by Shane Morton
“Wow,” I reached over and placed my hand on his wrist and squeezed just for a second. It was an honest moment that demanded I acknowledge it. “That had to be intense. I’ve only met Everett the one time before, but I’ve talked to him on the phone quite a bit, and he’s great. But, it seems to me that you two have resolved any issues you might have had. Trust me. He’s talked about you, and he’s a fan. I bet he would totally take a selfie with you,” I let go of his wrist.
“Yeah. We’re cool now. Took a bit, but we finally got there.” His face was more solemn than it usually was. Gone was the carefree- devil may care attitude he frequently showed the world. This was who he really was. It was beautiful.
“From what you said, all of the others before or after Everett have been assholes? You like bad boys?” I surmised, smirking just a little as this was something we apparently had in common.
“Oh yeah.” He noticed our glasses were almost empty and waved over at the waitress. She smiled at him and started pouring two more IPA’s for us. “Total cock-knocks. I seem to find guys only interested in sex, and when it gets serious, they don’t.”
“Love, man. It’s tough. But worth it,” I offered.
“I used to be happy with the way things are. I mean, who needed a boyfriend? I have a great life, but here recently, I’ve started wanting more.”
Sandy dropped off our two beers, and we paused our conversation until she walked away.
“More would be nice. Sometimes though, more is a pain in the ass. I look around at Point Pleasant, and everything you guys have here and I’m a little jealous. I love LA, I do… But, in the end, I’m just running a marathon without an end. I think maybe if I feel the same after this week, I might buy a place up here just to get away.”
“Hmmm… That might be cool,” He smiled at me. “You’re not at all what I expected, Hollywood. It’s a pleasant surprise.”
“Yeah… you too.”
We spent the rest of the night talking until it was time to go home. That burger was terrific, and Sandy got her photo. Danny even took it.
We stood out by his truck for a minute, saying goodbye and planning a time for him to pick me up. Neither one of us knew how to end the night. There was an energy that wouldn’t stop humming between us, and it was deafening- drowning out our reason and judgment. I wanted to throw him over my shoulder and take him back to my bed and ravish him. I wanted it badly.
“Do you want me to give you a ride? Hop in,” he said, slapping me on the back lightly.
I paused before answering, because yes, I want to get in his truck. “Uh… I think I’ll walk. It’s a beautiful night, and I need to clear my head a little before I begin our day tomorrow. Skiing remember?” I could feel my face flush. I didn’t want this night to end, at least not yet. But… it should. It had to.
He took a step forward, and our bodies were only inches apart. I could feel the sparks fly from us- an electric synergy that wanted to pull us together, even if it were a bad idea. I took a little step forward. This is it. He’s going to kiss me, and I don’t want to stop him.
He reached over and pulled me into a hug. Our hard chests bumped against each other and a chill shot up my spine as his arms encircled me. He held me for just a few seconds before letting go. It was awkward and beautiful. As he pulled away, I noticed the blush that had lit up his cheeks. He was definitely feeling something too, and my blood was pumping hard. My heart was thrumming out of my chest with desire and need.
“Okay…” he fumbled, embarrassed at what to do next. “I’m gonna go…” his laugh was husky and breathless, and I wanted to grab his arm and pull him back to me.
I didn’t.
“See you tomorrow,” I said as I took a step and started walking away. I turned to see Danny lean on his truck, shaking his head. “You just gonna stand there? We have a big day tomorrow.” I turned away and headed home.
“I’m just gonna enjoy the view for a second. It’s a beautiful night.”
He was probably talking about the plethora of stars that were lighting up the sky, but I hoped he meant me.
10
Danny
Life sure can throw a fucking curveball when you least expect it. Here I am, dealing with all of my shit: planning a wedding (not mine), counseling, considering new career paths, and finally wanting and expecting more out of life. Then life throws Blake out in front of me, and all I can do is take it for face value, at this point. He’s a fucking Hollywood actor that’s used to the finer things in life. I’m pizza and beer. Blake is wine and steak.
