Forever Box Set

by Wendy Louise

  I turn my attention to Gray who is seated beside me, staring at the sea below. I can’t even fathom why you would want to look out the window to the water below. The thought terrifies me.

  “I don’t know why I hate to fly so much.” I say.

  “You know, heaps more people die in car crashes than plane crashes,” Gray points out.

  “I know. I just find it hard to reconcile the fact that I’m so high in the air relying on this metal contraption to keep me safe and deliver me to my destination.”

  I let out a loud sigh as Grayson wraps his arm around my shoulder and brings me closer to him. My seat belt won’t let me get as close as I would like, but I’m close enough to lean myself back against his left shoulder and feel his warmth envelope and calm me.

  “Why don’t you try and sleep Liv, I’ll wake you when we get to the airport.”

  He cups my jaw and strokes his thumb against my chin sending waves of pleasure through to my toes. I snuggle closer to him. I want to make the most of the time we have together before arriving back in the States.

  Before arriving back to real life.

  Before we have to have the dreaded conversation to see if this is going to go anywhere.

  I resolve then and there that I will not be the one to bring that up. I’m going to wait and see if Grayson says anything. I don’t want to put any pressure on him to think he has to declare himself, or make more out of this. It may have just been a bit of fun for him.

  I close my eyes, inhale his clean, masculine scent and allow my mind to drift back to our time in Fiji where the pressures of life as we know it were non-existent.

  I wake to see that it is still dark outside.

  I have heavy black-out drapes on my bedroom windows, but I can still usually see a small speck of daylight sneak through. My alarm clock confirms that it is only four o’clock in the morning.

  Great, it seems my body has reverted back to Fijian time and it wants me to wake up and face the day. After tossing and turning for another half hour I give in and decide that a cup of coffee may help me to at least relax enough to rest, if not sleep.

  Under hooded eyelids I make my way to the kitchen to find Grayson seated at the breakfast bar sipping coffee. He’s dressed only in his navy boxers, his smooth olive skin stretched taut across the muscles that run from his shoulders to his waist.

  We didn’t sleep in the same bed last night. Both of us were wrecked when we got home from the airport. Gray fell asleep on the sofa and I went to my room to unpack and before I knew it, I was asleep fully dressed.

  “You can’t sleep either Gray?” I ask from behind, startling him.

  He puts his coffee cup down on the counter and turns in his bar stool to look at me. Shaking his head he says, “Nah, I’m exhausted but my body is in disagreement with my mind.”

  He runs his fingers through his spiky hair, making it look hotter than before.

  I laugh. “I know what you mean.”

  “I’ve brewed coffee. I’ll grab you a cup.”

  I make my way to the fridge to grab milk and the bench to grab the sugar bowl.

  We are both moving in the small space of the kitchen like we have been doing this forever. We are surprisingly good being comfortable in one another’s presence, moving like we are part of a well-choreographed dance.

  Gray hands me a cup of coffee and I add milk and sugar. “Thanks,” I say as I blow on the hot coffee before taking a small sip, so as not to burn my tongue.

  I place the cup back onto the counter with the intention of turning around to talk to Gray.

  Before I manage that, he’s behind me, pressing his stomach against my back, arms around me, caging me in. He pulls my hair over to one side and slides the tip of his tongue from the soft flesh on my shoulder to just below my ear, sending shivers through my core. Once he reaches my ear he breathes, “I know a good way to tire ourselves out Liv, may help us sleep.”

  I tip my head further to the side allowing him better access to my neck and give him my silent agreement.

  He doesn’t disappoint; licking and nipping his way across to the other side. I place my hands behind me and splay my fingers out on his hips, pulling him tighter to me, feeling his length hard against my lower back.

  Grayson rolls his hips once, pushing himself harder against my back. A light moan leaves my lips as I turn around, wrapping my fingers in his hair and pulling his face to mine so I can kiss him senseless.

