April slapped me hard across the face. I deserved it. I grabbed her wrist and blinked
back tears
. “
Harder. Slap me harder.”
April tried to reach for me again. I je
rked away. “Don’t
, just…
don’t. Please leave it alone. I’ll deal with it. I’ll keep my mouth shut
,
but don’t for one second believe I’m going to take the fall all on my own.”
Her eyes flashed with anger
. “
But you said you’d protect me.
You know what’s at stake
, Alec! The divorce
was
messy
.
H
e wants
the studio now that he knows the truth
,
and
if he takes that, I have no money, and I have no
—”
“I don’t give a flying shit if you have ten kids, two mortgages, and an incurable
disease. I’m not going down
on my own
.” I threw my hands into t
he air and walked off.
“How are you going to explain the drugs?
How are you going to explain everything to Demetri?
” April called out. I froze mid-step and told myself I’d go to prison if I slapped
her. “You can’t just explain that one away. After all, the pictures of that scene?
Very real. Weren’t you in rehab during that stint?”
And there it was.
Her fi
nal play at my taking the fall.
I couldn’t think about it
—
didn’t want to. “The alarm
’
s not on, you ca
n just let yourself in, April.”
With that, I walked off in search of Nat
with
a terrible sense of foreboding.
Demetri
“I cooked this
,
” I announced proudly as everyone began piling potato salad on their plates.
“You don’t cook potato salad
,
”
Jaymeson said as he put a generous amount of ketchup on his plate. “Therefore
,
you didn’t cook it.”
“Tell them, babe.” I nodded to Alyssa.
She rolled her eyes
. “
Demetri only suffered two injuries while cutting the vegetables for the salad.” With
an exaggerated arm raise
. “
Let’s all give him a round of applause.”
Jaymeson clapped once. Angelica mouthed
whatev
er
and Nat clapped with Alyssa.
“Thanks
,
guys. Feeling the love.” I filled my plate with a burger and two hot dogs just as
Alec came burs
ting onto the lawn
,
guns firing.
“Whoa there, partner.” I put up my hand
.
“I don’t have any cash, just take my wallet.”
“Huh?”
H
e stopped in front of me and shook his head.
“You looked like an escaped prison convict. I just assumed you were going to go with
it and rob me
,
” I answered.
“Can I punch you in the face?”
I thought about it. “Hmm, just don’t hit my camera side.”
“Alec
,
” Nat scolded
.
“You’re moody. Eat some food.”
Alec smiled and saluted her as he made his way over to the picnic tabl
e where our feast was piled up.
“I have an announcement!”
Ruben
and the camera crew piled out of the house
and
onto the lawn.
“Do you think we can make a run for it?” I whispered to Alec.
“
If I thought we could make a run for it
,
I would have
already been gone
.”
He sighed.
“The polls are in!”
Ruben
clapped his little
T
-rex hands and rubbed them together. “Your ratings are the highest they’ve ever been
,
and I’m happy to announce that
T
eambuilding
W
eek was a hit!”
“Probably because we made absolute asses out of ourselves.” Angelica scoffed.
“Just you, Angelica.
Just you
,
” Alec added.
I smirked and nodded my head in her direction
.
I was gifted with her middle finger and a smile.
“Who won?” This from Jaymeson
,
who was currently fighting a losing battle with his hot dog. Did they not have hot
dogs in England?
“That’s not how you eat a hot dog.” I pointed to his fork and plate
. “
You don’t cut it with a knife, England. You put it in your mouth.”
“Hot dogs remind me of man bits. No way am I putting a man bit in my mouth and biting
down for all the world to see.”
“That was a visual I could have
done without
,
” Alec announced.
Ruben
cleared his throat
. “
As I was saying
,
t
he polls are in and I’m happy to say that the winning team was…”
“Please say the bunnies.” I crossed my fingers. I needed to get away from the cameras
and spend some time with Alyssa before I resorted t
o sneaking into her room again.
