Cliché

by Ryleigh Sloan

  Frank grinned at me, and I focused on the fact that his one incisor was longer than the other rather than the fact that I could practically feel him undressing me with his eyes. “Let’s see your moves.”

  If this wasn’t Kevin’s place of work, I would’ve elbowed Frank in the throat ten seconds into meeting him but it was. Kevin had a good reputation with the directors he worked with and I didn’t want to ruin that for him. Besides, I knew he’d pulled some serious strings, so I breathed deep, gave Frank a thin smile and got into position.

  “Are you ready, Claire?” Victor asked.

  I looked at him and nodded. “Ready.”

  I was a little thrown off by Victor calling out “Action.” The hesitation cost me my crouching start and I never really met my stride. I didn’t get up quite as much speed as Kevin and when Frank pulled on the rope I wasn’t expecting to feel so weightless. It felt like there was hardly any tension on the line and instead of turning my body at a 45-degree angle, I twisted my body too far in and smacked the wall in what could only be described as a true Wile E. Coyote move straight out of Road Runner. I now understood why the wall was padded.

  The air rushed out of me more from surprise than the force of my body smacking the wall and I slid down as giggles erupted from me.

  Kevin reached my side and extended a hand to me, helping me up. “That was good, but next time try hitting the wall with your feet and not your face.”

  I shoved at his shoulder. “Yeah, how many times did it take you?”

  “Eight,” Victor replied from the wings. “I’ve got the gag-reel if you want to see it.”

  “Oh, I’ll definitely take you up on that.”

  Victor shot me a wink. “Ready for take two?”

  I shook out my arms and legs. “Let’s do this.”

  The second time was better. I still hit the wall but this time my knees took the brunt and I saved my face. The third time, I managed to get my feet on the wall for a few steps before I slid down the mat. On attempt number six, I finally nailed it! To be honest, I was getting a bit pissed at Kevin’s smug smile and folded arms like he totally had this in the bag.

  I was so focused on twisting my body right and running the wall with just the tips of my toes that I didn’t even know I’d made it till Frank and Victor’s loud exclamations and Kevin’s shout of defeat. I wish I could say I was gracious in my victory but I was far from it. Victor and Frank razzed Kevin mercilessly while I did a very ungraceful dance until I ran out of breath.

  Kevin walked over and handed me a bottle of water, feigning exasperation. “You couldn’t let me have this, could you?”

  I took a giant swig of the water and wiped my face with a towel Frank handed me. “Hey, you have Go Fish.”

  Kevin shot me a look that was artfully like giving me the finger without actually giving me the finger and I laughed. Since we were kids, Kevin had always been trying to beat me at something other than cards and I wasn’t having any of it.

  A guy in his mid-sixties jogged over, grey hair in a mop around his head and a roguish smile on his face that deepened the lines around his eyes. He shot out his hand. “I’m Adrian Wax. You must be Claire.” I shook his hand, trying not to blink at the fact that a seven-time Oscar-winning director had just jogged over to us. I expected Adrian to let my hand go but he didn’t, turning the most mischievous smile I’d seen outside of a six-year-old’s body on Kevin. “You got your ass whipped by a girl.” He squeezed my hand, offering me an apologetic smile. “No offense, girlie.”

  “Oh, none taken.” I smiled. “I stopped listening after, ‘you got your ass whipped’.”

  The laugh that ripped out of Adrian’s throat was half laugh, half wheeze and I expected him to erupt into hacking coughs. He slapped his thigh with the hand that wasn’t holding mine. “She’s got spunk. I like that,” he said to no one in particular, then flashed me a smile so wide I got a glimpse of the filling of his last molar. “I don’t suppose I can convince you to sign a contract to be Kevin’s stunt double, can I? Looks like he’s going soft.” He released my hand to clap Kevin’s shoulder and the affection displayed was of mutual respect and genuine caring and it made my heart feel too big for my chest.

  “Hey, Claire, wanna see the gag-reel now or should I make you a copy and bring it to the premiere tomorrow?”

  “How about we watch it now and you make me a copy?”

