He chuckled at my invitation. “Should I bring the keg? Call the football team?”
With that, I had a quick flashback of that beautiful man as the beautiful teenager he once was. Jeez. We really did do a lot of partying back in the day. “No keg. Just bring that sweet little ass of yours over here. I wanna squeeze it while we make out on the couch.”
There was a distinct pause before he breathed out, “Christ, that was hot.”
I laughed. “See you later.”
*
I was really looking forward to my “date” with Trip. It was going to be weirdly awesome to have him sitting on my family room couch again, watching a movie just like we used to do as teenagers. I very carefully chose a few DVDs for our viewing selection and figured I’d give Trip the ultimate vote on what we watched. After dismissing nearly my entire collection, I was confident that I’d come up with a handful of films that would meet with his approval, ensuring that I wouldn’t have to listen to his tireless critique all night.
When I heard the doorbell ring, my heart actually leapt into my throat. I was almost as nervous as the first time he’d ever come over.
Get it together, Warren!
Dad had answered the door, and as I came up the stairs, I saw the two of them reuniting. Trip turned and smiled as I shyly said hello. I didn’t know what my deal was. I went into the kitchen to grab him a soda as Dad invited him into the living room to meet Sylvia.
It was surreal, having him there in the house once again, chatting it up with my father as if fifteen years hadn’t passed since their last conversation. I braced my hands on the counter and tried to steady my breathing. I didn’t know why I was feeling so freaked out about everything. Maybe just having him there in my house again brought up all the old insecurities. I mean, the first time he’d ever come over, we were just a couple of stupid kids. Just two friends who didn’t know how to change that status. Now… Well, now we were “adults.” Having him there suddenly seemed like a much bigger deal.
Trip, Dad and Sylvia were in the living room chatting when I came in to join them. Neither of the men acknowledged my presence, but I saw Dad smirk before he asked, “So, Trip. Just exactly what are your intentions toward my daughter?”
“Oh my God! Dad!”
That had him laughing and made Sylvia almost spit out her club soda.
“Would you rather I lecture him about being responsible?” He turned toward Trip again and said, “I hope you plan on using protection, son.”
I almost leapt across the living room and strangled him.
Trip took the digs with the humor they were intended, but answered just the same. “Sir, I learned years ago that there’s no protecting me from that.” He pointed in my direction and all eyes turned toward me as he added, “Believe me. Lord knows I’ve tried.”
I pursed my lips together, trying to contain my smile. Was he not just the cutest thing? I handed him his drink and sat down next to him on the couch. He didn’t take his smiling eyes off me the entire time. Oh, God. We were turning into two big sappy idiots all over again.
He turned back to my dad and changed the subject. “Hey, you’ll never guess who I ran into at the Super Bowl last month. Your nephew, Jack.”
“No kidding! Loo, did you know that?”
Obviously, I did not. I was going to have to remember to murder my cousin the next time I saw him. How could he just forget to tell me something like that? “No, I didn’t. I just talked to him last week and he never mentioned it!”
Dad chuckled and said, “Well, maybe he just didn’t want to look like he was bragging about hanging out with powerful movie stars.”
From anyone else, a line like that would seem pretty cheesy, but the way my father said it, it came across as funny. I got the impression that Dad found it amusing that the carefree teenager he once knew had just been named to TIME’s Most Influential list. I couldn’t say as I blamed him. I’m sure he still saw Trip as that same punky young kid, as opposed to the world-famous actor presently sitting in his living room.
Trip just smiled and took the hit with his usual charm. “Trust me, I wasn’t the most powerful guy in that skybox. He was there with Lutz Hamburg.”
“Lutz Hamburg? Who’s that?” I asked.
Trip grabbed my hand casually, and I could tell by Sylvia’s expression that the little move hadn’t gone unnoticed. But I didn’t think Trip was even aware that he’d done it. I loved that.