by Tracy Tegan
“Seriously Grayson, why the hell do you need a house this big?”
“Real estate is a good investment,” he said casually.
I rolled my eyes.
"The truth is, my agent made me get it. ‘To be a star, you have to live like a star,' he kept insisting so eventually, I caved and bought the biggest house I could find that was available that day. I didn't even look at it before I bought it."
I gave him an incredulous look.
“I didn’t care,” Grayson said. “I just didn’t want to hear him going on about it anymore. I was more than happy with my little townhouse in Van Nuys.”
“So you bought a fancy mansion, sight unseen, just to shut your agent up? Seriously?”
Grayson just shrugged.
All I could do was shake my head. I couldn't afford to live in a single room in this house, and he acted like it was no big deal, just another day in la-la land. And I guess for him, it was.
"It's fifteen thousand square feet of pure luxury that I couldn't give two shits about. But sometimes, you have to do stupid shit you don't want to do to advance your career. This was one of them."
I guess he was right. People expected big stars to live in big houses.
“It really is a nice place. Big, but nice nonetheless. Why don’t you like it?”
“It’s a house, not a home.”
"One day, when you meet the right girl, settle down and have a bazillion kids, you'll be glad for all this space," I teased, trying to lighten the mood.
“I already met the right girl. Now let’s get started on making those bazillion kids.”
He picked me up, threw me over his shoulder and carried me up the stairs to his bedroom and unceremoniously dumped me on his bed.
"Your driver is outside waiting for us. Your plane is on the runway already waiting for our arrival, and you still haven't even packed."
He looked down at me with an adorable pout on his face. “You’re right. I’ll behave right now, but later …”
He raised an eyebrow, and I couldn't help but giggle.
He pulled out a big suitcase and put it on the bed as he started gathering some clothes to wear. As he handed them to me, I folded them up neatly and put them inside the suitcase for him. In no time, we were done and raced off to the airport.
“Miss Crawford, it’s so wonderful to see you again,” the flight attendant said as we stepped onto his private jet.
"Thank you, it's good to see you too," I replied as I took my seat.
It took us several hours to get to Oklahoma, during which time I mostly napped and Grayson read a script for an upcoming movie he was working on.
By the time I woke up from my nap, we were just landing at the Tulsa airport. We didn't have a driver waiting there for us. This time, he rented an SUV and drove ourselves to his parent's house. We almost seemed like a normal couple. A normal couple that is, who just flew in on a multi-million-dollar private jet after leaving his huge Malibu mansion. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself about that.
“What’s so funny?” Grayson asked.
“Nothing. I’m just being silly. So tell me about your family.”
"Not really much to know. My parents have lived in Oklahoma their whole lives. They have several acres out in the country, just outside of Tulsa. It's a small town called Fair Oaks. My father just retired, he was a master electrician, and my mother taught piano part-time to the local children."
His family sounded perfect, so idyllic. I felt a pang of jealousy surge through me. My home life couldn't have been more opposite. My father left when my sister and I were young. My mother worked two jobs to support us and in her spare time, she drank wine and quite a bit of it. We never had money, not even when my sister and I got old enough to get our own part-time jobs. There was always something that came up. If it wasn't a broken water heater, it was a medical bill or a blown gasket in the one piece of shit car our family had.
"My brother, I already told you about. He went to the University of Oklahoma and after graduating law school he got a job at a firm in Tulsa. I tried to get him to move to LA and practice law there, but he wouldn't hear of it. He loves Oklahoma."
“Where you and your brother close growing up?”
“Thick as thieves.”
“And probably just as much trouble,” I teased.
“Yeah probably. He was my best friend.”
After about an hour, we pulled up to a perfect little country home with a beautiful flower garden in the front yard. His mother came out on the porch to greet us while drying her hands on her apron. Of course, she would have an apron on. She was probably in the kitchen baking cookies or pies before we showed up.
“Come here you,” his mother said as she pulled him in for a big hug and then started crying. “I missed you so much. Here, let me look at you,” she said as she pulled back. “As handsome as ever.”
"Come on mom, you are embarrassing me."
"Alright, alright. I promise I'll behave." She turned her attention to me. "You must be the girl I've heard so much about. Alison is it?"
"Yes, ma'am." I stuck my hand out to shake hers.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said as she pulled me in for a hug. “I don’t know what you did to get him to come home for a visit, but thank you.”
“Mother, you promised,” Grayson admonished.
His mother let go of me and led us into the house.
"I prepared your brother's room for Alison to stay in and well, you know where your room is so I'll let you put your bags up there and unpack. Your father should be home in a few minutes, and dinner will be ready soon.
“Six o’clock like always?” Grayson asked.
“Of course,” his mother replied before heading back to the kitchen.
So, his mother was a traditionalist. I love it. I don't suppose Grayson would be happy that we weren't' sharing a room, but I liked it. I don't think I could have had sex in his parents' home anyway. It would just be too strange.
