Star Pupil

by Rochelle Paige

  Chapter 6

  Griffin

  “I need to speak with my daughter privately, if you don’t mind,” Avery’s mother said in a snide tone of voice, that made it clear she didn’t give two shits if I gave a damn or not. Unfortunately, the pleading look my girl gave me made it clear that she did care.

  “I’ll step outside.” I didn’t mention that the window over the sink was open.

  I did as I said I’d do, but then I wandered around the trailer to listen in on their conversation. There was no way in hell I was going to give Avery’s mom enough privacy that she could hurt her without me being there to protect her.

  “The studio wants you to do it,” her mom was saying. “I’ve already told them you will, so it won’t do you any good arguing. It’s done.”

  What the fuck was she talking about?

  “No way, Mom. I’m not going to pretend to date anyone. I don’t care what you or the studio says. It’s not going to happen.”

  Oh, hell no! Avery sure as fuck wasn’t going to fake-date anyone, let alone that little shit who’d been eye-fucking her every chance he got while they’d been filming together. I stormed to the trailer’s door and slammed it open.

  “So much for privacy,” Avery’s mom snapped, her arms crossed over her chest and her foot tapping the floor.

  “I could hear yelling from outside,” I growled. “And thought I’d better come inside to check on Avery.”

  “This isn’t any of your concern.”

  “Except that it is.” I prowled towards Avery, my anger going up another notch when I spotted tears in her eyes.

  “I’m her mother. You’re her teacher—“

  “Actually, Mom,” Avery interrupted. “He’s more than my teacher. He’s my boyfriend.”

  I reached her and pulled her into my side, my arm wrapping around her waist, relieved our relationship was out in the open. Hiding that she was mine when I wanted nothing more than to shout about it from the rooftops had been almost as hard as waiting for her to turn eighteen.

  “Boyfriend?” her mother sputtered. “Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t date your teacher. Just imagine the field day the tabloids would have with it. Besides which, he’s much too old for you.”

  “I’m eighteen, Mom. Old enough that you don’t really have a say in who I date anymore.”

  “Well, what about the studio, hmm? They aren’t going to be happy about this news, especially not when they’re pushing for media coverage about your relationship with Jeremy.”

  “What relationship?” Avery yelled. “I can barely stand the guy. He’s a jerk.”

  I stroked my hand down her spine, trying to calm her down a bit. When she settled, I yanked my cell phone out of my pocket and turned my attention to her mom. “You’re lying about the whole thing.”

  “How dare you?” she gasped, feigning outrage. “I’m going to have your job for this. Taking advantage of an impressionable young girl and trying to alienate her from me after I found out about this completely inappropriate relationship.”

  I chuckled darkly and pulled up one of the contacts from my favorites list. “Good luck with that. What I failed to mention when we met was that my last name is Stone, as in Stone Studio Teachers. You want to try to talk me into firing myself? You’re more than welcome to try.”

  “Fine,” she sniffed. “I might not be able to get you fired from your own company, but I bet I can get your contract pulled with this studio once they find out what you’ve been up to with my daughter.”

  I hit the little phone icon next to the name I’d pulled up on my cell and handed it to Avery’s mom. “You might as well start at the top if you’re going to complain about me.”

  “What?” she asked, staring down at the screen. “Who?”

  “Just trying to make it easier for you,” I drawled. “If he’s not in a meeting, Hank Lockwood is going to answer that call and you can tell him all about whatever it is you think I’ve done that will get him to drop my company.”

  “Hank Lockwood, the chief executive officer of this studio?” Her tone of voice lost some of its bitchiness, most likely out of fear that Hank would hear her.

  “Yup.”

  “I’m sure his assistant will answer.”

  “Nope, I called his personal cell.”

  She jabbed her finger against the screen of my phone, disconnecting the call before she handed it to me like it was a grenade. “Why do you have Hank Lockwood’s personal cell phone number?”

  “Did I forget to mention that he’s my step-dad?” The look of horror that crossed her face was almost comical. “Well, he used to be anyway. It’s been a while since he was married to my mom, but theirs was the marriage that lasted the longest so we’re still like family. He and I, at least. He still refuses to cast my mom in anything his studio produces. Can’t say I blame him, though. She did get married to husband number four only three months after their divorce was final.”

  “Griffin Stone?” She was starting to put the pieces together. “Ava Stone’s son?”

  “The one and only,” I confirmed. “I can tell by the look on your face that you’ve finally realized you don’t have any leverage over me and there isn’t one damn thing you can do to break up my relationship with Avery. The days of you having power over your daughter are over.”

  “Oh, I’ve still got some power all right,” she huffed, refusing to back down. “If that’s the way you want this to go down then I guess I’ll have to play hard ball. As Avery’s mother, I’m in control of her money. Unless she wants to walk away from every dime she’s made, you’ll end your so-called relationship with her. Now.”

  I nudged Avery behind me and rubbed my hands together. I was going to enjoy knocking her mom down a few more pegs. But before I could light into her, my phone rang. Glancing down at the screen, my lips tilted up in a smug grin when I saw who was calling. This was going to be even better than what I’d had in mind.

  “Hey, Hank,” I answered.