“The Fairies!”
“Yes!” Nat threw her fist into the air and jumped
. “
Winners!”
I glared
. “
Yes, rub it in
.
P
our some more salt, and rub some more. Love
y
ou too
,
Nat!”
Alec was silent
.
H
e cleared his throat a few times
. “
Um, I feel like we win all the time. I know you really wanted it
,
man
.”
He slapped my back
. “
If you want it
,
it
’
s yours.”
“Come again?” Nat and I said in unison.
Alec shrugged
. “
Don’t get me wrong. I would love to be alone with Nat
.”
He gave her a knowing wink
. “
But I know you’ve been having to share Alyssa with her family during filming.” He
took a bite of his hot dog, the right way
might I add
, and chewed.
“So
unds fishy.” I tapped my chin.
Nat looked between me and
Alec
. I could tell she was kind of bummed. How could Alec not see that his own girlfriend
was really looking forward to a two
-
day trip with him?
“We’ll go!” Angelica yelled.
“No, we won’t.” Jaymeson sputtered
. “
Not unless you want me to bury your body
under
a seedy hotel.”
“I may kill you first.”
“If there is a God you’ll succeed
,
so
I don’t have to listen to you—”
“—Stop!”
Ruben
cursed
. “
You guys are worse than kids. No prize trading. The viewers voted Nat and Alec win
.
T
hey go to the Spa
.
E
veryone else stays here and goes to the beach.”
Jaymeson raised his hand.
“What?”
Ruben
ran his hand through is hair
. “
What
,
Jaymeson?”
“Can I just go to hell
? Instead of the beach
,
I mean?”
“Pardon?”
“Hell. I would rather go to
H
ell than be in the hot sun with that one.” He pointed to Angelica
. “
I can only take so much. I’m on borrowed time.”
“Any other questions?”
Ruben
ignored Jaymeson and searched our faces. “Good.” He clapped his hand
s one last time. “I’ll text the
details t
o your phone
,
Alec, you know to keep the others from knowing all the
private information
and raining on your parade.”
“I
would
freaking storm on their parade if it mean
s
I wouldn’t have to be stuck here one more second.” Jaymeson stuffed the rest of the
hot dog in his mouth
and sighed with his mouth open.
“Close your m
outh.” Angelica pushed him
. “
Gro
ss.”
“Only if you open yours, baby. Come on, you can take me.”
I groaned and shook my head at Alec
. “
Lucky bastard. I get stuck with them all weekend.”
“And me!” Alyssa smacked the back of my head
. “
I’m fun!”
“You’re fine. They
…
”
I pointed at Angelica and Jaymeson
. “
…
h
owever, may get arrested and take us down with them.”
Alec pulled out his phone and clicked through the details. His face paled
. “
Um, I thought we were going to stay in the general area of the
,
um…
coast?”
Ruben
’s eyes narrowed
. “
Is there a problem?”
“No
.”
Alec swallowed and laughed dryly
. “
I just didn’t expect us to fly somewhere
.
I mean
,
it’s only two days.”
“Stop stressing.”
Ruben
shrugged
. “
Go enjoy yourselves.”
“Right.” Alec bit down on his lip and slipped his phone back into his pocket. “Fun.”
Alec
“Where are we going?” Nat was doing cute little circles around me at the airport.
All I told her was that the climate was the same as Portland so not to get her hopes
up that we were going to D
isneyland for the weekend.
“If I told you
,
then it wouldn’t be a surprise.” I kissed her forehead
. “
Besides, you love surprises.”
Nat chewed her lower lip
. “
This is true. But you do know I
’
m going to find out based on the ticket counter we go to?”
I smiled
. “
We’ll see about that.” I led her
toward
the first class lounge of Alaska Airlines and went to the counter with both our ID’s
and ticket info. The great thing about being famous? You could pull strings, and damn
if I wasn’t trying to just use this time to be with her and only focus on her. She
deserved that much after al
l the shit going on in my head.
