by Alex Rosa
“Yeah, that’ll be better. How was work?”
She pauses. “Work was good. Uneventful.” Another pause. “I ran into Gio today.”
As I slide the keycard into the lock, my skin burns with an annoyance I didn’t know I’d feel at hearing his name.
“Gio?” I roll my eyes in the empty hotel room as I flip on a light, realizing my perplexed tone is unfortunately evident.
“Weird, right? Tucker was making fun of me about how I miss you and suggested I go for a walk. I ended up running into the infamous Giovanni Vigilucci in the park.”
“Is that just a random coincidence—”
“Or is he stalking me? Yeah, I accused him of that, too.”
I unbutton my shirt, peeling it from my body as I laugh, thinking how Skyler would be the type of person to put someone like Gio in his place. She fears nothing, but then again, ignorance can be bliss.
“If he was, I can’t blame him.”
She huffs. “You need to give me some help on how I should handle this one. I have to call him about setting up a time for him to take pictures of me, and get my check he promised.”
I take a seat on the edge of my bed, running a hand through my hair. I hate to admit that the hint of Skyler’s frantic tone when it comes to Gio pleases me. I’d hate it if they got along too well. I should probably not be so childish about this.
“Did he make you feel uncomfortable? Were you nervous?”
“Not really, actually,” she hums. “He’s overbearing, for sure, but nice for the most part. He just takes some getting used to, I think.”
“Then it’s fine, Skye. Not all these people are as terrible as they seem. However, I can’t say I’m overall thrilled at the connection, but this could be amazing for you.” I grit my teeth, because it’s so undeniably true. This is an opportunity some girls would kill for.
She doesn’t say anything.
“Skye?”
“What?” she asks more harshly than I expect.
“What’s wrong?”
“What if I don’t want it?”
“Then you don’t have to do it.” I state brusquely. Her self-doubt is what I hate the most. She doesn’t need to feel that way.
Another long pause of contemplation, and I can picture Skyler fiddling with one of her long midnight curls, twirling it around her finger, her crystal eyes wide and luminous as they stare off into the abyss of her bedroom.
“Skyler, you need to answer that question, and not just identify it as the problem. The solution lies in the answer, not the question itself,” I comment, finding the lingering silence curious.
“I can’t tell yet,” she responds more honestly.
Bingo. That explains it. She’s embarrassed.
“Ya know, babe, it’s okay to want to do the modeling thing, if you do. It doesn’t make you less of a premed student or a bimbo. That’s if you feel that way. It doesn’t change anything about you if you were to want Gio to find you interesting, and to be one of his models. It doesn’t change who you are. You’re beautiful, and that’s just a fact, and that’s what this comes down to.”
I have to secretly admit to myself that the idea of having Skyler on my arm at social events would be a dream come true, with us both having bright futures in the biz, but I remind myself that regardless of whether she becomes a model, or a doctor, she’d be by my side anyway. It’s just the potential of that particular scenario that makes me a little more stoked.
“I love you,” she breathes out, and it washes over me like warm summer rain.
“I love you, too.”
“I wish you were home to tuck me in.”
I grin. “Babe, if I were home I’d be doing a lot more than tucking you in.”
Her rewarding, girly laughter that she saves just for me stirs my soul in such away that I ache to be near her, and I’m tempted to tell her so, finding that “the Big Apple” is a lonely city at the moment.
I imagine Skyler’s naked body tangled around her cloud-white sheets, her dark hair splayed out on her pillows, and her pink pouty lips opened enough to allow her shallow breaths to calm her after a night of lovemaking. That’s the image I’ll fall asleep to tonight.
How can she make me crazy for her three thousand miles away?
“Come home to me now,” she begs.
“I’ll be home soon enough, and you can plan on me showing you just how much I’m missing you.”
“You’re such a sap.”
“Would you have me any other way?”
“I’d like to have you many ways, actually.”
That’s my girl.
Chapter 8
Skyler
I twirl Gio’s card in my hand after pulling it from my backpack. I had hidden it there until I might need it again, but now with days gone by, I fear I might lose it.
Gio’s home address and number are in shiny black ink on an off-white card stock. I can’t imagine having Gio’s magnitude of fame and putting my most personal information on a business card. He must not give this card out to many people.
I place the card in my wallet. My earlier call with Gio needs to leave my mind. For now, I have way bigger things to take care of. My heart picks up pace at the thought, and my knees wobble anxiously.
I look at my cell phone for the time. Blake should’ve been home over twenty minutes ago. He was so busy texting me while in the JFK airport that his cell phone died. I checked flight times online, and he landed over thirty minutes ago.
As if I had summoned my boyfriend, I hear keys at the front door. I fling my body down the stairs, nearly tripping halfway down.
I see Josh’s broad frame first, and although I’m not upset to see him, it isn’t him I can’t wait to lay my eyes on.
Seconds later, Blake trails behind him, his eyes find me instantly. My feet can’t help but pick up their pace.
Blake blurts out for my brother’s ears, “Avert your eyes, Josh.”
Josh swivels around, “What? Why?”