  He places his hands on either side of my face, tilting my head to allow him the access to run his tongue over every part of my mouth and lips.

  As a low groan emanates from his chest, he lifts me, placing his large hands at the back of my thighs, and placing me lightly onto the breakfast bar. He opens my legs wide, positioning himself between them and then pulls me closer to the edge of the counter top, settling his strong hands on my hips. He rolls his hips again, pushing himself against me and hitting that sweet spot that causes me to drop my head back and close my eyes.

  “Oh God, Gray.”

  “Jesus Liv, I can’t get enough of you,” he says. “I’ll never get enough of you.”

  I run my fingers lightly along the line of the elastic on his boxers, before I place my thumbs in the sides and lower them down, freeing him.

  I lick my lips as I take in the sight of him, hard and ready for me.

  Grayson pulls my t-shirt over my head in one fast movement. I removed my bra and jeans when I woke up and realised that I was still dressed in my travel clothes, so he has free access to my breasts.

  He bends his dark head and plumps one breast with his hand while his tongue swirls slowly around my nipple. He licks and sucks before he takes it in his mouth, pulling and nipping until I cry out in pleasure.

  I suck along Gray’s collar bone and lick up under his ear. “I want you,” I breathe as I nip on his lobe.

  “I want to taste you first,” he says, as he slowly lowers my panties and leaves me naked on the breakfast counter. He pulls me to the edge and in one sleek movement he is on his knees with his head buried between my legs.

  With the first swipe of his talented tongue, I almost detonate on the spot. By the time he has licked and nipped, and added two fingers to the dance, I explode, crying out his name and spiralling through heaven. My fingers tangling in his dark hair, holding him to me.

  By the time I start to come back down, and as my lungs begin to take in air, Gray stands, positions himself between my legs, condom on, and slowly enters me.

  His eyes are locked onto mine, and I can’t look away. The look he is giving me is reverent, breathtaking, and full of so much emotion that I feel like he is looking into my soul. As he moves in and out and claims me as his, I take his face in my hands and kiss him. It’s a soul-melting kiss, one where I am trying to tell him everything he means to me without saying the actual words and frightening him away.

  He starts to move faster, and as I feel my muscles start to contract again, Grayson calls out my name and we spiral to the clouds together, holding on for dear life, neither one letting go.

  I allow my head to fall forward and rest it on Gray’s chest. His lungs are heaving and his heart beats in a furious rhythm, matching mine. We stay connected like this for some time as our breathing slowly returns to normal and reality creeps back in.

  Without speaking Gray lifts his head and places a light kiss on my lips. He lifts me again, maintaining our intimate connection and carries me silently to his room. I slowly run my fingertips over his shoulders and upper back, enjoying the feel of his muscles contracting as he carries me.

  Grayson slowly lays me back on the bed as he positions himself over me. I am surprised to note that he is still semi-hard inside of me, even after all that.

  “You can go again after that Gray!” I say with a smile, running my fingers over his lips.

  “Damn straight,” he says, as he lowers his mouth to mine and begins the sensual dance all over again.

  After we both reach our peaks this time,
I am bone-tired. Maybe his theory has worked.

  Grayson pulls the blankets up over both of us and pulls me to him, spooning me from behind and wrapping his arm around my waist until he can interlace his fingers with mine.

  As our breathing evens out and my eye lids give up the fight, I hear Grayson whisper in my ear. I’m sure he says “I love you”, but then I could be dreaming, after all, we have been travelling and neither of us have had anywhere near enough sleep.

  As that thought runs through my mind, I realise that I want to hear Gray tell me that he loves me and I want to say it back. I drift off to sleep wishing that I had heard him right.

  Wishing that he feels for me, what I know I am now feeling for him.

  I have costume fittings for the movie today. We commence production in just over a week so everything is heating up. My character is pregnant for a large part of the next movie, so I’m having fittings for my ‘pregnant belly’ today. Strange I know, but necessary to ensure that we get the phases of pregnancy looking right on the screen. I’m actually quite excited about it.

