First Priority

by Este Holland

  “Why don’t you want me to tell anyone? Did he do something nasty to Little Momo?” Chad sneered and tried to twist my nipple through my shirt.

  I smacked his hand away. God, I fucking hated that nickname. But I wouldn’t let him get to me. I breathed, trying to settle my racing heart. “Please get out.”

  Chad glared at me, then scoffed. He left and slammed the door behind him. I sat in the desk chair. My hands were shaking. Why did he still have the power to reduce me to this mess? I was an adult, for fuck’s sake. I guessed that didn’t have anything to do with it, though. A bully was a bully, no matter their age or gender, and anyone could be their victims.

  Our relationship was complicated. My dad had married Chad’s mom when I turned nine, after my mother had left to marry one of the doctors on her floor. She’d been a nurse. She stayed at home now. My sister, Melanie, had been born a few years after me. Dad thought she was his, but Mom came clean to everyone, took Mel, and married Doctor Cundiff. I used to see them every other Christmas, but they moved to Chicago several years ago for his work, and I hadn’t been invited to visit.

  Those first few years, Chad and I had built a friendship, but once he’d hit middle school, and I’d followed two years later, it had all gone to hell. I still remembered the fun times, and he would occasionally be good to me at home, so I was always confused. The sporadic good times gradually ended and by the time he was a junior in high school, we’d stopped speaking unless we had to in front of our parents.

  My dad had told Chad about my apartment and that I needed somewhere to stay for a few weeks. I’d been a bit desperate at that point, so I’d said yes when Chad had called. I didn’t even know he’d had my number. Dad must have given it to him. Now, it was like high school all over again, and I seriously needed to consider finding somewhere else to go if my apartment wasn’t ready soon. I hadn’t liked the look in Chad’s eyes when he’d asked if Truman had fucked me. Not one bit.

  I pushed Chad out of my head as I got ready for bed. He was an old problem I was used to. I didn’t go online that night; my head was too full of Truman. The kiss on the beach was more than just a perfunctory obligation for a date. He’d completely taken me over. I shivered again, remembering that and the one in the car. I took my erection in hand when the pressure became too much, and only had to stroke a dozen times before I came, I was so worked up.

  The date had been eye-opening. I’d wanted to get it over with at first, so he’d leave me alone, but now I was more curious than anything. Truman had said he was trying hard not to be himself, and a curl of shame ran through my stomach. I hadn’t liked how Truman had asked me out, but at least he’d been honest and gone after what he wanted. Yes, he could be a jerk, but apparently so could I. The realization didn’t make me happy. Maybe we should both work on that.

  I cleaned my stomach with some tissues, rolled to my side, and fell into a fitful sleep.

  ***

  I woke the next morning, grouchy and thirsty. I showered and dressed, avoided Chad like the plague, and ran out to the café. Jay was there already, and I smiled wide when I saw he was writing on his laptop. He wore a thin leather jacket, dark-wash jeans, and high-tops. I tapped his shoulder, and he pulled out his earbuds.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey, Angel.”

  I rolled my eyes with a small smile and shake of my head. “You’ve got to stop calling me that.”

  “Why? It suits you.” He winked. “Have a seat.”

  “Thanks,” I said as I fell into a chair. Hmm. Jay’s wink didn’t cause heart palpations like Truman’s. I sighed. Fate couldn’t be easy on me and let me and Jay fall in love. No. It had to be a mega celebrity that came with more strings attached than a puppet.

  My thoughts screeched to a halt. Wait. What? Love? No way. Slip of the brain train.

  “What’s the matter?”

  I shook my head and gulped. “I went out on a date with…” I looked around. “Truman James,” I whispered.

  Jay’s brown eyes widened. “Are you serious? Why?”

  “He called me and showed up at my stepbrother’s apartment.”

  “Whoa. Stalk much?”

  I shrugged. “I mean, he was up-front about it.”

  “So that makes it better? Him browbeating you into agreeing?” Jay scowled and his eyes skipped away from mine.

