My Life With The Movie Star (13 page)

I had never paid much attention to Patrick in the movie. He also had dark hair and dark eyes, and he seemed to have a
more muscular build than Grayson, but I guess that’s fitting since Patrick’s character was the quarterback of the high school football team, while Grayson was the bad-boy mechanic. I looked over at Lisa who appeared barely able to speak. I think I was lucky to get to know Gray before I knew who he was. I would have been speechless too, if I had known about his celebrity first.

“Sorry, ladies. Pat, this is Abby,” Grayson introduced me.

“This is the girl you met in Texas?” Patrick asked.

I put out my hand for him to shake it, but he walked past me on the way to the bar.

“Yes, this is Abby, and her friend Lisa. They are from Wisconsin,” Grayson stated.

“Wisconsin huh? Neat,” Patrick said, very unenthusiastic. “Do you own a cow?”

I looked over at Lisa. She looked crushed. Of course, we had both thought that all Grayson’s friends would be a nice as he was. Patrick seemed much fuller of himself. I kept seeing him check himself out every time he was near a shiny surface.

“I thought California was the new dairy state,” I chimed in. “So, do you own a cow?”

“She’s a feisty one, Grayson,” Patrick said. “When is Holly showing up?”

“She should be here soon, but you know Holly: always late,” Grayson said with a laugh. “Let’s move out back by the pool.”

Grayson lead the way outside. His pool was well-lit with a bunch of twinkle lights. Melissa came out of nowhere to bring Grayson the pile of scripts the messenger had brought over. I could tell she had a thing for Patrick and wanted to hang around while he was over. This also made Lisa a bit crazier than normal.

While Patrick was conversing with Melissa, Grayson came over to give me a hug and a quick kiss. I put my arms around him, and was just starting to feel more comfortable when Holly arrived.

Her entrance was like something out of a movie. She strolled in with the moonlight bouncing off her hair, which the wind caught at the exact perfect second to blow it back behind her. She looked like a movie star. She looked around the pool my guess, which was correct, was that she was looking for Grayson – but Patrick saw her first and, like a puppy, ran over to her immediately.

“Holly! Glad you made it,” Patrick said. “Do you want a drink?” He rushed over to the pool bar and started mixing something for her.

“And look all puffy and bloated on Saturday? Are you crazy?” Holly retorted.

“Holly, this is Abby,” Grayson said as he pulled me over to meet her.

She took one look at me, and I knew she was wondering why Grayson was dating the help. All the confidence I had mustered up drained from me. I’m sure I looked like a remarkably average girl in her eyes. No competition.

“Oh, hi Abby,” Holly said. “Grayson said you would be coming along on Saturday.”

“They’re coming?” Asked Patrick. “Why?”

Grayson let go of me and walked over to Patrick. He guided him out of the way so that I could barely hear what he was saying. “Patrick, Abby’s my date. You can at least try not to be a snob.”

“Sorry, man. But don’t look at me to be your wing man,” Patrick stated.

“Noted,” Grayson snapped.

I could feel a strange dynamic in the group. Holly couldn’t keep her eyes off Grayson, and Patrick couldn’t keep his eyes off Holly. Melissa just hung around, I guess to see if anyone would be left. Lisa decided to drown her sorrow in vodka and cranberry juice. I got the feeling maybe she wasn’t so happy she had come along to hang out with all the movie stars after all. I decided to make a drink and join her.

“Hey,” I said, “
D
on’t worry about him. He’s a jerk. Think about all the A-list celebs that will be at the after-party.”

“They will probably think we’re a bunch of hicks too,” Lisa sniffed. “At least you’re going with Grayson and might not get rejected because of him. I’m a nobody.”

“It’s
okay
; you always have Travis,” I teased. I put my arm around her to comfort her. I was sad that she was upset. I genuinely thought this would be such a fun weekend for her too.

“Thanks. You have a hot sexy guy, and I have Travis.”

“Well, I heard that Patrick’s abs in
Texas High
are CGI,” I stated.

This seemed to make Lisa feel better. She looked over at him talking to Melissa and laughed.

“Let’s just have fun,” I said. “Need another drink?”

“Yes please!”

Lisa and I made the most of the night by laughing and dancing around the pool. I kept noticing Grayson look at me. He gave me an approving smile. I hope he saw that I could fit into his world. No drama from me. I was sure everyone around him was telling I couldn’t handle this. It did nag me how Holly was hanging all over him. I could tell the only reason she had come over was to flirt with him. I caught her running her fingers through his hair as he sat on
the edge of a lounge chair, but he seemed annoyed by this and walked over to me to give me an enormous hug.

“Can Lisa be on her own tomorrow night?” Grayson whispered in my ear.

“I think she can handle it,” I said.

“Are you sure? Would her friend Travis like to come? I can fly him out to be with her.”

“I’m sure Travis would love to come, but I think Lisa would prefer to keep her options open at this point,” I said.

“I want to take you out, just the two of us.”

“I would really like that.”

“I’m taking the day off to spend with you too, but I want it just to be us. I don’t want you to think I ignored you on your visit. You took such good care of me.”

“Thanks. I love you.” I kissed him softly. He had said this to me before, but I wanted to use it sparingly.

Soon the party started to break up. Holly and Patrick had to leave and get their beauty sleep, Melissa had to be up early to make arrangements, and Lisa had gotten a bit tipsy. I helped her find her room and showed her where the bathroom was, hoping that she could make it if she needed to.

Once I put Lisa to bed, I wandered into Grayson’s room. He was sitting in the library area. I hadn’t even noticed before that he had a fireplace, but now he had a gentle fire going.