  “Good afternoon, Fin. I missed your call just now and wanted to check to make sure everything was okay.”

  “About that,” I drawled, locking gazes with Avery’s mom. “Everything isn’t okay. In fact, it’s the exact opposite of okay.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Do you mind if I put you on speaker?”

  “Not at all, go ahead.”

  I hit a button and flat-out grinned evilly at Avery’s mom. “I’m with Avery Rose and her mother. Ms. Thornton is trying to convince her daughter that the studio is pushing for her to pretend she’s dating her co-star to help foster interest in the movie.”

  “Not without my approval, they aren’t. And I would never sign off on that tactic, not with all you’ve shared with me about Avery.”

  “You told him about us?” Avery whispered, but not softly enough that he didn’t hear her.

  “He sure did,” Hank confirmed. “Months ago, too. Fin boy stormed into my office with your contract in hand and insisted I add an addendum to ensure you had ample time to study after you were eighteen. Since education is so damn important to the boy, I agreed.”

  “Wow,” she sighed.

  “Then he came barging back in again about a month ago, insisting you should get a trailer since you were sharing a dressing room with three underage girls and you were about to become an adult.”

  “You got me the trailer, too?” she breathed out.

  “He drove a hard bargain, too. Knew exactly where he wanted it placed and everything. It did my heart proud to see him negotiate the way he did.”

  I knew exactly what he was angling for since it was a conversation we’d had plenty of times in the past. “I’m not coming to work for you, Hank.”

  “We’ll see about that,” he grumbled.

  “The fake relationship idea isn’t our only problem,” I interjected before he could go on about it. “Ms. Thornton isn’t happy to learn about my relationship with her daughter.”

  “The girl’s eighteen, isn’t sh
e? It’s not like there’s much she can do about it.”

  “She’s threatened Avery with the money she earned on the movie.”

  “The fuck she did!” he roared. “She might be able to get her greedy hands on some of it, but she won’t get it all. I can guarantee that. Fifteen percent of what we’ve already paid went into a Coogan account for Avery since she was a minor when she signed the contract. When she turned eighteen, full control over those funds went to her. I’ll make sure the money due to her once filming wraps up is safe from her mother, too.”

  “Thanks, Hank. I knew I could count on you. Always have. Always will.”

  “Damn, boy. I’ll do you one better. I’ll make sure Ms. Thornton is blackballed from here on out.”

  “You can’t do that!” Avery’s mom screeched. “Not without hurting my daughter, too. I’m her manager.”

  She sounded more concerned about herself than the possible ramifications for her daughter, trying to use her as leverage like that.

  “Mom,” Avery sighed. “It doesn’t matter if I do another movie again or not. I can always go to college instead.”

  “This won’t touch you, Avery,” Hank reassured her, his tone brooking no argument. “You’ll be better off with a real agent instead of your mom anyway. She’s fallen into the trap of thinking she can suddenly manage or give expert advice on your career just because she’s picked up a little knowledge in the time she’s spent here with you.”

  “Very little knowledge,” I corrected.

  “Considering she thought it would be wise to cross you, that’s putting it mildly,” Hank agreed before continuing. “I’ve seen it happen many times over the years, but the reality of it is that she doesn’t have a professional network of casting directors or agents. She hasn’t spent years cultivating personal and professional relationships with directors, actors, and producers. She doesn’t have access to casting opportunities that a real agent does. The bottom line is, she should have spent this time building an amazing team for you so she could be what any child needs most in life, a wonderful parent.”

  “That right there is exactly why I still think of you as my father, Hank. You were only married to my mom for four years, but it was long enough for me to know you’re an amazing man and a great father.” I cleared my throat, feeling a little emotional. “It’s just too damn bad that Avery got stuck with her mom.”

  “Right back at you, son. Let me know if you need anything else.” He disconnected, and I shoved my phone back in my pocket.

  “I’m not going to sit here and listen to this—this—“

  I interrupted Avery’s mom’s sputtering, opening the door and waving an arm outside. “Nobody’s stopping you from leaving.”

  “Are you going to let him treat me this way, Avery?”

  “I love you, Mom.” Avery moved forward to give her mom a hug, and my heart stopped. I was just about ready to rip her away from her mom when she stepped back. “But I can’t keep living like this. With you telling me what to do and who to do it with. With you spending the money I’ve earned like it’s yours. Not listening to me when I tell you I want to go to college. Refusing to understand how much Griffin means to me. If you aren’t willing to make some big changes around here, then I think it’s better if you go back home.”

  I detested her mom, but, in that moment, I hoped she’d listen to what Avery was saying and do what needed to be done to make her daughter happy. I was willing to put up with her if that’s what Avery needed. Sadly, her mom couldn’t say the same. In fact, she didn’t bother saying anything else before she walked out the door.

  Chapter 7

  Avery

  “She really did it,” I whispered. “She left.”

  “I’m sorry, bright eyes.”

  “It’s not your fault.” It really wasn’t. My mom had always been difficult, but she’d become downright impossible since we moved to California. “Hopefully we’ll be able to move past all this someday. My dad walked out of my life when I was just a little girl. It’s hard to believe my mom just did it too.”

