The Hollywood Effect (24 page)

“You’d be surprised,” Liam muttered. “Haven’t you seen the shit they’ve been writing about me and Jen?”
 

Dan laughed. “You and Jen? Please.” We reached the car and Dan hauled his suitcase in the back.
 

“So you haven’t seen any of it?” I asked. I made myself comfortable in the back seat. Dan did exactly what I’d done when Liam had picked me up and went for the wrong side of the car.
 

 
“I don’t exactly rush out for every edition of
Women’s Weekly,”
 
Dan said once he’d come around and settled into the passenger seat.
 

“
It’s online as well,” I grumbled. I was sure some of my students were having a field day.
 

“Sorry dudes, obviously I’m reading the wrong part of the internet. You know me. If it’s not sport, I’m not interested. What are they saying?”
 

“I’m fat and ugly and have weird boobs and obviously not good enough for Liam. Basically Year 12 all over again.You should read the comments! So bloody nasty.”
 

Dan burst out laughing. Liam scowled out to the road.
 

“Right. Spot on. I have a rule that I never ever read the comments. Saves me from wanting to bomb humanity out of existence.” Dan turned in his seat so he was facing me. “I’ll give you the same advice I gave you back then: ignore them.”
 

I sighed. “You’re right. As usual. It’s just… very, very strange. And easier said than done.” It had been hard to resist reading the articles about Liam when he’d first become famous, but I’d eventually managed to stop. Most of the time. But now that they were about
me…
well. I’d either have to grow a skin 8 metres thick, or I’d have to completely ignore them.
 

“Sorry,” Liam said.
 

“Why are you sorry?” I asked, frowning at the back of his head.
 

“If I was a plumber this wouldn’t be happening.”
 

Dan and I both burst out laughing. “Please don’t apologise. If you were a plumber we wouldn’t be in L.A., living it up. We’re living vicariously through your success. Don’t take that away from us,” Dan said and punched Liam lightly on the arm. “Plus, you’d be a shit plumber. You’re terrible with your hands.”
 

A memory bubbled up of just how un-shit Liam was with his hands, and I squirmed in my seat. I let out a giggle. A similar thought must have gone through Liam’s mind. He turned and winked at me quickly, a sly little grin on his face. Dan missed the exchange, thankfully.
 

Once we got back to Liam’s house, I trailed after the two boys as Dan got given the grand tour. I was starting to get used to the luxury of Liam’s house, and didn’t particularly want to go back to my house, with it’s original 1950’s kitchen, crooked floors and disgusting curtains. Three more days.
 

“Mate,” he whistled. “If you were a plumber you’d never be able to afford this place, and this place is fucking sweet as.”
 

“Fame definitely has its perks,” Liam agreed, as we stood out on the deck overlooking the lush garden and pool.
 

“Fancy a swim?” Dan asked, eyebrows raised at both of us.
 

Liam glanced at me, eyebrow raised.
 

“Sure,” I said. “I actually remembered to bring my bathers for once!”
 

“Excellent,” Liam said.
 

We all trooped back inside to get changed. In the privacy of my bedroom, I studied my bikini. I had only worn it once, and was worried it was a bit too ‘out there’. But… to be honest, I wanted to look sexy, and this piece definitely helped in that department. It was a lot more revealing than the board shorts and rashy I’d usually donned as a teenager for swims in the Burns’ backyard pool. That Aussie sun was a killer, and my skin was far too pale to withstand it for long. I burned within 15 minutes if I wasn’t careful back home. I’d been delighted when I was 16 and living in the south of France, to discover that not living under the hole in the ozone layer had some pretty good perks - mainly that I actually got a nice tan when I didn’t have to slather myself in sunscreen if I so much as went near a window. I quickly undressed and put the bikini on. I rubbed my hand up my legs. It felt like sandpaper. I cursed. Steph had inherited Mum’s sparse body hair, but unfortunately I’d gotten the worst of both sides. Mum’s pale skin instead of Dad’s nice olive permanent tan, Dad’s hairiness instead of Mum’s ladylike natural ‘I only have to shave my legs once every two weeks’ - ness. I gave my legs a quick shave in the sink, making them nice and smooth again. It wasn’t fair - men could have the hairiest legs out there and no one even batted an eye. But a woman misses one patch of hair and it’s
ewww, gross!
So much for equality.
 