After I checked in our bags I jogged back to the seat where I left Nat, but she was
missing.
“Nat?” I went around the corner, then went and knocked on the door to the restroom.
“Be right out!”
I shr
ugged and picked up a magazine.
Fantastic. A picture of me and my glorious black eye filled the page. “Lover
’
s
spat
?”
I groan
ed and threw the magazine down.
Nat emerged from the
restroom
looking a bit pale. “Babe, you alright?”
“I think I’m just excited.” She sat down with a huff
. “
Plus
,
I may have skipped breakfast.”
I growled low in my throat
. “
You know how much I hate it when you skip meals, Nat. You have to take care of yourself.”
I pulled her into my lap and stroked her face. “Damn, you’re beautiful.”
She sighed
. “
Even when I’m pale and look like a ghost
?
”
“Even when you wake up in the morning and your hair is poking all over the place.”
I tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her nose
. “
Even when you scrunch up your face and scowl.”
She did exactly that and tried to pull away.
“I love you.” I kissed her softly on the mouth.
She pulled away. “I need food.”
“I need sex
,
” I muttered kissing her again.
“Um, I think publ
i
c nudity is illegal.” She pushed against my chest and giggled as I kissed her neck.
“Not true
.
I’m famous
.
W
e can do whatever we want.”
“Wow
,
you really just sounded like Demetri.”
“And, no more sex
talk
…” I laughed against her lips
. “
Food wins. You win.”
“I always win.”
“That’s because you’re pretty.”
“Really? I thought it was because I was brilliant.”
I rolled my eyes and helped her to her feet. “You’re that too. Let
’
s grab some food and get on the plane.”
“Yeah
,
beca
use it’s a really long trip to—”
“—Seattle.” I froze
. “
Damn it, Nat! You ruined the surprise.”
“You did just doubt my brilliance
.
H
ad to prove you wrong.”
She tried pulling away from me, but I jerked her against my body and then pressed
her against the wall, luckily nobody else was in the suit
e
. “
I always knew you were brilliant and beautiful
.
I
t’s why I wanted you.”
“I thought it was because I was the shiny new toy and your brother wanted me first
,
”
s
he joked.
But it left me feeling cold. I never wanted her to think that. It made me sick to
my stomach that she would even joke about it. “Never.” My voice was hoarse
. “
N
ever say that again
,
Nat. I love you because you are you
.
I suck at romance, you know this, but these next two days I’m go
i
ng to try really hard to make you remember why…”
She snaked her arm around my neck and pressed her lips to my cheek
. “
Why what?”
“Why you and me are forever.”
****
Nat and I boarded the plane and sat in
first class,
if one could call
two rows with one curtain
first class
.
At any rate
,
it gave us some privacy away from people.
I’d already had my fair share of fans
,
what with the two teenagers
who
literally tripped on their own bags
,
only to land in my lap and then ask if they could touch my bicep.
Sigh.
Nat thought it was hilarious. She leaned across the seat and began talking about my
music and when the girls asked if I was a good kisser, she blushed. Yes
,
blushed
and said
. “
What do you think?”
I wanted to crawl into a tiny hole
.
G
ranted, I’ve never been shy
,
but the fact that both girls were pushing
fourteen
and probably hadn’t even kissed a guy made me feel like some sort of predator as their
eyes fell to my lips. Then in a fit of g
iggles they handed me a marker.
I smiled and gave them my autograph.
“They were cute.” Nat laughed
and then her brow furrowed.
“What? What
’
s wrong?” I put my arm around her and pulled her close to my chest
.
I swor
e my heart was beating so fast.
She looked up at me with her big brown eyes and cupped my face with her hand
. “
It’s just that…
the great Alec Daniels has never given me his autograph…”
“You’ve never asked!” I burst out laughing
. “
What the hell
,
Nat? How about I ju
st tattoo my name on your ass
?
”
“Ha ha, very funny.” She punched my arm
. “
You remember?”