  I’ve been doing some research on-line and spent some time speaking to one of my pregnant cousins at Ava’s wedding, asking her about the physical aspects of being pregnant, so I can make sure I walk and move appropriately.

  I slipped out of bed quietly this morning so as not to wake Gray.

  Neither of us slept well last night, well except for after our marathon session, but I didn’t sleep for anywhere near long enough.

  He was sleeping so peacefully when I left him, so I hope he stays that way for a while.

  It felt entirely too natural to wake up in his arms this morning. Rolling over and staring at his beautiful face, relaxed in slumber, was breathtaking. I could really get used to that.

  I have to keep reminding myself that he is leaving for his tour soon and that I’m about to start full days of rehearsal and filming. Neither of us have the time that needs to go into a relationship to make it work at the moment.

  God, how I want to try though.

  I pull into my usual spot at the Studio and spy Joshua, Ethan’s Personal Assistant, waving at me as he stands at the Studio door. I grab my bag and phone, and pull the keys from the ignition, as I open the car door.

  “Hey Josh,” I call.

  “Morning Liv,” he responds. “Recovered from Fiji yet?”

  I shake my head. “I had some trouble sleeping last night.”

  Until Gray and I had mind-blowing sex that is…

  “Me too. Chelsea and I were up in the middle of the night drinking warm milk.”

  I don’t offer up that Grayson and I were doing the same thing until everything progressed to another level.

  “You ready for the costume fittings today?”

  I nod. “Yes I’m quite excited about it actually.”

  “I’m looking forward to getting back into the new film too. It’ll be great to start the ball rolling again. Have you heard from Ethan and Ava?”

  “No, not since they left for Thailand. I’m sure they’re having entirely too much fun over there to give any of us another thought.” I speculate. “You did an amazing job with the wedding Josh. I may even recruit you when it’s my turn one day.”

  He laughs. “That would be my pleasure Liv,” he says as he bows and allows me to enter the door ahead of him.

  As I move closer to my dressing room, I see Ryan, one of our Producers and my ex-boyfriend, heading my way.

  My heart skips a beat.

  He really is ruggedly handsome.

  We didn’t have an epic break-up; we just decided to go our separate ways. He’s young and very successful in the business already. His success comes from being so driven. I understand that; I’m driven and career-focused too, however for me, love is as important in life as work.

  Not so for Ryan.

  Work is priority one, love comes somewhere after that. The problem with that - I was never sure how far down the list I was.

  We promised one another that we would stay friends. We knew that we had two more movies to go, and the last thing either of us needs is to feel uncomfortable on the set. I square my shoulders, place a smile on my lips and move forward.

  “Hey Liv,” he says in his deep gravelly voice.

  He pulls me into a hug. “Hi Ryan,” I respond, wrapping my arms around his familiar frame. I inhale his masculine scent and it reminds me of all the times we spent together, safe and comfortable.

  “How did the wedding go?” he queries as he pulls back.

  “It was amazing, here I have photos,” I say, as I pull up the app on my phone and scroll through them.

  “Ava looked incredible.”

  I agree, “Yes, she was a beautiful bride.”

  “Beautiful…” he repeats, as he stares straight into my eyes.

  I drop my phone back into my bag and hoist it higher on my shoulder. “Well, I must get moving, costume fittings this morning.”

  Ryan runs his hand down my arm and says, “Later Liv,” before moving in the opposite direction down the hallway.

  That small touch used to ignite my blood, but today, it only makes me feel uncomfortable. I enter my dressing room to find the make-up artist and hairdresser waiting for me.

  “Let’s do this,” I say, pushing all thoughts of Ryan from my mind, and allowing my head to drift back to last night with Gray.

  Paying up

  I enter Will’s warehouse apartment and make my way straight to the kitchen counter. I open the cookie jar and remove the cash stored in there, slamming it down onto Will’s drum kit.