  Adrian snorted again. “I see why you’re so grounded.”

  “Yeah, she keeps me firmly on the ground by stomping all over me.” Kevin shot me a wink over his shoulder that told me he was teasing. “I’m outta here. I think hanging around with Shelby when she hasn’t had her snack is better for my ego than this.”

  Adrian linked his arm in mine. “Actors are such sensitive creatures.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “I’m not buying it.” My moonlight silver gown swished as I stepped out of the elevator and headed towards Kevin’s room. Kevin was already loosening his charcoal tie and the sight of him, collar unbuttoned and tie all askew made me want to yank him to me by his tie and kiss him stupid. I restrained myself because we were in the middle of a debate I felt sure I was going to win, and there was the tiny fact that anyone seeing us pressed up against a wall in a steamy kiss would land us in the news. Children in Syria were right in the crossfire of a horrendous war, orphaned and dying of hunger, but who Kevin smiled at or embraced for longer than the public felt was acceptable made front page news. The world was a scary and crazy place.

  He smiled at me in amusement. “You don’t have to buy it but it’s true. I really don’t enjoy that part of my job.”

  I cocked an eyebrow and looked at him sceptically. “Seriously? She’s frikkin gorgeous. What’s not to enjoy?” Kevin’s co-star in Derailed was stunning. The girl was so toned and firm, I bet you could bounce a coin off her ass and that luscious auburn hair and forest green eyes…Come on. “You really want me to believe you don’t enjoy grinding against her?”

  We’d just got back from the premiere of Kevin’s latest movie, where he played a man married to a slightly deranged woman—a sexy-as-all-hell woman who had me questioning my orientation in a scene or two.

  Kevin shook his head, a smile teasing the side of his mouth. “Ever heard the saying, ‘somewhere in the world someone is sick of fucking her?’ She stays in character. All…the…time. In fact, I think the character was modelled after her.”

  I laughed as I released the pin holding one side of my hair, curled into soft waves back from my face, and placed it in my clutch. “Sure, but you don’t have to go home with her. You can just stroke her and feel her move beneath your fingers till the director yells cut and spoils all your fun.”

  We reached Kevin’s room and he slipped the key card from his pocket and waved it in front of the scanner. The door opened and he walked in backward, pulling me over the threshold and against him as the door closed behind us.

  “We can explore your interest in Tammy later, but for now I’d rather stroke you and feel you move beneath me.” He pinned me to the wall and pressed his body against mine as he sealed his lips over mine. I dropped my clutch on the table and groaned into his mouth, aware that he was kissing me stupid and not caring at all if was just to shut me up. I’d been winding him up all the way home, knowing full well that Kevin wasn’t into meaningless sex but still wondering how the hell he managed to not be in the least bit attracted to the redhead he spent a great deal of the movie “fucking”.

  My hands moved to his jacket and I started moving it over his shoulders while kicking off my heels. My bare feet sunk into the carpet and I mashed my mouth against Kevin’s, savouring the taste of his tongue but wanting to taste more of him. I slid to my knees and released his belt, unbuttoned his pants and pulled his zip down in record time. Yanking his pants and boxer briefs down, I had his cock in my mouth in no time. The room was still dark, but as I stared up at him I had the pleasure of watching his head fall back and could just make out his throat work
ing a swallow in the glow cast from the moonlight. I took him deeper into my mouth, relishing the feel of his velvety flesh sliding over my tongue and the morsel of pre-cum teasing my taste buds. My tongue traced the tip of his cock, lavishing special attention on that spot just beneath his crown that made his legs tremble and a groan tear from deep within him. God, there was something so incredibly hot about Kevin, semi-dressed, his pants around his ankles, hands fisted in my hair, straining with the effort it took for him not to pound into my mouth. I sucked all the way to the base of his cock then back to the tip, my head bobbing as I devoured him. The thin lace of my panties was soaked through and if it wasn’t for my long cumbersome dress, I’d have two fingers deep inside me, stroking out my own orgasm with frenzied abandon.

