Free A Is for Abstinence by Kelly Oram

you?”
    It took me a minute to respond. I was too busy enjoying the smile I’d put on her face. I don’t manage to make her laugh very often, so when I do, I have to relish in my success.
    When I let my gaze linger a second too long, Val frowned and snatched the CD out of my hand. “If you’re going to sign it like a middle-schooler, you forgot the most important part.”
    She drew a big heart around our names and held it up for me to see. “There. Now we’ve officially reverted back to the sixth grade.”
    She handed the CD back to the woman standing in front of us. “Here you go, Brenda. Take good care of it. I have a feeling Kyle’s especially proud of this one.”
    I loved that Val was having fun with this. Not everyone could do it. Adrianna hated having to interact with my fans when we were out in public together. It wasn’t like that for Val. She pretended not to like the attention, but she was so good with people. It helped that my fans were her fans, too. They loved us both. Val would be the absolute perfect girlfriend for a guy like me.
    “I will! Thank you so much!” Brenda replied, mooning at Val and me as if we were so cute it was painful to look at us. She started to turn away and then stopped, chewing nervously on her bottom lip. “I’m so glad you’re finally back together. You guys are too perfect for each other.”
    “We’re not—”
    I threw my arm over Val’s shoulder and cut her off before she could finish her sentence. “Thanks, Brenda. We’re pretty excited about it, too. We’ll try not to screw it up this time.”
    Val shot me a look that I could only laugh at. “What? You don’t have to be absent for me to start rumors.”
    “All right, fine. If that’s how you want to play.”
    The wicked gleam in her eyes sent a rush of excitement through me. The Val I remembered had always been feisty beneath her poised exterior. It was the reason I loved to get her so riled up. “Take your best shot.”
    She waited until after we’d signed a couple more autographs. I’d almost forgotten about the whole incident when she leaned over between signings and said in a low voice, “Of course I don’t think less of you. You’re not the first man to have an impotence problem, Kyle. I think it’s great that you’ve decided to abstain, no matter what the reason behind it is.”
    I wasn’t sure what she was talking about until I glanced up and saw a woman gaping down at me with wide eyes. “She’s kidding,” I said as Val smiled at the woman and held out her hand for the CD.
    The woman handed it over, but her eyes drifted back to me. Her cheeks turned pink and she shyly said, “A problem like that’s nothing to be ashamed of. It doesn’t make you any less of a man. I think it’s romantic that it made you want to reconnect with Val.”
    My jaw fell open and I’ll be damned if I didn’t blush bright red. This woman believed Val! She thought I was abstaining because I was impotent .
    “Oh, yes,” Val said without missing a beat, “it was so romantic. He cried when he told me what was going on with him, and I was so touched. Knowing the truth has only brought us closer together.”
    I turned my shocked gaze on Val and she winked at me before smiling up at the lady and saying, “What’s your name?”
    “Melanie.”
    Before I could even try to dispel the rumor, Melanie moved the conversation along and made it impossible. “Could you sign it to Chloe, though, please?” she said to Val. “That’s my daughter. She’s in high school right now and is waiting also. She used to really struggle with it, but after she saw your movie she gained so much confidence in herself. I got her a Virgin necklace for her birthday and she wears it every day.”
    “That’s so great!” Val said.
    I was surprised by how sincere Val was. Her playful attitude had melted away upon hearing Melanie’s story, and her eyes became shiny with actual tears. She honestly cared about this woman and her daughter.