My mind drifted back to the day before. I still tingled all over when I thought about Liam’s touch. I drifted into a daydream, reliving some of the more intense moments of our sessions. I was jolted back to the present when one of the men thundered past in the hallway. Probably Dan; he’d always sounded more like a heard of elephants than a single human male. I checked myself over in the mirror. It would have to do.
 

I closed the bedroom door behind me at the same time Liam stepped out into the hallway from his room. His dark gaze met mine briefly, and then went exploring over my body. I stood still until his eyes came back to my face. I felt naked and beautiful under his gaze. He stared at me intently for a moment, and then with a quick growl, closed the distance between us. My heart rate doubled. My eyes lingered on his lips. His broad hands came up and lightly caressed my waist and then pulled me close to him, pressing our bodies together.
 

“Do you have any idea how amazing you look in that bikini?” he growled, leaning down to nibble my neck. My hand ran up his arm, marvelling at his muscles.
 

“Hurry up, you two!” Lochy’s voice rang out.
 

We jumped apart. I could feel my face going red.
 

“Um.” I tucked my hair back behind my ears. “Do you have beach towels, or should I just use the bathroom one?”
 

“There are some out there.” He let out a deep breath and readjusted himself. I smirked. He scowled.
 

“I love Dan like a brother, but I really wish he wasn’t here right now.”
 

“Don’t say that,” I pushed him to start walking again.
 

“Just you and me and no distractions.”
 

I closed my eyes briefly. Surely I’d wake up soon. This couldn’t actually, finally be happening.
 

“You know you want to,” Liam whispered as we came out to the deck. I noticed Liam had his towel rather strategically placed, and felt rather gleeful that I was the cause.
 

Dan was laying his bright orange beach towel out on one of the deck chairs. Moving faster that I realised was possible, Liam slid into the water before I’d barely taken a few steps.
 

“Grab some beers, Jen?” Liam called out after he resurfaced, water streaming from his glistening body.
 

“Jen?” I blinked and then blushed. How long had I been staring at him for? Dan was still fussing with his towel, but looked over at me when Liam repeated my name.
 

“Are you okay? You look funny.” Dan looked concerned.
 

“I’m fine,” I assured him, and tried to walk gracefully over to the bar fridge, knowing the two men’s eyes were on me. I felt exposed in the bikini and wished I had a sarong or something. It was like walking around in my underwear in front of them, something I’d never made a habit of.
 

I quickly grabbed three icy cold beers out of the fridge, gasping as the cold bottles touched my bare stomach when I clutched them to me.
 

“Ta,” Dan said when I gave him one of the beers. Liam swam over to us and reached out for one. I sat down on the warm concrete and dangled my legs into the pool. The water was a nice temperature, not like Liam’s parents pool, which always seemed to be a few degrees above zero. Nice on a stinking hot day, but it took some acclimatising.
 

“Cheers,” Liam said and held out his bottle.
 

“The little crew’s back together,” Dan said and clinked his bottle against mine and Liam’s.
 

“Well, almost,” I said unnecessarily. “To Grant.”
 

“To Grant,” the boys both echoed and we clinked bottles again and all took a sip.
 

The silence was broken when Dan got up, put his beer down next to me and jumped in the pool. Water splashed all over me, and I shrieked, nearly spilling my beer.
 

“Get in, Jen. It’s lovely.”
 

I slid into the water.
 

Before long we’d reverted to children again and were splashing each other, shrieking, and laughing like mad. Although to be fair to the two boys, I think I was the one who did most of the shrieking.
 