  I opened my mouth and closed it, unable to come up with the words to describe what I was thinking and feeling. “I felt the same way at first, but then I realized he was really trying hard, and”—I shrugged—“I don’t know, it wasn’t terrible.”

  “So, what did you do?”

  “I dragged him to a movie theater in Pasadena, but we didn’t make it all the way through, so he drove us to his house in Malibu and we had dinner.”

  “And it was okay?”

  I nodded as a blush ran up my neck.

  Jay leaned in and grinned. “Busted. You made out with an A-lister!”

  I shushed him. “We didn’t make out, just kissed a few times.”

  “That’s awesome, Adam. Just promise you’ll be careful. Don’t let him walk all over you.”

  I studied my new friend, and a wave of affection washed over me. I didn’t have many friends. I always tried because I didn’t like being lonely, but most people got fed up with my need to not talk or hang out all the time. Plus, I hated a lot of things most people loved, so it was difficult to find things to do together. Jay was a fellow writer and said he didn’t like crowds either, so it was a match made in heaven. If he’d shown any interest in dating, I wouldn’t care that my heart didn’t speed up at the sight of him; I’d chug a 5-hour Energy and make it. But he hadn’t, and that was fine, too.

  I grabbed Jay’s hand and squeezed. “I promise. So, how’s the book going?” I asked, nodding to his laptop.

  He groaned and began to describe the current scene he was working on and how his characters weren’t cooperating. I gave some advice from my own experience, and he listened.

  A text came through, and I flipped my phone over to see it was from Truman. My heart skipped as I opened the app.

  Truman: What are you doing?

  Adam: Having coffee with Jay.

  Truman: Who’s Jay?

  I rolled my eyes and showed Jay the screen. He huffed a laugh and shook his head.

  Adam: The bartender you made make me a martini when I said I needed water.

  Truman: Oh. Right. Will you be with him much longer?

  Adam: Why?

  Truman: I want to see you.

  How to respond? One part of me was thrilled. He wants to see me again! The other half was panicking and running in confused circles. Fuck. He wants to see me again? What will we do? What will we talk about? Didn’t we already exhaust all our conversation topics? Will he want sex this time?

  “Hey, you okay?” Jay touched my wrist.

  “He wants to see me again.”

  Jay opened his mouth, then thought better of what he was going to say. Finally, he asked, “What do you want to do?”

  Truman: ??

  I started to breathe heavier. Don’t panic.

  “Put your head between your knees.”

  I shook my head and stood. “Gotta walk.”

  I went out the door into the sunshine, and Jay followed a minute later after hastily shoving his stuff into his bag.

  “Sorry,” I said on an exhale.

  “No worries. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Just have to move and breathe.”

  Jay nodded and didn’t speak as we walked. He just stayed with me. And I had to admit, it was nice. For someone who didn’t like to be around people a lot, having him there as silent support was exactly what I needed.

  Brown eyes narrowed, Jay asked, “Can I give my two cents? Then I won’t ever say a word against him again, if you don’t want me to.” He bumped my shoulder with his.

  I smiled. “Go for it. I’m sure it’s nothing I haven’t thought.”

  Jay laughed. “Bring him down to
your level. He’s all up there in the clouds, getting what he wants when he wants it. Show him your life and see how he reacts. Maybe it’s shitty to test him like that, but if this is something more than a fling, you need to know where his head’s at.”

  I nodded, lost in thought as we meandered along. We came close to the shelter I volunteered at, and I had an idea.

  “I think you’re right. And I can start now.” I nodded at the building, and Jay grinned.

  He gave me a fist bump. “You got this. I’ll see you later. Let me know how it goes.”

  “I will.”

  I texted Truman and gave him the address of the shelter. I grinned as I walked inside.

  “Now, who’s going to go for a walk today?”

