Kings and Queens

I was half listening to Jeff tell a story about him and Mike in Philly and half watching my sister in the house with Penner. As funny as hearing Jeff and Mike one up each other with retellings was, I was a little more curious about my sister’s love life.

She’d never had a lot of luck with guys; picking the douche bags and ass holes. Langley had only ever had one really great guy around and the minute she started getting noticed, he took off running. Although, to be perfectly honest, my one high school relationship had tanked too.

“You in there, Washington?” Jeff tapped my head. “You’re zoning out.”

I jerked upwards, jostling my drink. “Sorry. Um… so you two were in a club in Philly?” That had seemed to be the general gist of all their stories, so I figured I was safe with that.

But Jeff gave me a knowing look, smirking. I realized that Mike had vanished from our small group.

“He’s at the grill,” his blonde friend pushed my shoulder. “With Jarett.”

I smiled and stepped away, walking towards my new found friend. I’d felt a little bad about turning him down so easily and he was a good laugh.

“Hey, there stranger,” I smiled as I straightened my hair. “Hi, Jarett.”

The other hockey player nodded. “Hey, Bridgette. Your movie comes out this weekend right?”

I couldn’t keep the excited grin off my face. “The LA premiere is Friday and then I head off to New York and Chicago for the premieres there. It opens up everywhere on Wednesday.”

“I’m taking Angela then I think,” he said referring to his girl. “She’s pumped for it. We both really liked the first one.”

I noticed Mike flipping the meat on the grill a little forcefully, something Jarett picked up on as well.

“I’ll go and, uh, grab that platter from the counter,” he muttered, backing away.

“You okay there, Richards?” I asked as I watched him carefully.

“Peachy,” Mike grumbled.

“Hey,” I grabbed his forearm. “Don’t take out your hurt feelings on my grill.” I sighed. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Why don’t you go ask every single person that you invited here tonight?” Mike cocked an eyebrow.

“Oh come on, Mike,” I rolled my eyes. “You think I would give in that easily? My mamma raised me right. You gotta make the boys work for it.” I winked and went to turn, satisfied with my flirting and a little bashful that my Southern accent had slipped through, but Mike grabbed ahold of my wrist. It wasn’t meant to hurt, just to deter me from walking away.

“Too bad I’m not a boy.”

I smiled, leaning my head to the side. “Well then I guess it’ll be easy for you, now won’t it?”

*~*~*~*~*~*

“I still think you should have cut the poor guy some slack and said yes,” Langley shook her head laughing Friday afternoon. “I said yes to Dustin.”

“That’s because Dustin is an actual sweetheart,” I explained. “Mike is a little more…,” my voice trailed off as I fought for the right words.

“Of a bad boy?” Langley teased. “Rough around the edges? Does he-,”

I cut her off before she could get really out of hand. “Sure, one of those. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t having a little fun making him work for it.” I pulled up some of the texts from the night before.

Langley started reading them out loud as our hair and makeup team continued working on us. “Hey there, gorgeous. Just wanted to say good morning and that I was thinking of you. Plane leaves in an hour… Carter thinks I have a better chance at getting a hat trick tonight than getting a date with you. I want to prove him wrong… Saw the trailer for the movie just now. Best lookin’ one on the cast. Damn.”

“Did you see the tweets too?” I asked.

“Haven’t checked anything but my mentions in a while,” she said. “But I definitely am now.”

I’d tweeted a picture of everyone at dinner the other night and Mike had retweeted it almost instantly, making sure to add his two cents.

That’s me sitting next to the stunning Bridgette Washington. #dreamsdocometrue

“Oh my god,” Trish, my stylist, read the tweet over my shoulder. “You need to get on that. Now.”

I laughed. “But I’m having too much fun with this.”

“Honey,” she said. “If you don’t, I will.”

“Count me in!” Danny, Langley’s stylist, grinned. “I’d love to take a crack at a hockey player.”

Wouldn’t we all…

*~*~*~*~*~*

The premiere was just as crazy as the last one. The fans were loud, interviews were tedious, and the photographers were annoying as fuck. But I did my duty and stood there with smiles on my face and my hand poised on my hip.

“So you’ve made some new friends here in LA recently, right?” one of the many reporters asked. “A few… athletes?”

My sister and I both laughed. (Langley had come as my date.)

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Our neighbor plays for the LA Kings and we’ve gotten to know some of the team through him.”

“Mike Richards,” the fake ginger nodded right along. “Seems you two are quite close.” Obviously, she was referencing Twitter from the last few days.

“He’s a great guy,” I consented. I wasn’t saying anything more, but I wasn’t going to ‘friend zone’ him either. “I like hanging around him.”

“Mhmm,” she nodded. “Well, if that’s all you’ll say, maybe I’ll have to ask. Is Hollywood’s latest film star seeing anyone?”

“Yes,” I deadpanned and I was sure Langley didn’t even know what I was about to say. “I’m in a serious relationship with my bed. It loves me like no one else. But I’ll let you in on a secret. I’m cheating on it with my couch.”

God, I was hilarious.