More Than Fashion (22 page)

Uh-oh. That couldn’t be good.

Our models walked out, one by one. My stomach sank even further at the upset look on Carla’s face.

“Today you have the opportunity to switch models,” Lola said, and I swore she looked at me in particular as she said it.

Oh god. Was this my punishment for complaining to Eva about Lola? I wanted to take it all back. I would be completely lost without Carla. And with only two challenges to go before New York Fashion Week and the finale, I couldn’t afford to be off my game. I just had to pray I got to choose my model early and no one else picked her first. Most of the designers would want to stick with the same model, since we’d been working with them for weeks now. It would be fine. It had to be.

“Gavin, you won the last challenge, so you get to pick a model first,” Lola said.

I relaxed a little. Gavin loved working with his blond Valkyrie model. Any second now he would say her name, and hopefully I’d be able to pick next.

But he didn’t answer right away. We waited for his response, but he stayed silent. I twisted in my seat and saw he was staring at me. He slowly raised his eyes to the runway. “I choose Carla.”

My jaw fell open so hard I was surprised it didn’t snap off. I gaped at him, wondering if I’d heard him wrong. He met my gaze and whispered, “Sorry.”

No. I hadn’t heard him wrong. This was really happening.

Gavin had stolen my model.

The shock melted away to anger, and I gave him a nasty glare, then snapped back to face the front. I couldn’t look at his stupid, pretty face for even a second longer without punching it. My hands were already in fists, my muscles tense, my pulse skyrocketing. That fucking asshole. How
dare
he take Carla? He knew we were friends. He knew I would be lost without her, especially so late in the competition.

But he also knew she was the best model on the show. And obviously he thought he had a better shot of winning with her as his model.

Nope, he was definitely a Slytherin.

Carla gave me a sad look as she left the runway, and betrayal cut through my rage like a sharp knife. This morning, when we’d been alone, I’d thought Gavin cared about me. That he wanted something more from our fake relationship. But all along he’d been playing me, winning over my trust and manipulating me into letting my guard down. Now he’d shown his true colors by stabbing me in the back.

I shouldn’t be surprised. This was a competition, and we would both do anything win. Our relationship was completely made up for the show. Last night had been fun, but in the end, it had just been sex. And today, with only two challenges left, we were back to being rivals.

Fine. Enemies it was, then.

Jeff picked next, and it was no surprise he switched models after all his complaints about his first model’s breasts. He picked Dawn’s model, and she took Gavin’s in return. I was next. My choice was either Jeff’s model or Trina’s. Trina loved her model, and I wasn’t going to be a dick like Gavin and betray my friend. Plus I kind of wanted to show Jeff that his former model’s breasts were assets, not hindrances. She just needed a designer who knew how to work with them.

After we all chose our models, Beverly walked out on the runway and joined Lola. Her red lipstick was especially bright today, exactly the same color as her shirt. “For today’s challenge, you’re going to make stylish snow wear. The winning look will be part of an upcoming photo shoot for
Charmed
magazine.”

Dammit, I wanted to win that. Talk about some great exposure. But it was probably the worst challenge for me I could imagine, since I’d lived my entire life in California and could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen snow. I didn’t even have a good winter coat.

The next few hours were…rough. My new model’s name was Susan, and she had beautiful wavy red hair and freckle-kissed cheeks, plus a killer rack. She was great to work with, but it just wasn’t the same. My entire game was thrown off. When you design for one model for so long, she becomes your muse, and without Carla, I didn’t know what I was doing anymore. All I could do was shoot her sad puppy-dog eyes while she stood beside Gavin’s table, trying on his clothes. Ugh.

My mood wasn’t helped by the fact that Gavin kept leaving me notes all day long. I ripped up every single one unread. I didn’t want his apologies or his explanations. When he tried to talk to me at lunch, I walked away. I didn’t want to hear whatever lie he was going to spew because I knew the truth: he saw Carla as another chance to get to the finale, and he took it.

But once we went back to the Loft that night, I couldn’t avoid him any longer.

He stopped me outside the bathroom, in full view of Jeff, Trina, and Dawn, who were eating dinner. “Julie, please. Can we speak alone?”

