Private (Blake Griffin)

One

One

Twenty-six. I sighed as I put my earrings in. I can't lie, I've been looking forward to tonight but I also really don't want anything to go wrong. Of course, my close friends decided to plan a party for me. They thought it would be nice and fun. I guess it couldn't hurt; I need to get my mind off of some things. My outfit consisted of my white long-sleeved fitted dress. After I added some more jewelry, I sat on the edge of my bed and slipped my nude heels on. There wasn't much time before I agreed to go to Myra's house. She had done most of the planning along with Kayla and Siena. I assumed they were inviting the rest of our friends, which wasn't a problem until everyone had a few drinks in their system. That's when the problems started.

Driving over to her apartment didn't take too long, I got there a few minutes early. "Val!" She yelled as she swung the door open. "Wow, you're early for once."

"Yeah, yeah." I laugh, stepping through the doorway and picking her dog up. "So where's this party?" I ask.

"You'll see. You're going to love it." She closes the front door.

"Why can't you just tell me?" I ask.

"Uhhh. First, it's supposed to be a surprise. Second, I didn't get the place- Blake did. I only have the address." She said.

"I thought you, Kayla and Siena were planning it?" I asked. As if on queue, they both walked through the front door.

"Happy birthday, miss twenty-six." Siena said. Kayla just laughed and they both came and hugged me.

"Thank you." I say. "So do you guys know where the location is? I want to know."

They both just grin and don't say anything. "Same thing I told you earlier. Blake did most of the planning." Myra said from across the room.

"Hm, alright. Should we leave soon?" I ask.

"Yeah, let's go. I'll drive." Kayla offered.

**

It was already dark by now, and I could hardly see where we were going, but it took about half an hour to get there. Once I stepped out of the car, I looked up at the modern, white beach house. It had two stories and there were blue light flashing everywhere inside. I could hear the bass from the music, and all of the people flooded inside. Smiling, I walked in with the three girls and we eventually split up. I made my way through the house, saying thank you to birthday wishes and just talking to everyone. Once I made it into the kitchen, I started making a drink. Working as a bartender part time after college helped. I was shaking the tumbler and then poured the drink into a glass from inside the cabinet.

"That looks good." A familiar voice says. I turn around and see Blake standing in the doorway. "Happy birthday." He says, wrapping his arms around me in a tight hug.

"Thank you, B. Thank you for all of this, it's really nice." I smile, looking up at him.

A smirk spread across his face. "So they told you."

I laughed, "Yeah, Myra fessed up. I'm glad though. You deserve the credit. This is amazing."

"It's no problem. I'm glad I did it. I know how things have been lately." He said with a light smile. He took a sip out of his cup.

"I still can't believe you never told me, though. We talk like every day. I'm surprised you didn't let it slip out, I know how you are."

He just shook his head and laughed. I did the same and took another sip of my drink. Our friend Adam stumbles in and hits the cabinet on his way. "Oh, hey lovebirds." He says, awfully loud. He starts opening all of the cabinets as if he were searching for something.

"You need help there, man?" Blake asks.

"Nah, I...found it!" Adam slurs, picking up a bottle of alcohol and walking out of the room with it.

"He's clearly out of it." I laugh, downing the rest of my drink.

"Clearly. Come on." He takes my glass and puts it on the counter before dragging me out of the kitchen. We weave through the full crowd of dancing people with no problem. Being 6'10 also does give you some advantages. He pulls me up to the table where the DJ was standing and stops the music. He and the DJ exchange some words and Blake gets handed the microphone.

"So," he yells out to the crowd. "As you know, it's my girl Valentina's birthday here. Let's wish her a happy birthday, and that she has many more great years ahead." He holds my hand up high as everyone cheers. The music starts again and we get off of the platform and down onto the dance floor.

"Oh my god, Blake." I laugh, dazed from the strong drink. "Why didn't you at least get me drunk first before that. I hate being up in front of a lot of people." I grab a drink off of a tray on a table and down it.

He just laughs. "Happy birthday, Val." We both took a few more drinks, but I'm pretty sure I had more than him. The rest of the night was a huge blur full of dancing and drinking.

Blake and I have been best friends since junior year of high school. We've been inseparable since. When college came along, I went to UCLA and he went to Oklahoma University. Every time I went back home to visit we hung out and we always stayed in touch. Once he got drafted into the NBA, he moved out to LA which made it easier to see each other. I showed him around and my friends became his friends. We've only gotten closer since then. With Ford being born and all of his drama with Brynn, my car accident and losing my brother, and just straight up dealing with the people of Los Angeles, we have grown closer and closer. We both can agree that we understand each other better than anyone else since we come from the same hometown. Over the years, I've only opened up to him about certain things. Not having most of my family around has been hard, especially with the loss of my brother. It's not the same trying to tell someone from home your problems over the phone, you know. Depression and anxiety have come my way over the past few years, but he helped me through all of it. Blake's the closest thing I have to back home, and vice versa. That's why we get along so well.

The only negative part about being so close is how if anything were to happen, we could ruin our friendship. We tried that one time. It didn't work. The whole no strings attached thing definitely wasn't right for us, but we always have some sort of sexual tension between us. Everyone teases us about being a couple, or dating secretly. A few times when we were drunk things almost happened, but nothing has ever gone too far. I'm just glad I can call him my best friend.

***

I know this was kind of boring, I just wanted to introduce everyone to get a feel for the characters and background info. The next chapter will be better! Comment and let me know what you think/ any feedback. I wanna get to know you guys better soooo just comment or whatever lmao. Thanks (: