Newly Exposed (6 page)

“That’s my place. I live there with Nolly, and no models are allowed in there.”

A smile spread across my face as I saw the seriousness in her eyes.
 

“You’re adorable when you get all serious.”

“Don’t say things like that.”

“Like what?” I asked, while grabbing one of her belt loops and bringing her in closer. I watched her throat muscles contract as she swallowed hard from our proximity.
 

“Like…you know…compliments.”

“I can’t compliment you and how adorable you are?” I gripped another one of her belt loops and closed in on her. Her chest barely pressed against mine and her arms dangled to her sides. She was resisting me, and doing a terrible job at it, because from the way she looked at me with lustful eyes, she had me thinking she was trying incredibly hard to keep her distance.
 

Reaching up and gripping her face with my hand, I rubbed her cheek with my thumb and said, “Where’s my room, muffin?”

She pulled away and raised her eyebrow at me. “Muffin?”

“Don’t act like you don’t like it.”

“I don’t.” She tapped my chest and said, “Call me that again, and don’t come crying to me when my foot is stuck between your balls.”

“Wouldn’t be the worst thing ever,” I wiggled my eyebrows.
 

Rolling her eyes, she walked upstairs and I followed her.
 

“There are five other guys living here with you: Gunner, Scout, Nikko, Ty, and Levi. They’re all pretty cool, and I’m sure you won’t have a hard time getting to know them. I’m not going to lie, they can be awfully full of themselves and get into some mirror wars…”

“Mirror wars?” I asked, as we rounded a corner and came to a stop in front of a yellow door.
 

“You’ll find out,” a smile peeked past that strong façade of hers. “This is your room.” Before she opened the door, she said, “There will be random room checks to make sure you keep it tidy…the way you first found it. You will be required to make your bed every morning, keep your clothes organized by color, and never leave a drop of toothpaste in the sink; that is a cardinal sin. No television, no phone, no women, and no masturbating. You’re only allowed to sleep and meditate in your room.”

My mouth was dragging on the floor as I listened to all the restrictions. If you weren’t allowed to masturbate in your room, then where were you allowed to whack off?

“No food, and you are to keep your door open at all times, even when you’re sleeping,” she continued. “Sometimes, you will be required to sleep with the other guys; this is to instill male bonding…”

“Hold the fuck up,” I held my hand up and tried to grasp what she was saying. I was about to revoke my contract when she bent over, held her stomach, and laughed so hard I thought she was going to pee her pants. She leaned into the door that supported her and continued to laugh while pointing at me.
 

“Oh, my God, that was priceless,” she said in between laughter. “Jesus, that was too good. You should have seen your face, as if you were in a horror flick or something.” She acted out my face and threw her hands up in horror. “No masturbation,” she made fun of me. “Like we give a crap what you do in your room.”

I just let her laugh as I took in how cute she was and how her damn laugh made my balls tighten. What the hell was that about?

“You think you’re so funny,” I said, with my hands on my hips.

She wiped her eyes and nodded her head. “Oh, I know I’m funny. I’m pretty sure your heart fell out of your chest when I said no masturbation.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and noticed the way she stared at my chest, taking in my muscles. Point…me.
 

“I take offense that you think my life revolves around beating my own meat.”

“Eww,” she stood up, “Don’t call it that.”

My eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t think you were a prude,” I poked her stomach and she swatted at my hand.
 

“I’m not a prude, I just don’t like the term ‘beating meat’,” she shivered and made a gagging motion.
 

“Okay, Webster…”

“Webster?” she interrupted me.
 

“You know…
Webster’s Dictionary
.”

“God, you’re lame.”

“You like it,” I poked her again as she swatted at me. “What would you call it then? Are you that old school that you can’t think of something better than masturbating?”

“No, I can.”

“Okay, lay it on me…muffin.”

Her brow creased from the pet name I was really starting to like for her.
 

“Don’t call me that.”

“Answer the question,” I countered.
 

“You really want to know?”

“Yes, I do.” I stood tall and waited for her answer.
 

“Fine, I prefer to say…grooming the Wookie,” she said with a straight face.
 

I paused for a moment as I let her term soak in. “Holy shit, I’m in love,” I said, right before I laughed out loud and threw my head back.
 

“The benefits of having two gay dads, they teach you some rather…enjoyable terms.”

“I need to meet these men,” I said.
 

“No need to wait; here I am!” a deep voice came from behind me.
 

“Why aren’t you in Laguna right now?” Solo scolded, as her easygoing attitude dropped and professional Solo stepped in.
 

I turned to see a guy with dark hair, blue eyes, and tattoos scattering his body. He was a little shorter than me, most likely six foot, and he had only a pair of trunks on.
 

“Finished early, mama, something very uncommon for me,” he licked his lips and looked Solo up and down. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up at the blatant flirting the man was doing with Solo. In a matter of seconds, I could see why she was constantly annoyed by the men who she dealt with on a daily basis.

“You actually were able to finish an ocean shoot without crying for hours about the water temperature and shrinkage? I’m impressed, Scout.”

“You know I have sensitive skin,” he said with a smile, and then looked at me. “You must be Axel,” he held his hand out to me.

“Uh, no, I’m Adam,” I shook his hand while sizing him up.
 

“No, it’s Axel,” Solo said, while leaning forward.
 

“Excuse me?” I asked, while letting go of Scout’s hand and looking over my shoulder at Solo.
 

“Yeah, I was going to get to that. Axel is your new name.”