I called Dr. Miranda when I got home last night and left a message that screamed S.O.S. (HELP ME!) She texted me back today offering me a quick spot on Thursday. Thursday may be too late. By Thursday I may be done for. Blake’s presence is like a force of nature to me. It’s overwhelming to my senses, and my brain cannot compute the subtle flirtations we give each other. His eyes, those dark brown eyes see right through me, and I feel laid bare by them. He is driving me crazy.
I grabbed a couple pairs of skis and an extra snowsuit that I knew would be tight on Blake, but I figured he could manage in it. I did promise that if we got everything done today, we could ski. It’s kind of funny to me that I love skiing just about more than anything on Earth. If I had made some different choices in life, I might have gone pro. But right now, what I wish we were doing was going to the lake, so we could swim and hang out at the beach bar. Of course, it is way too chilly for that now, but the opportunity of seeing Blake in his trunks… well, that would totally be worth it.
Yep. I am falling into something for Blake. It has to be lust. I don’t know him well enough for it to be anything else but… Last night I thought about what would happen if Blake did come here more often and bought the place he mentioned. Dr. Miranda tells me that I don’t take the opportunities that are placed in front of me. Is that what this is? Or at least is it what it could be?
My brain hurts…
I pulled up in front of Mrs. Markles and honked the horn. We have a few new things that we have to deal with today besides Hay bales, finding a photographer and food tasting. I found something else in Everett’s journal that I missed. I needed to find someone to sing, We’re Simply Meant to Be from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Everett’s favorite movie. He’s always been macabre. I needed to find Amber McGinty, which meant we needed to also make a stop by the Point Pleasant Playhouse. If she couldn’t do it, surely they could help me find someone.
Blake bounded out of the front door and took the steps two at a time as he ran to the truck, a foolish grin plastered to his face. He opened the door and hopped inside.
“Good morning,” he beamed at me, his hand reaching over and giving me a quick one-armed hug. I snuggled into it lightly.
“Good morning to you too” I chuckled, pulling away- but wishing I could have lingered there longer. Blake smelled like honeysuckle and Dove soap. It was intoxicating for some reason.
He winked at me. “I figured this is a thing that we do now, right? We are huggers, for now.”
“That’s ominous,” I put the truck in drive and pulled forward. “Sounds like something bad will happen after, ‘now.’”
“Well, it could change into something else, who knows? Maybe we’ll become cheek kissers?” he blushed. He was tan, not unnaturally tan like he lived in a tanning booth, but the kind of tan you got from walking on the beach or playing basketball outdoors. His blush darkened his cheeks and made them ruby.
He blushed? I’ve not imagined things… Or at least I didn’t think I imagined things. I wanted to believe he might be feeling whatever it is I’ve been feeling, too.
I have never been good at reading signals. Or maps… I am total shit at maps.
“Let’s just not high five anymore, okay,” I teased. “Let’s say we have moved past that.”
He looked crestfallen at me as if I had just run over a puppy. (By the way that would be the worst thing in the world. I would literally die.) “You mean you don’t like t
he high five? What about a low five? I’m kind of feeling the low five, right now.”
“What the fuck is a low five?” I laughed. Damnit, it was easy to let my guard down around him.
“Oh, you’ll see. When you least expect it,” Blake stuck his tongue out, in an incredibly silly yet oh so sexy way.
“I don’t even know what to say to that,” I tightened my grip on the steering wheel and made the turn to go to the Playhouse.
“So what was on our agenda today? Oh yeah… skiing!” he raised his arms in the air as if he just scored the winning shot. “Can’t wait to see you out there on the slopes. I bet you are something else.”
“I do alright. Honestly, I don’t ski as much for fun as I would like. Tourists keep me hopping during the fall and winter. In a couple weeks we will start getting heavier snowfall up there. I mean, we have the man-made down now, but there’s some actual powder mixed in. Started coming down at the beginning of the month up there.”
