl?”

“Don’t get me started on what a nightmare she is. Maybe I can get Cassidy to help me,” he ventured.

“Isn’t she the one who likes spaghetti with hot dogs?”

David chuckled at that.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’m just spoiled because Lexi would have already known how to make everything come off without a hitch.”

“It’s a family event, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Let the moms organize it.”

“You’re a genius. If my mom hears that, she’ll wade in and take over. Problem solved.”

“You know there’s a special place in hell for boys like you,” Tami chided.

“Whatev,” David said in a perfect Valley Girl impersonation. “Now, let me get some sleep.”

She slugged him in the chest, and they both got the giggles. This was why he was her best friend.

David was out the door before sunup. He had all kinds of press activities for the movie on his schedule.

Tami spent the day with David’s mom. She warned Carol of her son’s scheme to enlist her in planning a ‘welcome to campus’ party for his new teammates and their families. Tami wasn’t surprised when his mom just shrugged it off. She knew that Carol was secretly delighted that her son was letting her take charge. That didn’t mean his mom wouldn’t make him squirm as only a mother could.

The plan for the evening was to go to dinner and then travel to the Royal Albert Hall for the world premiere of Devil May Care. They’d picked the Royal Albert Hall because it was where the most successful James Bond movie, Skyfall, premiered. Afterward, the promoters planned a party.

Tami and Carol got a text to come to David’s suite, where he’d returned to change for the night’s festivities. Tami used her key to let them into his rooms.

“David?” she called out.

“I’ll be out in a moment,” he called from the bedroom.

“Look what I found,” Carol said to Tami.

Sitting on the side table was a bottle of champagne and a cheese-and-fruit tray. There was a card from the studio wishing David the best. Tami wasn’t surprised when Carol opened the bottle and poured them each a drink. Tami made herself a plate and found a comfy chair, and Carol joined her.

“Did I tell you about David’s dog?” Carol asked.

“What did he do this time?”

Duke was David’s big Lab, who loved everybody.

“He started to disappear for a couple of hours each day, which was strange because he was always in the middle of David’s kids, watching them.

“He came home last week with a note attached to his collar. It said he’d been going to the neighbor’s house each day for a nap. The neighbor lady said that he would come to her door, and she would let him in. Duke would find a quiet spot, take his nap, and then find her so she could let him out,” Carol shared.

“Poor thing.”

“I’m sending him to David’s for the summer. Being surrounded by five two-year-olds has worn the pup out,” Carol shared.

David came out of the bedroom, blinked, and then gave Tami a smile that she swore would knock her off her feet if she were standing.

“This is why the British press is calling you the American Gigolo,” she said to cover her feelings.

“Did you just call me a man-whore?” he asked, feigning shock.

“I didn’t call you a man,” Tami shot back.

Carol toasted her for her witty comeback. The corner of his lip twitched with amusement.

“You’re un-hideous,” David said by way of a compliment.

“When are you two going to act your age and just admit that you belong together?” Carol asked to put a stop to their banter.

Carol was all smiles when they both blushed, which secretly pleased Tami. Maybe there was a chance for their ‘someday’ after all.

Chubby Feldman hosted the dinner party and had invited all the cast, plus the former Bonds and Bond Girls. David almost sent his PA home when she began trying to take selfies with everyone. Tami later saw his look of amusement as he watched Kristen. His PA apparently became enamored with one of the geriatric former Bonds, and the two of them left the private room where the dinner was to be served.