However, it’s too late. My mouth stretches wide as I commit to a full sprint, and leap into Blake’s arms, causing his luggage, backpack, and carry-on to clatter onto the floor as he catches me. His deep laughter ignites that familiar buzz to roll through my body.
I crash my lips to his as if he’s oxygen. His lips feel even better than I remember. They lift my soul from whatever depths it’s been lagging in all week.
Josh gags. “Is that necessary? I don’t even get a hello,” he huffs.
I’m too busy wrapping my arms tightly around Blake’s neck as his grip on my thighs tightens in unison.
“Welcome home.” I breathe quietly between kisses.
“I like this coming-home party,” he replies.
Not letting me go, he begins his strides to his bedroom.
Surprising me, Vanessa appears behind Blake. She’s laughing as she enters, walking over to be at Josh’s side as she says, “C’mon Josh, just let it go.”
I yelp as Blake’s hands give me a tighter squeeze, as if to goad my brother’s rising temper, but for once I don’t care.
By the time I open my eyes I only get one brief glimpse of Josh’s glare before a mischievous smile slithers its way across my mouth as we enter Blake’s room. His musky, fresh smell engulfs me, giving me instant happiness.
Blake tosses me onto the bed and carelessly kicks his door shut.
He peels off his gray T-shirt. “Your idiot brother decided to stop and pick up Vanessa on the way without warning me,” he exclaims, to explain his lateness, but I don’t care. He’s here now.
“Did you miss me?” I ask, even though he’d told me nearly every night.
He climbs over my body, and brushes his lips teasingly against mine. “No.” He then presses his lips against mine again and again between his words. “Not,” kiss, “at,” kiss, “all.”
<
br /> He trails his mouth up my jawline, and I have to bite back a gasp. “What about my brother outside?”
He nips at my earlobe, letting out a low growl at the topic change. “And I definitely don’t give a shit about that.”
His right hand starts a determined trail up and over my hips, and underneath my shirt. Impatiently, he pulls my shirt over my head, tucking his face between my breasts, peppering my chest with sweet kisses until he reaches my lips.
“How long has it been?” He groans between our mouths.
“Nearly seven days.”
“It’s been torture,” he breathes as his hands make quick work of the button on my jeans. My breathing becomes shallow, and desire sparks low in my belly, reminding me that Blake’s touch, no matter what the circumstance, is electric.
I close my eyes as I drag my fingertips over the lines of his toned chest, down the muscles of his abs, reading his body like braille, reintroducing myself to it. I had missed it, and I merely missed his physique curling around mine when I slept.
The combination of love and lust feels like a cocktail of drugs that teeters on dangerous, but it’s just too good to stop.
I tuck my fingers into the waistband of his jeans, taking a grateful moment to appreciate his chiseled hips, my favorite part of his anatomy, before I unbutton them and push his jeans and briefs off, freeing him.
I wrap my legs around him, arching my hips to his as his tongue plunges into my mouth, eliciting a breathy moan.
He teases the entry of my sex with his cock, pulling his lips away briefly, his eyes piercing mine with green static electricity.
“Okay, so maybe I missed you, like, a lot.”
I’m so entranced by his stare, I tangle my fingers into his short, thick brown hair, anchoring that look to me, never wanting to forget it. I know exactly how Blake feels about me with just that one look. It leaves me in awe.
“Of course you did.”
His laughter mixes with a groan as he presses his hips into mine, inching himself slowly inside of me, not stopping until he hears an unrestrained gasp escape me. “And this is home. Here with you.”
My mind and body’s reaction is an involuntary whisper against his lips of, “I love you so much.”
“I love you,” he breathes out, his forehead leaning against mine as his hips begin a sinfully sweet rhythm.
His shallow breaths and low growls are the soundtrack to my rising ecstasy as I drag my nails down his back, and it isn’t until I hear my name tumble out of his perfect mouth in release that I feel satiated, for now.
***
Blake collapses onto the space next to me, and I only get a glimpse of his body with a thin sheen of sweat before my eyes sink closed, savoring the feeling of having Blake home, and the release of my insatiable appetite that Blake is without a doubt the cause of.
I turn over, curling my body around his. He reciprocates by draping his arm around me, and giving me a gentle squeeze.
“Can I just lie here the rest of the day?” he asks.
With my eyes still closed and chin resting on his chest, I smile. “If you want.”
He releases a long exhale. The sound catches my attention, and I lift my head up to examine his resting features: the curve to his relaxed smile, the slope of his nose, and the smooth skin around his eyes and cheeks; the flush gives him such a mesmerizing glow. I’m drawn to him, just by his mere existence.
“How was New York?” I ask.
His eyes open, his left eyebrow tweaks itself upward, and soon his smooth skin wrinkles in apprehension. “It was okay. I finally got the hang of it on the second day. I’m not sure I’m cut out for all the press stuff. At least most of it was for magazines. We had a web exclusive video interview for MTV. I was surprised that the story of the movie is so well known. Thanks to you and that book, I didn’t make a fool of myself.”
The corners of my mouth stretch wide. “You read it?”
“All of it!” his eyes glitter proudly.
“Look at you!” I tease.
He rolls his eyes at me. “I must admit, I guess I missed your smart mouth, too.”