I met his father before dinner, and he was just as wonderful as Grayson's mother was. After dinner, we played a round of cards and then turned in early.
The next morning, his brother Roman showed up for breakfast. I couldn't believe how much they looked alike without being twins. His brother wasn't as muscular as Grayson, but still Roman wasn't half bad himself.
“Finally, I get to meet the other half,” Roman said as he pulled me in for a big hug.
I assumed he was referring to me being Grayson’s better half since people make that joke about couples all the time, but I was wrong.
“Your sister talks about you so much I feel like I already know you.”
“My sister? You talk to Andrea?”
He gave me a strange look. "Of course, every day now for probably the last two months."
Wow. I couldn't believe it. All that time when Grayson and I weren't speaking, my sister was talking to his brother. Interesting. I knew right away why she didn't tell me. She probably didn't want to upset me, knowing how bad things were between Grayson and I and just how devastated I was without him. But still, it made me sad that my sister would keep something so huge from me. Did she think I wouldn't support her friendship with another lawyer who might be able to help her with deciding on her career?
Had my relationship with my sister grown that far apart that she couldn't tell me something like this? I needed to try and fix that. She had to know that I love her and would support her no matter what, even if that meant she was forming a friendship with Grayson's brother. I wanted them to bond over their shared passion of law.
I thought I couldn’t be more surprised when over breakfast Roman started talking about a text he just got from my sister. It seems she just accepted a clerk position at the International Court of Justice.
I couldn't believe she told him first and even stranger, I couldn't believe she changed her mind about what kind of law she wanted to practice in the first place. Why the world court? This was new. Last I heard, she was intere
sted in practicing law that had something to do with intellectual property. She even talked about maybe coming out to LA, getting a job in the music industry, and working to stop music piracy. When the hell did her plans change and why didn't she tell me? I'm her twin sister. She used to tell me everything.
“She’s one of only two clerks selected from the United States,” Roman told his family enthusiastically.
“I didn’t even know she applied for a clerkship with the world court. When did the big switch happen?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady so they wouldn’t know I was upset.
Roman turned to his family to explain, who looked confused. "Originally, she was interested in intellectual property, like me, but once we got talking, she confessed a secret desire to help others, so we talked about human rights law. She said she's always wanted to protect children from being forced into marriages and stop sex trafficking -- you know, things like that."
I remembered a time just before my sister graduated high school that we met this twelve-year-old girl who had been smuggled out of Afghanistan. She was supposed to marry a fifty-five-year-old man but didn't want to and instead ran away. She ended up getting picked up by US Forces. When she told them her story, the soldiers knew that if they returned the young girl to her family, she would be severely beaten, maybe even killed for her disobedience.
So the soldier did the only thing he could think of -- He stuffed her into his duffle bag and smuggled her back to America on a military transport. When he got back on US soil, he didn't know what to do with the girl, so he took her to his mother in Texas.
His mother worked at the same diner as our mother. Both our mothers helped the girl stay hidden until the soldier could find the right people to send her to, to get her the kind of help she needed.
She didn't speak a lot of English, but enough to tell us that her name was Dari. She was a cute little thing, and we loved playing dress up with her. She was just so precious, like our own living doll.
Eventually though, the soldier returned and took her away. He had found an international rights organization that was going to help her so that she could stay in the country legally. We never saw or heard from her again, but her memory stayed with me and apparently my sister as well. Come to think of it; it was just after that when Andrea decided on a career in law. I guess before now; I never put the two things together.
My sister was going to live in The Hague, Netherlands. I couldn’t believe it. Even better she was going to be working at the Peace Palace to make a real difference in this world.
"She'll be clerking part-time for a judge from Uganda and part time for a judge from Australia," Roman continued.
“You must be thrilled for your sister,” Grayson’s mother said with a big smile on her face.
It’s true. I was so proud of my sister; I could barely contain my emotions. "I am," I answered her politely.
I tried not to say too much out of fear I might start crying; I was just so overwhelmed with emotions at that point. I was happy for my sister, proud of her too, but also scared. Scared that she would be living across the world in the Netherlands. Would she be okay by herself, that far away from home?
It was hard for me to move to Los Angeles because I was worried I would miss my sister too much, being so far away. My sister was the only family I had left and before then I hadn’t ever lived more than a few minutes from her. But the Netherlands, that’s a whole other world away.
“If you are wondering,” Grayson chimed in, “it’s a ten to twelve-hour flight.”
I turned to him in surprise. “That was actually what I was thinking about.”
“I figured,” he teased. “I could practically see the gears grinding in your head.”
I rolled my eyes as he patted my cheek.
He grabbed my hand and squeezed. “She’s going to be okay.”