“Axel? Really? Isn’t that a little…cheesy?”

“Cheesy? Dude, Axel is such a bad ass name. I would totally own that.”

Axel? I really didn’t think it fit me, but whatever. As long as I got paid, I guess I would deal with whatever was thrown my way.
 

“So, what was your name then, before you got here?” I asked Scout.

“What do you mean?” he asked.
 

“Were you Scotty beforehand?”

“No, my name is Scout, dickhead.” Scout tossed his thumb toward me and looked at Solo as if to say, “this guy.”

“Be nice, Scout, he’s a newbie,” Solo defended me, as she placed her hand on my arm. What I wouldn’t give for her to slip her hand down and entwine her fingers with mine.
 

“I can see that,” he replied, as his hands went to my face. “Look at this baby face; you’re just a kid, aren’t you?”

“I’m twenty,” I said, knowing full-well that I might be young physically, but mentally, I was older than anyone in this house.
 

“Really? I would have guessed sixteen.”

“Oh, shut up,” Solo said, as she pushed Scout away.
 

“I’m kidding,” he laughed. “Welcome to the house, man. I’m probably going to be the coolest guy you meet here, because honestly, I could give two nut sacks about what goes in my body. Blessed with a fast metabolism,” Scout said, as he patted his six pack. “Lucky fuck, I guess. I’m right next door, so if you need anything, let me know. Let’s do some shots tonight.”

“Didn’t you hear him, Scout? He’s twenty…”

“Yeah, like you’ve never had a drink?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Solo said with a smile that spoke a story, a story that I wanted to hear.
 

“Yeah, okay. This girl can swallow a twelve pack in the matter of an hour and then belch you a lullaby. Sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

I turned to eye Solo, whose face was now beet red.
 

“Get out of here, Scout; I need to finish this tour, and you’re prolonging the time I have to spend in this house.”

Scout elbowed me and said, “If I didn’t catch her checking out my dick on occasion, I would swear she was a lesbian by the way she acts like she’s about to catch on fire every time she steps into the house.”

“That would be hot,” I joked, while looking at a now fuming Solo.
 

“That’s what I’m saying!” Scout replied. “She and Nolly made out one night, and it was…”

 
Solo stood on her tippy toes and covered Scout’s mouth with her hand. “Either leave now, or I’m scheduling you with Heather for your next five shoots.”

“Oh, shit, don’t say another word; I’m out. Catch you later, man,” Scout patted my back and took off to his room.
 

“Heather?”

“She has bad breath, according to the guys, really brings down the mood, apparently,” Solo shrugged, looking a little guilty for pulling the Heather card.
 

“Poor girl, but what I really want to hear about is this little make out session and how I can become a make out partner.”

“Try never,” she said, while opening my door and leading me into my room. The walls were a slate grey and the furniture was stocky looking with black tones. White bedding practically floated on the California King sized bed, promising a good night’s sleep. The room was very modern and comfortable looking. I could get used to this.
 

I shut the door, so we were both closed into my room. She stood in the middle of the floor, with her hands behind her back and her eyes wide from the way I was closing in on her. I met her in the middle and stood before her, not touching her, but standing close enough to drive her crazy.
 

“Tell me, Solo, what is your favorite food?”

“That’s a weird question,” she responded, while giving me a strange look.
 

“No, it’s not. You said we could be friends; so, I’m trying to get to know my friend.”
 

She took a second to think, and then said, “It’s your first night here. Why don’t you take it slow…Axel. Catch me being friendly another night.”

With that, she started to walk out of my room, but before she left, I said, “Please, call me Adam.”

I thought he was going to put up a fight but instead, she smiled and said, “Only because you’re wearing a Storm Trooper shirt.”

“Hey,” she turned around again to face me while I spoke. “It’s a new place, I’m scared. Maybe you could hold me tonight, make sure I don’t have nightmares?”

She shook her head and laughed, “Snuggle up with Scout if you get scared. He should be a pretty good spooner.”

She gave me that gorgeous smile and walked away, leaving me alone in my brand new room.
 

Chapter Six

Solo

The dull thump of Nolly’s headboard ringing out in our small house kept me from being able to concentrate on my fan fiction. I was a closet reader of fan fiction; I couldn’t help it. I had to find out what other infatuated fans like me thought about when it came to Ryan Gosling, and right now, he was up to no good in some girl, Kerri’s bed. I wanted to picture the way he glided his hand up to Kerri’s “bosom”—just call it a tit—but Nolly was being too damn loud.
 

“Ugh,” I groaned, as I got up off the couch and headed out to the pool deck to sit on a lounge chair. All the guys were in the house, most likely getting Adam wasted beyond repair, so I had no need to worry about them coming outside, especially since I saw some female forms crossing the windows.
 

I dabbled a little in writing my own fan fiction, but for some reason, it always turned into Ryan Gosling killing Luke Skywalker with a light saber. I knew it was because, in my mind, Luke was a whiny little bitch and someone had to take care of him, and who else but Ryan Fucking Gosling? He could slay a Jedi with the flex of his ab muscles; he was that good.
 

I made a mental note to look into abs that could kill, literally, and pulled up Netflix on my computer. I was behind on some episodes of
The Office
. I was that person who watched everything after it was popular because I didn’t have cable. Nolly, on the other hand, had a satellite practically growing out of her ears; she was addicted to TV…reality shows being her poison of choice. She would tell me all about the latest reality star drama, and I would just nod my head and smile at her.