“Oh man, I miss you guys. You should both move to Los Angeles,” Liam said in a lull of splashing while we caught our breath.
 

“And live here with you in all your splendour?” Dan winked.
 

“Sure. I’ve already got Mike taking up the downstairs. What’s two more? Or maybe I can kick Mike out - not like he pays any rent anyway - and you can have the basement suite.”
 

Dan laughed. “Don’t tempt me, mate.”
 

“How ‘bout you, Jennypenny? Ready to give up your teaching career and come live over here?”
 

I laughed. “I’m with Dan - don’t tempt me. First day back at school, and I’ll be wishing I was on a plane back here.”
 

Liam grinned, slightly evilly. He swam languidly over to me and surfaced right in front of me. Fascinated, I watched him push his wet hair back and wipe the water out of his eyes.
 

“I bet I could tempt you,” he said so that only I could hear him. Under the water, his hand reached out and stroked my belly.
 

I pushed his hand away and quickly glanced over at Dan, but he was floating on his back, looking up at the clouds. I pushed Liam away with a splash. His didn’t take his hooded eyes off me. I could see the desire in them, and I was scared Dan would see it too. I paddled over to the other side of the pool, putting a bit of space between us. I shook my head slightly at Liam and nodded towards our friend. Liam just shrugged and mouthed ‘I can’t help it.’
 

I felt lighter than air. The water probably helped the weightlessness feeling.
 

The rest of the day went by in a blur of laughter, stolen touches, smouldering glances. It was just the three of us; Mike was out networking, apparently. I tried not to be too unfaithful to Dan and wish it was just the two of us very often, but the thought would not escape me.
 

“So, what’s going on with you and Burnsy?” Dan asked me quietly. I glanced around. We were alone. Liam had gone to find something in his room.
 

I resisted the urge to say a quick ‘nothing’ and shrugged.
 

“What makes you ask that?” I asked, curious. We had been trying to be discrete.
 

He looked at me shrewdly. “I’m not blind. I’ve seen the way you two keep looking at each other.”
 

“I don’t know,” I said. “It’s probably nothing?”
 

“Probably nothing?” Dan echoed with a skeptical look on his face.
 

“Have you talked to Liam?” I asked, curious.
 

Dan squinted at me. “Not yet. You’re terrible at keeping secrets, I thought I’d try you first.”

“Hey!” I went to punch him on the arm, but he dodged me.
 

“You know it’s true,” he laughed.
 

The conversation was cut short when Liam came back in, holding a DVD triumphantly in his hand.
 

“I knew I had this somewhere,” he said, with a laugh.
 

“What is it?” I asked curiously.
 

“My acting debut.”

“Huh?” Dan grunted.
 

“The production we did in Year 7.”
 

Dan burst out laughing. “This should be good.”
 

“Oh, pop it in then. Let’s see how embarrassing we all are. I haven’t seen this in ages.”
 

We all looked so very young. How had we ever been that small and naive? We all giggled when Liam’s voice cracked at an inopportune time; you could hear some of the audience trying to stifle their laughter as well. I’d never want to go through puberty again, not for a million dollars. Sometimes I missed my high school days, but especially being back there now as a teacher… I was just glad I’d survived it! High school can be a brutal place. It can also be a wonderful place. Often it’s both in the same day.
 

“Well, gotta say, Burnsy - you’ve improved a bit on the acting front,” Dan said once the video had finished.
 

“Just a smudge,” Liam concurred. “No idea why I keep getting jobs, they could get any old kid.”
 

“What’s next for you?” Dan asked.
 

“I’ve got a gangster movie coming up.”
 

“Nice, do you get to play with guns?”
 

Liam nodded. “Not real ones though.”
 

Dan shrugged. “Close enough.”
 

“Are you filming it here?” I asked.
 

Liam shook his head. “Nah, it’ll be in Vancouver. I’m leaving a few days after you do.”
 

“Oh. You can say hi to Steph for me.”
 

“Sure.”
 

“Then what?” Dan asked.