  A flash lit up the room momentarily, just enough for me to see Kevin sucking in slow, steady breaths. I didn’t want him controlled, I wanted him to come undone, I wanted to taste him hot and thick at the back of my tongue, I wanted to lick up every drop he could give me. The next time the flash hit, Kevin stilled. If my lips weren’t wrapped so snuggly around his cock I would have shot him a self-satisfied smirk because I knew what was coming next. I placed my hands on his hips, hoping to encourage him to thrust into my mouth while he released into my throat but one minute my hands were on his hips and my tongue was licking up and down his cock and the next I was on my feet and being shoved roughly against the door. I winced as my hip bumped against the door hard enough that I knew I’d have a bruise. I was surprised by the sudden change in direction my seduction had inspired but when Kevin pulled up his pants I was just confused.

  Seconds later, the lights turned on and I blinked at the sudden brightness in the room. A scream lodged in my throat and I barely had time to process the strange man in Kevin’s room before Kevin was charging across the suite and smashing his fist into the guy’s face. Blood gushed out of the man’s nose but that didn’t seem to bother Kevin as he grabbed him by the throat and held him against the wall. I screamed Kevin’s name and ran across the room, trying in vain to get him to release the guy who was frantically clawing at Kevin’s hand with one hand while desperately hanging onto his phone with the other.

  “Claire”—Kevin’s voice eerily calm—“Take the phone out of this fucker’s hand and delete the photos.”

  It wasn’t easy to extricate the phone from the guy’s death-grip but I managed and flipped to the gallery. Images of Kevin pulling up his pants with me standing, looking shocked and surprised behind him, were the first photos in the list. My shaking fingers flew to my mouth as I realised that there was eight minutes of video on the phone too. Like someone watching a train wreck but unable to avert their eyes, I pressed a trembling finger to the video. The sound of the guy struggling to release himself from Kevin’s hold was blocked out by the sheer mortification of watching mine and Kevin’s passionate kiss as we entered the room, followed by the bobbing of my head as I worked at sucking Kevin off.

  The quality of the video wasn’t great, but it was one of those phones where you could video during low light. Despite the low quality, there was absolutely no denying who was in the video. I looked up at Kevin, bile stinging my throat as I felt the colour drain from my face. Blood rushed to my ears but I still heard Kevin’s voice, deathly calm instructing me again to delete the videos and pics. It took me three attempts to hit the delete button on the screen for the video and another couple of times to check all the other images and hit delete.

  The minute I erased all the images Kevin let the guy go, took the phone from me and snapped it in half.

  “You just made a big fuckin mistake, buddy.” The intruder held his nose, trying to stem the bleeding to no avail. Deep burgundy stains spread across the front of his shirt and blood poured through his fingers. He waved his hand dismissively in my direction. “Even if she gives good head.”

  I watched rage morph Kevin’s features into an unrecognizable mask. Fear for what he’d do had the skin between my shoulder blades tightening and my throat closing with dread. My eyes flitted from Kevin to the guy smirking through the blood. His teeth stained red as the blood dripped into his mouth.

  I couldn’t have stopped Kevin if I tried so I didn’t bother. He smashed his fist against the loser’s jaw with a sickening crack that had him collapsed in an unconscious heap on the floor. Kevin bent over, digging his fingers into his own knees, violence pulsing off him in waves. He remained that way, unmoving for the longest time, pulling air into his lungs like a man starved for oxygen. Finally, he straightened and walked over to me, crushing me to him in a near-fierce embrace. I felt his body trembling along with mine as he held me and squeezed tighter, neither of us had the words to comfort the other.

  Chapter Fifteen

  If someone asked me which was worse, experiencing the fear of having one of my most intimate moments caught on tape or listening to the intruder, who we now knew as Bruce, recount his version of the last hour’s events in front of the hotel manager and Savannah, I’d be hard pressed to choose. I sat perched on the edge of the couch in Kevin’s suite (“our” suite since I’d spent every night here since I’d arrived) sipping on the brandy Savannah had shoved into my hands. The amber liquid burned like a bitch going down but at least I got a moment’s reprieve from the cold when it reached my belly.