All that anger came back in full force. “Fine.” I dragged him into the bathroom and slammed the door. Before he could get out a word, I yanked his bracelet off my wrist and threw it at his chest. It bounced off and hit the tiled floor. “You can have that back. We don’t need to keep pretending anymore. We’re done.”

He bent and picked up the bracelet. “Let me explain.”

“There’s nothing to explain. You saw your chance to get ahead and you took it. I would have done the same thing.”

“That’s not how it happened at all.” He reached for me, but I jerked away from his touch. He sighed. “Bloody hell, Julie, you can’t really believe I’m that callous.”

“I believe you’ll do whatever it takes to win, same as me.”

He shook his head. “No. I did it for you.”

I bit out a sharp laugh. “For me? Give me a fucking break.”

“It’s true. Jeff has been saying for ages that he wanted the producers to switch up the models so he could get a new one. I’ve heard him say before how much he liked Carla, so I knew he would choose her. I picked her because she’s your friend, to save her from having to work with him.”

“You didn’t know Jeff would go next! For all you knew, it would have been me, and I obviously would have picked Carla!”

“Yes, it was a gamble. The last thing I wanted to do was take Carla away from you. But I had a feeling they made us switch models because you complained to Eva about Lola. I guessed they would put you at the end, to make sure Carla would be picked by someone else. So I decided to choose her, even though I really liked working with Heidi, because I figured it was better than the alternative.”

“But don’t you see what you’ve done?” I asked, my voice breaking. “You’ve made Carla my enemy. She’s my best friend, and now I have to compete against her. Now if I win, she loses, or vice versa. It was supposed to be the two of us in this together, all the way to the end, and now we’re on opposite sides!” I was nearly in tears again. Jesus, I’d never cried so much in my life before this stupid show.

“I’m sorry. I really am. I don’t like it either. But would you rather she ended up with Jeff?”

“No!”

We were silent for a minute, and then he finally spoke. “I know you’re mad, but I hope you can believe I did it for you.” He touched my cheek lightly. “Julie, I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you.”

I didn’t know what to believe. He seemed sincere, but I also knew he wanted to win as bad as I did. Even if he’d done it for me—and that was a big
if
—I couldn’t forget how horrible I’d felt when I’d thought he’d betrayed me. I was in way over my head with Gavin, feeling things I couldn’t afford to feel. I’d begun to think that the two of us might be able to have something more outside the show, but today had reminded me that getting involved with him would only lead to heartbreak.

“Fine, I’ll accept that you
might
have done it for me. But I want to be clear: this thing between us is just sex. It’s a good way to relieve stress while we’re here. That’s it. Once the show is over, we’ll go our separate ways.”

His lips pressed into a thin line. “If that’s what you want.”

“I do,” I said, although my voice shook as I said it. “There’s no future for us. Even if this wasn’t all for the cameras, I’m not looking for anything serious. I don’t want a relationship with anyone. I have lots of things to do before I can settle down, and my career and education come first. A boyfriend is not in the cards right now.”

“Nice speech. You must have said that one a lot.” He sounded annoyed, and that in turn made
me
more annoyed.

“A couple times, yeah.”

“Sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself more than me, love.”

I grabbed the collar of his shirt, staring up at his stormy eyes. “There is no you and me. None of this is real.”

“So this isn’t real?” he asked, and he claimed my mouth in a rough, demanding kiss. I kissed him back even harder, desperate for his mouth and his tongue and his rough stubble against my face.

“Or this?” His hands cupped my breasts through my dress, rubbing his thumbs along my already taut, straining nipples. A small moan escaped me, and I hooked my fingers into the back of his jeans, tugging them down.

“It’s just sex,” I got out between frenzied kisses. “Lust. Desire. It doesn’t mean anything. Now if you don’t mind, I need to take a shower before bed.”

“Is that so?” He rocked his hips into mine, rubbing against me through our clothes. My butt hit the counter, and he lifted me up onto it, spreading my legs around him. I sat at the edge, hanging over the sink, my dress pushed up to my thighs, only the fabric of our clothes separating us.