  Chapter 10

  Truman Gets Tested (Not That Kind of Test—Though He Does That Regularly)

  Truman

  I read the address again as the GPS told me where to go. It wasn’t far from Adam’s stepbrother’s place, but I wasn’t familiar with it. I read the sign as I parked in the minuscule lot beside it. It was a white one-story building with peeling paint and rust stains on the sidewalk beside the gutter run-off.

  Los Angeles Paws and Claws Animal Shelter.

  Adam came out right when I exited the car, and I fought a grin. He was making kissy faces at a giant white dog beside him.

  I planted my hands on my hips. “It’s a good thing I brought the Land Rover. That big guy wouldn’t have fit in the Vanquish.”

  “Don’t listen to him, Silvester, you’re beautiful just the way you are. Yes, you are!”

  I grinned. “Silvester? What kind of dog is he, anyway?”

  “He’s a mix, I think. Definitely some Newfoundland in there.”

  I let Silvester sniff my hand, then rubbed his head. He closed his eyes and leaned against my legs, almost knocking me over.

  “So, I guess you want to take him for a walk?”

  “Yep. There’s a dog park not far from here.”

  “I have a better idea.”

  We loaded Silvester into the back seat, and I let him stick his giant head out the window. He closed his eyes and drooled on my paint. I didn’t mind. Adam was reluctantly pleased, if his expression was anything to go by.

  About an hour later, we arrived at a hiking trail my old trainer had shown me. Silvester loved being in the woods. He thumped us with his tail and almost pulled Adam off his feet as he held the leash. I grabbed him and steadied him with a laugh. We came to a small duck pond, and Silvester jumped ahead. Adam lost his leash, and we watched with twin grimaces as he ran into the pond, chasing after the ducks and geese.

  “Silvester, no!” Adam raced over to the edge.

  I followed and grabbed his elbow when it looked like he was going to follow him in.

  “Hang on. He’s just playing, not attacking. He’ll come out.”

  Adam looked at me, then the dog, and nodded. He called to him several times, until a reluctant Silvester sloshed to shore. He shook his fur, and we jumped away with laughing groans.

  “You take him.”

  Adam shoved the leash at me, and I smiled. This was some sort of test to make me lose interest. I shook my head and hid a smile as I wiped the water from my face. We made it to my car, and I encouraged Silvester to shake more water out.

  “What?” Adam asked, bringing me out of my head.

  “You’ll have to do better than this to make me give up.”

  Adam’s mouth gaped. “I’m not…I didn’t.”

  “What? Put a giant wet dog in my car to see how I’d react?”

  “I…well, maybe.” He slumped. “I didn’t know he’d get wet.”

  I chucked Adam under his chin. “I love dogs. The only reason I don’t have one is because my staff would be the ones that took care of it.”

  “Oh.”

  I took his hand and threaded our fingers together. “You’re adorable.”

  Adam scowled but left his hand in mine.

  Adam

  After dropping Silvester off and apologizing for the pond smell, Truman drove me to Chad’s place. I stared up at the building.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “What?”

  “You just gave the mother of all sighs.”

  “Oh.” I hadn’t even realized. “I really want to go home. It’s…not easy here.”

  “Because of your stepbrother?”

  I nodded.

  “Want to go somewhere else?”

  I glanced at Truman with a small shrug. “I’m sure you’re busy. I usually hang out at the café across the street anyway.”

  Truman tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. When a car behind him honked, he drove away.

  “What are you doing?”

  “You obviously don’t want to go in there, so show me somewhere you love. I’ve already seen the animal shelter.”

  Truman flashed a grin, and to my horror, tears pricked the corners of my eyes. Luckily, he was too busy with traffic to notice.

  I cleared my throat. “Um, what about you? Where’s somewhere you love?”

  He hesitated. “We don’t have time to go there. That would require packing bags and flying.”

  “Oh.” I bit my lip. “Well, there’s this really cool store in—”

  “Pasadena,” he said at the same time as me.

  “Yes,” I said with a chuckle. “I don’t venture outside of my neighborhood very often, so sue me.”