“Hi,” I said softly.

Grayson was sitting in an oversized chair with a large fluffy ottoman. I climbed onto the ottoman and gazed into his eyes. I thought I would always be struck by how handsome he was.

“Sorry Patrick was a jerk,” said Grayson as he smoothed my hair behind my ear.

“You don’t have to apologize for him.”

“I know, but I think he made Lisa feel bad.”

“Well I can assure you that someone will hit on her Saturday, and her spirit will be restored,” I said.

Grayson laughed and pulled me up next to him. We snuggled in the large oversized chair. I kept thinking that I was the luckiest girl in the world. I knew plenty of teenage girls who would trade places with me in a second.

Chapter 17

I woke up the next morning in Grayson’s ultra-comfy bed. He had left me a note saying that I should sleep in and that he would be back shortly. I got up and showered and went to find out if Lisa had made it out of bed. I wasn’t surprised to find her a bit hungover.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Not too bad. My head hurts a bit.”

Lisa was still under all the covers but sounded horrible. I opened her window to let some fresh air into the room. That always helped me when I was hungover.

“I’ll go find you some aspirin,” I offered. I headed down stairs and found Melissa in the kitchen.

“Good morning,” she said. “Sleep well?”

“Yes, great. Do you know where the aspirin is?” I asked.

“Not so good for Lisa?” Melissa laughed a brought me a bottle and some water. “What did you think of Holly?” she asked.

“She seems nice,” I replied, thinking it was weird of her to ask.

“She’s being really cool about Grayson having you over,” Melissa stated.

“Why is that?” I snapped back.

“She has had a thing for Grayson forever. She was getting very close to him during the
Texas High
shoot, but then he met you and lost all interest in her. Now she’s stuck in all the
Texas High
movies with him.”

“Melissa, please don’t take this the wrong way, but please keep your comments to yourself.” I turned and walked out. I was sure that Melissa would be stunned. I knew she thought she could walk all over me.

I went upstairs and gave Lisa her water and aspirin. I could hear that Grayson was back, so I hurried back downstairs.

As I walked down, I could hear Gray talking to Melissa. Great. Had I pissed her off enough for her to complain about me to Grayson?

“Good morning!” I said. I ran over to Grayson, threw my arms around him and gave him a loving hug and kiss. I knew this would make Melissa a bit green with envy.

“What do you two want to do today?” Grayson asked.

“Just one. Lisa is a bit hungover.”

“I stand corrected then. What would you like to do today?”

“I have always wanted to see Hollywood and the Hollywood walk of fame. Maybe one of the Hollywood tours?” I asked.

“Are you really going to drag me to Hollywood?” Grayson asked.

“Please! I have never been before.” I was up on my tiptoes, trying to look as cute as I could.

“You do know that Hollywood is not what you think it is. It’s really run-down and not that glamorous.” Grayson looked at my eager eyes before he finally gave in. “I’ll grab my keys.”

We walked out to his garage, and I was surprised to see the car that his character stole in
Texas High
sitting in his garage. It was a gray Volvo C30.

“Did you borrow this car also?”

“Not like Scott did. I enjoyed the car so much, I got one after the movie wrapped,” Grayson said. “I figured I should legally buy it. Borrowing it did not work out well for Scott.”

Grayson drove me down to the heart of Hollywood. We walked over to the Graumans theatre, where the Hollywood stars line the sidewalk.

“Do you have a star yet?” I asked.

“No, not yet. Maybe someday,” said Grayson.

I started to snap some pictures with my camera. Grayson was wearing his usual disguise of a
baseball hat and sunglasses. The sunglasses were proving to make taking pictures difficult. I looked around and saw that the street was mostly deserted.

“Take off your hat and glasses for a second so I can take a picture of us,” I asked.

“Really, I’m having fun being a tourist today,” said Grayson.

“Please,” I pleaded with him. “I really want a picture of us in front of the theatre.”

“Well, just for a few seconds,” said Grayson. He took off his glasses and hat, and I joined him as she held the camera out in front of him. However, we struggled to get a decent picture. Just then a nice family was walking by, and the husband offered to take our picture for us. Grayson cautiously handed him the camera.

“Thanks!” I said, happy to finally get a decent picture with Grayson, but then the man’s wife realized who Grayson was.

“Grayson Edwards!” the woman shrieked.

“Ssh, please,” Grayson pleaded.” I’ll take a picture with you if you keep your voice down.”

Grayson posed with the family for a few shots, but at that exact moment a Hollywood tour bus pulled up, and the tour guide immediately recognized Grayson and was more than happy to excitedly point him out over the loud speaker.

“Well, folks, looks like we have the star of
Texas High
, Grayson Edwards, on the tour today,” said the tour guide.

Before I knew what had happened, the door to the tour bus had opened, and a wave of women and girls rushed off the
bus to bombard Grayson. They were screaming and pulling at his clothes. I got pushed back by the crowd.

Grayson tried to be gracious, but there were just too many fans. I could see that he was starting to get panicked and wasn’t sure how to get out of this situation. At that point, the paparazzi also joined in the mess and started asking where Holly was and screaming at Grayson to look at their cameras. Thanks goodness a cop who had been nearby came over to see what all the commotion was about. I’m sure that being a police officer in Hollywood meant he was used to this kind of disturbance. He was able to pull Grayson away.

“Where did you park?” the police officer asked.

“A few blocks away,” Grayson replied.

“I’ll give you a ride over.” The office
r
opened the back of his squad car and let Grayson in. Grayson grabbed my arm and pulled me in with him. At first the cop thought I was a fan, but Grayson waved me though.