He stroked down my legs to the curve of my knees, then to the ridges of my ankles, and slipped my ballet flats off one by one. I wrapped my arms around his neck, breasts pressed against him, my mouth devouring his, unable to get enough of his taste and his touch and his scent.

Without warning, his hands went under my ass, and he picked me up, so that I straddled him. I tightened around his neck and hips, holding on as he carried me into the large, standing shower and shut the door behind us. He flipped it on with one hand, and a spray of hot water hit us. We were still both fully dressed, and our clothes got soaked, melding to our curves.

With my legs still wrapped around his hips, he pressed me against the back wall of the shower, and the cool tile against my skin made me gasp. Then we were kissing again, unable to stop, like the few seconds our mouths weren’t connected was more than we could bear. I tore at his black-and-gray shirt, unbuttoning it with fervent hands while he grinded his hips against me in the most amazing way. His jeans scraped against my panties, the friction between us so hot I was surprised our clothes didn’t catch fire.

I pushed his shirt off his broad shoulders and buried my face in his skin, licking the drops of water off his neck. When my mouth found his pulse, he groaned, head falling back, giving me better access. His fingers fisted in the back of my hair, holding me to him as I sucked the moisture off his skin.

As much as I enjoyed having my legs around him, I wanted his clothes off even more. “Put me down.”

He did as I asked, and I tugged his shirt all the way off him, then tossed it out of the shower onto the tile floor. He moved under the water and dipped his head back, stretching his long neck, his tattooed arms lifting above his head as he ran his fingers through his hair. Water streamed down his chest and into his jeans, which hung low on his hips. I’d never seen anything sexier in my life.

He took a step toward me, the water hitting his back, and his eyes seemed to drink in the sight of me with my dress wet and clinging to me, revealing my every curve. His gaze had so much raw, primal desire in it, and my breath hitched with anticipation. 

As he watched, I tucked my fingers into the edge of my panties and slowly slid them down my legs, then kicked them out of the shower. Then I took the bottom hem of my dress and dragged it up, making sure to torture him with each inch of skin revealed.

Our bodies came together, touching each other everywhere, wet skin and wet clothes sliding against each other. I undid the button on his jeans and slipped my fingers inside to circle his length and grip him, hard. He sucked in a breath.

“We have to stop,” he said. “No condoms.”

“I’m on the pill. I was tested earlier this summer and I’m clean.”

He bent his head, and his lips tickled my ear. “Before you, there hasn’t been anyone since my last girlfriend, over six months ago. I know I’m safe. But are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” He hesitated, but I began stroking him with my thumb and he shut his eyes with a groan. “Gavin, I need you inside me.”

Without warning, he spun me around, so my back was pressed against his naked chest. His hand went up around my neck, holding me in place, while his other dipped between my thighs. His fingers slid along my wet skin and into the even wetter spot, and I gasped as he slipped inside.

“Is this what you want?” he asked, his voice rough, the hard front of his jeans pressing against my ass.

“Yes,” I gasped. It was difficult to speak with his fingers around my throat, although it didn’t hurt at all. It only turned me on more.

“Say it.”

“I want you to fuck me,” I managed to get out. “Hard and fast.”

He released my neck and pushed me against the wall, my hands bracing against the cold tile for support. He removed the rest of his clothes and threw them out of the shower, then nudged my legs wider, his hands on my ass. I was so eager for him I knew he’d slip inside easily. But he didn’t. Not yet.

He rubbed against me from behind, sliding against my wet body until I was aching for him so bad I wanted to cry. “Gavin, please.”

He leaned forward to speak in my ear. “If all you want from me is sex, then that’s what you’ll get. But don’t pretend for a second there isn’t something real between us.”

With that, he entered me from behind. The angle was amazing, hitting me in all the right spots, filling me completely with his hard warmth. I hadn’t had sex with anyone bareback in…well, ever. But with him it felt right and so fucking good, skin to skin.

For a second, he simply held me there, his head buried against the back of my neck, the two of us breathing in and out, joined together. Then he pulled back, almost out of me completely, and paused, letting me die in anticipation with each second he waited. When I thought I couldn’t take it any longer, he slammed back into me again, making me gasp with the force.