"I know," I said back absently. I was anything but sure, though. I didn't know, but I hoped he was right and that she would be okay so far away from home.
After breakfast, I excused myself and snuck off to call my sister.
“I’m moving to The Hague,” she announced excitedly in lieu of a hello.
“Well, hello to you too sister,” I teased.
She started right in with her good news, and I found myself getting swept up by her enthusiasm.
"I'm going to miss you so much, Andrea."
"I'm going to miss you too Alison, but you know we can Skype each other all the time, and it will be like I'm right there with you."
“Will I get to see you before you go?”
"Yes. I'll fly out to LA next month, and we'll spend a whole week together before I have to leave."
“I could come to see you in Texas if that’s easier for you?”
"Actually, my lease is up on this place a week before I'm scheduled to move to the Netherlands so I figured I would just spend that time with you instead."
Before hanging up, we talked a bit more about her plans and how I was doing. When I disconnected the call, I looked up and found Grayson leaning against the doorframe of my bedroom.
“I figured that’s where you got off to. You feel better now that you talked to your sister?”
“Yes I do, much better.”
I still didn't like that she told Roman before me, but that was just as much my fault as it was hers. I needed to make more of an effort to be a better sister. We had drifted apart while she was in law school and now she was moving a million miles away from me.
Grayson came in and gave me a hug.
“I’m sorry I snuck off like that. I just really needed to speak to her and find out what was going on.”
"Don't worry about it Alison. I more than understand. She's your sister, your twin sister at that. I'll never try and come between you two. Anytime, day or night you need to speak to her, I'll understand."
I smiled up at him.
“Now let me give you a tour of the place.”
Grayson and Roman walked me around the acreage, showing me all their favorite places like the pond and the old barn, which is where they liked to play hide and seek as young children.
After Grayson and Roman had helped their father repair a part of the fence, I helped his mother prepare lunch. Everything felt so normal, so surreal.
Before I knew it, it was time for us to catch our flight back to LA. The two days we spent in Oklahoma flew by. I was honestly sad we had to go back to LA. Grayson was different around his family. He was more relaxed and playful. I liked seeing that side of him, and I liked his family too. They were so loving and accepted me. They didn't know me, yet they accepted me into their home and treated me like I was the daughter they never had but always wanted.
Chapter Thirteen
When we got back to his plane, Grayson practically jumped out of the SUV and dragged me up the stairs.
"Baby, don't we have to turn the SUV back to the car rental place?"
“No. I arranged for them to pick it up.”
I thought he had a great time with his family, so I wasn't sure why he was in such a hurry to get out of there. After we had taken off, I found out what the rush was all about.
He smirked, stood up and casually unbuckled my seatbelt without saying a word. Then he picked me up as his lips came down on mine. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he walked us to the bedroom, kicking the door closed behind us.
“I missed you,” he breathed as he peppered kisses along my jawline.
“What are you talking about? I’ve spent like every minute of the last few days with you.”
He threw me on the bed and started ripping his clothes off. “I mean I missed being with you like this. I don’t ever want to sleep in a bed without you again.”
“Well, that’s going to be a little complicated,” I said as he lifted my shirt up over my head.
“Why is that?”
“Because silly, you travel all around the world making movies.”
“Then you’ll just have to come with me.”
<
br /> “I can’t do that Grayson.”
“Why not? You are a writer. You can write anywhere. Why not write when you are with me on location?”
I didn't have an answer for that one. Luckily I didn't have to sit there obsessing over it because soon he distracted me with more kisses while his hands were all over my body.
I lifted my hands up and ran my fingers through his hair. Then I took my legs and wrapped them around his waist. More and more demanding kisses followed. I felt myself grow more excited with each kiss.
He began to remove the rest of my clothes, slowly, carefully, effortlessly. His hands were everywhere, and before I knew it, I was completely naked before him. He loomed over me, just staring down at me. I could feel his erection pressing against me but he wasn't ready yet it seemed, to plunge it inside of me.
He ground himself into me a couple of times and whispered against my neck. “You feel so fucking good Alison.”
Then he started scattering light kisses on my neck, my collarbone and then the top of my breasts. His face was over mine, his legs straddling me, knees on either side of my hips. Then he lowered his face down to mine. When our lips met, I was consumed by a frenzy of passion that I couldn't resist.
“You’re mine,” he growled.
I moaned.
“Say it,” he demanded.
I cupped my hands on his face and replied. "I'm yours, Grayson, forever and always."
With a groan, he pushed his cock inside of me. The gentleness from before was gone. This was a man who clearly wanted to dominate me, and I wanted to let him.
My hips surged forward as I tried to meet him thrust for thrust. With each slam, he grunted.
I put my hand down between my legs and started playing with my clit. It drove him wild. Grayson continued to slide in and out of me, heaving and thrusting, plunging towards ecstasy. He grunted and cursed as he pulled out then pushed in again.