  He gave me a soft smile and headed toward my town. Parking in the same garage as before, Truman put on a hat, and sunglasses this time, and we walked to my favorite comic book store. Only it was much more than that. It was a large shared space. Some sold comics—others, games and figurines. There was a snack bar and a lounge area where people played games and watched movies.

  “Wow.” Truman stopped and stared around. “This is way cooler than I thought it’d be from the outside.”

  I laughed. “It’s a geek hangout.”

  Truman shrugged. “Geeks are the new cool.”

  I tilted my head to study him, but he was busy peering out over the top of his glasses. He took them off and hooked them on his shirt collar.

  “So, what do you want to do?”

  “I’m looking for The Uncanny X-Men number one forty-one.” I pointed to the left. “You start over there.”

  Truman shook his head with a small grin. “Yes, sir.”

  We began to flip through the hundreds of comics stuffed in narrow white cardboard boxes on the tables. I got lost in the rhythm of flip-and-find, but my mind drifted to Truman. So far, he was passing the day-in-the-life-of-Adam test with flying colors. Somehow, it made things all the more scary. What if this was for real, and not some weird hair up Truman’s butt that he’d get over in a few dates? Worry about the future swirled in my head, and I looked up as Truman strolled over to me with a huge grin of triumph. He held the comic book up like he’d done with his Oscar.

  My heart tripped all over itself.

  I was in so much trouble.

  Chapter 11

  Truman’s Great Idea

  Adam

  A few days later, Jay and I were working in silence at the café, each of us lost to our own stories. I’d gotten over the turning point, and I was rushing headlong to the finish line. My fingers could barely keep up with my brain.

  About halfway through my second coffee, two college-age girls came over, giggling. One smiled and flicked her hair at Jay. He nodded and went back to his work.

  “Are you Adam?”

  I glanced up and froze. She had her phone held out with a picture of me and Truman outside the movie theater on our first date pulled up on the screen. I shook my head but didn’t speak. Jay gave me big eyes and packed up his computer. The girl was taking photos of me with her phone. I stood in a rush and headed out the door with Jay on my heels.

  “You’ve been discovered,” Jay said.

  “You think?”

  “You’d better get home.”

  “Yeah, see you
later.”

  We separated, and I tried to get to Chad’s without fanfare, but someone was waiting with a long-lens camera, snapping pictures of me. I kept my head down and had to push around him as he stepped in my path.

  “Are you Adam Hendrix? Are you fucking Truman James?”

  I had to do the fox-trot to get around him and into the building. I made sure the door shut without him inside and got on the elevator. I took a deep breath and ran shaking hands through my hair.

  Shit. And that was just one guy. How did celebrities do this all the time? That photographer had asked that to try and get a reaction out of me, but it made my stomach hurt that someone could be so rude.

  I barricaded myself in my room and shut my eyes. My phone pinged and my eyes snapped open. I unlocked it and saw it was a YouTube link from Jay. I wanted to ignore it, but I couldn’t not watch it.

  It was a video of me. I looked hunted, like prey, in the images, and he’d even managed a short video of me as my eyes flashed when he asked the rude question. They bleeped it, but everyone would know.

  Adam: How the hell did they do that so fast? That literally just happened!

  Jay: It’s what they do. I’m sure they have it down to a science. Are you ok?

  Stunned, I swallowed bile. I sat and put my head between my knees. My phone rang and I saw Truman’s number. His smiling face covered in fake blood made my heart hurt.

  “Hi.”

  “I saw the video. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, just shaken.”

  Silence. “I’m sorry, Adam.”

  “For what? Setting the media on my trail like a pack of bloodhounds?” I bit my tongue. “Sorry.”

  “Yes, that.” He exhaled, ignoring my apology. “I knew better. I’m not making excuses.”

  “That doesn’t give me back my privacy.”

  “No, it doesn’t. Look, try and lay low. I’ll meet with my PR rep, and we’ll try and get rid of them. Okay?”

  “How?”

  “I don’t know, but Angela is the best. If anyone can do it, she can.”