“Yeah, it’s the same in LA. Big Bear Mountain, that’s where I would go skiing near LA, gets snow about the same time, even though it’s in the ’80s around the base. I always thought that was crazy. I mean it’s warm enough here during the day for shorts still.” He drummed his fingers on the cab of the truck in time with the music that was playing on low. “I love this song. Kelly is actually very cool. Met her a few times and she’s always so nice.”
“Do you ever get star struck?” I had been wondering about this. “Does a Hollywood star get goo-goo eyes when they meet one of themselves?”
“Oh hell yeah. I’m a TV himbo and part-time model. I am not a movie star. Brad Pitt once slapped me on the back and said it was good to meet me. I almost screamed like a twelve-year-old girl. I’m low on the food chain, Lifeguard. There’s a pantheon of stars brighter than me, and I know it. Hell, I’m okay with it.” He sighed. “I wouldn’t want that kind of fame. I hate what I already have, most of the time. I like the money, and I love to act, but celebrity… You can keep it.”
“We have to make a pit stop here for a second. I have to find a singer,” I shook my head in disbelief. “Everett wants a song.”
“Fuck. Do we need microphones and shit?” Blake looked dumbstruck. It was funny that the actor hadn’t thought of microphones until now. I at least had an excuse as I had never even spoken into one.
“We’ll ask Hildy. She agreed to DJ, and I think she would take care of all of that since it’s all happening in the same place. But I guess I could be wrong,” I shrugged. I had no fucking idea. Here’s a piece of advice; don’t ask someone to plan your wedding who knows nothing about weddings. It can go wrong fast.
“Yeah, that makes sense,” he agreed. He reached over and touched my leg. It startled me. I wasn’t expecting it, and I acted like a fool- jumping in my seat at his warm touch. I am an idiot. “Whoa there,” he said, drawing back his hand slowly. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought we had moved to the light touch phase of our friendship.” He cocked his head over at me and stuck out his bottom lip in the most adorable and manly pout ever. Those two things do go together, by the way, when you’re talking about Blake Hudson.
“Sorry,” I said slowly. “I didn’t see your hand,” I lied. “I didn’t know what it was.”
“We can be at the soft touch of our friendship,” I smiled over at him, trying to stop myself from looking like a class A moron. “It’s cool.”
“Cool,” he winked at me again. His long eyelashes were something that some country band should write a song about. They were startling in their beauty and framed his big old brown eyes perfectly.
“Okay. You wanna come, Hollywood?” I asked. “I’m sure the director of the Playhouse would be happy to have you next summer,” I teased.
“How about I sit this one out, Lifeguard. I think you can handle it.”
I ran into the Playhouse and got the info I needed. I would call her before the Fall Festival to see if she would be able to sing at the wedding. Thank God that play was over last weekend. I hurried out to find Blake leaning against the passenger’s side door of the truck. He looked like he belonged here in The Pleasant; just a good old boy leaning against his pickup.
If that were true, I would be approaching this thing much differently. As it was, I felt like I was free-falling into oblivion.
“What next?” he stood up and took a step in my direction. I felt like I hit a wall when I stopped walking. If I just took two more steps, I could smash his face into mine and rub that short hair with my hand. I bet it felt like velvet.
“Well, Hollywood, we need to find us a photographer,” I had no idea about who to call. I was sure there were photographers in The Pleasant, but I didn’t know any. “We’ll make calls on our way to the chalet.”
“Actually, we don’t need to do that. I am happy to say that the photographer has been taken care of,” his lopsided grin sent shivers through me.
“What are you talking about, Hollywood?” I said perplexed.