He abruptly turns me over onto my back, his body on top of mine, pinning me to the bed. I let out a shriek of surprise.
“Skye?”
His eyes turn a dark forest color. His eyes tend to reflect his mood, and my brain can’t help but be on full alert.
“Hmm?”
“We should probably talk, ya know?”
I don’t know, actually. He’s been home maybe an hour, and his statement throws me, sending me into an unexpected spiral of fear. I try to keep my cool.
“Talk about . . . ?” I ask, letting my sentence trail off.
Blake lifts a careless shoulder. “You know, we should probably talk about what’s coming.”
I didn’t know my feeling of bliss could evaporate so quickly. What’s coming? Is it the inevitable fact that Blake could easily have his pick of any runway model or A-list celeb rather than my gawky self? And that this whole thing we have going on will be short-lived?
“Skyler? That look. I know that look. You’re thinking the worst. I can tell. Your lips get all puckered, and that v forms between your eyebrows. What’s wrong?”
I release a small chuff, and I know it only amplifies the wrinkling skin between my eyes. “That’s a pretty terrifying setup you just laid out.”
He tilts his head, bemused. “You always jump to the worst conclusions. Let me start over and explain myself. I talked to your brother—”
“Which tends to never be a good idea.”
He gifts me with the deep tone of his laughter, and an involuntary twitch occurs at the corner of my mouth.
“Hear me out. He made a good point. He told me to be honest about everything, and that omitting the truth is still a lie.”
My body tenses, and my face empties of emotion.
He rolls his eyes, and, as if to placate my erratic mood swings, nuzzles into the crook of my neck, peppering it with light kisses as he speaks. “Jeez, Skye. Relax. I love you, now please stop.” He lifts his head up to place another sweet kiss between my brows. “I haven’t been lying. I just haven’t been telling you everything all at once, and I want us to be honest and open. I haven’t divulged my whole filming schedule to you because I know you hate it, and you haven’t told me how you feel because you know I won’t like it either. But I don’t want us to make these rookie relationship mistakes. We are past this in so many ways, don’t you think?”
My heart clenches in admiration, fear, and anxiousness. This particular cocktail of feelings is new, but I do know one thing.
“You’re right.” I breathe out, and it feels good to agree. “We are kind of master avoiders.”
“We are. I want to talk about my filming schedule, and how I’ll be out of town more than I admitted before. Also, I want to talk about Gio. What do you want to talk about?” he says almost smugly.
Why does this feel so difficult all of a sudden? His words make my insides knot. I reach up for his face, sliding my fingertips down the stubble of his jaw, finding the sandpaper feeling warm and inviting.
I take in a deep breath. His topics are fair, and right on point
“Those same topics.”
“I knew it.” He rolls back onto the space next to me, his naked body still flush against mine as he rests his head on the palm of his hand while his eyes probe my face for a sign. “I’ll be in LA filming for a few weeks, and then I have to fly to New York again. I think that’ll be the pattern, with mostly late nights and early mornings. I won’t be home as often as I had hoped.”
He exhales, as if that’s the heavy weight he’d been secretly holding.
I can’t help my automatic pout. “For how long will filming last?”
He eyes me warily as he lifts his hand, placing a black curl behind m
y ear. “About two months, but isn’t that the good news? That’s no time at all. Are you mad?”
“No. I’ll just miss you. Look at us, and it’s only been a week.”
“It’ll be worth it.”
Will it? I think. Is it monetary value he’s speaking of? Or fame? I just don’t know. I at least know that this is his dream, and I support it. Whatever it takes. I gulp at the thought.
“I know it will be,” I say as confidently as possible. “Have you met the cast and stuff?” I hold my breath.
His smirk twitches, and I know he’s reading me like a book. I want to hate it, but maybe I should be thankful.
“I met the other lead. Her name is Kathryn Caraway.”
My eyes go wide. “Kathryn Caraway! She was just in that romantic comedy that was plastered all over the place.” I gulp down for the second time in the span of two minutes. “She’s very pretty.”
His careless shrug should comfort me, but it doesn’t.
“She’s okay-pretty in person. Sweet girl. We talked a bit, but she didn’t seem like anything major. I guess I didn’t realize her career standings.”
I exaggerate his tone, “You didn’t realize that’s who you’d be working with? She’s on the cover of my Elle magazine. I guess I know why now. Maybe she was amping up this movie she’s doing with you. The book was really popular.”
“Well, she’s nice. I want you to meet her. I talked to her about you.”
My heart skips a beat in confusion. This should be a good thing, right?
“Oh?”
Blake places a sweet kiss on my lips, and my mouth shamelessly begs for more, as if his mouth could give me the sense of reassurance I’m seeking. He allows my lips to control his for a longer moment than I think he had planned, and it isn’t until he hears my quiet, satisfied sigh that he pulls away. When he does, that singular dimple is there in all its adorable glory.
“I talked about how crazy I am about you. So, she knows.”
His last few words sound more critical than calming.
“I don’t want to be jealous, you know that, right? I need you to know that I want to be okay that you’re surrounded by all of these beautiful woman, and all this attention. God dammit, I don’t want to care.”