  I honestly could not remember the last time I’d felt so cold, the blood running through my veins as icy as melting snow. Kevin’s jacket was slung around my shoulders and while it offered some comfort, it did little to warm me up—every time I looked at Bruce’s face I had to suppress a shudder. Blood had dried in an angry red around his nose and down his face, bruising already starting to appear around his eyes. As he spoke he rubbed his hand along the arm of the chair, staining the expensive fabric with blood.

  Kevin’s thumb drew agitated patterns on my hand, the skin where he circled his thumb over and over feeling hypersensitive. I wanted to remove my hand from his or at least reposition it so he’d rub a different spot, but I knew he needed the contact.

  “Let’s cut the bullshit. No one is going to believe you just happened to be in the wrong room doing whatever the fuck your excuse is going to be. Either you take the money and keep your mouth shut or I press charges and you can learn about giving head first hand.” I winced at Kevin’s choice of words since everyone in the room knew that was exactly what I was doing thanks to Bruce’s vehement rant once his manager and Savannah (still wearing the gown she’d worn to the premiere) had arrived minutes after Kevin had called them.

  “Fuck you, Pretty-Boy. I have a broken nose because of you. You’re the one who’s looking at charges.”

  “Bruce,” the hotel manager warned in a tone that reminded me of those people who narrate for a National Geographic segment. His face hardly moved as he spoke, and I wondered if he’d had one too many Botox shots or if the brandy and the shock were starting to take effect. “Mr. Peyton has a very strong case here. There are no calls logged from this room since ten fifteen this morning and the fact that Mr. Peyton and his…” He hesitated while he grasped for a word to describe me, the blush spreading in my cheeks feeling like flames against my otherwise icy skin. “Lady friend were out of the hotel makes your story look a little implausible.”

  I marvelled at the manager’s lack of reaction and wondered exactly what he’d seen in his years working for the hotel that allowed for his unshakable propriety while talking about blow jobs and scandalous videos. Even Savannah shot me looks of sympathy every now and again despite her almost stoic professionalism.

  “You’ve got until I finish talking to my lawyer to decide. After that, we’ll leave it to the courts.” His tone implied he was losing his patience, but more than that, there was a tremor that hinted at how close he was to losing his temper again. I knew he was bluffing. Kevin would never put me through a public court case but Bruce didn’t know that. I looked down at Kevin’s bruised knuckles and stifled a wince when I thought of how hard he’d punched Bruce. It hadn’t taken long
at all for Bruce to come to but the relief I’d felt when he’d opened his eyes had swallowed all the residual adrenalin, leaving me a shivering mess.

  Kevin’s lawyer answered almost immediately and I wondered what kind of hours people in LA kept. While Kevin gave his lawyer a condensed version of what had gone down, thankfully leaving out all the salacious details, I caught snippets of what the manager was saying to Bruce. Something about not wanting to cause the hotel a scandal if this got out to the press and if Bruce was prepared to agree to the settlement then the hotel would offer a six-month severance package. With what Kevin had offered as well as the package, Bruce would be set for a few years and was making a ton more money than he would have selling our video.

  Looking at Bruce with a stare so cold I could hardly recognize him, Kevin held the phone away from his ear. “What’ll it be?”

  Aside from Kevin—whose chest was rising and falling in measured rhythms as he held onto his control—myself, the manager, and Savannah all held our breaths as Bruce made a big show of making his decision.

  “Show me the fucking paperwork.”

  “I’m going to get some air.” I spoke for the first time since everything happened. I made it across the room and out onto the balcony on legs that felt like cooked spaghetti. The frigid wind whipped through my dress as I stood on the balcony but the prickly cold helped settle the nausea.

  The balcony doors opened and shut and Kevin leaned his arms on the railing, looking unseeing over the rows and rows of skyscrapers.

  “Is he gone?” I asked.

  “Just about. Trevor emailed the documents and Savannah printed them out. He’s just signing everything, she’ll do the transfer and he’ll be out of our lives. I’m so sorry about this, Claire.”

  I turned to face him, nerves fluttering at the look on his face. I wanted to reach out to him but something about his demeanour held me back. “This isn’t your fault.”