  “I knew it!” he says with a smile. “When did it happen?”

  “That’s for me to know and you to never find out man,” I reply. “All you need to know is that you won the bet.”

  “I’m happy for you Gray,” he says as he sits behind his drums and pockets the cash.

  “Fuck Gray, please tell me that I didn’t just miss out by a night. I did, didn’t I? You did it on night three just to piss me off didn’t you?” Coop says in his Aussie accent, as he shakes his head in frustration.

  I laugh. “Coop, despite what you may think, my sexual activity does not revolve around you or this stupid bet. I’m not talking about this with any of you. End of.” I wave my hand in the air as I turn to the microphone stand and adjust it to the correct height.

  Matt claps me on the shoulder. “Way to go Gray, she’s a special one.”

  That much I know for sure.

  “So what are the plans when we head off on the tour?” Will asks. “How are you going to maintain the long distance thing?”

  Therein lies the problem.

  Liv and I are yet to define what this is that we’re doing.

  I want her and only her.

  I’m not interested in anyone else, but I’m not sure if she feels the same way.

  When her breathing evened out last night, I couldn’t stop those three little words from leaving my mouth. I knew she was asleep and wouldn’t hear me, but I had an uncontrollable urge to say them. I do love her, and that in itself is enough to terrify me.

  I don’t want to think about leaving her in LA while I go on tour.

  I don’t want to think about someone else muscling in on her while I’m away.

  But this tour is what the guys and I have been working towards for years. I can’t let them down. I can’t let myself down, and Liv would never want me to. Until I can sort everything out in my head, I can’t have that conversation with Liv. I don’t want the guys to think that this may jeopardise anything, so I play it cool.

  “Don’t worry about that Will; all I’m concerned with is making this the best fuckin’ tour this country has seen this year. Shall we start?”

  Will bangs on the drum kit to count us in and we begin.

  Liv is sitting on the sofa when I walk through the door. I throw my keys onto the kitchen island and make my way over to her.

  “How was your day dear?” she says mocking me.

  “Great. You
rs?” I ask, as I flop down beside her.

  I place a light kiss on her cheek as she drops the papers she was reading onto the cushion beside her and throws her arms around my neck. I could really get used to coming home to this. After a moment of tender kisses, we both pull back.

  “Gray, there’s a cocktail party tonight for the cast and crew. With Ethan and Ava still away I thought you may like to come with me?”

  She seems a bit nervous about asking me. I watch as she runs her fingernail down my arm, following its path with her eyes.

  “Sure.” I respond. “Where’s it at?”

  “Ryan’s,” she replies simply, screwing her face up in anticipation of my response and slowly raising her gaze to mine.

  Ryan is famous for the parties he throws. Awesome Rebel has performed at a number of them, so it’s no big deal for me to attend. That being said, I’ve never attended one of his parties with his ex-girlfriend as my date for the evening.

  “You sure that’s a good idea?” I ask.

  “Of course,” she says casually, shrugging her shoulders. “I mean I’m fine with being around Ryan and he’s fine with being around me, so it’s no biggie.”

  “I get that Liv. I meant are you sure you want me to come with you?”

  “Gray we’re friends, of course it’s fine for us to go together.”

  Ouch! I thought we were a helluva lot more than friends...

  Well I sure as hell am not letting her go to Ryan’s without me, so I guess I don’t have much choice but to escort her.

  “Cool,” I say, trying to match her casual attitude. “I’ll go grab a shower and get ready.”

  I throw a quick kiss on her cheek and make my way to my bathroom, stripping off as I go.

  I can’t help the dread that I feel settle into the pit of my stomach as I turn on the water. The last thing I want to do is deliver Liv back to Ryan, but if she is going to be working with him for the next few months, then I need to send a clear message to him.

  Liv is now mine.

  Which means she is no longer on the market.

  As always, Ryan’s place looks incredible. I’m sure the dude must have a party planner in his back pocket.