  I’d been so angry when I told her it would be better for her to go, and I hadn’t really thought about how I’d feel if she actually went. It hurt.

  “Hey,” he murmured, coming over to pull me into his embrace. “Just remember that I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me.”

  “You sure you want to be stuck with a homeless girl?”

  He leaned back, tilting my head up to look into my eyes. “What do you mean, homeless?”

  “I lived with my mom, and her being gone means I don’t have anywhere to go. I don’t have a credit card. She didn’t even let me have a debit card attached to the account with all the money I was paid. Even if she had, my guess is her first stop is going to be the bank so she can clear me out,” I sighed. “I guess I’ll be bunking in here until filming wraps up next week, and then I’ll need to figure out what to do from there.”

  “You’re coming home with me.” He said it as though it wasn’t a big deal for him to basically tell me I was moving in with him.

  “Umm, do I get a say in where I live?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “You had your say already.”

  “I did?” I shook my head and wrinkled my brow. “Because I don’t remember that part.”

  “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the first time I made you come,” he teased before turning serious again. “You had your chance to run the day I took you to my boat. Instead, you let me kiss you in my car, giving me my first taste of your sweetness. Then you took my hand and followed me onto my boat, looking fucking gorgeous as you enjoyed the ride. After that, you spread your legs for me on my bed and let me get a taste of your pussy. There was no going back after that day.”

  Did he really just say all that?

  “Although, I’m pretty sure it was too late for me the very first day I saw you.”

  I reached up on my tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips, blown away by his admission. “It was the same for me the day we met, except I never imagined it was possible for you to want me back.”

  “I more than want you, bright eyes. I need you.”

  “Take me to my new home and show me,” I urged.

  He wasted no time, gathering our things and dragging me to his car. I didn’t want to know how many rules of the road he violated during the drive to his house. Not that it mattered since we didn’t get pulled over, and his speeding meant we made it there in under twenty minutes. Considering how bad traffic was around here, he managed to accomplish the impossible in his determination to get me settled into his home.

  I was stunned when he pulled into a gated driveway and it automatically swung open. “There’s a sensor,” he explained, pointing at his visor.

  I didn’t know if I should look left or right since the view in all directions was amazing as he drove towards the mini-mansion in front of us. “You want me to live here, with you?”

  “Of course I do.” He pressed a button on the dash, sending the garage door closest to us upwards while the other five remained down. “Unless you hate the place, then we’ll have to go house hunting for something you like.”

  “You could fit at least a dozen of my houses into your home,” I muttered. “There’s no way it’ll be anything but perfect.”

  “The place is nice,” he downplayed. “But the only way I’d call it perfect is with you in it. You hate it, we’ll move. You like it but want to change something, tell me and I’ll get it done. I could give a fuck about the house, Avery. You’re what’s important.”

  “I think I love you,” I whispered.

  As soon as the car was in park and the engine was off, he hit the button again to send the garage door back down. “You want to repeat that for me?”

  “Not really. No.”

  “Wait right there,” he growled.

  My eyes were locked on him as he got out of the car and prowled around it to my side. I scrunched my eyes closed when he opened my door. I slid down low w
hen I felt his hand reach across my body to undo my seatbelt. My eyes popped back open again when he lifted me up and out of the car, setting me down on the hood.

  “You can’t put me here,” I squeaked. “I’ll hurt your car.”

  “With what I’ve got planned, I expect there to be some dents and scratches,” he rasped. “But I don’t give a shit. It’s not like I don’t have plenty of other cars I can use.”

  I looked over my shoulder and saw what he meant. There were a couple sports cars, a motorcycle, an SUV and a Jeep parked in the other stalls of the garage. “Exactly how rich are you?”

  His laughter filled the space as I covered my mouth with my hand, my cheeks filling with heat. “Please, please, please forget I said that,” I mumbled.

  “Not gonna happen, bright eyes.” I groaned in despair, and it only made him laugh harder. “I’m rich enough to appreciate you having no idea what I was worth before you blurted out that you love me.”

  “I didn’t say I loved you, I said I think I love you,” I snapped.

  “Thought you didn’t want to repeat it for me.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Darn you and your trickiness.”

  “Will it help at all if I tell you that I know I love you?”

  Seriously, I didn’t know why I bothered to wear panties around him when he went around ruining them all by being so darn sexy and sweet. “Yeah, that would help.”

  “I.”

  He kissed my lips softly.

  “Love.”

  Another kiss, with a little more pressure this time.

  “You.”

  This time, he devoured my mouth, staking his claim. He didn’t stop there, either. He slipped my shoes off my feet and tore my pants down my legs, tossing them to the ground behind him. Then he quickly removed all of his clothes, except a pair of black boxer briefs. His dick was pushing against them and there was a spot of moisture at the waistband, right under where the tip of his hard length peeked out.

  Sliding his hands under my legs, he tugged me towards the edge of the car. Once my ankles were locked together at the small of his back, he leaned over me. His hands traveled up my thighs and slid under my shirt, lifting it up over my head. With a flick of his wrist, the front clasp of my bra was open and then quickly tossed over his shoulder.