“How could I forget? Hot as hell local girl telling me she was going to tattoo my
name on her person and then ignored me as if I was some sort of…
pathetic loser
. Talk about humbling.”
“Admit it.” Nat nudged me
. “
I’m good for your ego.”
She was more than that. “Nat, you’re just all around good. You know that?”
“I know.”
“No
,
I’m serious
.”
I turned so I could face her
. “
You don’t even understand how much I love you
.
I don’t
deserve someone like you
.”
“Say it louder
,
”
s
he whispered as she kissed my mouth and nuzzled my neck. What did she say about public
nudity? On planes? Would we get arrested? I braced her with my hands and pulled her
onto my lap. Screw it. If someone wanted to take pictures of me mauling my girlfriend
,
to hell with them. I wanted to show her. I wanted to kiss her without ruining the
moment by using her to
erase
that giant load of guilt I carried
around with me.
“We’re going to get kicked off the plane.”
“No we won
’
t.” I sucked on her bottom lip.
She sighed into my mouth
. “
Alec?”
“Hmm?” My lips moved to her ear.
“Can I have your autograph?”
“Baby, you can have whatever you want as long as you don’t stop.” My
hands
dug into her hair
,
grabbing the silky tendrils
and combing them through my fingers
.
“Yeah, I’d rather you both stopped, considering there are small children on this flight
,
”
a
voice said to our right. I promptly stopped kissing Nat and pulled back.
The flight attendant was grinning from ear to ear. With a wink she pointed to Nat’s
seat. Reluctantly I set her in it and saluted the flight attendant. She nodded once
and kept walking down the aisle.
My body was still in overdrive
,
so it didn’t help
when
Nat reached across her armrest and proceeded to inch her hand up my leg. Her wicked
fingers grazed my knee and then higher until I thought I was going to throw her against
the floor. I gripped the armrest until my hands were white, and let out a low growl
when her hand reached my upper thigh.
And then she pulled back and whipped out a magazine.
A magaz
in
e!
“Oh
,
hell no.” I smacked the magazine out of her hand.
“Oh
,
I’m sorry
.
I
s something wrong
?
”
I glared
. “
You know damn well what
’
s wrong.”
“How long is this flight?” She tilted her head and twirled a piece of hair around
her finger.
“Long enough to make me want to jump out of the plane
,
” I grumbled
. “
Long enough to tempt me to join the mile high club in the one and only bathroom they
have on here.”
“You little exhibitionist.”
“Don’t say little.” I nudged her and grabbed her hand
,
placing it on my neck and leaning
toward
her. “Please?”
“You needy little slut…” Her fingers dug into my flesh as she massaged my neck. A
long time ago I had accidently told her, in a moment of total weakness while she was
touching me, that I like massages more than sex. I hate that sometimes it’s true.
The way her hands graze my skin
,
push me into a fantasy world that sometimes feels more personal, more i
n
timate. It may just be because I used to sleep around a lot, I have no idea. All I
know is that it felt so damn good that I could almost forgive her for teasing me
beyond the point of no return.
Damn tiny seats and tiny planes.
I adjusted myself as best I
could and leaned closer to her.
“You smell like sunshine
,
” I mumbled. I was already in such a stupidly relaxed state that
I started to say stupid stuff.
“Sunshine, huh?” Nat moved to my ears and down my neck with both hands
. “
What’s sunshine smell like?”
I exhaled and leaned closer to her, smelling her hair, her skin
. “
Fresh, happy…
constant. Your skin is so soft…
it
’
s like…” My voice trailed off as I leaned up and met her lips with mine, slowly teasing
her with my tongue
,
trailing it
down her bottom lip and
dipping
into her mouth. “Honey.”
“This is your captain speaking…
We’ve just received the go ahead for takeoff. Flight attendants take your seats.”
I pulled back from Nat and tucked her head on my shoulder. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” She yawned and wrapped her arm around my b
ody as the plane took off.