“I called in a favor. It will be part of my gift to them. An acquaintance of mine is a photographer for a magazine, and she’s not doing anything this weekend, so I am flying her in. I just got off the phone with her. She’s even bringing her assistant so there will be a second camera. No video though. That okay?” He continued grinning at me like the Cheshire Cat. I wanted to burst out in tears at the good news, and I’m not that emotional, usually. My nerves were frayed.
“I could kiss you, I’m so happy about that,” I replied, immediately feeling my face flush. I didn’t mean to say that, I mean, that is just something that you say to people when you are excited about something they just did- and I am ecstatic that he took care of the photographer and I… Fuck. I tried to calm down, I was on the verge of falling apart. I could feel my hand slowly shaking. I made a fist to try to stop him from noticing.
He took a couple steps slowly towards me and leaned in, brushing my cheek slowly and carefully with his lips. He lingered for just a second, and I stood there rigid, as still as a statue, trying to process what was happening.
Damn… his breath was minty fresh. I could feel him exhale as he slowly pulled away.
“There. Now we are to the stage in our relationship where we can give each other a kiss on the cheek,” he chuckled lowly. His deep baritone reverberating all the way through me and down into my toes. “How’s that?”
“Oh… I… think I’m okay with that,” I said slowly, looking him directly in the eyes. Why not? I might as well let him know that I am a possibility. That’s what Dr. Miranda would tell me to do.
“Good,” he had a shit-eating grin spread across his face. He knew. He had to know. I was blushing like a… well a blushing bride. “So, what is next?”
“We have two hours until we eat, so I guess that means we can spend a little time on the slopes,” I took a step back and started to walk around the truck.
He grabbed my arm and spun me around. “Skiing! Now I could kiss you!”
He pulled me in and grasped my face with both of his hands. He kissed me gently on my other cheek. He pulled away slowly again.
“I’m glad we’ve gotten to this stage in our relationship, Lifeguard. Us LA types are affectionate people,” he stuck his tongue out at me and walked to the passenger door of the truck. I just stood there dumbfounded at this new twist in our relationship… friendship… whatever. “Coming?” He opened the door and hopped inside.
I walked around and slid into the truck. I don’t know what happened, but somehow this has turned into flirtation. I had a lot to wrap my head around, apparently- whatever it meant, if it actually meant anything.
We drove up to the chalet and changed into our snowsuits. Sadly, we just put the suits on over our clothes since neither one of us thought about it. That was a surprise to me, showing me that I was not on my A-game.
It wasn’t crowded. Too early for it to be so we got on the lift quickly, and Blake was like a child as we rode up the mountain to the slope. We would only have time for one r
ide, so I chose an intermediate path for us. Even though he said he loved to ski, I wanted to make sure I didn’t choose one that would be too much for him.
“This is so fucking beautiful up here. Seriously, this may be the prettiest place I have ever seen. I am falling in love with these mountains, Danny.” He gushed. The cold air rushed around us as the wind blew the tops of the trees below us back and forth. He was right. It was beautiful, it’s one of the reasons I came back to The Pleasant. I loved the outdoors, and I had never found another place that matched where I was born.
He pointed to some elk that were running through the trees and giggled with excitement. “That’s awesome! Are we close?”
“Yep. Just around that turn. About 2 more minutes.” He reached over and pulled me close with his left arm as it snaked its way around my shoulders.
“Thank you, Danny. This is going to be so much fun! I’m glad I’m getting to do this with you,” he gushed.
“Okay…Okay… settle down there, Hollywood,” I felt my face flush. It was either him or the cold air… No, it was totally him. “Alright, here we go,” I said.
We exited the lift and started our descent back down the mountain. Blake was pretty good. It was easy to see that he could actually ski and I didn’t need to go slow with him. However, I didn’t want to rush it either, so we did a leisurely ski back down to the chalet. It was a fun forty-five-minute run and Blake ‘Woo-hoo’ed’ all the way down the mountain.
It was fun. Blake was fun. Blake was more than fun…
We changed out of our snowsuits, and I took everything back out to the truck and met Blake back inside.